Women's Conference

Bless my husband's heart!  He volunteered (or at least agreed) to take a couple of days off in late April/early May and watch our children so that I could attend the two-day Womens' Conference at BYU in Provo.  Oh how I needed that break!  I was losing my mind at home; feeling tired and overwhelmed and impatient.  The conference was EXACTLY what I needed. Not only a break from the norm, but a re-filling of my almost empty emotional and spiritual reserves.

When I left on Wednesday night, David looked...well...less than excited.  The kids really have been extra wound up and crazy lately and he had a busy couple of days ahead of him (filled with not only the regular shuffle, but also a kindergarten program, a dentist appointment, etc.).  Of course, he handled it all like a champ and everyone was perfectly happy in my absence.

I won't write details about each class I attended.  Only David has to sit through the hours-long, blow-by-blow reliving of the classes.  That's one of the things I really love about that man.  He always listens as I tell him the teeniest details of my life.  He even seems to enjoy it.  What a man!  But I digress - I meant to say that the whole conference was amazing!  I learned so much and thought about a couple of doctrines in ways I'd never known before.   I came home encouraged, rejuvenated, and ready to be a better person.  But for this family history, I'll just share a couple of the highlights that were non-class related.

I went to the conference with my mom.  My dad just happened to be in a conference in Provo that same week.  So, instead of staying in the dorms, we were able to stay in his hotel room.  It was WONDERFUL!  Dad had a little mix up when he checked in, so they ended up upgrading him to the upper floors - the ones with free concierge service and hot breakfast, etc.  It was great!  We ate cookies and drinks in the lounge each night. I met Sister Uchtdorf and her daughter one morning at breakfast.  Talk about amazing!

On the very first morning there, I was remembering the times I had come to the conference with a group of ladies from my old ward in Idaho.  I joked to my mom that I wanted to find my friend, Laura Luthy in the crowd of 15,000+ women.  We laughed at the idea.  Then, about fifteen seconds later, I looked a few rows down, and there was Laura!  I ran down to her and gave her a big hug.  She came over and sat with me for that first session.  We had a great time catching up!

So, I was taking pictures with my tablet, which I don't do very often.  I didn't know until later that night that I had my camera in "video" mode.  This is the only evidence I have of seeing my dear friend, Laura.

And here is another "video selfie."  Makes me laugh.

Mom is so much fun to go to women's conference with!  She's very easy to get along with. She loves going to the classes and discussing them afterwards, but is equally fine with skipping a class to shop and/or eat a little bit.  She's funny and generous and very insightful - just a great all-around companion at a place like that. I had a really great time at the conference, but just as much fun hanging out with her and Dad in the evenings.

Okay, now the camera is in "picture' mode. 

Mom and I spent a little while working in the service stations that first evening.  It's SO amazing to see how much gets done in that one conference:  Millions of pounds of food packaged and kits for various groups in need, quilts, etc.  Incredible!

BYU creamery ice cream.  Yum!

John Bytheway and I "catching up."  Just kidding, but I really did meet him when he was just starting out.  I was the student body president of my middle school and I booked this new motivational speaker for an assembly.  Our hands are blurry because we're doing a fist pump.

My girls LOVE Studio C, so I couldn't resist posing with the life sized cutouts and trying to convince them that I met the real people.  They didn't believe me.