General Conference 2014:

I hope everyone had a great conference! This year has been one of the very few times I have been away from my parents on General Conference and I miss the traditions we have with them. But at the same time we made our own traditions this weekend! Since the boys are getting older, I decided to try some things to get them to pay attention more. One tip I saw floating around the Pinterest-sphere suggested you have a jar of candy with an accompanying word. Anytime the children hear that word they get a candy. Since I am not super mom, I told my kids they would get some chocolate chips if they hear Jesus Christ since I had some left over in the cupboard. I grossly underestimated how often Jesus Christ is said in Conference and ran out Sunday morning...oops!

(Caden saving some chocolate for later!)

This year we also tried Jocelyn's from "We Talk of Christ, We Rejoice in Christ" reverence stations.

We had four: trains/wooden blocks, car mat, Lego table and coloring station.

(Practicing focus on my camera)

We built temples out of legos and Will drew a picture of the Christus!

Since we discovered I am at the very least intolerant to eggs, we skipped the usually breakfast casserole and  I made cinnamon rolls for the first time. I used this recipe from "Baking with Mom." It turned out really good despite a couple of mistakes I made. While I was baking, Will asked me what I was making. When I told him he asked, "What are those?" Parental face palm. HAVE I TAUGHT THIS KID NOTHING?! Apparently. "It's like eating cake for breakfast!" I responded. His little face lit up like Christmas morning!

For dinner, Clay made wontons! I didn't get any pictures of the process but here is the recipe:

Fried Wontons

1 package wonton skins, thawed if frozen

1 egg, beaten

safflower oil

 Filling:

1 package of ground sausage

2 - 3 Green onions chopped

½ cup jack cheese

Soy sauce to taste

 Stir fry sausage until brown. Add other ingredients and cook until the cheese melts. Cool.

Put a small teaspoon of filling in the center of the wonton. Moisten edges with beaten egg, then fold over into a triangle. Deep fry in safflower oil until golden brown (not too long, or they taste burnt), drip dry and serve with guacamole.

Seriously these are mouth watering good! Our picky 5 year old who has apparently figured out how to get all the nutrients he needs from breathing, ate 10 of them!! 

We also had some crazy rain during conference! I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and while we boast some of the wettest cities, it surprised me to learn that Washington and Oregon aren't even on the top ten list for wettest states in the USA. Seriously! Our backyard began forming a small ocean. 

It's going to take several days to process the messages that were shared. But I have already begun my bi-annual conference resolutions. For me, the overwhelming theme has been to love one another. To defend our faith but to do so with kindness. And obedience. Posts to follow I am sure! But I have to say I am so grateful to be a member of this church. I am so grateful for the inspired words that come from our church leaders. I can't wait for church meetings to come to hear what others learned too!