Friends and Conference

All summer Cora had planned to have a back to school party with her friends.  With vacations and me breaking my ankle it kinda ended up being a birthday party.  She had 4 friends she invited.  They came right after school.  We had Panko Chicken, oranges, and chips.   They are a really great bunch of girls.  One of her friends wanted to make a cake as a surprise.  Her mom dropped it off earlier and we hid it.  They ate dinner and went downstairs for a bit then we headed to the mall.

Cora wanted to go to the mall and do mall dares.  She had seen a couple of cute ones online but most of them were a little disruptive or mean and they would probably get kicked out.  So we ended up mostly making up our own.  They had a list of 20 to do.  Some examples were:

1. Have an animated conversation with a movie poster.

2. Find a baby shoe and ask if it comes in your size.

3. Put a chocolate bar on lay away

4. Stare and point at the ceiling for 2 mins and see how many people look up.

5. Hide in the middle of the clothes rack and when someone comes to look whisper "pick me".

They had a blast and got some shopping done.  We took them home just in time to turn around and get Cora to gymnastics, then we ended up looking at a few house for Parade of Homes.  One had my shower and all had my baseboards.  Guess I know what I am doing so far with this house:)

Saturday was the beginning of Conference weekend.  It was perfect weather and there is not going to be many left, so we headed to the farm in the morning to work on the house. We actually were helpful this time and got some things done.  We brought snacks and some sandwiches to eat while we worked.  Then we cleaned up and got home in time to watch the afternoon session. As Dave went off to the priesthood session, the kids and I had a picnic downstairs and watch the morning one.  Dave got up at 6 Sunday morning to watch the Saturday first session then we were all back on track to watch Sunday.

Once again it was a wonderful conference.  I enjoyed every talk.  When Blake was 4 we decided that he was old enough to stay home to watch conference.  We used to load them all up every session and go to the church. But at that age we knew he was old enough to sit and watch without getting up and down.  We had so much fun.  Most of us had a little project that we worked on during the sessions.  I got treats for the Sunday afternoon session.  We all showered and changed right back into our PJ's.  We were warm and comfy and enriched all day.

Cora worked on her puzzle and did some designing.  She is thinking about being an architect at the moment.  I mentioned I thought she would be good at that, then Dave showed her a book filled with German Buildings.  She is hooked, only a little scared of the math.

I finished the Christmas tree decorations I have been working on.

Leah knitted an outfit for Salia.  And made one to give to Emry for Christmas for her doll (Shhhh!)

I love conference.  I love spending time with my family.  I love that Dave was there and somewhat relaxed.  I love that my kids look forward to watching conference.  I love the messages.  I love the peace that comes with sitting there and being together.  When it was all over and we had made plans for the week, we got the kids in bed and Dave and I went for a walk.  It has been a long time since we did that.  I have missed it.  I wrapped my ankle and we went slowly and not very far, but it was the perfect end to the perfect weekend.