Catching up, once again

It had only been 2 weeks since I posted, but it has been a busy couple of weeks! A week or so ago we were able to get together with our friends Jena and Pete. They adopted 2 toddlers from Moscow a month or two after us and were also with Lighthouse Adoptions, like us. In fact we were on the same flight together when they were going to meet their new kids, and we were traveling to pick ours up. It was a very exciting time, and it was incredibly wonderful to get together and meet their little Liam and Sophie in person. The kids had a ball together, of course!
The next fun event was Jeff's 36th birthday. Emma and Isabelle collaborated and made a ton of little drawings and cards and gathered miscellaneous toys to give him for his big day. :) We always get out the fine china for our traditional birthday meal even though I about have a heart attack everytime one of the kids clank their dishes around. I figure, if you don't use it, what good is it for?
We also thoroughly enjoyed General Conference. Our church broadcasts this event every 6 months, and it is a spiritual feast! It is pretty hefty material for the kids, but luckily all the little ones took their nap for the first sessions of the day and in the late afternoon we employed a variety of tactics, including getting treats when you heard keywords like Jesus, love, prayer, etc. (the speakers were talking about Jesus Christ so often we finally had to use just the other keywords) and putting stickers on a poster I had made with all the general authorities photos to show which ones spoke. It was amazing to see how many keywords Isabelle and Tristan picked up! Emma happily listened to all four sessions simply because she wanted to. She loved filling out her General Conference packet she got in Primary and made sure to color all their ties the right color. What a kid!

I loved the prophet's talk on persevering in difficult circumstances and his counsel to "live closer to the Lord" really hit home with me. I also loved when Elder Snow from the Seventy said, "The next time you're tempted to groan, you might try to laugh instead. It may prolong your life, and it will certainly improve the lives around you." I'm not sure I'm quoting that just right, and he might have been quoting somebody, but that was the idea. Oh, there was so much more that was inspirational, but the kids are up now and I've gotta go. So excited for 4 days with my hubby home!