General Conference

I realize I haven't written about General Conference yet. It was another wonderful semi-annual Conference. I loved the talks as I always do and took notes on what stood out to me.

Elder Robert D. Hales: He spoke about provident living in the economic turmoil, avoiding unnecessary debt. Also how our children will learn to do without just as our grandparents did and it will be the better for us to learn those lessons and we will be blessed. As Christ said "Wherefore do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor your labor for that which cannot satisfy."

Elder M. Russel Ballard: He spoke on the importance of finding our testimony, by the same means of prayer as it has always been. Not through google or text messaging. "It doesn't take living a sinful life know it is better to live a righteous one. We don't have to let our lands become Sodom and Gumorrah to know it is no place to raise a family."

Elder Quentin L. Cook: Talked about how the church never teaches that a majority of the Lord's children will go to hell. There is hope for those of other faiths and we do not teach criticism of other faiths.

Elder Richard G. Scott: I loved his talk. He spoke about hard and tragic things that have happened to him. Loosing two children and his wife, but he said he didn't complain against the Lord because he knows He knows best. "We should never complain, if we are living worthily, about the things that happen in our lives".

Pres. Deider F Uchtdorf: He spoke about Palm Sunday and how the apostles must have thought that the ushering in of Jesus Christ with Palm leaves was a turning point, but it was temporary. Daily we need to apply and reapply the teachings of the gospel. "We cannot receive the full blessings if we neglect the tree and do not nourish it. It is not enough to surround ourselves with symbols of our religion."

Elder Jeffery R. Holland: To those who feel alone. He spoke of the Savior's solitary task of bearing our sins. How the Father was never fully gone, but that Christ had to be left alone so that he would know how the rest of mankind had felt in sin. Because Jesus walked a long and lonely road, we do not have to.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks: He spoke about unselfish service. Lose ourselves in the service of others. Latter day saints are linked to the laws of sacrifice. We do not serve our Savior well if we fear the world more than God. C.S. Lewis wrote that Satan gave the lie that man can be like God and do things without Him and try to find things other than God to make us happy. Entitlement is selfish, taking much and giving little. Instead of focusing on me, we should focus on what we can become. We should go to church for and not what we can get "out" of it.

Elder David A. Bednar: The eternal importance of temple attendance. We do not take His name upon us at baptism, only our 'wilingness' to take His name upon us. Something else must happen first and that happens in the temple. The Savior's name is upon the temple. Therefore everything we do should point towards the temple. There is a difference between church going, tithing paying members and those who regularly worship in the temple. Attending the temple offers a certain protection, protection from our enemies and from Lucifer. We will go through hard times, but God will never us forsake.

I love General Conference. I always feel the Spirit in listening to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. I always hear something I need to hear. I don't feel stressed or pressured by the gospel of Christ, I only stress at my own sins and weaknesses. We all fall short without the grace and atonement of Jesus Christ. I am so grateful to be able to listen to those who have such spirit and strength. President Monson spoke such great words of being better people and I love listening to the Prophet and Apostles. I can't wait to read their words in the Ensign. I am grateful to know that my children know where to turn for peace. We took them to the Draper temple open house last month. Emily was so reverent and when I asked her what she thought of it she told me "Mommy, that made me feel good in my heart." I know just what she means.

This is one of my most favorite songs sung by the tabernacle choir and it was sung this Conference as well.

Home Inspection

Okay, so home inspections are curses and blessings I think. Without them I would never know all the disgusting things about the houses I keep trying to buy. This house has a 25 year old roof going on 30 years. A rotted out basement shower that has also rotted the wall AND a furnace that doesn't work. A deck that is falling off the house and a leak in the wall that so far that we can see hasn't majorly damaged anything, just caused mold. Nice. The investor put new carpet in, painted and even painted the rotting wall in the bathroom. This place is bank owned and probably good thing because whoever this investor was tried to hide the problems. There are small issues like tub fixures that need to be replaced or wiring and that isn't a huge deal. The worst part for me is the previous tenants had a love of all things disgusting and had a mice infestation at one point. Which means the attic was so nicely laid out for the culprits and so is the food storage room and under the stairs. The mice are gone, but there remains are here and now we have to take steps to ensure that they don't come back- if we take the house. We are asking the bank to pay for the roof, the bathroom and the furnace. Which would be so nice because we have had a few roofing estimates and the roof would be pretty cool and we would get to have a nice bathroom and decide on our own awesome tile.

The neighbor lady told us that the previous owners were beyond gross with their pets and mess and were quite trashy. Why do we always end up with houses like this? What is with our luck? Honestly. We are also doing another meth test what with the new law putting the responsibility on the owner. We don't want to be left holding THAT bag. So now we continue to wait. I still think the house has potential. Get rid of the yuck and fix the problems and it is a great house with room and potential. At this point though I am half and half. If things don't work out, there are other things out there, but we will have to rent for awhile since we don't have any more extension time here. If we get the house and they pay for it, I can really make it work- I just have to clean up mouse poo. What ever happens, happens.

Playing Kitchen with Daddy

Robert is a very good dad. He plays with his kids a lot. I can often hear them in the bedroom being football "tackled" by daddy who makes them laugh and giggle and they say all the time "No, DON'T tackle me", with a twinkle in their eye knowing its an invitation that he can't resist. He sings with them, reads to them and plays with them. This time he spent a good hour in the girls room while Lindsey "cooked" for him. Handing him various toys so he could eat her pretend concoctions. She loved every minute of it.

Pictures

I know, right now I am super boring. All I am doing these days is thinking H.O.U.S.E. and hardly much else. I can't blog, I can't sleep and I can hardly pack either until the inspection is done. So just to fill up blog space- because I feel I have just must have my kids on my blog, here are some cute pictures of my girls.

We Got a House!

YAY! So we don't foresee any problems this time. I will show pictures when it is completely signed and closed on. Until then, they have accepted our offer. The house is a little far west from where we wanted originally, but the neighborhood is really nice. The downside is there is no garage, but we can make due. There are 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Fireplace, food storage room, cute fenced in yard. We are super excited to have a house under contract! I can't wait to paint the walls, buy the girls bikes to ride in the bike park down the street, find a swingset for the backyard, etc. I am not dreading moving like you would think. I want to de-clutter my TINY apartment of 4 years and move where there is SPACE! We have all been so tightly compacted for so long I think the girls are going to go quite insane for the first little while with all of the space. Running up and down the stairs, hiding in closets. A blast for them I will say. And I can't wait also to get my hands dirty and put flowers in!! If you can't tell, we are pretty excited about this and it still feels sureal and will feel even more so as the days go by.

Once we close it will feel more like my keys are an attachment to something really COOL!

PMLE and a Baby

I have a sun allergy called Polymorphic light eruption (PMLE). It is irritating and annoying to say the least. Every spring I get bumpy, red and itchy hives. I put sunscreen on and it helps some, but I still get them. After summer my skin goes through a "hardening" and I can handle it. We have spent the last 2 days outside when I noticed that Lindsey was getting red on her face, neck and arms. I thought it must be a plant outside she was allergic too. Then I saw her itching and watched the bumps. Oh, how sad! She has it too. I can try and keep a hat on, but she is 2 and how long will that last. I can sit in the shade, but she runs around like a crazy girl. I guess I will be talking to the doctor about my poor Lindsey. There are oral steroids we COULD try, but I would rather now. I will see what she says on the matter. I just think it is so sad. I hate it myself and now she itched like crazy.

House Hunting Update

We are so happy to say that we have a little more house hunting time. We were given until the end of May to move out. So that gives us time to find a home and time to close and move- we hope. We are looking at all there is out there. We also know that everyone else is now out looking for homes too. We have seen a few houses we like, most of them with multiple offers. The bidding wars start. Apparently Utah has seen a housing increase of 21% in a couple months. I believe it. Even some of my not so favorite areas are seeing mountains of activity. I just keep praying that I can find a home and neighborhood I love to raise my girls in. Your prayers are appreciated. We know something will work out. We are very confident about that.