Women's Conference and Happy Birthday to Me!

It has been a crazy couple of weeks and I have missed blogging - especially because I have had some really great experiences. My normal routine of checking out some fun blogs that I follow were replaced with complete OCD looking for a home to buy. I spent many hours on the computer, many hours in the car driving neighborhoods (my poor children), and many hours on my knees! I am happy to say, I think we have found a home.... FINALLY! More to come on that later ....
Anyway... my birthday weekend happened to be the same weekend as Women's Conference at BYU. It was fabulous! I got to spend 2 days with my mom! That in itself was the best gift. Just being able to walk around the beautiful campus, trees in bloom, nice cool breeze, eating BYU fudge and snarfing down Costa Vida salads in-between sessions was something I will always remember. We hooked up with my wonderful Mother-in-law and Sisters-in law. One of my sisters-in-law, Marsali Hancock, was a presenter on Internet Safety for children. I highly recommend checking out her information. It is so important to know what your children are doing and how to keep them safe on the internet, cell phones and video games. You can find her information here.
My birthday was full of gifts of friendship and love. As I walked on campus, nearly every corner I turned, there was somebody special from my past. It was so wonderful to see so many dear friends. My heart was bursting with gratitude. On top of all that, the messages that were given, the Spirit that I felt, overwhelmed me. IT IS WHAT I NEEDED! I left that conference feeling renewed, more committed, grateful to be a woman, grateful to be a mother, and grateful to be a Daughter of God.
Here are some things that stood out to me:
* The theme was, "In The Strength of the Lord"
* "Our season for strength is right now!"
* "You can't force your children to heaven, but you could force them to hell, by harsh words"
* "We empower the faith of our children as we live faithfully"
* "Faith is not only a feeling, it is a decision"
* "Fear and faith can not co-exist"
* "We have to work and strive for love at home"
* Watching about 20,000 talking women go silent as an Apostle of the Lord, Jesus Christ walks into the Conference Center to address us. Very moving.

After the conference was over, we went back to my mom and dad's house and met up with my family and my brother and his cute family. It was great to see them. We celebrated with some yummy food and lots of hugs and kisses. Talmage helped the kids make gifts for me. They are beautiful and so sweet. Braden made me a watch (I have needed one for 2 years), Collin and Lila made necklaces and Caleb provided plenty of snuggles. It was a wonderful birthday weekend. Thanks to my dear family for making everything so special. I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!