Our Conference Weekend

I absolutely loved this conference weekend. Two times a year, once in April and once in October, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints gathers for a General Conference where we get to hear talks prepared by various leaders of the church. We listen to uplifting messages, and music, and get direction from the Prophet. It's such a wonderful weekend, and I always feel lighter and more prepared to face life for the next 6 months. It's like a big spiritual re-charge. :)
Another part of conference weekend that I love is being able to spend so much time with family. This October, I got to start my own little family traditions for conference. Matt had to work during the Saturday morning session, but we made up for lost time when he came home. We took turns entertaining Jaden (since he's not too keen on sitting still haha) and made yummy food, went for walks between sessions, and visited with family.  Every year I try to have specific questions or thoughts in my heart as I go into Conference weekend, so I'm really listening and looking for answers. This year Matt and I had our weekly date night on Friday, and when we put Jaden to bed we went outside and laid on a blanket and just talked about our different thoughts and concerns as individuals, a couple, and as parents. We didn't necessarily have specific questions that we were thinking of together, but we did want to look for things to help us be on the same page in our parenting. I knew that would be something that we'd find lots of inspiration for during all the talks- but wow! This was such a wonderful experience to listen to each speaker address something that applied to my worries and my goals as a wife and mother. There were so many different words that touched my heart because it was like Heavenly Father had sent that talk just for me. They spoke on things I hadn't even really talked with Matt about. :) I'm grateful for the testimony I have that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know me personally, and understand everything I ever go through. They care about all the small, 'silly' things, and they guide me through the big, life-changing events in my life. I'm so happy we had the chance to spend time as our little family and watch General Conference together. :) It was such a fun weekend!

The Saturday morning session went a little something like this... :p Jaden is totally my kid, I started scratching his back and he flopped right down and held still for a few minutes. Which is basically a miracle. ;)

Matt really loves it when I make him
let me take pictures. Especially when I tell
him to 'act normal'. *roll eyes* haha. I
love this guy. 

I tried my hand at making up a recipe for pesto chicken pizza.
Can I just brag for a sec? It was AWESOME! My mom and
sister, Erin, made the pesto from basil my mom has grown.
Then I just did a wheat pizza crust, cooked the chicken in
a little of the pesto, and then put the remaining pesto with
a tiny bit of Alfredo sauce on the crust and topped it with the
chicken. If I would have thought ahead, I would have done
some roma tomatoes, green onions, and spinach as additional
toppings. :) Mmm. We're definitely going to have to do a
round two of this one.

Matt's new hair do. ;) 

He pulls himself up on EVERYTHING
now. He thinks he's ready to let go and
just stand. Haha, it doesn't work so well
just yet. But he thinks he's big!

This kid loves being on camera. (I think a little bit of his
great-grandpa Barton trickled down to him. ;) ) It's cute,
yes, but also makes me crazy. Every time he's doing something
hilarious that I want to catch, he gets distracted as soon as the
camera comes out and starts cheesing it up. :p Funny boy.

Wrestling with daddy.

I love this sleepy-eyed boy following me around the kitchen. :p
Every morning he has to help me get breakfast out. 

Sunday Morning, I decided we're starting the tradition of
making coffee cake for breakfast during conference weekend. SO
yummy! I'll post the recipe in a separate post.

Matt decided we're going to have a fort building tradition. We'll just call it pitching our tents around the temple to hear the
prophets' words. ;) 

I absolutely adore watching Matt be a dad. Look at the way Jaden looks at him! These boys love each other kind of a lot.

Love his little smile. :)

Between the Sunday sessions we took a little trip to the park. :) He didn't react much to the swings, but at least Matt and I thought it was fun!

The slide held a little more emotion for Jaden. :p Barely.