Time Out for Women

I just love Michael Mclaine. He just inspires me and makes me want to be a better person when I listen to his music. When we lived in Utah, Kevin and I would go to his Forgotten Carols every year. This last Christmas I got the DVD and I watched it with my kids. I want to have this be a family tradition for us. I was thrilled to see that he would be at the Time Out for Women here in Springfield, MA (about 2 hours south of where I live). So I made sure to buy a ticket and join the other ladies in my ward that were heading down. We got a hotel room and had a fabulous time. There is nothing better than being in the same room with a bunch of ladies that know what you are about and what you believe. I miss that feeling being outside of Utah away from my family and kind of standing on my own. I love it that we are all one voice bound together shouting praises to God. I just loved the spirit that I felt there.

I was able to take a few things home with me that would help make me be a better mother and wife. I used to go to the Women's conferences in May at BYU each year with some friends from high school and I looked forward to the enriched feeling I would come home with. I am so grateful for this opportunity that I had to feel of this special spirit outside of church once again. I have been reminded to do service with our family and to make sure that my children learn to love to serve. I do service a lot, but I forget to include the kids and let them feel of the strong spirit of love when we do serve others around us outside and inside the family. It is really easy to focus on ourselves and it is a nice remider to focus on others around us and bear each others burdens and help them through trials and the hard things in life. We are going to try and do a family service together each week. I was also reminded to give more compliments. One of the speakers called them "split-seconds" and challenged us to do 5 split-seconds a day because a split-second is how long it takes to give a compliment. I have now challenged my kids to give split-seconds as well and to try and make our home more positive rather than all the whining and arguing we have going on.

Star Struck with (Bishop) Kenneth Cope

He is such a talented musician. His voice is just as good in person as it is on his recordings. He is a bishop of his ward. Can you imagine having kenneth Cope as your bishop? The whole weekend was wonderful. I love getting away with the ladies for a night out and Kevin survived with the kids watching movies and eating pizza. They even all did yard work on Saturday and I came home to a very clean house. Thank you to all my kids who helped me and to my honey for making it possible for me to go and "fill my cup back up". I love you all!