Youth Conference 2018

Youth Conference 2018 -- Peace in Christ

Last week I had the awesome opportunity to attend a Quad Stake Youth Conference in our area.  Our Stake's Young Women's president {who was in charge of the whole thing and is in our ward} asked me a couple of weeks ago if I'd be willing to come on board and help out as an extra set of hands to help with anything that might pop up.  When I realized that it wouldn't be that difficult to arrange for my kids to be taken care of while I was gone, I happily accepted the offer.  As an added bonus, Ethan was there as well.  ;)

The Conference started Thursday morning and wrapped up on Saturday afternoon.  Take Your Kid To Work Day happened to coincide with that first day, so Grace only had Isaac to watch while the rest of the kids went with Scott.  I didn't want to overload Grace with another whole day of watching ALL of the kids for me, so for Friday afternoon, a friend from church kindly agreed to take Sophie through Isaac over to her house to play with her kids instead.  {Spoiler alert -- Grace went from being overloaded and aggravated with all of the kids, to being completely and totally bored once they were gone.  As a result, I spent most of Thursday and Friday fielding text bombs from her of how bored she was and how these were the worst two days of her life.}

 (Alex was thrilled to finally be old enough to join in for Take Your Kid to Work Day.)

 (Lunch at Panera.)

Oh Grace. 😑

While my family was persevering on the home front, I got to feel like a youth again and relive my glory days of dorm-living.  Hahaha.  J/K.  I still felt way too old to be a youth, but I do have to say that it was surprisingly nostalgic and fun to be sleeping in a dorm once again (even if there wasn't a whole lot of sleeping going on).  With close to 500 youth registered for the experience, it was a bit daunting to keep tabs on everyone, but overall, things worked out beautifully.  Sure there were a few snags, but for the most part, everything rolled smoothly along and the participants were cooperative and dependable.

(I could totally pass for a 14-18 year old, right???  Hahahahaha.)

The days were jam packed with get-to-know-you activities, dances, workshops, devotionals, and fun. Even though I was busy behind the scenes much of the time trying to help make sure things were running smoothly, I was still able to sit in on several of the workshops and devotionals that were presented and my soul was fed and fortified.  More than anything, I was impressed, amazed and in awe of the depth and strength of the Youth of this Church.  My spirit was touched and my testimony was strengthened OVER and OVER and OVER again during the course of the Conference.

The Variety Show on Night 1 was a crowd pleaser.

The dances, however, couldn't have been further from Ethan's definition of a good time.  Hahahaha.  To quote him exactly: "I don't understand how anyone actually thinks this is fun."

(In case you were wondering, he refused to ask anyone to dance, and he didn't join in any of the group dancing.)

{One of the companies with a few girls from our ward.}

The main devotional on Friday was given by Brother Michael Hicks and it was AMAZING.  He incorporated music throughout his remarks and it was so powerful. The spirit in the room was palpable.  As we all stood together and sang his arranged medley of "As Sisters in Zion" and "We'll Bring the World His Truth," I could hardly get the words out through the veil of tears covering my eyes.  And as we ended the devotional by joining in to sing "I Know That My Redeemer Lives," I could pretty much only stand there and wipe the tears from my cheeks.  Ethan told me afterwards that he felt like THIS devotional was the reason why he needed to come to Youth Conference.  {Ethan was more than a little resistant to attending beforehand.  Moving and being thrown in with a crowd of new people is not really in his top ten of super comfortable things to do.  Nevertheless, we gave him the choice of whether or not to attend and he decided on his own to do it.  I'm so glad that he did!  He had a really great experience, even in SPITE of the two dances.  Hahahaha.}

Brother Hicks

Ethan's roommate, David -- AKA "Kid 7" in our family.  ;)

(Hard at work on a service project during one of the workshops.)

Some of the Youth from our ward on the last day of Conference.  I love all these kids so much!

Ethan's Company.

And that's a wrap!  I can't wait for next year -- hopefully, I'll get talked into going to help once again. :)

Lilies for Lily

When I was pregnant with Alex (before we knew what we were having), I envisioned another little boy and another little girl coming to our family.  We had already been waiting for "baby Alex" since I was pregnant with Jane, and once Alex joined the family, it seemed as if it was only a matter of time before "baby Lily" joined as well.  My first pregnancy after Alex ended at 6 weeks and it devastated me.  I was so certain it was Lily.  The baby was even due at the end of June, when all my favorite orange day lilies are blooming, and it just seemed perfect.

When I was pregnant with Isaac -- before we knew what we were having -- I still envisioned Lily, but another little boy popped into my mind as well.  I envisioned a sneaky little trickster, who was always laughing and bouncing off the walls.  {Fun fact -- that's why his name is Isaac; it means "laughter."} When we went in for the ultrasound, the family was split down the middle on who was Team Isaac coming to the family vs. Team Lily.  When we saw that it was a boy, I have to admit I was a bit flabbergasted.  I was so sure it was going to be a girl.  I had never planned on having 7 children, but when baby number 6 turned out to be a boy, I thought that perhaps it just wasn't Lily's time to come yet.

 "Yellow Lollipop"

 "Little Grapette"

When I discovered I was pregnant last fall, I was elated.  I was so happy and it felt so right that this was the completion of our family.  Even more perfectly, the baby was once again due at the end of June when all my favorite day lilies are blooming.  It all seemed meant to be.  

 "Gypsy Turtle"

 "Mauna Loa"

And then I found out my pregnancy wasn't viable.  At 10 weeks, after going in for a routine check up and ultrasound to determine the due date, I was greeted on screen with the image of an empty womb.  To be honest, it was all very surreal and numbing, and in the moment it was difficult to process what all of it meant -- not just that I would miscarry, but also, what about baby Lily?  This was my {personal} last chance for having another baby.  I'm getting older, and the space between Isaac and another baby was already getting wider.  And I truly felt that this was my last pregnancy.  

 "Big Time Happy"

 "Byzantine Emperor"

As I stared at the monitor and saw an empty womb, the first thought that came to mind was of the empty tomb.  Two such opposite symbols -- one of loss and sorrow, the other of hope and rejoicing.  I don't pretend to know everything, but I do know that through the Savior's Atonement and Resurrection, everything can be made whole again.

 "Hey There"

 "Adorable Tiger"

In the here and now, we chose to celebrate our little Lily on her due date (June 30th) by having a family memorial and planting some lilies in her honor.  I took the kids to Home Depot the day before to pick out their favorite day lily to plant, and I love the variety of them all.  Each of their choices were so perfectly representative of their personalities that it felt like a very individualized tribute from each of them.

Those who know me well know that the meanings of names are really important to me.  As I've been reflecting over the last couple of months, I've realized that Lily has been named perfectly all along.  With a meaning that symbolizes purity, I think her spirit was just too pure and perfect for this earth.  I am so thankful that families are forever.  It was a sweet and tender memorial having my family gathered around me as we planted our lilies for Lily.  The fact that every year on June 30th these lilies will be in bloom again seems beautifully symbolic as well.

{I was tickled when I found this "Adorable Tiger" Day Lily, because I had already nicknamed her my little tiger Lily in my mind.}

An unexpected and added bonus was the blooming the very next week of these Asiatic Lilies that the previous owners had planted before us.

Real Feel

It has been HOT, y'all!!!  Like real feel of 108 hot.  Last week was a medley of crazy thunder/lightning storms and soaring temperatures and humidity.  And since we're kind of crazy as well, we didn't let the heat stop us from getting out and having some fun.

More cliff jumping!  A lot of people had the same idea on Friday.

 {The heat outside while waiting in line for shaved ice was even worse than our afternoon at the river.}

 Hahahahaha.  This picture cracks me up because as soon as I told Isaac to smile for the camera, he looked down just like this and said "Cheese!"  Hahaha.

 Trying to get a family selfie (while Ethan was driving) on the way home was only semi-successful.

 {We've picked up a couple of extra honorary members of the family, in case you were wondering.}

We attempted to beat the heat on Thursday and Friday with a trip to the aquatic center and river (respectively), but on Saturday, we were at the mercy of Isaac and Alex who had been planning all week to go mini-golfing with the free coupon Alex got at the library for one of his summer reading prizes.  Being outside in the middle of the day, while playing putt-putt with all the kids was just a tad bit exhausting and draining.  And yes, that's probably redundant.  Hahaha.  But the kids had fun and I guess that's all that matters?  

 Putt-Putt!!!

 These crazy children opted for doing BOTH courses.  The end result was one and a half hours of super hot and sweaty "fun."

 Isaac was the most hilarious to watch golf.  He'd give it one hit from the tee, and then run to drop his ball in the hole yelling "2!"  Hahaha.  Needless to say, Isaac totally "won" in his group.

 Poor little lamb was a red-faced, sweaty cherub by the end of our afternoon.

 The older kids played in the group ahead of Scott and the younger kids.

{I think Ethan won the first course and Grace won the second.}

All in all, our miniature golf outing was MUCH more successful than our last family attempt when we were on vacation in Gulf Shores and Alex was much too young and too easily frustrated to handle not being able to play well and not winning.  Perhaps the next time we go, though, we'll wait until the temperature dips into the 70's.  ;)