Time to Blossom and a Gorgeous Rainbow

Evelyn decided she was sick, last week Everett stayed home two days and slept in until after 10 most mornings. He catches terrible coughs and cold, speedy style, coughs all night robbing him of a good night of sleep. Evelyn was the next culprit. Mostly, she enjoyed a couple days of mental health days home. Her main complaint was a runny nose and silly frog voice. Evelyn was thrilled to finally go grocery shopping with Josie and I. She finally scored a lunchable after months of begging for one.

I am working on Evelyn's baby book and the latest blog book edition in the afternoons during nap time. I finished both books on Friday. Now I just need to wait for a sale from Blurb to happen! I've had no business in a month, it's nice to relax and focus on other things. Since I still have time maybe I should start on Josie's baby book and get the next blog book up to date, sometimes the books get overwhelming.

The little girls started a game of Cinderella. I discovered the game when large patches of water showed up in random spots on the flooring. They would take turns wearing Cinderella's working dress and sopping water about with a rag and water in a bowl. As one cleaned the other sister would morph into Cinderella wearing her ballgown. I got a cleanish floor from that game! Josie started singing "sing sweet buttcheeks" instead of "sing sweet nightingale." Evelyn is rubbing off on her!

Friday Mrs Sanders invited me to her classroom to show off my rock collection! This time I added in the geodes we cracked open last March when the Lances were here to visit. Everett was thrilled to help me set out the rocks and walk around the room to show off some of my ultra cool rocks. Josie stole the show when she started singing "sing sweet nightingale, sing sweet butt cheeks" to the tune in Cinderella. Josie found her Skye watch towards the beginning of the week. She wore that huge watch on her wrist most of the days, I'd hear snatches of the PAW Patrol drifting about the house at all odd hours...even the middle of the night. It was my week to carpool the kids to and from school, some weeks the stars align so one has to drive morning and afternoon. Friday afternoon went by too quickly, and suddenly I was wondering where Evelyn was. Shoot, my turn to pick up and a close encounter with Josie poop and too much crazy helped me forget my duties. I had to pay $20 for after-school care for my faux pas.

Amelia and I quite enjoyed a lovely weekend at the Time to Blossom Conference. Justin came home a bit early to stay with the kids while the girls went to play. We joined up with AJ and Stella Packard for the conference. We kicked off the conference with a girls dinner at Zupa's. The conference was held at the interstake center near the Mesa temple complex. Friday evening we were entertained by Brooke White from American Idol. She told her story about her experience with American Idol. We heard her testimony, she was selected because of her gorgeous voice and her response "I've never seen an R-rated movie" on the show's paperwork. She is releasing her first country album the first of October! We broke for a snack of popcorn and fun soda mixes. Brooke ended the evening with a concert, she even sang a couple songs from her new album.

Saturday we were back at the stake center by 9 am. Sister LaBarr and Jackson started off the morning performing Amazing Grace on piano and violin.

Brooke: Anxiety and the Atonement. I loved her advice to get silly when things get tough, often that attitude of silly will vent most anxieties. We are all professional humans! Interrupt anxiety with gratitude.

Becky Proudfit: Social Media and Divine Identity. Social media will never give you an identity, worth, love, acceptance, or value. Those things come from righteous living, from knowing who you are.

Jamie Hutchings: Surviving Life's Bubbles. It's OK to not be OK! We are all broken, that's how the light gets in. We are going to have to fight for the privilege to be at His side.

Laura Solorzano: Remarkable Now. This is exactly what you prayed for but not what you expected! 10 things to become remarkable. 1. gratitude 2. positive affirmations 3. mirror exercise (tell self you love self) 4. pray to know you're remarkable 5. immerse in Bof M 6. service 7. limit social media 8. read patriarchal blessing 9. read teachings of modern prophets 10. stillness
She shared this quote from President Nelson's IG account.

Great power lies in learning who you really are. Please take time to think prayerfully about these facts:

You are an elect son or daughter of God.

You were created in His image.

You were taught in the spirit world to prepare you for anything and everything you would encounter during this latter part of these latter days. That teaching endures within you!

Learn for yourselves who you really are. Ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, how He feels about you and your mission here on earth. If you ask with real intent, over time the Spirit will whisper the life-changing truth to you. Record those impressions and review them often, and follow through with exactness.

I promise you that when you begin to catch even a glimpse of how your Heavenly Father sees you and what He is counting on you to do for Him, your life will never be the same!

Last speaker was Lisa Funk, she taught a class on Mindful Lettering! We got to learn faux calligraphy.

The conference was a fun time to share feelings with our cute daughters. We got to dance, eat yummy treats, listen to uplifting speakers, and feel lovely feelings. I'm glad Amelia had Stella to pal around with as well. We walked a block to Moreno's for lunch. So yummy, I had ceviche tostada and a shrimp cocktail, such a light and delicious meal. Amelia was so excited to try the fried ice cream Cari Sue ordered.

We arrived back home around 6 pm. Justin reported that Josie pooped in her undies while they were out for lunch at Del Taco. He made her wear the sticky mess home, gross. I jumped right into dinner prep. Evelyn excitedly ran in to tell us there was a crazy awesome rainbow outside. We all dropped everything and ran outside to admire the gorgeous apparition until the sun set. The rainbow was a full one with a triple reflection!

Sunday I had a special photo session with Bishop Guerdian's family. He has two married daughters who are making their ways in life, one is moving to Abeline, TX. Their other unmarried daughter is headed to Greece for a service opportunity. All the changes happened in less than a couple weeks, they needed photos before the kids dispersed. We enjoyed a warm evening out at Lost Dutchman State Park. In our finance class this Sunday we discussed budgeting, ended with the challenge to create a budget.