General Conference!

Every 6 months we get the privilege of listening to a world wide broadcast where the living Prophet and Apostles and other church leaders speak to us. While we get messages from them throughout the year every Spring and Fall there are formal meetings called General Conference where a variety of topics are addressed related to living our life how Christ would have us live (prayer, scripture study, family life, faith, testimony, service, morality to name a few!) We view these talks as modern day scripture, just as the prophets of old spoke to the people of their day, so today they speak to the world! Anyone is welcome to listen and hear the talks and they are translated into over 70 languages throughout the world.

Learn more about General Conference or listen to some talks by clicking here! Nowadays we get to watch it online or on BYU TV, though we can go to churches to watch it broadcasted too! With little kids I opted to watch all online, though it is wonderful to go to church and sit with other members as you watch. It is broadcasted from the Conference Center in SLC, UT. Here are Mere and Glenn-wish they sat like that for more than 10-minutes! They enjoyed the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing the most.

inside & outside the conference center (photos from Google image search)

Some handmade paper decorations I finally took down (they had been moved to Mere's door and the closet door since we enjoyed them so much)

Chocolate is my weakness. Since Nutella is expensive and too tempting to keep on hand and I didn't want to make something too unhealthy, Saki suggested I try melting chocolate chips and spreading it on wholegrain bread! I mixed them with some unsweetened peanut butter in the microwave and as you can see it was quite the hit! (Mere is posing for the camera)
Saki and Glen reading. . .

Glenn is really developing! I love when kids reach new levels! He likes to point to me and tell me I'm "mommy" and Mere is "Merre" and Saki is "dad" especially when we read a book with a mom and kids in the pictures, he'll point to the book and say "mommy" and then me and say "mommy". He is easily concerned about things going on, and seems to enjoy saying uh oh and oh no! He loves animals. He is going through a hitting and throwing stage, I remember that with Mere too. We have started potty training with him, though not full blown (little steps so I don't get stressed about it). More like taking him to the bathroom when he seems like he's going or after meals etc. He's done well most days. Candy is a big motivator for him. I chose to start now since he sees Mere and us use the bathroom and gets the general idea. I ended up trying to potty train Mere and him early since the cost of diapers and the hassle of changing diapers gets old to me. I guess with older kids it seems you've trained them to use their diaper and maybe some can do it better themselves, but I'm not convinced. I think potty training is likely miserable at any age-so better to get it done with now, though I surely understand people putting it off till later...

Mere has been quite the little mother and helper. She helps with the dishes at times as well as trying to help Glenn with things (even when he resists). She loves to put on her backpack full of books and say she is going to school (we live right by a school). She really tries to state her opinion on things, which can be trying, but I do like it when kids say what they are thinking... She also likes to read books and collect rocks. Glenn and Mere's favorite toys are still duplos!