Hangin' with the ladies....

Last week I took a break from my life. You see I am celebrating a "big" birthday this year (in two weeks...gulp) and what I wanted most was to celebrate with my 4 sisters and my Mom. We have had a tradition for several years of going to BYU Women's Conference. I haven't been able to go for about 3 years due to having babies etc.... But this year I wanted to celebrate life with them! All 5 girls were able to go along with our Mom.


My sisters and Mom are AMAZING! Between the 6 of us we have 32 children. I just wanted to soak in their experience and wisdom in raising great kids because I tell you what my nieces and nephews are down to earth, hard working incredible people, many of whom are already adults and raising families of their own (I am a great aunt 9.5 times...the newest one is coming in July), and my parents 7 children didn't turn out too bad either :).


Going to those inspired classes was just what my soul needed. I gained so much insight as to what I need to do better as a wife and mother and as a woman of God. Mostly I realized that it starts with ME. I need to do better at the essentials and be better at all the usuals....studying (not just reading) the scriptures and the prophets words, exercising more regularly, you know the drill. However...most of all I realized I need to work on my relationship with my Father in Heaven. I need to put more effort into my personal prayers and take time to ponder throughout the day and be "still". From those efforts will come the inspiration for me and for my own family.

I was impressed when hearing these women who have gone through incredible challenges how they gained strong impressions and inspiration that was so personal to THEM and their families. I heard lots of suggestions from the speakers on how to better myself and my family. However what is most important is what I hear from the Teacher through His spirit for me personally. That is what I am trying to focus on and do better at.

A fun little side note....I am a big fan of CJane's blog. I read her daily. She and her sisters spoke at one session of Women's Conference (her sister is Stephanie Nielsen who survived a terrible plane crash). After the conference was over we were making our way out of the building to get some pictures of us sisters and Mom and who should I see but Courtney. I became part of the paparazzi and asked if I could get a photo with her. I have to say she is as real and witty and fun in person as she is on her blog. It was fun to meet her (oh and she put this photo on her blog today...my 15 minutes of fame).