Lovely weekends and a Gretchy update

This weekend was conference weekend and it has been absolutely lovely.  It is so uplifting and helpful in my life and has answered my concerns and is such a comfort to me. Just like a big hug! I loved so many talks but especially the one by Pres. Monson.  He said to recognize the needs of people around you and respond.  At home, in the parking lot etc.  It is just nice to have what is most important put into perspective.  I always come away with a list of goals that I would like to work on.  My number one goal this conference (apart from trying to follow Pres. Monson's counsel) is to be grateful! Be grateful for all the wonderful things that  I have in my life now and be happy about them now.  I have such a problem of ALWAYS planning for the future.  I just like to get things done. Always. So I am always planning some huge project and doing it.  It is great to be motivated but I feel like I need to just enjoy what I have more and now, instead of always thinking to the future.

 Apart from listening to the wonderful talks we updated our 72 hour kits.  After studying about natural disasters in my undergrad (and growing up with lots of earthquakes) I am really pretty passionate about disaster preparation.  Aaron loves it too so we try to just keep it simple but slowly add to our supplies.  Conference weekend, which happens two times a year, is a great time to make sure the kits are up to date for our needs and to replace food that will expire soon.  Then we shove everything in our backpacks and put them up in the living room closet so we can get to them easily in the event of an emergency. Done and done! You can see our fancy meals below ;-)

Last weekend we went to a talent show that the youth in our ward organized for our neighborhood.  It was so fun to hear and see all the talented kids share those piano, dance, and yo-yo skills! Also there were displays from many people showcasing their painting, cooking, and sewing skills.  It was so fun to learn about so many people's hidden talents. Here is Julian sharing his talent of performing on stage as he sings popcorn popping with the other kids.

 

I wanted to be supportive and did a little sewing display.  It was of Julian's jacket, Gretch's blessing dress, and her quilt and stuffed bunny I made her for her birthday.  I figured no one wanted to see Julian's used cloth diapers that I made, so I left those at home.  

 

There were lots of neat displays like these ones.  A very talented quilter display and an entire built model train and city.

However, I think my real love and talent is (that I was too afraid to bring) not killing plants all the way.  My therapy and salvation during the winter months is my little collection of indoor plants and somehow they have almost made it through the entire winter.  I am a little concerned about the lemon tree making it all the way but like I said, it is not dead all the way:) That tiny one is my new little banana tree.

Last but not least I would like to share about Gretchen.  I like to call her Gretchen the barbarian.

Here she is showing off her muscles:

 

So Gretchy is pretty much the coolest one year old girl around but sometimes I wonder about her amazing survival instincts. For example.  We were grocery shopping at the supermarket and she kept begging for all the food and so I let her play with some yogurt and I though she was happy just chewing on it. Until I heard her say "Hah!"  She put her head down and I realized that she had somehow poked a hole through the lid and had just finished siphoning like half the yogurt out of the bottle. Of course I was like "WHAT the HECK!" and then I took a picture.

Besides that Gretch was trying to get up on my lap and she put her teeth on my knee, bit, and threw her body up using her mouth as an anchor.  And today she did a front summer salt off the couch (for fun I think) and obviously fell but was like, cool.  She is pretty wily and probably needs to be with how much she has to deal with Julian but she is pretty hard core.  Besides that she really loves her daddy and her brother.  She says thank you all the time and is amazing at following all the directions I give her.  She is smart and cute to boot!  Julian is getting so big and is very full of energy too.  He loves to open up the front window and shout at the kids walking home from school. He says "high friend!!" and "daddy wont let me play with the skeleton legos." Ah, I'm sure they have no idea what is going on but really Julian is so fun.  He is so outgoing and loves to have fun with his sister and me too.  I am really looking forward to expelling more of that energy outside with the warmer weather that is coming soon.  I love these gorgeous kids!