What a great weekend! Even though TC was out of town celebrating his brother's 30th birthday and it was just me and the kids, it turned out great. Of course, it was also Conference weekend. I love Conference and I love love love having it on TV. We haven't always had cable TV and are actually considering cancelling it when our contract is up. There are only two times a year when I really really want to keep it. Our family has changed in the two years since we got cable and I miss the way we used to be. But this post is not about that.

Having Conference on TV at home means lounging around the house for two days straight occasionally picking up small child detritus so we don't get buried alive in it. It also means that the house feels smaller and smaller with every passing hour.

Hannah's drawing trying to keep Zach occupied.

It means letting the kids eat their weight in candy while playing Conference Bingo.

It means getting excited at the beginning of the Saturday morning session wondering where the new temples will be and if there will be any more announcements.

It means getting teary when President Packer delivers his talk from his chair and when it is obvious how skinny President Eyring has gotten.

It means trying really hard to listen with all the noise the kids are making even though they are trying (sort of) to be quiet and reminding yourself that you can always listen again later or read it next month in the Ensign.

Maddie's artwork of our family.

Most of all, it means listening to the Prophet of God and the Apostles relate to us the things that Heavenly Father wants us to hear right now and showing the kids by example how important it is to set aside two weekends a year to sit at the Prophet's feet - on the TV.

Having said all that, one nice thing about living out here is that Conference doesn't start until 11:00. There is time to get out and do something fun if you leave early enough and if *ahem* you get home at 11:45 and start watching Conference then - thank heaven for the DVR!

We went to a little pumpkin patch here in town with another family in our ward. Even though it was quite small, all the kids had fun. Zach would barely let me put him down. At almost two years, he is very aware of all things scary. I think if I had tried to take him in the "Haunted House" (Haunted Tent, really) he would have gone all Tasmanian devil in my arms.

There was a corn maze and a little train that kept getting stuck in the mud. Hannah and Zach sat together in one car and the first thing Hannah said when they got back was, "Karlee did not stop honking her horn the entire time!" Which makes total sense since Karlee is constantly without stop ever not making some kind of noise. Maddie was in the car that got disconnected from the car in front of her. Not a big deal, but good thing it happened to the easiest going child there; she thought it was funny!

All in all it was a very nice weekend. It is wise and merciful that there are these two weekends a year where we can take a break from everything and soak up the Spirit. Hopefully the soaking up of the Spirit will increase with the age of the kids!