Each year I look forward to General Conference with excitement. When else can you hear the words of inspired men directed to us here and now? This year was no exception, although as the boys get older, the feeling of excitement is also mixed a teensy bit with dread. Okay maybe more than a teensy bit. the idea of entertaining two boys with quiet activities for 8 hours seems like an almost impossible task. So this year, I decided to eliminate the dread by being prepared.

I put together a conference basket for Jackson this year. I spent the night before Conference compiling coloring pages, bingo, puzzles, and other activities to keep him engaged and excited about conference. I also included a new box of crayons, a few dry erase markers (for his easel) and some stamps. And to keep him occupied in between activities, I included all kinds of fun snacks that we never have any other time: juice boxes, licorice, red vines, goldfish, and some homemade popcorn balls.

When Jackson saw that basket, he was so excited he was jumping around the room. It looked a bit like Christmas morning. I heard him yell just as we started the session: This is a FUN conference mom!

And cute Bennett was so kind to sleep through almost all of both sessions. What a thoughtful guy.

My only change is that next time I will separate the activities into 4 little baskets: one for each session. He was so excited he kind of barreled through the activities too fast. But I did have the insight to hold back enough food to last him both days.

All in all, we had a great experience this year, one we will definitely be repeating next time!

Oh, and speaking of Conference, did everyone get a chance to listen to Elder Holland's fabulous talk? Elder Holland has always been a great speaker, but the message and power behind his talk gave me chills. As soon as it is available, I will post it here for those who may not have seen it. Can't wait to watch that one over again.

Until April...