Seek the good...

Here is what we've been up to these days....

Spring is for flying kites right? The other day was really windy, and Grace earned a new kite by being nice at the store, so we had to go try it out at Grandma's house. 

 She did a really good job of holding it all by herself, even though the Idaho winds threatened to lift her off the ground and carry her to Utah.

 Lucy, on the other hand, would not leave my side. She was traumatized by the noise the kite was making, since it was plastic and flapping violently around in the sky. I'm pretty sure she thought it was some sort of bird up there! :) This is the mood she was in the whole time:

 Next up was Time out for Women. My mom treated us to a fun girl's weekend in Idaho Falls. To start our trip we met my sister Jenny at the temple. It was really fun being in there with two of my favorite ladies! 

Mom didn't get the yellow memo...

 We stayed at the McMillan's house (my bro. Elliot, his wife Kristin and their kids Lia and Jonas.) They were very kind to let us all crash there for a couple of days!

 Grandma and Jonas....

 After the temple we went to our classes that evening. The speakers were so inspiring and taught me so much. I was taking notes as fast as I could, but wish they could print it out so I could study it a little more. 

I thought I would share some of my favorite highlights from the speakers. The theme for the weekend was "Seek the Good". 

John Bytheway was the first speaker and was awesome. He has a way of getting ideas through to me in a way I'll understand, and is hilarious. One of my favorite thoughts from his talk was: "the parable of the marinade"...we are constantly soaking in what we surround ourselves with whether we like it or not. "Regardless of original intention, you will eventually become what you surround yourself with." So true. We need to control what we marinate our lives with.

Virginia Pearce was wonderful. She is President Hinckley's daughter and reminds me of him and his wife. She talked about forgiveness and it was inspiring. My favorite was when she talked about how when we refuse to forgive a person, we are really refusing to let the atonement work in our lives. We are not forgiving the Savior, not the person who offends...

The next day we had a whole day of great speakers...the first was Mary Ellen Edmunds. One of my favorite things she said was, "Don't try to be different, try to be good. Being good is different enough." Goodness is a choice, we choose to do good continually. Don't just avoid things that are bad, but choose things that are good and uplifting.

Next was Emily Watts. She was amazing. She talked about developing good habits. She said, "Do your kids the honor of expecting hard things from them." I love that perspective. She also said to catch people doing good (like our kids), and be sure to point it out, even if it's, "Good job breathing, dear!" :)

D. Kelly Ogden...he said, "Success is not how much money you make, what position you seek, but how much good you do." Because we came from Heavenly Father, divine parentage, we are born good.

Merrilee Boyack talked about the power of one moment. You can change someone's day in a split second. How would our day go if we "gave away" 5 split seconds? Through compliments, or service or prayer for a person. She also said, "If we use our gifts to help someone else, we'll feel the Lord's love for that person." Donate one hour a month in doing good for the community. She also challenged us to pick one thing to dedicate our heart more to. (like scripture study)

Emily Freeman was the last speaker, and I loved her. She talked about all of the "middle moments" of our journey. One thing she said that really hit me was quoting her friend, "When was the last time you received an answer to a prayer? If it wasn't in the last 3 days, change the way you pray. When was the last time you received an answer from the scriptures? If it wasn't in the last week, change your scripture study."  This woman knows her scriptures and was so inspiring. She talked alot about trusting the Lord and His timing.

One of my favorite moments was actually the closing song of Time out for Women. It was performed by Jericho Road and it was called Homeward Bound. The Motab sings it too...it's beautiful. The spirit just came over me so strong as I was packing up my notebook and water bottle, I didn't expect it! :) It was such a neat experience and the spirit confirmed the things I heard to be truths. I learned so much about My Savior and how He wants me to improve and be more like Him. It was a great preparation for Easter season...I would go again in a heartbeat.

We had fun as girls, did some shopping, but I was anxious to get home to my favorite girls, and guy :)

They were sweeties while I was gone. Grace had been playing with markers and accidentally drew a Harry Potter scar on her forehead, so we gave her a wand and made her say, "wingardium leviosa!" 

 I love my family and I love this time of year! Spring is springing and I can't wait to spend more time in the sunshine in the coming weeks.