Ok here comes the continuation of the last post!!
First off HOW GORGEOUS is this girl???
Seriously Someone needs to just up and Marry her already!!
Ok so confession time - I haven't had my camera out in a LONG time!!
I have been ok doing some for family and friends,
but Shooting with this kind of purpose well I don't do very often
because I confess I have a love-hate relationship with my camera!!
I love taking photos and the creative process, visiting and talking with clients,
seeing their reactions to my favorite pictures, I love it.
I hate the little voice in my head that sometimes becomes a bit too loud,
"you are not at the top of your creative game", "you are not that good",
"your post processing is lousy", there are other things that this voice says.
As you can see this little voice is quite annoying.
I also love photo's that show emotion, love, caring, awe,
humility for creation, all kinds of holy impulses
that remind me of Gods love and his gifts to us.
I also hate that post processing techniques have made it
almost impossible to enjoy a picture without wondering,
is this what the photographer saw, is his craft the lighting he saw,
the emotion captured in an instant,
or is his craft the post processing that brings all that forward.
See Its a bit of a Turmoil.
So for now I get to WORK on something fantastic - MY FAMILY!!!
Photography gets to be a perk/hobby/interest
that keeps my creativity flowing.
(and maybe reminds me that behind the home making
and the mothering I'm an individual!!)
So here's to my sister who gave me a chance to remind myself
that I'm still an individual and still capable of
capturing some great photos!!
Now moving on to more family business.
General Conference!!
OK I admit that I was a little nervous about general conference this year.
I have two very active little girls and have started to feel really feel pregnant.
I had created a lovely bad of things for Ms. A to do in the spring and
was a little worried that this year she would be quite uninterested in
the same things that had been in the bag for a while.
So turns out that with a little prep work and a wonderful grandma
who paid for the friend to come to our house,
General Conference was wonderful!!
Early in the month of September we helped Ms. A construct
the Conference chain from the friend.
Which gave us 14 activities to do with her
( 1 a day) leading up to conference Saturday.
I confess I mostly loved it because it was shanes
idea and he did most of it with her.
(Which she ADORED!)
Now a couple of weeks before conference I also had been thinking to myself.
"I'll just add 2 things to the conference bag so that the girls will have
some quiet things to do together and I'll be able to just sit
and write notes and feel inspired!"
I admit that as a single lady I relished conference in a way that
I could at no other time, I suppose I became kind of a snob.
I wanted the girls to be perfect so that I could receive inspiration
and revelation about what I have been struggling with.
(like when I was single and only had me to worry about!!)
So with a prayer in my heart I bought a couple of new
play dough adventures, and that is how the girls spent the
morning session of conference - PJ's and Play Dough.
Shane even enjoyed himself.
(and yes that is an overturned laundry basket we used as a table)
Lately I had been feeling a lot like the girls were just too much for me
and I never had a minute of peace to just read my scriptures or even shower.
One of the things I learned through conference was that the lord knows
what he needs us to hear and he'll make ways for us to hear it.
The girls were not perfect and not amazing the whole day.
But as I prepared treats and colored in coloring books and put them first
before my incessant need to take notes,
I found that the lord provided a way for me to do both!
I had my notebook handy and gave the girls what
attention they wanted from me.
When something important was said it was like a little volume button
was turned on and I was acutely aware that
I should be paying attention to this part.
In some specific instances it was a single word.
Like Elder Hollands use of "Ash-heap".
My head shot up imidiately when I heard it and
I resolved that after conference this was a talk that I needed
to read again, and again, and again.
(mostly because when I read his talks I imagine
his voice which I love listening to.)
There were blessings like the girls playing downstairs nicely together
for almost the entirety of Elder Perry's talk about
the importance of family and marriage and children.
(which of course I felt was speaking directly to me!)
I felt very blessed after the Saturday sessions as
I looked back through my notes.
I felt like the lord had given me an enormous blessing in
being able to bless my children throughout the day,
as well as receive the very knowledge and strength
that I was looking for from his inspired servants!!
Sunday was another story altogether, mostly because
it was intertwined with
Thanksgiving.
Sunday morning was filled with rush to get ready for conference
followed by rushed lunch followed by visit to a wonderful couple
who have kind of adopted our little family.
Margaret and Weldon are amazing and she had called Shane earlier
in the week to tell him that Weldon had completed a beautiful
swing set/tree house/play area in the back yard.
Therefore we should naturally come to conference on Sunday
at their house in the afternoon.
Shanes mom was planning on being there with them and
we were all headed over to her house after for thanksgiving dinner.
So we went and let the girls play to their hearts content
until it was time for conference to start and then we went inside
and the girls played with all of the new toys and books and things.
(new to them anyway)
We enjoyed conference together and migrated over
to Grandma Cathy's for dinner.
Now you may remember this post about wanting to have a more
meaningful thanksgiving that wasn't just about huge dinners
at multiple grandmas houses!!
Well that thankful board didn't really make much of an appearance
because I decided I wanted to get the girls
all excited about conference too.
So here's what really happened.
On a night when we were all tired and a bit cranky
we had an impromptu family night.
We sat around the table and made a grateful chain.
I remember being in awe at how easily Ms. A got the concept
that we wanted to list things on each ring of the chain
that we were grateful for.
I was even more amazed when without my explanation she also
understood that I was hoping for something more meaningful than
ICE CREAM.
The first thing that Ms. A was grateful for was her Sister,
then mom and dad and so on.
Mom and Dad of course wrote things down like conference,
scriptures, prayer, showers (ok mostly me).
Ms. E followed suit with her list, mommy, daddy, bunny,
blanky, grandma, etc.
I had a brainwave that we should take the chain to each thanksgiving dinner
and give all the adults in Ms. A and Ms. E's life
a chance to add to her grateful chain.
And so It grew.
Even some of the most reserved uncles wrote at least one.
After Hudson Dinner it was 40 chains long.
(which Ms A delighted in counting)
After Webster dinner it was even longer - close to 80 chains long.
I was glad to see how excited the girls were and how Ms. A
was really in awe of all the blessings that had been written down.
Even if some of them were days off work, bacon,
icing without the cake, and being thankful for being humble.
(silly uncles)
We really were grateful for our wonderful family and friends this Thanksgiving.
As well as a loving heavenly father who reminds us that
even though there is still so much going on
if we focus on what is most important,
with faith in him everything turns out for good.
