Stake Conference, Holland

Saturday morning, Lila was up earlier than we would have liked. :)  Jake went to get his haircut and check a junkyard for a manual seat for my Camry.  The driver's seat is stuck and won't move forward... I can't reach the pedals so Jake's been driving it.  He was gone for a few hours.  I was a little bummed about spending the morning by myself, and really appreciated it when he brought some Sweetwater's donuts back for me :)

After that, we took Lila for a rainy bike ride through the neighborhood to check out all the garage sales.  There weren't very many.  I was specifically looking for summer clothes for Lila, but most of the neighborhood has boys, so we didn't see very many little girl clothes at all.  We did find her a bike helmet though for $1.50.  We'd just been talking about how we needed to buy one, so it worked out perfectly.  She didn't fuss over wearing it at all, which really surprised us because usually she hates hats.  We also got her some books.  It was really cute seeing her chill in the trailer, reading her books as we were biking, lol.  We stopped at another place and visited with the owners for a while, a young couple with two boys.  While we were there it started pouring so we waited it out for a bit, but biked home while it was still drizzling.  Lila stayed nice and dry in the trailer.

We meant to be really productive on Saturday, but it didn't really happen.  Jake had wanted to mow the lawn all weekend, but it rained all weekend so he couldn't.  On Friday night we let Lila play in the rain for a while and she loved it.  Walked around with her hand facing out to feel the rain falling, very cute.  We did do a bit of cleaning while Lila napped, but we also laid down for a while because we were really tired.  Had lunch together.  I took a shower.  Jake eventually got ready and left for Priesthood Leadership Training for Stake Conference at 4:00.  Lila and I spent the few hours alone eating (she tried baked beans and liked them) and getting ready for conference and reading books.

Mike picked us up (Jake had a short meeting with the high council afterwards).  Mike had spoken in the meeting about teaching YM about their duty to God.  Jake said it was awesome.  We grabbed some Taco Bell and ate in Jake's office at church.  We all (Jake, Mike, Lila, and I) started out sitting in the overflow, but we all eventually ended up out in the foyer.  We were sitting in front of a family with a boy close to Lila's age, so they played for a while, but it didn't last very long.  Jake got up to do the count, and then soon had Mike bring Lila out to the foyer.  So I got to listen to the first half of conference by myself.

President Decker's talk was really amazing and touched me a lot.  He talked about a friend of his and Meghan's... she met someone at Rick's, married, they had three children.  Her husband decided to leave her and the children one day.  For a period of time she and the children (three boys) lived in her car.  She was eventually able to find a friend with whom she could live.  It was her desire, of course, to be able to live in their own home... so she started praying and searching the scriptures for a commandment that had a promised blessing of a home/house.  She read in D&C 59, where it talks about the Sabbath, and the promised blessing of keeping the Sabbath day holy includes "the fulness of the earth" and a home.  So she and her children began to really focus on keeping the Sabbath day holy.  Sometime later, she was driving down a street and saw a "for sale" sign in front of a house, and people working on the house.  She stopped to talk to them and mentioned that she would want to/be able to live in the home and take care of it while it was for sale.  The people then explained that the house was owned by a company who tried to sell vacant home by hiring real families live in them while they were for sale... so that they were selling a "real" home instead of a vacant one.  Her and her boys moved in, and eventually she was offered a job by the company and managed other homes/families in similar situations.  She was able to go on to get an advanced degree and was able to provide for her family.  Amazing story.  President Decker encouraged us to search the scriptures for commandments with promises/blessings attached to them.  Heavenly Father keeps His promises to us.

Another talk, that wasn't as great... especially because she told a little "funny" parable about a man falling off a cliff, right after President Decker tearfully shared with us that his father had died by falling off a cliff while mountain climbing... I did get something from.  Sister Toney, the stake RS president, shared some of her experiences as a violin teacher... and it made think, again, about my childhood and exposure to music... I think that if I had the right people (music teachers) in my life, I think that I could've really excelled and understood music in a much stronger sense.  If I had a great music teacher--one who really taught the fundamentals well and the science behind it... I might've been inspired differently.  But instead, I was blessed with individuals who inspired me to pursue other righteous desires... women like Sister Adams, the Adams girls, all the different church leaders in the Green Bay stake... who inspired me and taught me how to be a Christlike woman... and who inspired me to become a wife and mother.  I just had a clear impression from the Spirit that what I'm doing now is what Heavenly Father has always planned for me... and that He has carefully orchestrated my life so that I have the husband that I have and the children that I'll have.  I am supposed to be Lila's mother and there's a reason why I am her mother.

I went out to the foyer during the intermediate hymn.  The chairs were really uncomfortable in the gym.  So I just sat out there with Jake and Lila.  Desiree came out with Jarom to feed him a bottle.  Other parents with babies came out too.  Lila was having so much fun, walking around and babbling (sometimes screaming gleefully), and playing with the water fountain.

My poor girl didn't get to bed till 10.  Jake and I stayed up too late (till midnight) watching the 20/20 interview of Stephanie Nielsen on Hulu.  I cried.  A tragic, beautiful story.  Amazing people.

I really hoped that we would all get to sleep in the next morning.  But we didn't.  Lila was up early and I was kind of bitter about it :)  But, we got up and going.  We had Conference again at 10:00am, a special broadcast from Salt Lake.  Lila fell asleep on the way there, but we took her in and she didn't fall asleep again... though we certainly tried to get her to.  We sat in the RS room (there was a TV in there) and turned the lights off.  The Shumways (with new baby Ruby) were also in there, and the Pinedas eventually sat in there too.  Lila had a lot of fun just walking around, totally not crabby at all.  She especially enjoyed it when she had Lucas there to play with.  She loved walking around with (and drinking from) her sippy cup and ate some goldfish crackers and Doritos.

We got home, had lunch, and she took a nap that wasn't as long as I would've liked either.  Jake and I did get to sleep for maybe 5-10 minutes.  Mike was here when we got up.  I was pooped and wanted to lay down more, but we had to get ready to go.  We left for brother Jim's at 2:30.  It was his 29th birthday, so we went to see him in Holland.  Mike and Angela had been scheming this all week, Jim didn't know we were coming... he'd texted Mike earlier that day (his birthday) "sad" because he thought we had all forgotten about his birthday.  Angela texted during church to say that Jim told her he wanted to visit his brothers because he missed them.  So, it was really great to go and visit.  Lila did not fall asleep on the way there, like I'd hoped.  But the drive wasn't too bad at all.

We got there a little before 4:00.  Jim was surprised and delighted to see us.  We had confetti cake that Mike made and sang happy birthday.  We spent some time outside.  Lila liked watching Emily drive around in her Power Wheels and pulling around a little toy around the parking lot.  (Jim lives at his office, which has a small apartment in the back.)  Jim is a funny, funny guy.  Reminds me a lot of Lori, but also reminds me of Dad a lot too.  Very opinionated and bold, and so hyper about the things he's passionate about.  He's starting a garden, and several times as he was chopping up onions for dinner, he had to rush out to the garden to plant some onions right then.  His garage is full of stuff, junk, mostly.  He and Angela are planning on signing a land contract for their office/apartment--so they'll basically be buying it, or renting to own, something like that.  He has "big" plans for the things he'd like to do there.  He definitely seems happier now than he ever did while married to Sarah.  Angela is funny.  I think it definitely helps that she's foreign; I don't think many American women could put up with Jim's antics so well :) 

We had dinner with the missionaries before we left.  Lila loved walking up and down the small ramp leading to the kitchen; she did it over and over.  She really loved playing with Emily, who would chase her and bark at her like a doggy.  Emily loved it too.  Lila is going to have a blast in Ironwood over the 4th with all her cousins.

Lila did fall asleep on the way home.  When we got home, she had a meltdown down and was screaming and crying hysterically, especially when I changed her diaper.  She was beyond exhausted.  So she fell asleep at 9:00.  Jake and I were up for another hour.  We watched a Conference talk (he wants that to be our tradition on Sunday evenings), talked a little bit, and then went to bed at 10:00. 

Today was okay... I just felt blah all day and so did Lila.  We both slept in though, which is awesome.  I woke up around 8:30 and she woke up at almost 9.  I got to read the scriptures for a while before she woke up.  She let me spoon-feed her milk from my cereal bowl at breakfast and enjoyed that a lot.  I did too, as it is a very rare occurrence.  At church on Sunday, I went to hand Lucas a goldfish and he opened his mouth for me to put it in and I was shocked, lol, because Lila almost never lets me feed her!  What a child.

I spent the morning making phone calls to make assignments for Primary on Sunday.  Lila went down for a nap at noon but only slept for like 40 minutes.  We had lunch, but she didn't eat anything.  Went outside for a while, and then she was super cranky for the rest of the day until Jake came home.  Sigh.  Last night I wrote out a long to do list of things I want to get done this week.  I had high hopes of accomplishing a lot today, but that didn't happen.  I was determined to make dinner tonight, and it perhaps was a little overly ambitious of me... I made a wild rice, chicken casserole and it was a lot of work.  Lots of little steps.  Lila whined/cried most of the time... she did have a peaceful period when I let her sit on the counter with me while I was chopping vegetables.  I also played Sesame Street on Netflix on the laptop and she danced to the music. 

I was so happy and relieved when Jake got home.  He really saves the day.  Lila instantly becomes happy and cheerful, at least for a while.  We had dinner together and it was pretty good, but a little too cheesy.  Lila ate a few pieces of chicken and some rice too, she seemed to enjoy that.  But hasn't eaten a whole lot today.  After dinner we had a short FHE lesson on Jesus.  We showed Lila pictures of Jesus from the Gospel Art Kit.  She loves pictures of Jesus.  It's pretty amazing, actually.  All weekend at church she loved walking around looking at pictures of Jesus, and the instant we showed her one tonight, she dropped what she was doing, rushed over, grabbed the book and smiled and stared at it.  Amazing.  We talked a little about Jesus, and then she got angry, so we ended the lesson and had a short dance party.  Jake and I had fun.  Lila didn't last 2 songs before she was tired and ready for bed.  So I took a quick shower, we gave Lila a quick shower, and then she went to bed and was asleep before 7:00.

We did have some good moments together today, though.  In the afternoon when she's cranky, I'll take her to my bed and we'll cuddle and look at books and she'll nurse and she's usually in a better mood after that.  I sorted through papers in the office for a while and she was happy in there.  And I took a break from making dinner to change her diaper, and she was so happy laying there, that I just tickled her for a while and she loved that.  My favorite part to kiss on her body is the soles of her feet.  Weird?  Maybe.  But they're just the cutest, sweetest things, her feet.  I eat her toes and she giggles.  And she loves being tickled lately.  I make airplane sounds while I tickle her and she imitates me now.  She really is a sweetheart.  I love, love, love that sweet, chubby baby.

Jake's been mowing the lawn for almost 2 hours now!  I hope he's almost done.  It was really long.  He's probably almost filled up our 96 gallon garbage can with the cut grass... he's going to dump it into the woods when he's done.  He's a good man.  Very sweet to me.  Our neighbor, Mary and her 10-year-old daughter Hannah, just dropped off some cookies.  I should have been nicer... I probably cut them off a little bit, but I just got out of the shower and didn't feel like talking.  Next time I'll have to invite them in or something.