April General Conference Weekend

General Conference happens twice a year, every six months, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and is when the prophet Thomas S. Monson, and the12 apostles, and a few other selected speakers address the whole of the church over one weekend.  

There are two, two hour sessions on Saturday with a two hour break in between each, then a two hour session just for the men 12 and older on Saturday evening. 

That is followed by two more two hour sessions with a break in between on Sunday.

That is a lot for anyone, especially two active small boys :)

Families can have all sorts of traditions for General Conference, and ours seem to be to go to the Grandparents to be able to share the experience with them.

This year we stayed at home and listened with Papa and Grandma Kathy (who is now officially in Utah and this was her first weekend!) for the first session.  

Grandma Kathy made a great breakfast, complete with the tradition of orange rolls.

I had little treat bowls for different words set out, so if the kids heard "Jesus", "Family", "Temple",or "Scriptures/ Book of Mormon" they could pick a treat from the bowl.

They had to hear it though, and if we prompted every time, the kids would have filled up fast on sweets.

For the second session we drove to Grandma Hiller's, and afterward, and before Papa and Daddy went to the Priesthood session, we had a great dinner with Grandma Hiller.

A rare picture with Grandma, she says she doesn't like to take pictures anymore, 

but I think she is beautiful.

The boys (and myself!) really enjoyed her backyard, it is so beautiful, and everything is green already! Flowers are blooming, flowers on the trees, and her grass is so soft.

After the priesthood session we drove all the way up to Mike and Misty's house in Franklin.

We hadn't visited with them for a long time, and thought this was a perfect opportunity.

They are always so welcoming, I love that we are friends.

We spent the night on Saturday with them, and then watched the first Sunday session there

 (and didn't take any pictures, sad).

During the break we headed over to Mike's dad and mom's, Doug and Debbie's (also in Franklin) for a dinner in between and then the second Sunday session. 

The dinner was fantastic, thank you so much!

More of the Porter clan were there, and all the kids enjoyed playing together.

After that we headed over to the Haworth farm to see Grandpa and Grandma Haworth, 

and the Tanner clan was there too.

It was good to see everyone, even if just for a little bit.

James and Jack wanted to see the cows, and this was the only picture we took while in Franklin.

It was a great weekend of spiritual uplift and family bonding.

I like those two traditions the most.