Youth Conference

A few days after I got home from CA it was time to get packed up again and head on up to Palmyra for Youth Conference! It was pretty funny having to unpack just to repack again. Theoretically I wouldn't have had any YW at this- Youth Conference is typically for those 14 and up and I don't have any girls that fall in that age range- but this conference was for all youth because it was taking place in Palmyra and the youth had the opportunity to do baptisms. 

So I had y 12 yr old YW with me and we survived the 3 and a half hour trip up! Friday night started with games for the Under 14 crowd and a dance for those 14+. Yep, life's not fair sometimes, I know those younger kids would have much rather been at the dance than playing silly get to know you games. I can't blame them! So there was a bit of refereeing involved to make sure that kids weren't where they didn't belong.

My YW wasn't interested in what was going on in the gym, and when we went outside for her to get a book she was admiring the beautiful lit up Palmyra temple down the street. We decided to drive over and see it all lit up for ourselves- why not?

We walked around the temple and enjoyed it's beauty- I've never taken photos of it at night and I usually don't see it like this. 

The windows were lit up and glowing so beautiful. My YW really enjoyed the experience and so did I. Temples are beautiful sacred places. Later that evening we had a Q&A session with the Palmyra Temple President (they asked good questions- phew!) and we figured out rides for the next day. Late night by the time that all of that happened- none of us females got to the hotel and to sleep til 12:30 am at the earliest!

The next day, breakfast started at the crack of dawn- 6:30 to be exact! Yeah, basically no sleep that night! We had breakfast and went to our designated areas, I believe we were split in 3 groups to do the tours and baptisms. Our group started off at the Joseph Smith farm. It was cold out and we got snowed on, but it was neat to see the farm and the Sacred Grove in a beautiful dusting of snow. 

Thankfully it warmed up a bit when we headed into the Sacred Grove- if you don't like the weather out here, just wait 5 minutes!

Here you can see the Smith farm barn:

From there we went to the temple- my girl got to do baptisms inside for the first time and it was so neat. She was so excited. I handed out towels. It was so great to see the youth perform these ordinances. 

From there it was our group's turn to go see the Grandin Press, where the Book of Mormon was first published. I've been there a couple of times now, and it still amazes me all the things that "just happened" so that the Book of Mormon could get published (wink wink) and all the work that was involved in making the books. 

I tried to show some different photos than I have in the past of this place- this marked the first time I photographed the Grandin Press with my DSLR so it was nice to get some better photos in the dim light. 

What it might have looked like where the plates were buried:

Our Sr missionary tourguide- she was great and I loved her skirt!

Inside the room where the pages were sewn together:

We ended our trip with a drive up the Hill Cumorah and a quick look at the church bookstore. Fun stuff!

Well it was a good weekend for my YW and a good one for me as well! 

It was very spiritual and very memorable for the both of us. 

We had a very large turnout of youth for this conference, it was great!

The California Leg

It was really hard to leave "home" in WA again (where did the time go?), but I was excited to be getting to CA. I really wanted to see my family. The California part of my trip proved to be rather bittersweet. As you may recall, my dad had been there helping for a long time with my grandmother who had had several strokes. It was really nice to see him and the rest of my family there, meanwhile it was heartbreaking to see that my grandmother would never really be herself again. I didn't really do any sightseeing, that wasn't the point this trip- it was to see my family and I'm so glad that I was able to. 

Anyhow, on the photos...

Kinda random, but I got to see very old televisions in the SF Airport- kinda neat! This one was from 1947 and had a screen that popped up somehow- isn't the cabinet beautiful?

I am never in SF in February- I got to see the plum tree in bloom! 

Got to see the new plant shed- though it's too nice now to be called a shed!

I went to the high school with my aunt who works there- it's been awhile since I've been in the schools so it was nice to dip my toe in again- and really nice to get to observe and not have to do anything!

It was great observing the art classes.

I want a clay camera! (In progress)

I love this beat up old desk!

How can you be sad when you have buckets of colored pencils?

Spent a couple of days slowly getting ready for my aunt's birthday party...about the easiest party prep I've done!

One of the kids said,"It's not an official birthday party unless there are balloons." 

Good thing we were legit!

Grma and her helpers did the hard part of baking the cookies! I did the brownies...from a frozen batter! And the yummy raviolis were from the caterer! Too easy!

You know it's a good party when someone's under the table, lol.

It was nice to have a houseful and see family friends!

 We did manage to get to our fave restaurant, Nick's!
Had a nice time with Mom's side of the family and some family friends.

I did not take any photos of my other grandmother in the nursing home, I thought about it and decided not to. It wouldn't give her the dignity she deserves and I don't need a photo to remember how sweet she is or how heartbreaking it is to see her in this state. And really, what would I do with the photo?

I made a memory of her in my heart instead. She was happy and smiling, cheerful and loving, but more childlike. She knew who I was and would ask me how Mom and Laura were doing. She remembered the mall had gotten remodeled. But she also kept thinking she was in Utah and that Dad and my grandfather had come out from CA to see her, things like that. 

It was really touching when out of the blue she told me that she was so proud of me for graduating. And another time she told my dad that both she and he have good kids. Many sweet memories. 

It was so hard to have to leave her room when I visited on my way to the airport to go home. I knew it would be the last time I'd ever get to see her in this life. I held her hand and kissed her forehead. She told me she loved me, but I just couldn't say it back- I knew I'd start bawling. I'm probably going to regret that one day. But I know that she knows that I love her. I touched her feet on my way out and blew her a kiss. 

I'm so very thankful that I got to see her when I did- she's had more setbacks since I left and is not doing very well. My other grandma as of now is in the hospital and had to have surgery. Thankfully she's doing alright and will be coming home soon. It pains me to have my loved ones in discomfort and pain.

I'm so thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ and for the knowledge that this life is not all there is- if it was, it'd be so unfair. We have hope of a resurrection through Christ's sacrifice for us. I always love Easter, but now it means even more. I'm so thankful that our families can be together forever. 

Stefanie & David's Big Day

Stef's Big Day was a good one. I was with her when she got her hair done and we had a lull so we went to Dairy Queen before the ceremony! When we arrived at the temple, there was a crazy sight- some half naked woman in some sort of swimsuit prancing in the fountain being photographed by another woman. I'm assuming it was a fashion photo shoot. Either way it was pretty crazy. Thankfully they left soon after we got there. Apparently they had gotten permission to take photos of the fountain, but the people at the temple didn't realize that they were going to be taking photos in the fountain! 
The sealer said some really wonderful things (of course) before pronouncing some very special blessings on them. It was wonderful. I always love going to sealings. It was also special to be in the bride's room, helping with her mom and sister in law to help Stef get ready. 
The photos you saw before were taken prior to The Big Day, here are some actual wedding photos! I wasn't her official photographer, but I snuck some shots throughout the day. 

We did group photos on the lawn and then Stef and David posed on the temple grounds. They lucked out with the weather- it was raining when they entered the temple but it had cleared for when they came out. Phew!

Here they are posing with my hand-lettered Thank You sign!

The temple is a great place!

Now on to the reception!

Her reception was held at her parents house, it was nice. 

Stef opted for cakepops instead of a traditional cake- so cute and so yum!

Yummy food, too!

Bride and Groom cakepops instead of the usual cakecutting...cute!

Guestbook- people signed the photos in the book. Nice!

 I hand-lettered the signs for the reception:

Stef and David had a "Candy Bar" comprised of their favorite sweets. Guests got to fill a tiny take-out box (labeled with the bride and groom's names and the date) with candy to enjoy. Sweet!

 I made the garland out of tissue paper! 

You can kinda see my sign there.

And I made sure the candy jars got bows.

Life is just better with bows, ya know?

 They had a nice photo display with them in the middle and family wedding photos on either side:

During a rare lull, Stef opened my present and got her apron ;)

 Closeup of Stef's bouquet:

And then it was time for cake!

They pulled the top of the Norwegian cake...and got the top ring! More rings equals more luck...and more kids!

 And the feeding of the cakepops commenced:

 Awww...

 And hey, Stef got a good haul!

It was a great day and evening!

We showered the bride and groom with rose petals as they dashed off ;)

Congrats to Stef and Dave!