moms are great!

My mom and dad were here this weekend and it was so great having them here--especially my mom. She is one of the neatest people I know. She is a smart, opinionated and resourceful woman. And she's fun, too. She helped me make the strawberry freezer jam Friday night and it is DELICIOUS! Yum! We made about 7 jars, but at the rate we are going through it, it'll maybe last until June. It just tastes so amazingly good on the homemade (breadmaker) bread. On Saturday she took the kids and I out for dinner, which was really enjoyable. The kids behaved themselves, too, and that was a relief. They normally do quite well when we take them out, but I did hope they'd be on good behavior because a few years ago my dad took the WHOLE family out for dinner (or maybe it was one of the families with their children) and one or more of the kids were not good, so he refuses to go out to dinner with children anymore. He's kind of a stickler in that way. I can't really blame him, but they weren't my kids.

Saturday night we watched The Business of Being Born. My mom is a retired obstetrics nurse, so I thought she'd find it interesting as well as have some good "insider secrets/insights" to share. She did. I asked her about what percentage of "natural" childbirths she would see as a nurse and she said nearly the only ones were those who came in and delivered too quick to get any of the meds. And she told me that she was the first of her mother's children (she's #4 of 7) born in a hospital. Which was interesting, because on the film they mention that in the year 1938, 50% of babies were being born in the hospital and that was the year she was born.

All weekend long she helped me get laundry folded and the kitchen cleaned up after meals, and it was so nice not to have to do the work alone. David is good at helping me when he's around, too, but it was nice to have a constant work partner. This morning, before they left, she mended some of Noodle's jeans and showed me the tricks of the trade. I have one more pair to get done and I think I need to do it today before my momentum dies completely.

In other news, I really really enjoyed our General Conference this weekend. I feel like I am in a much better place spiritually this time than I have been for the past few conferences, and I attribute that to more diligent scripture reading and our morning devotionals. The things that stood out to me most were President Monson's Sunday morning session talk, because I really felt a love for him as our new prophet, and Elder Ballard's talk to young mothers. Of course I have room for improvement and need for encouragement, but I have felt like I am also in a better place with regard to my role as a mother. I was impressed by Elder Ballard's skill at neither putting mothers and women on pedestals while at the same time not talking down to them. He incorporated just the right amount of humor and kindness to have a message that I think should resonate with all young mothers. I appreciated his words and look forward to studying them when they are available printed. I also enjoyed Elder Wirthlin's talk. His talks the past few years have been so full of the importance of and need for love. I feel like as our Apostles age, they have a way of getting to the heart of the most basic principles of the gospel. I dated one of Elder Wirthlin's grandsons in the Before David era and had the opportunity to meet him and his wife. Wonderful people in every way. He has held on to life much longer than his family expected. I'm sure it's been hard for them all since Sister Wirthlin died.

And I think President Uchtdorf is a very handsome man, with just enough accent to sound really suave but not so much that you can't understand him. Ever since I took German in high school, I've loved the name Dieter, pronounced "dee-tah". We all had our German pseudonyms in class, and the guy who had that name was a funny, cute kid. My name was Grete. I wanted Meike, but my friend stole it before it was my turn. Anyways, listening to President Uchtdorf conduct the sessions was quite enjoyable.

Other than that, I've been busy entering clients for David's work and I also got our family newsletter put together over the weekend, which was no small feat this month. Oh, and I also hosted a potluck for our family in the area last night so we could all spend some more time with Mom & Dad while they were here. It's been a full few days.