Monday, October 3, 2011

Conference Weekend at HOME

We enjoyed Conference Weekend at home the past couple days.

Did you catch that?

Conference weekend AT HOME!


I distinctly remember what I was doing six months ago during the April Conference. Following my Thoracotomy, I was working to control my pain, and feeling discouraged at the toll that my illness had taken on my body. I was stuck in bed with no release date in sight. I got winded even talking. I was so happy when I discovered that I could hear it live on The Mormon Channel App that I had on my phone. Imagine the comfort and joy I felt when the first talk I heard was this one.

This time, I enjoyed conference healthy, and HOME with my family! Isn't that a miracle!? Last night, Josh and I collapsed, exhausted into bed around 9:30pm. Who would ever think that having "church at home" would be such a production? Granted, I didn't hear every talk this weekend, but I didn't let it bother me like it has in previous years. Every time I wanted mourn the loss of the days when I used to be able to listen to conference uninterrupted, or to lose my temper at the kids' volume or behavior, I would think, "Oh, just remember where you were six months ago! This is so awesome!" Speaking of awesome, the kids were singing this song as they were working on projects before the Sunday session started.



They both learned it in Kindergarten, but we've never been sure of the real "tune," you know? I looked it up on You Tube. The difference is hilarious!



In addition to Conference, I was able to try my hand at a few things. My good friend, Marie'gave me her leftover tomatoes from their bumper crop. I LOVE bottled tomatoes and the delicious sauces and soups they make. Marie' was so generous to give me not only the tomatoes, but all of the tools necessary to bottle them!

We went from this, and this, to this! 14 delicious bottles of tomatoes!
I learned a lot from bottling tomatoes for the first time. Mainly, that I should have packed more tomatoes into each bottle, but hey...I truly believe now what they say, "You can, CAN (bottle)!"

In a few weeks, I get to teach our Beehives about pie making. I've only made a few pies in my life, so I wanted to try my hand at my Dad's tried-and-true recipe and make a French Apple Pie on Sunday. The filling was delicious, as was the crust, but the bottom was too thick - chewy and cakey. It's definitely an art - Pie making. I hope I can master it in time to teach them, otherwise, we'll need to change it to "Apple Crisp Making!"

5 comments:

Allison said...

I'm so happy that you were able to enjoy conference at home with your family!! I had to DVR it and have yet to sit down and listen to the talks...4 kids tend to get noisy and my non-member husband won't watch it with me...but I'm really looking forward to it. That pie looked delicious and oh how I long to learn the skill of canning!! What a wonderful weekend you had :)

Dianna said...

It sounds like a very productive weekend. I too am so glad you got to be home with your family. It is good that you are still looking at the miracles in your life.

Sarah said...

Meant to leave a "good job with the tomatoes" comment. Doesn't it feel great each time you walk past and see the jars lining the shelves?! I've done tomatoes before, but with a husband who's not fond of the taste...they're not worth the effort here. I stick with the sugar coated fruits and yesterday's applesauce. ;)

Liz said...

I still can't get a good pie crust, no matter how many times I watch my mom do it. Yours looked beautiful! Good luck teaching the Beehives!

Holly said...

Hooray! I'm glad you're healthy and home too! Isn't it wonderful the way the Lord is aware of each of us and our needs and He sends us blessings of comfort like that first talk of General Conference. That reminds me of Elder Bednar's talk about the Tender Mercies of the Lord. There is a lot to be grateful for and one of the things I like to be thankful for is how much the Lord loves His children.