Conference Weekend!

This past weekend was General Conference weekend for our church. It is a time that via Satellite or Internet we spend four 2 hour blocks of time watching inspirational and uplifting talks from the leaders of our church.  There is so much to learn from it all and it can truly be the best weekend ever.  But it can be tough with kids.  As a child, I remember this being a really long weekend and for most of my childhood we had to travel over an hour away to an older lady's house that was literally in the middle of nowhere because she was the nearest place with a satellite.  Now Conference is easily available in most homes and we got to watch in on our own television.  Since Conference can be watched at home now, there are many great websites that talk about creating Conference Weekend Traditions and how to make this a fun weekend for kids.  I wanted to start some of those traditions in our home.  Caleb has always "watched" conference with us and there are some great activity packets that have made it more fun, but this year I wanted to do a little bit more.  And it was so WORTH it!!  Caleb loved Conference Weekend and was anxious to find out when we do it again. 

This year we decided to make Cinnamon Rolls early Saturday morning and then during each session we got to to eat a Cinnamon Roll.  Caleb loved this and was usually the first to remind us conference had started and that we needed to get ready so we could have a roll.  This year I again printed off a fun activity book that I found at my favorite church

resources website www.sugardoodle.com.  It had lots of fun cutting, coloring, and hidden picture activities.  I also found these cute bingo cards to help children listen for key words in the talks.  Caleb really got into this game and used a different card for each session.  He really listened carefully and was so excited fill his card.  We also helped him set up his own little table right in front of the TV so he could be right in the middle of everything.  We wanted to do a little camp out in the yard but it didn't work out, but I like the idea of pitching a tent like King Benjamin to get ready for conference.  There are so many great ideas available now and it sure made conference weekend so much fun for our family. 

Caleb eating his Cinnamon roll and obviously having a lot of fun with markers all over the floor!  And yes we are still in PJ's.

The fun Bingo card and some of the activities he was working on.  He really loved the 2nd Session on Saturday.  It featured a Children's Choir that sang many of the songs we had been learning in Primary.  Every time they sang, he would tell us to be quiet because it was his job to sing.  So Cute!!!

I also prepared some fruit and vegetable trays to snack on during the two days and tried to make food prep easy.

It might be hard to tell but he has marker everywhere!  Face, hands, arms, and we even found some on the bottom of his toes!  He really got into coloring!  Well at least he had fun.

Conference is a great time to rejuvenate and find ways to improve yourself. This time I have two favorite talks. The first is from the Relief Society Broadcast which is a meeting just for the woman of the church. Elder Uchtdorf gave an amazing talk about 5 things we should not forgot. It was so beautiful and had me in tears by the end. Brydon was so interested in it that as soon as I got home we watched it together. You can check it out here if you have not heard it yet. I also like Sis. Dalton's talk about what every father needs to know about raising a Daughter. We don't have a daughter but her ideas are still relevant to any child or parent, and I loved her talk. You can check her out here. (be patient with the uploading)  We are most grateful for weekends that we get to spend together as a family and that help us grow and become better. We have most definitely started some new traditions in our home.