October Overview

Another month that is flying by! The leaves are changing, the garden is harvested, and the weather is consistently cool enough for me to put away the kids summer clothes. Mary is resisting the change in season and repeatedly retrieves her pink shorts and pink short sleeve shirt from the storage box.  I used to carry extra diapers everywhere we went. Now I carry a change of clothes for when she decides it really is too cold for shorts. Sometimes she puts the shorts over the pants. Mostly she won't wear the pants and walks around muttering, "Freeeeezin'! "

My birthday was earlier this month. As cliche as it is to say, I don't feel any older. A local cosmetic surgeon disagrees apparently. He sent me a "birthday discount certificate" for botox treatment. How's that for rubbing it in? Even with that reminder of the inevitable effects of aging, I had a great birthday. My parents and brothers were in town and it was nice to celebrate with them.  More than the celebration, it was just nice to have them here. Then Luke treated me to a birthday dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, followed by the question, "Don't you want to go shopping?" I'd say that's worth getting a year older!

Also earlier this month was General Conference weekend. Twice a year, the Prophet and other general leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints hold a conference to make announcements and give updates that are of general interest for church members world wide. They also share different faith-inspiring messages and give counsel. The conference is held in a large conference center in downtown Salt Lake City, but it is also broadcast on TV and internet so that anyone who wants can listen in at home. We like to try and involve our kids in this significant occurrence. We also like to actually listen, and the two don't coincide very well. We compromise by requiring the kids to come in for the first hymn, the opening prayer, and to hear the Prophets introductory message. Then the deal is they if they leave us alone for the rest of the time we won't make them sit and listen any longer. Here's how the Saturday morning session of Conference started for us:

(music playing, scenes of the Salt Lake Temple are being shown) The announcer states,"This is  the 178th semiannual General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints . . ."

Madeleine, with annoyance, " WHAT! I thought it was the 178th  last time! (explanation of semi-annual and annual being in the same year and hence the same number given by dad)

The Morman Tabernacle Choir begins to sing the opening hymn. The camera zooms in on the Sopranos, dressed in magenta gowns adorned with a cluster of  glittering sequins at the neck.

Mary: Ooo, look at all the purple girls!

Beth: They are wearing grapes on their dresses

Everyone is quiet while the opening prayer is said. After the "Amen". . .

Beth: (sigh) "I'm bored already!"

That 5 minutes is as far as we got with the kids. No matter. Luke and I enjoyed the rest of the speakers. There is always something said that makes you feel good about what you're doing, and something that helps you want to do the things you're not. I really liked this comment from Elder L. Tom Perry:

There are cycles of good and bad times, ups and downs, periods of joy and sadness, and times of plenty as well as scarcity. When our lives turn in an unanticipated and undesirable direction, sometimes we experience stress and anxiety. One of the challenges of this mortal experience is to not allow the stresses and strains of life to get the better of us—to endure the varied seasons of life while remaining positive, even optimistic. Perhaps when difficulties and challenges strike, we should have these hopeful words of Robert Browning etched in our minds: “The best is yet to be” 

I don't think that means difficult things won't bother us, or that we should pretend things are great when they aren't. But I do think looking forward with hope can make the difference in what we learn from our experiences. Life's not perfect and neither am I, and I find that believing in the possibility of improvement keeps my head up. When I think of my husband and our daughters, I look forward to making each new phase in our lives the best yet. Of course, when I think of how blessed I am to have them, it's hard to believe life could get any better.