General Conference With Our Sweet Little Regan

Waiting for Conference to begin!

On the mezzanine at the Joseph Smith Building!

At JB's. Can I really eat all this cheesecake? (Yes, she did...in two sittings!)

With Grandpa by the Joseph Smith Statue

In our room at the Hilton...organizing everything in her own little space! With Grandma!

With Grandpa!

One of the many pieces of member artwork on display in the Conference Center.

See? I'm really here at Conference!

Regan took the following three pictures of things she loves in the Joseph Smith Building:

The Mezzanine and Chandeliers

The Joseph Smith Statue

Close-up of one of the carpets!

The flowers were ALMOST (but not quite) as beautiful as Regan!

A cool late afternoon by the Salt Lake Temple!

On the stairway in the Joseph Smith Building
The hot tub (I preferred it to the pool, but Regs was a die hard in the very cool water!) Regan and Grandma swimming in the Hilton pool!

Jumping in the COOOOLD pool! Love Trax!

In the Visitors' Center with the Christus!

Regan's very loved and used conference booklet and notebook!

One of the many blessings that is a part of Greg's calling is receiving tickets to General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints held in Salt Lake City, UT, every April and October. We are so grateful for this blessing and will take advantage of it until his service as Stake President comes to an end. We feel it is a wonderful opportunity for our grandchildren to be able to actually be in the presence of the prophets and apostles of God on the earth today. As you must be 8 years old to attend in the Conference Center we have, thus far, only been able to take Regan and Todd. This was Regan's second time and Todd will attend this fall for his second time. Next April, Kate will be eight and then by the the following October, Morgan will also be eight. We hope to take as many of them as possible in the next approximately 5-6 years. We only wish Matt's family were closer so we could take their children as well, but perhaps at some point, they can make their yearly trip at Conference time. Can't believe how much we miss them!

We stayed at the Hilton Hotel on Saturday night as Greg was able to get a swingin' deal via hotwire.com. It was within walking distance of Conference and such a nice place to stay considering our schedule. We arrived in Salt Lake Saturday morning about 9:45 hoping against hope that we could get into our room in time to watch the morning session from there. And as luck would have it, we were able to check in just in time to get settled and enjoy that session from the comfort of our reserved room. (Comments regarding conference itself to follow in the next post.) We then walked up to JB's for lunch and then over to the Conference Center for the afternoon session. It was raining/snowing as we made the trek so were so grateful Regan had reminded us to pack umbrellas. She enjoyed working in the conference packet her mom sent with her while we waited for the session to begin. Cindy said someone emailed this booklet to her. Wherever it came from, it was a wonderful tool to help keep a 10-year-old mind focused on the prophets, apostles and topics of their talks. It had coloring activities, word searches, places to write who conducted, what hymns the choirs sang, and thoughts from the talks. As you can see from the last picture, she was able to color the tie that the apostles were wearing as they gave their messages. There was a picture of each of the Quorum of the Twelve and the First Presidency and a matching activity of their first names to last names. We were thrilled to see that Regan could identify each of them by seeing their picture. The ones she was a little unsure of at the start were solidly cemented in her brain by the time Conference was over. She worked on it before and during sessions as well as drawing in her notebook Julie helped her make. She wrote thoughts that are special to her (some from conference messages) and then decorated each of them.

After the afternoon session, Grandpa and I walked with her around the Joseph Smith building and on Temple Square. We were hoping to take our traditional picture from the 10th floor of the JS building but it was so crowded up there we couldn't make our way through the masses. Greg then left for the evening Priesthood Session and Regan and I stopped at JB's for cheesecake, then walked back to the hotel for swimming. I am telling you, that girl is an endless bundle of energy! After 1 1/2 hours I was exhausted! I think she would have stayed for another hour but acquiesced to her old grandma, bless her heart! We had fun going between the hot tub and the very cool water of the pool (a little too cool for my liking!) We then headed back to our room for showers. Grandpa came back shortly after that and we had scriptures and prayer and headed for bed pretty early. Sunday morning, we were able to have breakfast in the hotel restaurant where they served a beautiful and very delicious buffet! Greg ate conservatively but Regan and I wanted to taste a little of everything! It was fabulous!!!! We then again watched the morning session from the comfort of our room. After the meeting, we checked out, drove up to the Triad parking lot and hopped on Trax to Temple Square. We had some time to go in the Visitors Center before heading to the Conference Center for the afternoon session. Honestly, you can't believe how beautiful the flowers were all over the temple square plaza and surrounding areas for this time of year! That always amazes and never disappoints me! Regan loved the flowers, too! The afternoon session was completely enjoyable as were all of the others. We had seats in the center of the Terrace (2nd level). Excellent seats! It is always fun to see other members of our stake as we all get tickets in the same general area!

A funny side note...Greg kept introducing Regan as his daughter instead of his granddaughter. We kept laughing about it but decided it was because she reminds us so much of our own daughter! She is Cindy reincarnated! She has many of the same mannerisms and the same bright beautiful smile. She is also very neat and tidy and enjoys organizing her surroundings! Wow, that was and continues to be her mom! Though I remember Cindy being a bit of a tease, she definitely gets some of that from her Dad! She teased us all weekend!

After the last session, we met my brother, Craig, his wife Lenora, and their 2 sons Quinn and Troy and picked up my dear mom to ride home with us. She had ridden the Salt Lake Express bus from Blackfoot on Wednesday afternoon so she could attend two Brazilian mission reunions on Thursday and Friday evenings. She stayed with Craig and Lenora for Conference and then we enjoyed a delightful ride home with her. Regan finally hit "the wall" and slept a good part of the way home. But when she awoke, she was happy and cute as ever keeping my mom company on the drive to Idaho Falls where her folks picked her up. She called and teased me by telling me that Grandma J let her drive in Idaho Falls and that they raced some guys in a car next to them. (Like I believed her! Regan I am on to you!)

Might I just say Regan is a delightful girl who is just as beautiful on the inside as outside! Some things we love about her:

1. Her desire to please.
2. Her ability to put everyone else's needs above her own.
3. Her gratitude for even the smallest things. She must have said "thank-you" a hundred times!
4. Her love for her family.
5. Her love of the gospel at such a young age.
6. Her growing testimony.
7. Her sense of humor.
8. Her desire for tidiness.
9. Her willingness to help.
10. Her keen sense of right and wrong.

Regan, we love you very much and thank you for going with us this weekend!

Mom and Me!

October 2nd was my wonderful mom's 84th birthday! I took the afternoon off work and drove to Idaho Falls to spend the balance of the day with her. Can I say how amazing she is? Her health is such a blessing and allows her to do just about anything and everything she enjoys doing. We had a wonderful time laughing and talking over lunch at the Olive Garden. It was delicious, but the company was the best! We ran a couple of errands including stopping at Desert Book to do a little shopping and then spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening looking at her picture life history. It would be more appropriate to call it a life history in pictures of her and Dad and all of their posterity! It encompasses volumes of binders full of pictures, programs, notes, etc. I only had time to get through a couple of them but what a wonderful time we had reminiscing. She is such a wonderful person. She has taught me everything that has brought me happiness in my life and primarily through her shining example! I love her for her unwillingness to give into loneliness though I know she wishes she could be with Dad every day. She is willing to leave that particular timetable to Heavenly Father and so continues to take care of herself by eating right, exercising, reading the scriptures every day, and serving those around her with such unselfishness. She is so active in her ward and attends everything she possibly can although I am sure it would be easy to just stay at home on many evenings. In conversations with Mom, I realize that much of the reason for her "on the go" attitude is that the loneliness could overcome her easily if she spent too much time by herself in the home where she and Dad spent so many happy years together. I know she sits in her chair and looks at Dad's picture on the end table and draws strength from him. She knows he is telling her to forge on and stay faithful and they will be together again soon enough. This and her testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ propel her on each day. I am so thankful for her desire to be a part of our children's and grandchildren's lives. Although I know she is tired, she will rarely miss an opportunity to go with us to a family event. She is so supportive and proud of all of us and handles the "pandemonium" of such gatherings with such patience! She is a great example of everything a wife, mother, grandmother, great-grandmother and daughter of God should be. I am looking forward to many, many more happy times with you! I love you very, very much, Mom!