"Comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable"

I CAN'T FIND MY CAMERA!!!!

Guys. This is bad. I take pictures of every living thing and now, it's GONE!!! Siiiiiiiiigh. Well. Alas. There will be hardly ANY pictures on this post. My sincerest apologies since I know that's the only way I can get someone to last a whole post.

So who else LOVES Conference?! *raises hand* Oh man. It's the most wonderful time of the year!! (Oh.....that's Christmas?....Whoops) I love it. Yes, of course it is AWESOME to stay in my pj's and get to still "go to church" but that's not the reason I adore it so much. It's because there's ALWAYS (yes, this is a tried and true fact) a talk that is tailored to me. One talk that is written with my name blurred in the author's mind. In fact, sometimes I get a little embarrassed. It's like I'm being publicly called out by Heavenly Father...but in secret. You can spot them-just watch for when I'm taking notes like a freakin stenographer*. You can't miss it.

*(By the way, Alex, the beginning of this this totally reminds me of that time in Cult Anthro when that girl was SUPER annoyed by your typing. Hahaha)

Anyway, the whole day was really great. Rachel and I woke up and smelled breakfast being started and were asked to help finish it up-my job was the cinnamon (YES, we had not only normal warm, perfectly NOT burned cinnamon rolls, BUT also orange rolls. Yeah. That's right) rolls and then we had the partial Welchs come over (3/6) and we all sat and watched conference together.

It was so cute. We all sat and watched, Rachel and I took notes, and the kids colored (Carter showed me his masterpiece-a book they got in primary and he'd drew a picture of every single speaker on a page. It was SO cute) and then Paul & Makayla went home. So we all did separate things until the next session came along. Then we all sat down together once again. I could not take notes fast enough this conference. I love it. There is no better feeling than knowing that the men who are on the watchtower for us are giving me advice that they came up with, on their own, after talking to our Father in Heaven. I am so blessed to have the gospel not just as a part of my life, but as my lifestyle. "It's not easy to be a Latter-Day Saint. But in the long run, it is the only course." I can't imagine how people get through their tough times while questioning if there is a God. It's all around. I can't deny it, not one bit. If you've never been invited to attend a conference viewing or missed it this time, this is what you missed out on.

I hope that when I have a family, I can instill the same love for Conference as I have. It really is a treasure to me to be able to be renewed through these men. To have someone tell me I'm doing well, that sure there are things I can improve on, but nothing is hard when you have the Lord and a desire. I just feel so so blessed. I absolutely love this gospel. It's that simple for me.

Beautiful Burlesque!

I am exhausted today. Oh my gosh. I really am turning into an old woman....it's only a matter of time until I throw my back out.

Two cool things happened today: One, my wittle baby sister followed in the footsteps of her big sisters and had her first colorguard performance, which was aaactually a competition. I would've filmed it but my dad said if they catch you, they find the school you're here for...and that's all he said. But. It sounded dangerous. Anyway. Competition. SO cool to watch.

I mean look at this girl!! You can't tell because I took this picture RIGHT after they had finished, but she was smiley, she nailed every single move (she says she messed up once, I never saw such a thing), she was sharp, and I literally was squealing watching her!! She is a natural. And if you heard the song, the tempo is pretty fast, and it didn't throw her off at all. Gosh, I just can't say enough about how proud I am of her. Rachel and I obviously tried to embarrass her by calling out her name and cheering and doing the wave...she wasn't bothered. What a waste.

We all went to support her, including Erin, and I think I can say that even at middle school age, there are some seriously talented kids and you could tell everyone worked really hard and tried their best and that completely made the competition worth watching. Great job Qiarra!!!

My dad's smile is so fake, you should just call it Taco Bell. Haha

Well, what can you do? Haha And my favorite picture of the day...

I'm so proud of my little sis and ALL the hard work she put into her performance!! I love you Nic!!

The other cool thing...ha. Pun intended.....was that it was literally raining while it was SO SO sunny outside today. What. In. The world?! And us sisters got to go out to lunch, just the three of us while the old folks came home and took a nap. Jeez. Haha But it was cute. I took both their cell phones away so we would all actually talk, and I've got to say, I have some hilarious characters in the ol fam. All in all, I'd say it was one awesome day. And!! We didn't have to pack! Hallelujah!! Or work!! So. Quite the day, but now I am going to bed. Not even saying a clever goodbye.

Never Grow Up

Ok, first of all, I think I blog too much. It's pretty sad when something cool or fun or intense happens to me, and I think Oh man, I should blog about that! It's pathetic really. Oh well. I know of at LEAST 4 people that read this. Haha But. I think I am going to do another blog challenge in March and actually try to keep to it because that's the only thing that will keep me sane while I patiently (yeah right) wait for delicious spring** to come!!!!! So. Bare with me. Haha

**Actually, spring semester usually involves allergy attacks, sunburns, and sweating throughout the night for me. But honestly...I can't wait!

Also, I needed a new post because I am sick of looking at that Preamble movie now. So. I might as well talk about something fun. Like Mason's birthday!! Oh my gosh, I am such a jerk. I never blogged about it!! When I asked Mason to take a picture with me, right before it flashed, I said "Show me how old you are now!" And this is how it turned out. Haha And earlier in the day, I was asking him about turning four and how sad I was that he was getting so big, and he says "Ashwee, (I am going to be so so sad when his little accent goes away) four is not big yet. Five is big...Carter's big, but I'm still a little boy. Don't be sad!" Haha

Poor little guy was so sick the whole beginning of the day and ended up sleeping after church all the way until dinner time. But it was nice because Mike, Mason, and I all took a little nap while Erin, Rachel, and Carter all went and checked out his cake. And I wrapped the presents, and we all set up for the party. But it was so sad that he was not feeling well at all.

Anyway, for the actual birthday part, Erin and Mike threw him a cute little mini-party on Sunday (since it was Sunday, they were having cake and ice cream and then Erin took him and his friends to McDonald's for lunch on Tuesday and they went back and played games. So cute) and it was awesome!!!! What adorable parents. :)

Erin's friend, Michelle, made his cake and it was AWESOME!!! It was a Ben 10 Omnitrex and it looked legit. And tasted that way too! Rachel told me she told Michelle she was going to make Rae's wedding cake. I'm stealing her as well. Haha There were party masks, action figures, toys, and it was just plain cute. They just had some of his and their friends come over and they played games and we sang and had cake and ice cream! It was sooo cute and sooo fun to watch my little nephew turn 4. Good grief he's getting big!! And he's such a goofball. :) I hope this year goes by veeeeery slow. And don't even get me started on May when Carter turns 6. Not one person will be excited he's growing up so fast. Kill me now.

Happy Birthday little baby!