Conference Weekend Fall 2011

This last weekend we had a wonderful time!

We had our first house guests since we "officially" moved in.

We had had our good friends Edison and Gwenna stay the night with us a week or two after we moved in, but they had to tip toe over boxes and since they had moved out of this house only weeks before, well, it didn't quite feel like house guests! LOL

The Sorensen Family came to stay with us.
We just love sharing good times, great food and our children's childhoods with each other!

They arrived on Thursday night, which was actually Friday morning! LOL Lots of hugs, some PJ's and un-loading the car later, everyone was tucked into bed, looking forward to the weekend ahead of us.

Friday Jes had to work half a day. Emma and Cody couldn't miss school, but Caleb and Cameron were in full play mode and we let them play Hooky! It was lovely outside and our "new" fully fenced backyard, complete with grass to play on, was a huge hit!! Amy and I went to SLC this day. Their friends from Ely were here for a mission reunion (same reason as Amy & Austin's visit) and wanted to attend the temple, but couldn't with no where to leave their kids. We met up with them and took their 3 darling children and wandered through IKEA while they went to the temple. It was fun to dream about all the fun things one can do their home, and eat some meatballs for lunch!! LOL

We made it home that evening just in time for Amy & Austin to leave for her mission reunion in Provo (whew! with I-15 construction traffic we were cutting it close!) Jes and I ordered pizza for us and all the kids and put in "The Santa Clause 2" to watch. It was a lot of fun! The kids were super good... all 9 of them in this little house! LOL What is it about a Christmas movie that holds *everyone's* attention, regardless of age, the entire time? Priceless.

Saturday morning Amy and I got up early and picked up our Bountiful Baskets at 7 am. We then went to a few yard sales and were pleased with our finds! Mine included the exact sheet set, pillow shams, etc. I have been secretely eyeing at IKEA for over 3 years! They were on clearance the day before, and deep down inside I was sad I had not started buying a piece at a time to get them! But they were $19 a sham and I could not ever justify it! The lady at the yard sale sold me the sheets, with the pillow cases, plus 4 shams for $15 total!!!!! SCORE! While we were at IKEA I saw the exact comforter that I want to pair them up with... and now I can hint at it for Jes for Christmas... LOL It will complete my set! *grin* It was awesome! I also found the CD copy of Harry Potter 7, in mint condition for $10 for Jes! He can now know how it ends without taking a year to read it! (he only reads a few pages a night as he falls asleep so quickly!) He was happy.

We also hit the farmers market here in town. We loaded up on green beans, cucumbers, peaches, apples, and other misc goodies for the weekend. We met the NICEST old farmer there! When he found out we were wanting to try bottling pickles for the first time he was FULL of fantastic advice! He told us to go get this:

No fail way to make pickles for your first time! LOL We ran with it! It was SUPER easy!

There was a bread and butter pickle variety and dill variety. We got both! (yum!) We also got brave and did some "Dilly Beans"... super excited to try them out! But we have to wait until Thanksgiving to open our bottles! LOL

We were so busy with all our projects I only snapped a photo or two and then couldn't find my camera again, so this is all I have! :( I even missed some cute photo op's with the kids - dern! 

Here is a pic of our labors. Dill Pickles, Dilly Beans and Bread and Butter Pickles.

We also dried all the apples and pears from Jes' trees we left at our old house. They were awesome fruit! (dang it) It is sad to think of what next year's crop would have been for us! *pout*

We canned and labored while listening to General Conference. The kids continued to play and play, while dear Austin spent the afternoon in the garage with Jes building shelves

(whew! so grateful he had a helper!)

That evening Jes, along with Austin, took our Cody to his first Priesthood Session. It was a tender moment for this mommy! My boy is growing up SO fast! :') A rite of passage...

That night I made chili and scones and it really felt like the first kiss of fall this year...

SOOO excited for fall!!!!!!

It's my favorite! :D

Sunday was a very quiet morning. We listened to the Sunday sessions all together in the living room, the kids floating in and out from the bedroom full of toys. When the Prophet spoke, we all gathered. And each time he spoke we did not regret it!

The most exciting moment for us was the announcement of the Temple they will be building out of the burned down Provo Tabernacle!! Jes' grandparents were missionaries at the Tabernacle at the time of the tragedy, and we have all held our breath waiting to hear what they planned to do with the shell that remains.

SOOO EXCITING!!!

Won't it just be beautiful???

We were sad to have our weekend come to an end following the last session of Conference, and a quick early supper... but we are so glad they came to share this weekend with us!! It was perfect!

And I don't know what it is about having house guests...

but this little house finally feels a little more like home!

:)