General Conference Weekend

Sorry for the journal/travel-log. Just want to remember the weekend.

Picture this ... a 3-year-old boy, a 19-month-old girl and a 33-week-pregnant lady getting on to a plane. "Insane," you say? "What is she thinking?" Actually, it wasn't all that bad. I thought everything turned out pretty well.


Sarah, O-wee and I headed to Utah early Friday morning on Southwest. I have to say, the first flight out is always the best one - there are usually extra seats. Jennie was able to get an escort pass to help me through security and wait at the gate with me. Sarah LOVES O-wee so she was more than happy to be entertained by him. When we got up in the air I whipped out the laptop and put in Sarah's "Letter Factory" video. Good thing she has watched it countless times because the earphones I brought for her weren't the right kind! If I held the cord in the input spot just the right way they worked fine, but she got tired of the whole thing-in-her-ears scenario and opted for the silent movie. She still said her letters at the appropriate parts so I guess she was entertained enough! After Letter Factory, we popped in O-wee's present from Jennie, "Monster's Inc." Sarah had never seen it, but she was happy to watch another "silent movie" anyway.

Jennie's mom & dad met us at the airport and drove Sarah and me to my sister's home in Springville. It was fun to see Emily, Nate and Madeline. I can't believe how much Maddy has grown - she's now 7 months! We headed off to Cafe Rio so I could enjoy my beef salad - what Utah trip is complete without it? Afterward, we took Nate a burrito for his 27th birthday. He's studying law at BYU.

I took the opportunity to find one of my favorite people still at BYU - Daryl Gibson, director of IT for the Communications Department. He and I became good friends while I was copy chief at NewsNet (aka The Daily Universe). It's been 8 years since I graduated, but we still send Christmas Cards and the occasional email. However, when I entered an elevator at the bottom of the Wilkinson Center and hit "5" I soon was disoriented. BYU Dining and Catering Services? Nope. Wrong floor. I asked a clerk in the Bookstore if she knew where the newsroom was - she had no idea. I finally used my journalistic instincts and picked up a newspaper to find the "address" of the newsroom. It indicated some numbers with the building abbreviation "BRMB." What in the world is the BRMB - And where can I find it? I approached some students and they thought it might be the Brimhall Building - located at the far end of campus. Great. So Sarah and I trekked to the Brimhall Building and to our surprise found Stacey Mork sitting behind the reception desk of the newsroom. I know Stacey from the Young Women's program. What a small world. Unfortunately, Daryl had left for the weekend. Sad, sad, sad. Maybe next time :)

On with the weekend ... that night my sister Katie and her friends picked up Sarah and I on their way to SLC. We had reservations at the Hotel Monaco - just a couple of blocks south of Temple Square. We checked in around 10:30 and headed up to our room. Katie, Sarah and I shared a suite, which was super nice. However, since we checked in so late they had already run out of pack-and-plays. Let's just say, I'm not ready for Sarah to have a toddler bed. I ended up sleeping on the floor with her on an oversize cushion. Not the most comfortable way to sleep - especially at 8 months pregnant, but hey, I did get some sleep. Sarah ended up with 7 hours of sleep - 5 hours short of her usual. Katie said the bed was nice and comfy.

Saturday morning Katie, Sarah and I set out on a walk to see "Memory Grove." The map said it was around 600 North ... only 8 blocks away ... right? hahahahahahahaha!!! We didn't find it - not for the lack of trying. It wasn't there. When we got back to the hotel, we googled it and found that Memory Grove was just a couple blocks west of us. Awesome. But I did get my exercise. The hills in San Francisco did help me prepare for this excursion, but as a 8-month-pregnant lady on no sleep, the 1 1/2 hours of walking hills with a stroller (Katie did take it most of the time) almost crippled me for the rest of the weekend! We got back just in time for the Saturday morning session of General Conference, which was FANTASTIC! (Oh and we stopped by the front desk to see if anyone had checked out that was using a pack-and-play. We lucked out that one had been returned so Sarah took an uncharacteristic morning nap!) We ordered take-out from Macaroni Grill (super tasty) a block away and settled in to watch the second session of conference. (Also good - weren't the Primary children amazing?)

My Mom and Dad met us at the hotel after the afternoon session of conference. (I gave them my tickets as my Mom had never been to conference in the Conference Center.) We packed my bag and off we drove in the rain to Springville to see Em, Nate and Maddy again. Sarah fell asleep on the way down. (Usually this is unusual, but not with the lack of sleep!) Dad and Nate went to the Priesthood Session while Mom, Em and I chatted and made dinner. We can make a really mean Spicy Peanut Chicken dish. I taught Emily how to really make Cal-Rose rice. (Yes, I am a rice snob - especially when it comes to sticky rice.) The boys came back with the re-cap of all the talks. It was so fun to get the summaries of the talks from my dad. He takes amazing notes. (I'm not sure if it is because he knows he will get quizzed by my mom or just because he likes to or a combination of both, but he does a great job. I felt like I listened to them first-hand.) Hmmm ... if only I could get Rog to do the same :)


Sunday morning was early as we made some fantastic waffles topped with fruit and yogurt. Yummmmmmy! Sarah got to play catch with Boppa while Em, Mom and I put breakfast together. Em is a great waffle maker! And Sarah LOVED her Boppa time. Sarah had another early-ish nap at 11 am - she slept until 2! I got to take a nap between sessions as well. (It's amazing how tired I am some days!) Em made some super tasty toasted turkey-avocado-tomato-lettuce-pepper jack cheese-bagel-sandwiches. I should really make them for Rog some time. Yum Yum Yum. After the last session of Conference, Em showed me how she made a tu-tu for Maddy and I in turn made one for Sarah It literally took less than 15 minutes to do. It's super cute. Now, if she would only let me put it on her...

Em and I had great conversations on our way up to the airport. She is such an amazing wife, mom and sister. I'm so lucky I get to have her in my life!

Oh and I'm trying to forget all about the flight home so I'll just say imagine a full-flight with a lap child sitting on my very crowded lap. 2 hours didn't go fast enough!