Last Weekend Update

A butterfly enjoying itself
at the Tucson Botanical Gardens!

I know this is late, but I've been meaning to write about last weekend. Last Friday (Halloween) Ivan arranged for Margie Delgado to watch Emma so we could go on a date while the other kids were in school. The Sunday before (with the kids help) he had sent me on a scavenger hunt looking for all kinds of clues which ended in an encoded message that I had to decode. The message stated that I needed to be ready for a date at 9 a.m. at our address on Friday morning. It was very detailed. I was very impressed!

So, we went to the Botanical Gardens in Tucson. We caught the tour at 10 a.m. which was very informative. In the middle of the tour, I thought about how nice it was to actually be able to listen without reminding kids to look only with their eyes and without worrying about the kids running into a cactus! It was very enjoyable and I gained a new appreciation for the plants that survive and thrive in our dessert environment.

After our tour, we headed to lunch. We decided to try something new. We went to 5 & Dinner on Stone Ave. across from the Tucson Mall. It was a little pricey for Hamburgers ($7.50-9 per plate), but the food was excellent and the ambiance and old music were fun. It was decorated as a 50s Diner.

Ivan ran to pick up the kids since we were a little late. Luckily the staff at Estes is very understanding. That night we enjoyed Trick or Treating and seeing all our neighbors and friends. I blogged more about this earlier.

Saturday night we went to the adult session of Stake Conference. The testimonies born really touched my heart especially the testimony born of the Savior by a sister in our stake. She told about her daughter who had a severe progressively disabling disease. She told about her hear breaking as she would watch her daughter struggle to walk down their lane each day from the bus stop. She would long to run out and help her, but she knew how good it was for her to do it on her own. She shared how she would sometimes cry as she watched her daughter struggling to reach home. She likened this to our Savior who watches us struggle and sometimes fall as we try to take the path home. I know I'm not doing justice to what she shared, but it was so powerful!

I think the spirit teaches us each individually, and I'm sure everyone had different things hit them throughout this meeting. The thought that hit me from her talk was that I need to let my children do things on their own more. I often run to their aid without letting them work things out on their own. I need to be better at helping them develop "their wings" so that some day they can "fly" on their own. This wasn't anything that was taught, but I know that lesson came from the Holy Ghost.

Sunday we got up super early to get the kids and ourselves ready to drive the 30 minutes to the Stake Center to assure that we would be in our seats by 7:55 a.m.. We went with Jen and Jason Mouso and their family to a special session of the conference for recent converts. Emma (22 months) was having a hard time so I spent a lot of the meeting in the foyer. They had various people share what drew them to the church and what was the tipping point for them to be baptized. The spirit was really strong as people shared their stories and feelings about having the restored gospel of Jesus Christ in their lives. I wish I could have heard all of it, but the portion I was able to hear was great.

Then, we drove back to our building in Marana to watch the Arizona Regional Broadcast with our own ward. The broadcast was really good. Elder Packer was the concluding speaker. He mentioned President Hinkley telling of hard times to come and emphasized that these times are now. I left the meeting with a sense of needing to make sure our food storage is in order and a renewed sense of securing our family spiritually.