Pearls and an Old Dent

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . .  someone backing into us in the church parking lot.  She immediately got out to survey the damage and was horrified when she saw the side of our car, but we assured her that the big dent had been there since we bought the car.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . seeing an unusually high number of people wearing green at stake conference today.  There were green dresses, green sweaters, a green hairband, green ties (a few even had shamrocks on them), a green suit coat, and an enormous, iridescent, green bow tie on one ten-year-old boy.  Most of us aren't Irish, don't know who St. Patrick was, and had no plans to pinch anyone for not wearing green, but hey, it's fun to dress up for a holiday now and then.

. . . Joy helping put hundreds of chairs away after the conference ended.  She really does like to help out.

. . . relaxing in the swinging chair on Pink Grandma's patio.

. . . Joy wafting about wearing lots of Grandma's rainbow wrist ribbons.

. . . Daniel laughing with delight when he caught sight of the moon through our little telescope.

And another thing . . .

. . . as a parent of young children I have very mixed feelings about the general session of stake conference.  On the one hand, I always come away with some precious pearls of wisdom.  On the other hand, two hours is a very long time for kids to sit still.  It went a little smoother this time because I brought tons of snacks and asked the big kids what they wanted to include in our activity bag, but a child can only eat so many Cheerios and star puffs.  When the closing prayer was done and Joy jubilantly shouted "It's over!"  I confess I felt a similar sense of relief.