Albuquerque Turkeys

Sean took this picture.

With Mom & Dad, and Grandpa Packard

All three handsome Stone brothers.

My wacky brother.  He makes us all laugh.

We played a couple of games designed to make you feel like . . . A FOOL, of course.  This one I learned from my younger siblings.  You start with the cookie on your forehead and using nothing but your face muscles, get it down into your mouth.

I just loved General Conference this past weekend.  I feel like a sponge just sitting there soaking everything up.  There were so many great talks, but definitely one highlight for me was Elder Holland, and his coining of the term, "Bedlamites."  Ha!  What a perfect description of the little people who fill our house!  I love how the leaders of the church truly understand us and give us counsel that will bless our lives.  I love that I can sit and listen for 8 hours, over the course of two days, and come away wanting to be so much better, but in an uplifted way, not an overwhelmed way.

On Sunday morning we had all the kids sit and watch the session because that was church for the day.  I'm  not sure when, but somewhere along the way, the little boys snuck off to play, and for my own selfish purposes, I figured I'd just let them alone so I could actually listen to the talks.  But when President Monson gave his address, we called those boys back in to hear the prophet speak.  When Hayden saw President Monson on the TV screen, his face lit up and he exclaimed,


I am so grateful to live in a time when we can hear the words of a living prophet.  A prophet who speaks to Hayden, to me and to all of God's children on the earth today.  I am thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who speaks to us through his prophets.  They teach us what we can do to be happy and live life in greater and greater abundance.

We have had a sweet peaceful spirit in our home so far this week as we are trying to make good choices each day, and be diligent in those small and simple things--those little flecks of gospel gold.  And even though we have our share of crazy, "pull-your-hair-out" moments with our crew of Bedlamites, we also have a lot of  "stop-time" moments laughing and talking with, serving, and loving each other that I wouldn't trade for anything.

I love the gospel of Jesus Christ because of the joy and purpose it fills me with.  I know it is true and has been restored in its fullness in these latter-days through the prophet Joseph Smith.  And even if this whole thing weren't true, it would be worth living anyway because it makes me a better person and makes me and my family strong and happy.  Hurrah for Israel!

Daphne:  I know that spring is here because of all those little things in the grass that look like dog poop. (aeration plugs)




At the park:
Hayden and Sean were playing some make-believe game where Hayden was Indian Jones and Sean is his Dad.  They were having dinner, so Sean called on Indiana Jones to say the prayer on the food.  And this is what he said, "Heavenly Father, please bless the food make us healthy and strong, and bless Uncle Reed on his mission."  Sean said, "No, no, no, Uncle Reed isn't in this game.  Do it again."






As you can tell, Despicable Me is a big part of our lives lately.  I've found many of its quotes to be applicable to a wide variety of circumstances, for example:

We said good-bye to Emma a few days after Spring Break ended.  We are so thankful she could come help us out during this really busy time in our lives (Arthur's Quadrathalon, and From Cumorah's Hill, plus all the regular craziness . . .)  She was such a huge help to me, and it was such fun to have three Stone sisters in the same town for awhile!