{Survivor of 40 & Stake Conference}

Well, I had a good birthday whether I wanted to or not. Friday night I went to dinner with my whole family to a fun little restaurant in Desert Ridge called the office - Everyone came (Mom, Uncle Jim, Aunt Judy, Jason, Jamie, Karen, Steve, Don, myself and even my niece Alli - no babysitters left) We had a fun evening just enjoying each others company.

Then Saturday morning I woke up and I went to meet my Scrap Therapy friends. They are letting us use one of their old computers from their store to try and get Morgan hooked up to do her school work on line. They are just the kindest people - thank you gals for love and support. We have one problem and maybe there are some computer guru's out there that can help us. When you open windows it is asking for a password and the password has been forgotten. I am sure there is a way around this - I just haven't figured it out yet. So I am open to any suggestions.

I was invited to go to a birthday lunch at Ginna Bairds house. She is in my ward and they are starting a monthly birthday luncheon in our ward the last Saturday of the month. And it just so happened to be my birthday. It was so nice - they treated us like queens.

Then Saturday night we went to the adult meeting for Stake Conference where we watched the Worldwide leadership training. The focus was mainly on families and it seemed to be speaking to me. Then Sunday we enjoyed stake conference and we had an amazing meeting. President Campbell focused on the topic of making our homes a refuge from the world. He encouraged us to live in such a way that we have the spirit with us at all times - by keeping the commandments, reading our scriptures, praying daily, keeping the sabbath day holy and attending the temple regularly. He also encouraged us to eliminate EVERYTHING in our lives that will drive away the spirit. I don't know about you, but this is something I know we can improve on in our home. I know we need to monitor what comes in through those cable and Internet wires into our homes. We need to really be aware of who our kids are hanging out with and we need to try a create that influence for good in our homes. He reminded us that our homes can be that refuge if we will just remember to do those things to invite the spirit of the Lord into our hearts and homes. Goodness is more powerful than evil, light is greater than darkness. Just think about it - if you walk into a dark room and turn and turn on the light the dark will be gone. Darkness cannot seep in where there is light. Just the same "evil cannot tolerate the presence of light". Remember, there are no perfect families. Only families that are striving and working towards perfection. We all have challenges. I know everyone does. But we can make it through anything if we will always remember to put our families first.

Then Sunday evening we had our monthly family birthday party at Steve and Karen's house. I love being with my family and my kids love being with their cousins.