So Much To Say and Not the Right Words

I missed you my little blog. I am home. I missed my good husband and handsome sons. I missed the sea of green outside my window. I missed my fair house and soft bed.

But I had such a good time!

As always, Women's Conference left me giddy from giggling with my sisters, renewed and strengthened, resolving to do better and exhausted.

I wish I could encapsulate all that I heard and felt but here are some of the things I learned...

Be obedient:

When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power. (Ezra Taft Benson)

Remember this when praying:

We can't have faith in our request (no matter how right we think it is) but faith in the Lord. (Carole Stephens)

How to protect myself and family:

Knowledge of the scriptures is an immunization against the evils of our day. (Boyd K. Packer)

And when:

It is in the still small hours of the morning that the Lord will speak to us. (also Boyd K. Packer)

On Friday night I reclaimed Emma from her lovely aunts and we went to Nevada. Emma and I drove the familiar road with my sisters and niece Deseret. Growing up, Marianne and Olivia and I spent many many hours and miles in our ancient cars on dusty roads with no radio. We mostly spent the time singing. We sang the old country songs we knew back then and it delighted me down to my toes to hear our daughters blend their voices with ours.

At my parents' house, I crawled between crisp sheets, fragrant from being hung on the clothesline. HOME. I instinctively slid my foot along the contours of the nearby wall, feeling the familiar logs. Home.

Saturday was spent in a whirl of family. For the first time in a few years my siblings and I were in the same place at the same time. We've seen each other in different configurations (usually me being the missing one) but it was delicious to all be together. Enjoying my smart and good and witty brothers and sisters makes all of those times we fought in the backseat of a crowded car seem small price to pay.

We celebrated my mom's birthday with food and memories. We had compiled a book similar to the one we made last year for my dad's birthday. We read aloud some of the stories and laughed and cried, often at the same time.

Saturday night we went to town to a favorite Basque restaurant, The Star. We left all the children but the babies home. I'm not sure how many cattle gave their life for that one meal but there was a lot of beef on that table.

My cheeks positively hurt from laughing but we were unwilling to let the night end so we reconvened at Marianne and Robert's house for ice cream. My brothers (who may or may not have parasites because who can eat that much, really?) did their best to put a dent in my parents' enormous collection of ice cream flavors.

Sunday Emma and I rode back to Salt Lake City and to the airport with Ammon and Melanee and my dear Grandma Jaynes. We were a weary group (can you get a laughter hangover?) but I savored the time chatting across the salt flats.

And so home. After being bowled over by Braeden's and Mark's hugs at the airport we came home to see what I'd brought for them (the BYU Bookstore and I have a great relationship). The house was clean and Adam had even refinished the kitchen table for me, one of my summer task, checked off early.

I am happy to be home. Back to husband and children (except for the flights I hardly saw Emma on the trip she was so busy with cousins). Back to teaching school.

Back to laundry and dishes and what's for dinner.

I'm back.