When Easter Sunday is Conference Sunday

So, twice a year in our church, we have what is called General Conference. It falls on the first Saturday and Sunday in April and October. We don't attend our regular church meetings, but instead tune in to a broadcast from Salt Lake City in which the leaders of the Church address us.

They discuss issues that are important, even vital to all of us. Each one prepares a talk independent of the others, without collaboration or assignment. And yet time after time there are recurring themes. The overwhelming theme this time was one near and dear to my heart: the importance of teaching our children the gospel, of showing them love, of strengthening our children and families. (If you'd like to listen to, watch, or read any of these talks, go here. They are available in almost any language you can think of.)

As we sustain them as prophets and apostles, called by God to teach us of His will, you can imagine how much these weekends mean to us.And once in every few years, Conference Sunday and Easter Sunday are one and the same.

That means that we don't go to church in our new Easter clothes. We watch the morning session in our pajamas and don't get dressed at all until noon. I love everything about it except for the lack of Easter family pictures.

So, I snapped a few candids instead last week. You can get a glimpse of what Conference looked like at our house. You will not see us all together in a photo, nor will my boys be in fresh pressed button-down shirts. Oh well! Maybe next year.

I love that you can catch a glimpse of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in that last one.
Can I tell you what a sucker I am for sister pictures? You knew that, didn't you?

We often give the kids their Easter baskets on Saturday, but this year we kept the candy to a minimum and since we weren't going to church we let them have them Sunday morning. Their candy was gone before I even got out of bed! We also borrowed an idea from a friend's blog and lined the hallways and family room with pictures of the Savior after the kids went to bed on Saturday. I loved it and will do it again. They loved looking at each picture and telling the story (or asking the story) of what happened there.


Look at this little muffin. Couldn't you just eat her up? I mean, really!