Last weekend

My good friend, Greta, invited our family to join hers for a Heritage of Flight parade in her town. The kids LOVED watching all the cars, bikes, planes, clowns, and CANDY that was thrown at them. I didn't expect to go home with a big bowl full of candy (not an exaggeration!) 

Me and Greta

Waiting for the parade to reach them.

And yes, General Conference was this past weekend. Some people have asked me what General Conference is, so here is a summary: GC is twice a year, and our beloved prophet, President Thomas S Monson speaks to us, in addition to his counselors, President Henry B Eyring and President Dieter D Uchtdorf (pictured above), plus the 12 apostles. Here is a picture:

And they speak to us about various topics. I am always uplifted and know that God is teaching me things I need to focus on. I love watching the talks and this year, I had a particular hunger for spiritual nourishment. I could not wait for each talk. Click here to listen to my favorite one, it speaks about depression and mental challenges. You can watch more General Conference here. 

Somehow, I got it into my head that you HAVE to make cinnamon rolls for General Conference weekend. So, I did. And I made chocolate chip rolls, too. Cinnamon is still my favorite, I think. 

In between the Sunday sessions, my good friend, Stefanie, and her family came over for white bean chicken chili and cracked wheat bread. I am so grateful for her friendship! She is amazing!

We bought several bags of apples and have been enjoying various apple foods. Here is Tyler grinding up some apple butter I made. It was my first time making apple butter AND tasting apple butter! Mine wasn't as thick as others, but it tasted great!

Tyler taught Anna to play Stratego! She is a HUGE fan. She hasn't beaten her dad (yet) but is trying hard to do so! 

Every year, we boo a few families. This year, we have done it for a couple of weeks for FHE, but this is the first year (that I can remember) that someone has boo-ed us! The kids were THRILLED and devoured the cupcakes. I have to share some experiences our first night of boo-ing. The first house we went to, Tyler took Silas to drop off the treats. He talked all the way up to the door and back. It's wasn't a surprise when the mom texted me the day after, knowing that we had boo-ed them. The second family, when we went to park our van, their youngest girl was playing in the open backyard right next to our van. Tyler and Anna went to deliver the goods, and two of the neighbors across the street from the house started talking to Tyler and Anna, saying, "Nice night, isn't it?", etc. There's NO doubt that they know who dropped off the treats, although they haven't mentioned it. Yet. The third family, we were driving down their road, and the father just happened to be bringing the trashcans out to the curb. Our van isn't hard to miss, since it has a big CHOFFY vinyl on the back of it, so there's a good chance he knows who dropped treats off at his door 5 minutes later...and then this past week, Anna went to take treats to a family and their daughter - who is Anna's age - was just hanging out in the front yard. That certainly messes up the idea of being secretive! Anyhow, my kids LOVE to boo families. It's such a fun tradition!

It has begun to be chilly at night and let's just say that the excitement is almost tangible for my kids being able to wear footsie jammies to bed!

Calvin & Iryna showing off their jammies!

In an attempt to use up some more of my apples (I STILL have two bags left to go!), I made 7, yes SEVEN, apple crumb pies last night. Don't they look good? I am going to bake one tonight and we froze the others. It's a good thing I have some vanilla ice cream in the freezer!