Women's Conference

Through a lot of planning and sacrifice, I was very blessed to go to Women's Conference with my mother-in-law Ruby and sisters-in-law Julie and Emma-kate. What a welcome hiatus from my daily routine to go learn about being a better woman (therefore becoming a better wife and mother). I enjoyed all of the classes, albeit some more then others, but mostly being together with family. We had so much to talk about we could scarcely go to sleep at night! Besides attending Women's Conference we played games, ate meals, shared advice, Julie gave the boys haircuts, and we talked, talked and talked some more. Hopefully, this will become an annual or biennial tradition! Here are Ruby's comments on our time together:

"My main purpose of the visit was to spend time with my daughter and daughters-in-law and also enjoy attending Women’s Conference with 16,000 other women. Daughters-in-law is such a long word, so from here on out I’m just going to call them all my daughters.........and what wonderful daughters they are. I didn’t want to say good-bye.
I was impressed with Emma-kate’s devotion to her new baby. 6-week old Desmond had some rough times, but not too many, considering. One long night I offered to take him thinking that Emma-kate would take advantage of the break and get some much needed sleep, but she could only stay away from him for a few minutes at a time. Although we all stayed up fairly -foolishly-late enjoying each other’s company, we know that Emma-kate put in a few more hours in the middle of the night taking care of her baby. It’s rewarding for me to watch her love that baby. But Kate........you can’t hold him a good portion of the night forever!
I was amazed at Julie’s stamina especially considering she’s 6-months pregnant (with my first grand-daughter.....I know you all know that already....I just like saying it). She did almost all the driving since we took her mini-van from Prosser. (Thank you for offering it, Per. It was very comfortable, and I didn’t realize how big of a difference it made until we finished our trip in my little car.) I thoroughly enjoyed getting to talk to Julie much of the time as we drove. What a devoted mother my red-headed grandsons have.
To be hosted by Olivia is kind of like dying and going to heaven. She thinks of every detail and is willing to do whatever for her guests. An experience forever etched in my mind (well, maybe not....cause my mind is a little leaky these days) is when we were all sitting in the Mariott Center for the last session of the conference on Thursday. Emma-kate and Olivia had both just made the trek from a mother’s lounge in the Wilkinson Center, and as Emma-kate sat down in the Marriott Center, she remembered that she left a filled bottle in the mother’s lounge. Being fairly unfamiliar with the campus, she wasn’t sure how to get back to where she’d been, so without hesitation, Olivia bounded out of her seat, ran to the Wilkinson Center and back, retrieving Desmond’s bottle........all in 3-inch heels. What a nice lady. And it’s refreshing to talk to Olivia. You don’t meet women with her intelligence on a daily basis.
We got to see Grandma briefly on Friday evening. Joshua picked her up from Mt. Pleasant and drove her to Kjell and Olivia’s, and then took her home a few hours later. Grandma brought me some sprouting seed which I had been trying to get a hold of for some time. Plus, she made cookies and sent some with us for our trip home. We didn’t see Shawn or Vanessa, although I talked to them a couple of times. Both of their work schedules were such that it was hard to coordinate. Dad and I are planning on making a trip to Utah sometime in October, and hopefully, we will know our plans far enough in advance that we can make arrangements to see Shawn and Vanessa then.
The whole experience was so enjoyable........whether we were attending classes, gabbing, playing games, enjoying the luxury of Kjell and Olivia’s home or the modesty of Per and Julie’s. At Kjell and Olivia’s I stayed in the guest suite. At Per and Julie’s, I shared a room with Kurt and Ansel, and Ansel gave up his bed for me and slept on the floor. It was so sweet when about 1:00am I got a hug from Ansel and felt his cool little body crawl in next to me. The word must have gotten out that Grandma is warm. Ansel was nice and toasty for the rest of the night.
I appreciate all of the sacrifices that everyone made (Dad, Tryg, Per, Kurt, Ansel, Lars, Kjell, Marcus, Holden, Wether, Keith, and Desmond) that made my time with my daughters possible. It was wonderful, and we’ve decided that we’re going to do it again.....don’t know when or where yet, but we’ll make it happen. Thank you, Olivia, for the invitation to come to Women’s Conference this year."