Thursday, May 29, 2008

YW Regional Conference...

Treasures of Value
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth … but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven … for where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”


- 3 Nephi 13:19-21




Young Women Regional Conference


I have the sweetest husband ever! He spent the entire weekend with me and 300 Young Women from around the state. He listened to workshops on dating, keynote speakers about being Daughters of God and even watched a fashion show to the music from High School Musical all with modest clothing and cute new accessories. And the finale being a modest wedding dress. Ah! It was quite the weekend. What a trouper. It was a great conference and what a faboulous group of young women we have!

Thanks honey you are the best!

All in one day!





Chris took the day off of work so we have seen so much of each other this week with Memorial day together. He was a huge help in filling an order from the bishops store house for our Family Resource Center. We got enough food for 16 families that we directly serve through PAT. It was great to have my co-workers there and a great opportunity to learn more about the humanitarian aide efforts and work the church does. Our store house is amazing!

Next we did a final walk through on our house with our real estate agent. She is fabulous. And signed papers and more papers and more papers. It really was the easiest thing and now we own a house. And we actually walked away with a check after we bought the house. I am still not sure how we worked that out but we will not complain! It was great!

We spent the night celebrating with dinner at a yummy Italian style pizzeria and went to the Auditorium theater for Wicked. It was a fabulous show and we both were in tears by the end! We love the music and musicals all together but this was a great show. The story, costumes and so funny. It was a busy but wonderful day! How did we get so lucky.

Monday, May 26, 2008

Letchworth State Park


Car camping etiquette!
so we have only been car camping in NY a few times so I guess we are unsure of the rules about this type of camping.
1. How late is too late to play who let the dogs out? over and over and over again!
2. Since when is camping bringing everything you own pulled by a semi truck into a camp ground?
3. Burning wood pallets on top of (not inside of ) a firepit-i think you had to see this one.
4. Public bathroom behavior/enough said!
5. Since when do you need to bring a tv and DVD players, X-boxes and all sorts of electrical equipment to entertain yourself on a beautiful afternoon in the woods?
Maybe we just don't understand it! Any clue where we too can get a semi truck for 4th of July? Gotta love it!





We had a great weekend! After church on Sunday we ran away without responsiblities to Letchworth State Park. We went hiking, camped and tried to get some sleep! It was freezing cold. The waterfalls there are gorgeous and we will be back in July with the YW for High Adventure!

we learned this weekend that there are rednecks in every state you just have to know where to find them!

a mighty change of heart


This weekend we spoke at the Young Single Adult Conference called Gathering in the Grove-GIG. There were YSA who come from all over the northeast about 200. The theme this year was Going Forward with Faith. Elder Cook from the 6th Quorum of the Seventy was our Keynote Speaker. He did a fabulous job!

We spoke about Dating; a mighty change of heart. I love the children's story about Fanny & Heber; Fanny's Dream. We were able to find it on VHS and then talked about our own experiences emphasizing the importance of submitting to Heavenly Father's will, timing. All experiences even the negative ones can be good because they can prepare them for something great. D&C 64:33 small & simple things. It was interesting to hear about hanging out, Internet dating sites and many other topics that the YSA face today. It was a great experience!

Sunday, May 18, 2008

road trip....


Harmony Pennsylvania-we had a great trip with the YSA last week. We traveled down to see one of many church history sites in this area. It was a beautiful drive and best of all neither one of us had to drive. We read, talked to the singles, listened to music and slept. It was a great reminder of what the pioneers-specifically Emma & Joseph did for us. And how grateful we are for the priesthood and the church.

This cute little cemetery sits a few hundred yards from where Emma & Joseph lived with the Hale family for a few months. This is the Hale's tomb stone and next to that is the first of several children that Joseph & Emma would bury.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

#1 mom







Mom, you have shown me all I hope to be as a mother. You are my ultimate example and I can only dream that one day my children will feel the same about me as I do about you.
I love you


Grandma Brown
they are such beautiful women


Grandma Durrant
what amazing women we have in our lives....

So I was asked to speak on Sunday at the singles branch, I began by explaining that "I would not be talking about my own mother because she was not a great person." Everyone died laughing and Chris quickly corrected me from behind. I guess I was more nervous than I thought and I simply couldn't get out all those double negatives. I wanted to say that I would not be speaking about my own mother not because she was not a great person but because I had prepared a different message. AH!

is this really my job...


Today I took this family to the science museum. They have never experienced anything like it before. The children ran around from one thing to the next like kids in a candy store. It was really fun to see how excited they were and how much fun they had! I do love my job.




I get strange comments from people sometimes when I tell them what I do but I love my job. If I could create the perfect job for me right now it would be this. It is so much fun and I look forward to everyday.

favorite visits














isn't she the Gerber Baby in person. too cute!

FRC-parents as teachers


Group Meetings


A college student from RIT wanted to do a photo journalism story about the Family Resource Center and it's affects on families in the Rochester area. She was able to join me on a couple home visits as well as a group meeting. She loved the families and produced a great pamphlet for us to distribute about the programs we offer.

Monday, May 12, 2008

the lilac festival















we used to live next to highland park so we have so many memories walking or running it's trails and of course the yearly lilac festivial. it has the most beautiful lilac bushes and every kind of tree and flower. we spent friday evening enjoying the live music, the delcious food (artichoke french +), the fun vendors (handmade crafts from around the state) and the smells of the lilacs. It was a much needed date night!

Thursday, May 8, 2008

35 traymore




well it is official we bought our first house in new york. I guess we are going to live here for a while. we are thrilled to have found a house that we love, in the neighborhood that we wanted and in the ward that we will one day a part of (or we hope). everything is going smoothly now we just wait.... until july since we don't move in until then. we would love visits from everyone, any time! you are all welcome and we look forward to seeing you soon.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

YW Leadership Training Meeting


For trainings in the past we have done different things like ask speakers to come or unit leaders to share ideas. They have worked out well. This year I really felt like it just snuck up on us and all of a sudden it was here. We were really dependant on the Lord's guidance for this one. We really wanted to address concerns that had come up through out the stake and be able to get to know each other and share ideas. So we decided to focus our remarks on the counsel from the General YW Presidency and then worked in the concerns that we were aware of. I was so impressed with the ideas and the spirit that these unit leaders have. I am always learning so much from them; their ideas and solutions. I am so grateful to know them as friends and be working with them. I hope everyone else got just as much out of it as I did.

Sunday at Stake Conference we had a combined YSA & youth choir. The music was an arrangement done by a member of our stake with three Primary hymns about love; Love one another, Love is spoken here and As I have loved you. It was beautiful. Our Branch President conducted it and I was so please to see so many of our youth participate. It turned out really powerful and was a good learning experience for me since I am not a singer.