Monday, April 7, 2008

A great weekend at home

I just returned from the BEST weekend at home. It was so nice to be there and basically do nothing but hang out with my family and watch Conference. I realized as we loaded the car to come back that I hadn't been out of the house in two days and I hadn't even noticed! Talk about being a bum! Our whole family was there, except for two very important people (Kristen and Steve, we missed you!). It is always amazes me that even with the vast number of people in my family, it is still so obvious when even one person isn't there. You'd think with a total of 21 people in the house that one or two missing wouldn't really matter. But it does! That is what I love about my family. None of us are perfect, but there is such a feeling of love and acceptance and trust. We have so much fun when we get together. I'm so grateful to my parents for always giving us such great examples of love and respect for each other. It has paid off tremendously! I just love the feeling in my parent's home. It truly feels like home, and it helps me to recognize when I am doing the things I need to do to make my own home feel the same way. I also LOVED Conference. Conference is always good, but sometimes I think I am more prepared for it than other times. This time I felt like every word that was spoken was just for me. Jason and I had some conversations on our drive to Burley about different things, and several of the things we talked about were mentioned specifically in the talks. We kept turning to each other and saying, "There's your answer!" It was really cool. I especially loved the talk about mothers and I can't wait to print it out and review every word. I love being a mother and I am so grateful for the gospel in my life. I really don't know where I would be without it. I feel so renewed and ready to take on this week, fussy kids and ear infections and all!

18 comments:

Annie said...

Anne Marie! You just reminded me why I have always and forever will always love you! You are so real with your feelings and I love that no one or anything changes who you are!You are such an amazing person and a great example to me! I cherish you!!!! I'm so glad that you have such a close family. I do not have anything like that and I hope and pray that Wade and I are teaching our children to be forever close! Jason and you kids are so lucky to have you!!!!

Anonymous said...

Your family sounds AWESOME! I'm so glad you have such a neat family and that you could all (well, mostly all of you) be together this weekend....That's how I hope my kids will feel, too. Sounds like a perfect weekend!

Anonymous said...

BTW, Abby looks absolutely ADORABLE! :)

Alicia said...

Conference was great! So glad to hear you've had fun this weekend. See you Wednesday at YW!

carrie said...

I'm so glad you had fun at home this last weekend!! I thought of you....especially since part of my family was SO close to you!! ha ha
Wasn't conference just wonderful?? I totally agree with you about being receptive.... I, too, felt like so many things were directed at me. :o) I just loved it....and it made me feel so inspired. I loved the email you sent me last week, speaking of "inspiring". It made me cry...and cherish my little (crazy, too!!) kids just a little more. Thanks for that. :o) I love that you have a close family. I wish my family was like that, but I am proud of what we have with our own kids...and I hope it will always stay that way. I want all my kids and their families to feel welcome in our home, too. Thank you for what you wrote.... I loved it, and I love you. :o)

Cutie Pies said...

What a great family! It's so fun to be able to spend time with your best friends. You have such a cute family, too. They all have a similar resemblance. I hope that I can make my home that comfortable for my family. I think that shows the success of your family.

Christa said...

It was a great weekend! Definitely relaxing!!

Oceanchild said...

I love those pics of Abby with her big flower headband. So cute. Glad you had fun at home!

Andrea said...

You are so lucky to have that with your family. I think it is very rare to be so close. It really is the best feeling in the world! I'm sure you will do a great job at raising your own family the same way, your such a good mom AnnMarie, thanks for being such a great example:)

Hubba's Thoughts said...

Hey, I'm so glad you had a fun weekend. It's always nice to go home, but especially nice when the WHOLE family is there! I really liked the talk on Mothers too!! It's nice to hear talks that are literally directed to you. Have a great day!

alison said...

Yes, we definitely missed Kristen and Steve! Not the same without them. I love all your pictures - Abby is SO cute!

Christie said...

What cute pics. I love the ones of your family - I can totally tell that you're related. And what a fun weekend! Sometimes I wish my family lived further away from me so that we could have a fun weekend away. Reminds me of going to visit my grandparents when I was young.

The Spradlin Family said...

Hey,
I love your blog! I finally did one. thespradlinrazorbacks.blogspot.com
Let me know if you need any help while Abby has her surgeries. Let's do lunch soon!
-carli

Heidi J. said...

Good for you! it is so much fun when you can get together with family I loved the pictures to.

WeTheTeeples said...

You are lucky to have such a fun family. My brothers and I get along, but we aren't close. Oh well. Your pictures are cute. I love the smily one of Abby.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for saying that you guys missed us! It looks like you all had so much fun...we really wish we could've been there. Love!

janae said...

It sounds like you have such a great family. It's so nice that you love spending time together and love and support each other. Not all families are like that. I need to find someone who recorded conference. It was hard to listen while we were packing/moving. Thanks for your good example and inspiration.

a-anderson said...

You have such a cute family. I loved the talk about mothers too. It was probably what I needed to hear the most.