Busy couple of weeks!

I just had to add this picture because it is so cute. Shep loves to carry around this lion stuffed animal and he'll play with it and then he will just lay on it like this. It's the only stuffed animal that he doesn't or hasn't torn up...yet. It's like it is his friend! Anyway...it was just cute!


Ashton and Dallen got to go to a fishing derby that the Lion's Club holds every year. Scott took them and they were catching fish with their hands. They caught four of them. We don't eat fish...they are more or less used for biology purposes! Dallen loves to fish, though. He has two fishing poles and a net and a little tackle box and they go down to this pond every now and then just to fish. He's pretty good at it too.

I got to go to Women's Conference (with Ruth, Scott's mom, Kathie and Heidi, Scott's sisters). It was really good and I didn't know how much I needed it. It is a serious spiritual high. If you have never been, you need to make the effort. It is worth it! Although, it is hard to come back because you feel like you can conquer the world but then come home to reality and then flip through your notes and realize that what they kept telling you is that you can't do it alone...the Lord is with you! Scott is so good to me to let me go (he practically pushes me out the door) because he knows how good it is for me.

Things I learned...

I was thinking about gifts that I need to find and there were some suggestions on how to get there. One is to ask yourself "what did I come here to do?" Then make a list of what you can and want to do and work toward doing or learning those things.

There are only two ways through this life...with Christ and without Christ.

To make weak things strong...ask what is your weakness and why have I been given these specific weaknesses? They are ours for a purpose...to become humble which makes us aware of our need to rely on the Lord. We can only change with His help.

I learned and saw that we women are quite a force to be reckoned with! They had service stations everywhere, but to see all the women in action was amazing and to be apart of that was incredible. I did cards, because I know how to do that. It was quite a production. Just imagine what we can do just in our own little areas of the world? It was amazing to see what just 20,000 or more women could do...I can't imagine what the whold Relief Society can do as a force. We women have such amazing gifts.

There is a lot more that I learned, but it would take too long to write it all. And, what I write is stuff that I needed personally...you know how that is! This is a clip of Hilary Weeks.

We saw her at a concert they had that evening. This was taken at a Women's Time Out conference, but it was the same. She had some other great ones that just had us laughing really hard. She also sings some amazing spiritual songs that help to lift us up. She was really fun to see.

Scott and I are also taking a parenting class. You would think that we wouldn't need one because our kids are so perfect :) JUST KIDDING! It is just a different type of parenting now...they don't need discipline...just guidance. This class helps us to use our words differently so that the kids feel more valued and they do things because they want to be proud of themselves and not do things to make us proud. Which, is how we want it for them. And the thing that stinks is that it starts with us. So the teacher has been having us look at ourselves and why we do the things we do. The first week, Scott and I came home all depressed because we knew we were the cause of our kids issues, but didn't want to face the facts! It's been good, though.

Then it was teacher appreciation week as soon as I got back. I had some help from others. They did the door decorations and they posted pictures of teachers when they were in grade school so the children could guess who they were. It was a fun little contest. Then I also was in charge of getting the kids to bring stuff to their teachers and we did it as a contest also. Then I had to do a teacher luncheon and that was nerve racking because I have to do things perfectly and stress out beyond what I need to do. I made these chocolate candy suckers in the shape of flowers and made them into table decorations (shown above). It was good. The luncheon was catered and so I didn't have to do much for that. So..the week went well, and I just hope the teachers enjoyed it. If not...they can fire me!

We went to see Brian Regan. He is so funny and the guy he brought with him (Kermit Apio sp?) was funny too. They are clean and it is so much fun to be able to take my kids to something like that because they are clean. The older three paid for their tickets and got to go. It was fun.

Other news...Derrek got the job at the Thunderridge Scout camp this summer. He will be gone every week and come home for one day to do laundry and whatever else and then go back up. That will be his summer. Alec got accepted as Counselor in Training program and it isn't paid, but he will do three weeks and with this experience, he will be hired on for more pay than Derrek is getting, next year. Calvin is going to Timberline and Scout camp. He's ready to get a lot of merit badges. Anyway, it is going to be weird having them gone most of the time. I am sure Dallen and Ashton will like it! For our Steurer reunion, the three oldest will be gone and we'll just be taking Dallen and Ashton. That will be weird. Our family will be just like my brothers and sisters...all the same age kids! Ashton will be the oldest one there!

Today for Mother's day, I got a necklace from Ashton, a bookmark and picture frame from Dallen, letters of love from all, Alec baked me a cake and offered to eat it for me (so much love!), Derrek made me breakfast that was going to be in bed, but I ruined it by walking down stairs. I got to sleep in until 9:00 this morning. Scott made me fluffy pancakes for dinner. It has just been a great day. There has been no fighting. What more could I ask for. Here is a picture of Derrek's breakfast to me. It was sweet.

This is the cake that Alec made for me (thanks to eggs and powdered sugar from our neighbor). They are also showing such love by eating it for me!

Oh, at Women's Conference I was lucky enough to run into friends that I had in Oklahoma. It's funny because as they mentioned, the only times we saw each other was at girl's camp and stake dances, but we yearned for that connection of being LDS with others because there weren't many of us in our schools. Anyway, it was Amy Bingham (now Jensen) and Natalie Johnson (now Hawks). We also talked about how we loved growing up in Oklahoma and even though we lived in different cities, we all had the same experiences and how hard it is to find that for our children in Utah. It took all of us moving away from Utah to remember what was important and what we wanted in our children's lives and now that we are all back in Utah, we are geared up to battle the complacency of those who are LDS and forget what that means. Anyway, it completed my Women's Conference experience to see my old friends.