A fun and relaxing weekend

This past weekend was such a great one for me and I thought it was worth writing about. On Friday night I went to Mark's Aunt Cindy's house. She had Mom Bishop, Alysa, Amanda and I over for a girls' night. We missed you Janice, Jen, Janet and Kamber! It was a very relaxing evening with fantastic company and great food. Cindy had made chili, artichoke dip, stuffed mushrooms, fruit w/ fruit dip, vegetables and lots of yummy stuff. She planted us each a little pot with a plant to take home. I got a Christmas cactus and have high hopes of not killing it before Christmas comes and it gets its' blooms. We had fun conversation each answering questions such as who we would most like to meet (alive or dead), and other interesting and thought provoking questions like that. Thanks Cindy for such a fun time that's sure to be a special memory!

On Saturday I had the opportunity to attend a Time Out for Women in Boise at the Boise Center on the Grove with some ladies from my ward. This was the second time I've gone to this event (the last time was five years ago, I think) and it was a fabulous day! Deseret Book is who puts the event on, I believe, and it is a day filled with wonderful speakers and music all geared towards women. The speakers were Jane Clayson Johnson (she used to be the co anchor for the Early Show w/Bryant Gumbel) and she spoke about "Seasons" of life and how she traded in her television career to be a stay at home mom. Mary Ellen Edmunds was the event host and she was hilarious! She's an LDS author. Stephen Robinson spoke (he wrote the book Believing Christ and is a BYU professor) and was also very funny. Chris Stewart also spoke, he is the author of The Great and Terrible series of books and is the CEO of The Shipley Group. The highlight of course was Sheri Dew. Kenneth Cope was the musical guest and he sang several times throughout the day. I never realized how amazing his voice is! All of the presenters did really well and their messages were uplifting and inspiring and made you want to do better. It was just what I needed to hear! The spirit was evident throughout the day. There were almost 3,000 ladies there. It was a nice break away from home and kids and I'm grateful for the opportunity I had to go and be taught new things and to be reminded of things I already knew. Hopefully I'll be a better wife, mother and daughter of God for having gone. Thanks so much to Mark for going solo with the kids all weekend and getting them to and from football games, sleepovers, etc. all on his own. You're the BEST!