A Little "Time-Out"...

This post is a little weird because I don't have any pictures for it, but I'd feel bad not saying anything about last weekend.

Steve and I headed up to Phoenix last weekend so that all the girls (my mom, my sisters-in-law Katie and Aranne, and I) could go to "Time-Out For Women." We went to the whole thing which is a Friday night session and then most of Saturday. Steve and I got there just in time for the girls to head out to the civic center in downtown Phoenix. ...side note: I had a little drama on the way up when I realized I had left my nice shirts that I had on hangers at home, so all I was left with was under shirts. My awesome husband made a quick stop at the Kohl's in Casa Grande so that I could get a couple shirts in about 10 minutes. It worked out, but I swear I'm having some serious pregnancy brain.

Anyways, Friday night we got to hear from Virginia Hinckley Pearce, one of President Hinckley's daughters, Wendy L. Watson Nelson, Russell M. Nelson's wife, and Sheri Dew. Pretty amazing line up of very spiritual and inspirational women. We also got to hear from Dallyn Vail Bayles who is an unbelievable singer. Saturday was filled with tons of great speakers, many of whom I've seen their books in Deseret Book. We also got to hear from an LDS group called Mercy River, which I quickly fell in love with.

I had heard about "Time-Out" last year and was excited about the chance to go this year, but, wow, I was blown away by how amazing it was. Every single speaker was so amazing and upliftingwith their own story and message. The theme for this year was "Infinite Hope," and after listening to everyone, you couldn't help but feel so much hope, faith, and motivation to do and be better. There was one talk that focused on being a holy woman and asking yourself in those difficult parts of your day, "What would a holy woman do?" I'm trying to remember that. I've been filled with so much peace and hope this week as I remember all that I heard and all that I want to improve on. We are already making plans to get back together for next year's which is November 4-5th. I highly, highly recommend this to anyone!! Oh, and the absolutely adorable tote bag that we got sure didn't hurt either!

While the girls were gone, the boys were gracious enough to take over kid duty. They were great and helped my dad with some things and I think they were able to enjoy some football in the process. After the girls got back we had some yummy bbq and just hung out as a family. So fun! We loved watching Preston play with his cousin Blake who is the cutest little chub with amazing curly hair! Dan and Aranne got Preston and Blake matching Halloween pj's, so cute! It was such a great weekend, and a much needed break for Steve and I from all the packing and craziness at home.