Monkey Bread for the Monkey Head!

Random title I realize, but we had been dreaming about monkey bread since we were going to have it for conference (a tradition we borrowed/stole from Kristen Lee and our fat, satisfied bellies thank you for it :) We just have to learn not eat the whole thing ourselves in one Sunday). And during church, Sacrament meeting, mind you, I asked Weston if he wanted Monkey Bread for the Monkey Head. And he erupted into laughter. It was so funny. Maybe that doesn't sound funny to you at all, but we got a kick out of it.

I’ll be the first to admit I slept through the afternoon sessions of conference with every intention of watching them on my DVR. But I have been reading some posts on your blogs and wanted to share how touched I was by this talk in the Sunday morning session by Susan W. Tanner.

“I delight that I am a daughter of Heavenly Father who loves me. I learned of my divine identity in my earliest years at my mother’s side. Just recently, I saw my then three-year-old granddaughter learning her identity from her mother. Eliza had gone to bed distraught. She could be comforted only as her mother again told Eliza’s favorite true story about the special night when Heavenly Father distinctly and clearly whispered to her mommy’s heart that Eliza was a special spirit with a noble mission ahead. I take great delight in my role as a nurturer, which allows me to express my deepest identity as a woman…It is not only a mother’s primary responsibility but also part of our individual pre-mortal, mortal and eternal identity and purpose. To nurture is to teach, to foster development, to promote growth, to feed and to nourish. Who would not shout for joy at being given such a blessed role?"

This part struck me and I mentioned to one of Weston’s nurses the other day how he has been starting to fall asleep better on his own sometimes than when I rock him. This is the best part of my day: to watch Weston fall asleep and hold him in my arms and thank my Heavenly Father for bringing Weston once to me, then twice and in better condition than I had him before. How sad that he is already growing up! And when Doug and I felt so strongly that we were supposed to start our family, we knew throughout the pregnancy and even more so now that our Heavenly Father has big plans for him.

She continued, “I delight in the examples of those in the scriptures who walk by faith on their earthly journey. Each time I walk with Abraham and Isaac on the road to Mt. Moriah, I weep, knowing that Abraham does not know that there will be an angel and ram in the thicket at the end of the journey. We are each in the middle of our earthly path and we don’t know the rest of our own stories that we as Abraham are blessed with miracles. I delight in the Lord’s mercies and miracles. I know that his tender mercies and his miracles large and small are real. They come in His way and on His timetable. Sometimes it is not until we have reached our extremity. Jesus’ disciples on the Sea of Galilee had to toil in rowing against a contrary wind all through the night before Jesus finally came to their aid. He did not come until the fourth watch meaning near dawn. Yet, He did come. My testimony is that miracles do come though sometimes not until the fourth watch.”

I think that speaks for itself for my thoughts on miracles :)