We've joined the realm of bloggers!

So, we have finally decided to enter into the blogging world. We've had a busy week this past week. Sadie celebrated her 3rd birthday on the 3rd of October. She had lots of friends come to her birthday party and it got a little crazy! We played a pin the bracelet on Dora game and a pass the baby doll around the circle game. The rules for the circle game are everyone sits in a circle, the music starts and they start passing the baby doll around. When the music stops, then the person holding the babydoll is out and they get a treat bag. Eventually, all of the kids got a little treat bag, but Sadie didn't quite understand that she would get one too. She started to cry when the first person got out and they got a treat bag. She is so addicted to candy! She refused to play the game after that. After the game we opened presents and then had cake. Thank you to all who came. She had fun and so did we. It was also nice to see those who we don't get to see very often. Keilani got to stay home from school to be with Sadie on her special day.

It is tradition that we take the birthday girl out for dinner and Sadie chose to go to The Old Country Buffet. Works well for us because they get to choose their own food and if they don't eat it, they can choose something different! However, they did eat all of their food and even got to have dessert. After dinner, we went and played at the mall playland for a while and the girls got alot of their suger high out of them by running around and jumping off of things. Jake did some running around with them, but he was running on all fours! He could run about as fast as the girls. It was super funny to watch.

Yesterday and today we were able to enjoy listening/watching General Conference. It was such an inspiring conference and we feel that it is what we needed to hear. Something that stood out to me (Jake) was Elder Uchtdorf's talk at the Priesthood session. He told a story about moving a grand piano with the Elder's quorum. After several attempts to move the piano unsuccessfully, a man came in and said, "Get close together, stand where you are and lift." He likened this to our positions in the church where we can contribute in whatever calling or capacity we are in. I think that outside the church too we all have the ability to make a difference in the world. Whatever position we happen to be in, whether it is in or out of the lime-light, we can make a huge difference.

We also enjoyed Elder Christoferson's talk about how it is not enough for us to be just a little less wicked than the world, we must be men/women of God. In the biography of President Monson yesterday between sessions, we were impressed when he said that "if the Lord has an errand to be run, I want Him to know that Tom Monson is his man." We hope that we can live up to that motto. There is a lot of hurt in the world that can be fixed with a small effort on our part. A great effort can move mountains. I feel that what I have gotten from this conference is a renewed strength to go where He wants me to go and to do what He wants me to do. In essence to take care of each other wherever and whenever we can. It is a wonderful feeling to know that we have a prophet of God and apostles here on the earth to help us to keep our feet pointed in the right direction. We are never alone.

We have also been reflecting alot on the problems of the world and that opposing candidates have different views on how to fix each individual problem. There are thousands of other views on the same problems also. Everyone means well, but I have come to realize that the only true solution to the poverty, energy crisis, hunger, war, terrorism, economic, etc., can all be resolved through spreading the gospel with more power and energy than before. I see how the gospel can change people's lives. If world governments were to collectively pray every morning to our Heavenly Father about the world's problems they would receive answers on which steps to take. The heart has to be changed before problems can be changed themselves. Some may argue, but each one of these problems stem from pride, selfishness, and lack of charity.

On a lighter note, today between sessions of conference we took Keilani and Sadie on a little walk through the Stimson Nature Reserve. What a beautiful place. We saw several different kinds of plants, trees, mushrooms, fungus, etc., and were able to teach them a little bit about each. The girls were very excited to learn new things and to see the wildlife (deer, woodpecker, squirrel, slug). We hope to start a new tradition in watching shows and going places to teach them more about the world we live in and help them develop a love for nature and all of God's creations. We watched a few clips from the Planet Earth movies tonight before they went to bed. They loved watching all of the different creatures in their habitats and asked alot of questions. They laughed at some of the funny looking lizards and lemurs and monkeys.