Food Fun Family

10 Fun LDS General Conference Activities and Printables for Kids #LDSconf

Lolli — Sat, 04 Oct 2014 15:34:27 +0000

I look forward to my church’s General Conference each October and April, and last April’s conference packet round-up was so popular that I’ve been eager to make a new round up of new discoveries for my LDS readers. But of course, I’ve been so busy the last few weeks with my press trip to LA that I haven’t had a chance to put my thoughts together until just now. Since most of these activities simply require a printer and paper or items found around your house, I figured it wasn’t too late to share.

Here’s a little about LDS General Conference:

Two weekends a year (the first Saturday and Sunday of April and October) the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meets as a world-wide “virtual” congregation to listen to our leaders. General Conference weekend is one of my favorite weekends of the whole year. It’s when I fill my bucket, renew my commitment, and listen to a prophet’s voice speaking to me – because it really does feel like the messages are for me. Anyone and everyone is invited to watch. It’s broadcast throughout the world – find it here. You can also follow along on twitter with hashtag #LDSconf for inspiring messages and quotes.

Watching Conference with kids can be a little more of a challenge, as it’s hard to get them to sit still for 4 2-hour sessions, so I’ve always loved finding activities to not only keep them quiet so I can listen, but to help them also concentrate and listen and learn something from Conference.

10 Fun Activities and Printables for Kids to do During General Conference:

Here are just a few more activities that I found for this Conference (see last April’s round-up of activities HERE):

Bonus: LDS.org always has an excellent Conference Packet for kids, as well as their year-long page of activities, games, coloring pages, printables, videos, and more.

Nauvoo, Illinois, and Carthage Jail #PSF

Lolli — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 01:19:47 +0000

I’ve been slowly working through my family’s cross-country road trip and all of the stops we made between Maryland and Utah. After visiting Kirtland, Ohio, we drove eat toward Nauvoo, Illinois, for another LDS Church History stop.

Nauvoo was home to early members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from late 1839 until about 1846, when the Saints moved farther west. Carthage, a nearby town, was the location of the county seat and the jail where Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum, were killed.

We could have spent days and days exploring all there is to do in Nauvoo, but we had to fit it in to one afternoon and evening. Some of the highlights of our visit: the renovated Nauvoo temple (the original was destroyed in the mid 1800s and rebuilt between 2000 and 2002; the Nauvoo Pageant (which occurs every summer and is wonderful!); Carthage Jail (a short drive from Nauvoo and totally worth the drive); and the Blacksmith shop in Historic Nauvoo (you can get free “Prairie Diamonds” – rings made out of horse shoe nails from the blacksmith).

What have you been up to lately? Been on any exciting adventures?

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Ogden Temple Open House #WW

Lolli — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 05:37:03 +0000

Today, my mom and dad, 3 of my kids, and 3 of their cousins and I toured the newly completed Odgen Temple. What a beautiful temple Open House! If you ever have the opportunity to attend a temple open house in your area…do it! Even if you’re not LDS, go!

Ogden Temple Open House

And of course, we had to stop at Farr (Better) ice cream for some of the best ice cream any of us have had in a long time for a special treat!

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Our Trip to Kirtland, Ohio #PSF

Lolli — Fri, 01 Aug 2014 05:07:47 +0000

One of the goals of our family road trip was to make as many meaningful stops as possible on the way out West. Our second stop on our trip was to Kirtland, Ohio. Sadly, we didn’t have a lot of time to spend in Kirtland, but even with just under 3 hours or so, we were able to really enjoy a taste of history.

Between 1831 and 1838, Kirtland, Ohio, was the main administrative headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and home to many of the members of the Church. Kirtland was the location of the first LDS temple, and though the building is no longer owned by the LDS Church, it is a beautiful place to visit.

The Church has a fantastic Historic Kirtland Visitors’ Center which includes the Isaac Morley Farm, John Johnson Home, Newel K. Whitney Store and Whitney Home, Kirtland Sawmill, Kirtland Schoolhouse, Kirtland Temple Stone Quarry, and more.

The Visitors’ Center is open Monday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. and Sunday from 11:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. The Visitors’ Center and all historical buildings and tours are free of charge.

The one thing we regretted not being able to do was the tour of the inside of the Kirtland Temple, which closed too early for our schedule. We’d love to go back and spend more time!

What have you been up to lately? Been on any exciting adventures?

Be sure to link up your posts below!

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The Newest Bear in Cub Scouts #WW

Lolli — Tue, 27 May 2014 22:41:31 +0000

My AJ has loved this past year in cub scouts, but he was stuck on his last 3 requirements to move on to the Bear rank for the last couple of months. He was SO excited to finally pass off those last 3 things and to be able to move up to the Bears at his pack meeting last week.

I bought cheese balls just for the occasion (my apologies to all of the other moms who took orange-fingered kids home that night…).

Can you tell how proud he was?

The newest Bear in cub scouts:

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LDS General Conference Activities for Kids #LDSConf

Lolli — Fri, 04 Apr 2014 19:47:19 +0000

Note: check out my NEW round-up of 10 General Conference Activities (Printables, games, coloring pages, and more).

This weekend marks the 184th Annual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Every first weekend in April and October, our family joins families from all over the world to hear counsel from our prophet, apostles, and leaders of the church during four general sessions of conference – two on Saturday and two on Sunday.

We like to watch the conference live from the comfort of our home…but even though it’s easy to watch online or on cable at home, it can still be challenging to keep the kids entertained and engaged for 8 hours of instruction.

When my kids were little, I would scour the internet for General Conference activities – packets, coloring pages, games, and Conference notebooks to print off before Conference started. There was not half as much available then as there is now! I’ve collected a handful of my favorite activities and printables to share with you today.

The following ideas and images are linked to the incredibly talented people who created them. Please click over to their sites to print them (clicking on any of the images will take you to the source). If you’re pinning any of the following ideas to Pinterest, please pin from the original source, rather than my site, so they maintain the credit. Thanks for spreading the love!

LDS.org Conference Resources for Kids

LDS.org has several General Conference printables activity sheets (a Conference notebook, coloring pages, games, and more) as well as games that kids can play online.

Conference Word Search and MORE from Live Craft Eat

I love this General Conference Pinterest board from Live Craft Eat as well as their Conference Word Search printables. Live Craft Eat also has the Ultimate General Conference Guide for kids (it’s pretty amazing!)

Conference Resources for Kids from Sugardoodle

Sugardoodle is probably my favorite resource for teaching ideas, and so I knew that they’d have a great resource (or a dozen) for Conference. I love their Conference Notebook for kids. They also link to several other printables.

53 Conference Activities for Kids from LDS Living

LDS Living has divided their comprehensive list of activities for kids up into age-appropriate activities. I don’t think there’s time to do all of them in one weekend!

General Conference packet for school-age kids from Over the Big Moon

I am so impressed with this Conference packet from Over the Big Moon…and I think I have found a new blog that I will be adding to my must-read list. Love what they do!

General Conference Labels from The Mormon Home

Now that I have teens, I love that someone out there is making Conference resources for older kids (and even adults!). These printable Conference labels are PERFECT for a teen’s or adult’s Conference notes.

General Conference Printables from Kiki & Company

Make Conference fun for kids with Kiki & Company’s gorgeous printables – tons to choose from!

Enjoy these great Conference resources and follow #LDSConf on Facebook and Twitter this weekend for inspiration quotes and ideas!

Do you watch General Conference, too? What do your kids like to do during Conference? Share your best tips in the comments below!

A Sister Heads Home #PSF Give Me Your Best Shot

Lolli — Fri, 04 Apr 2014 00:00:55 +0000

This Sunday we had a couple of very special sisters over for some crock pot Cuban shredded pork burritos. One of them has become a close friend over the last few months and we were sad to be saying good-bye. On Wednesday she finished her mission and headed back home. I know she’s enjoying her family and friends that she hasn’t seen in so long…but we’re going to miss seeing her at church (and over at our house for dinner!). She was an amazing missionary and such a great example (and friend) to my kids.

The tall brunette is lovingly referred to as “Daughter #4” now. She’s become part of the family, all thanks to my oldest going out to a teaching appointment with the sister missionaries. It was fitting that she would stop by at the end of our good-bye dinner!

Did you notice?? I got in one of the pictures!

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Slow Cooker Sunday Recipe Collection

Lolli — Sun, 23 Mar 2014 12:00:04 +0000

I like to take the day off on Sundays, but since the whole family is home, it’s nice to have a home-cooked meal together. The crock pot is the perfect solution to enjoying a relaxing day and still having a satisfying meal to share at the end! Enjoy this sponsored collection of Slow Cooker meals (as always, thoughts and opinions are my own!).

I love Sundays because they are entirely different from every other day of the week. Instead of working all day, we go to church. And instead of running all over the place to practices and lessons in the evenings, we hang out at home. Together. Sunday is a family day.

I know a lot of people for whom Sunday also means a big, fancy, home-cooked meal. After I became a mom, as much as I liked the idea of making an elaborate dinner to eat together on Sunday evenings, the idea of coming home from church to spend 2 hours of my “day of rest” in the kitchen was NOT appealing. Those big, fancy Sunday dinners didn’t really catch on once I was in charge.

Luckily, I’ve found a way to avoid Sunday afternoon burn-out in the kitchen while still enjoying Sunday dinners together. I call it Slow Cooker Sunday.

With Slow Cooker Sunday recipes, I can throw something in the crock pot in the morning before I’m worn out from the day. Then the meal is ready for us as soon as we’re done with church. We still get the benefit of having a nice Sunday dinner together as a family, but I don’t have to spend Sunday afternoons in the kitchen. I get my day of rest and my big meal. Bonus!

I’ve collected some of my personal favorite crock pot meals as well as a few more that look so delicious that I am adding them to my meal plan for the next several Sundays.

What are some of your favorite slow cooker meals? Which recipes in my Slow Cooker Sunday collection are you excited to try?

The Annual Blue and Gold Banquet #PSF Give Me Your Best Shot

Lolli — Fri, 28 Feb 2014 03:16:40 +0000

Tonight was the annual Blue and Gold Banquet for my Cub Scout son. It has been a few years since we’ve has a Blue and Gold since my older son moved on to Boy Scouts a while ago.

This year’s Blue and Gold theme was Inventiveness (or Inventors or Inventions or something like that)…

In the past, each boy has been asked to make and decorate a cake that shows off the theme, but this year the kids did something quite unique. They each created a “Super Scout” that had a super power that could help other people. AJ’s Super Scout was named Electro Man and had the power of light and electricity. He gives light to others and is a good example to follow. AJ worked tirelessly with my glue gun (I had to go out and buy a new pack of glue sticks because I used them all before he was done) and scraps of fabric, a burned out lightbulb, and other things he found around the house.

This is a much more accurate depiction of how the night went:

I can’t say that I’m sad that’s over for another year…

Do you have any boys in Scouts?

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Wordless Wednesday…For Fletcher

Lolli — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 03:19:52 +0000

We spend a lot of time hanging out with the missionaries in our area. One of our favorite missionaries let me know a few months ago that his goal was to get on my blog sometime before he left our area.

We planned on taking some pictures in the near future.

I thought it would be even better to surprise him with some pictures I found on my phone.

Can you tell how much we love our missionaries??

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