"I like Conference, Halloween, and Christmas"

What a great General Conference weekend!  In our house Conference weekend is equivalent to a holiday. The day before Conference Joseph helped me set up all the goodies and activities and he said, "I like Conference, Halloween, and Christmas."  Now, I am aware that he groups these three together primarily because each "holiday" involves lots of candy. He has very sweet associations with Conference, specifically because all rules are suspended for the day and he can consume lots of M&Ms and Skittles while doing Conference Bingo (at which he cheats shamelessly).

Like Joseph, we all like Conference for lots of reasons. We like all being together. We love to hear the counsel from the general authorities of the church. We like turning our family room into one big cozy nest. We move couches, bring down the beanbag chair, and pile blankets everywhere. Each family member snags their favorite Conference watching spot.  For Joseph this time it was a super cool fort with an opening so he could see the TV (it reminded me of when the people set up their tents with the door toward the temple to listen to King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon).

 

 

 

And then there's the food. I went a little crazy this time. I am writing notes to myself to remember to use a little sense and moderation when I plan the Conference menu again in six months. I like to cook and bake, especially on a weekend when everyone is hanging around enjoying being together. So Bailey and I put together a huge menu of delectable favorites. Except it was a little over-ambitious and I cooked for most of the day and well into the night (until 11 p.m.) on Saturday. It felt like Thanksgiving!  Here are some of the things we ate over the two days:

Homemade broccoli cheese soup
Apple crisp
Cinnamon Rolls
Homemade Tomatillo salsa
Cowboy Caviar - double batch (a super yummy dip)
Cafe Rio fixins', all from scratch (cilantro-lime rice, black beans, creamy tomatillo dressing, sweet shredded pork, verde sauce for the top)

I think we used up every sprig of cilantro in all of Vancouver to pull off all the Mexican dishes, but it was worth it!  We are still eating the leftovers.  Yummmm.

We were lucky to have my friend Rachel and her fiance Gordon with us on Sunday.  And the kids followed their tradition of pulling each other around the hardwoods on a blanket between sessions.  It was a great weekend!