{Conference Saturday - I'm a Mormon!!}

Wow!  What wonderful General Conference sessions today!  I feel extremely blessed to be a member of the church, to be able to receive this counsel from our prophet and our other leaders.  It is so inspired and timely.  I also feel more than grateful today to have all the kids and our little Ellie at home with us this weekend.  It is the most amazing gift to be surrounded by my family!  I love them all so much.

Ruth kept texting me after every talk with the message that it was her favorite talk - LOL.  But I had to agree.  So many great messages.

Of course, the huge bombshell came right at the beginning of the Saturday morning session when President Monson announced, quite out of the blue, that the age for missions for both girls and boys had been lowered.  The boys to 18 and the girls to 19.  OH MY GOSH!!!  Was all I could think.  I will lose Taylor right after highschool to his mission.  It seems so soon.  However, I am a huge advocate of boys not wasting a year in college before their missions - it's expensive and usually not very productive.  I loved that Ryan went straight from Highschool to his mission - he was older though since he turned 18 the first part of his senior year he was almost 19.  So I am glad that Taylor won't have to "waste a year" and can just go straight to his mission - even sooo young.
The kids were all laughing at the look on my face.  However, I do know it is a good thing, a wonderful thing in fact.  It's just that I was totally unprepared.  Still am.  I have already been mourning Taylor being a Senior this year.  Oh my.  He is excited.  He has already been going to missionary prep classes each Sunday afternoon.  He'll be an awesome missionary - even at 18.  Yow!