Lots of crying!

General Conference this spring was wonderful! We felt, as I am sure everyone did, very spiritually fed. There were so many wonderful things that touched my heart and uplifted me. Matt and I both however, had very strong feelings after listening to Elder Hales talk about finances and provident living. We both felt very impressed that we need to be very aware of our money right now, we need to be saving every penny not spending, and teaching the kids the difference between wants and needs.

As much as I wanted to fight it, I knew our big trip to Utah had to be cancelled. It is hard because we were supposed to be leaving next week and the kids and I staying for almost a month. We found a really good deal on flights, so we weren't even going to have to drive. Still, you have to multiply that by 6. But you just can't ignore a prompting when it comes along.

The hard part is of course the disappointment of the kids (who are we kidding...me too!) We were really looking forward to so much time with our Oma and Papa. I think it perfectly accurate to describe Taite as heart broken. She cries daily and brings me her pennies when we told her we need to save our money. So sad.

The big girls have been great. It was a good lesson to them on exercising our faith and following counsel when given. I am proud of them, they haven't complained at all. I knew they would understand more, we've tried to include them in the way our family spends money. 9 times out of 10 I have them all grocery shopping with me, so they see my meal plans, my list and my dorky little calculator. They know we try really hard to stick to our budget. And they for sure see me do my HaPpY DaNcE when I come in under our food budget!! I love that! It is one of my favorite things...does that show my age or what! But I am sure you all know its hard feeding your families without spending a fortune.

So to all our friends and family that we were SO excited to see this summer....we love you and miss you tons! Anyone that is up for a trip to Indiana...our door is always open!!! It is sad to not get to go home and there has been LOTS of crying, but a good feeling to obey.