Tessa's Baptism

This past Saturday, Tessa was baptized. She was baptized in the dress that my mom made for my baptism when I was eight. We updated it with some leggings to make sure it was modest when she went down in the water and it turned out very cute.

It was a slightly crazy morning, but everything worked out like it always does. Tessa asked me to give the talk on the Holy Ghost. I have never had the opportunity to give a talk at any of my children's baptisms and this made the experience completely enjoyable for me. The spirit at her baptism was strong. The bishop talked about all the people who were at the baptism who loved Tessa. He spoke not only of those physically present but ancestors who had gone before as well as future children and descendants. I had the feeling that Aaron's father was there with us and whispered it to Tessa. It was a sweet feeling. We were so grateful to all the family and friends who were able to make it to her baptism and show her support and share in her big day.

Tessa and Bishop Holden

EVO conference

This past weekend I went to the Evolution of Women in Social Media conference. It was amazing. I saw some old friends, met some new friends and learned a lot along the way. It was very inspiring. So many tears were shed during the conference. we heard heartbreaking stories such as Maddie Spohr's story, and inspiring stories from the Make a Wish foundation. I learned a lot about how to make things I do for my job better. I always come away so inspired from these conferences. There are also so many amazing women in attendance. I wish I had the time to personally recognize them all, but I know I would forget someone. The ending keynote speakers were Brene Brown & Karen Walrond. I was so touched by what they had to share about being authentic. They shared some thoughts about parenting that I really enjoyed. One thought was:

As a parent it is important to help our children be ok with being imperfect. Our children shouldn’t see us questioning our own worth.

I really like that thought. I am reading the book The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin right now and her chapter on her children really goes hand in hand with this.

Another quote was:

Who we are as people is more important for our children than what we know about parenting

My favorite part of the weekend though, was getting to see my family again. The organizers of Evo threw an amazing Party at the Park City Mountain Resort. We had a delicious dinner and we rode on the Alpine Slide multiple times and the kids got to rock climb and Aaron & Nathan went down the zipline. It was an amazingly great time. I wish it could have lasted longer.