Big Girls' Trip!!!

This year Sara, Gram and I went to BYU Women's Conference. My mom has talked about going together for years. It was AWESOME!!!

We headed out on Tuesday morning. It was rainy on and off all day. We made our first big stop in rainy St. George, Utah. We stayed the night at Ken and Karman Wilson's house. They are the most delightful people and super fun!! Somehow, I didn't get a picture of either of them, but we did get pic of The Captain in Ken's office and one when the power went out and we were living by candlelight.

And this is their lovely home.

Wednesday was another rainy day. The clouds were AMAZING and so close to the ground! As you can see in the reflection, we were singing some Broadway tunes along the way.

When we got to Provo, we stopped to do a little shopping at University Mall. We went to Frame Works to check out all the gorgeous art! They have original pieces there for sale as well as prints. They are stunning!!!

This is Yongsung Kim's art. He is from South Korea and his home is near the area where Tim is serving right now. I love the colors he uses! Such sweet depictions of the Savior.

These are some of his originals that are for sale there.

I LOVE THESE COLORS!!

More Yongsung Kim!

We loved these by Debra Fox as well!

After a delicious and filling dinner at Chuck-O-Rama buffet, we went to the Lyons' home. They kindly let us stay with them for the rest of the week.  Howard, of course, is one of our very favorite artist. He had Sara pose for his Wednesday night portrait group. She sat for over 3 hours as they all painted and sketched. She had a short break every hour. She said it is meditative. She can just zone out and ponder. They all loved her. 

I took this picture through the window. We are not allowed in until they finish for the night.

By the time they opened up the door many of the artist had already left. There were about 10 there. 

We loved this one!

Howard's is not finished. He took some photos so he could finish later. I will share it when it is finished.

One of our favorite missionaries, Ty Towle, returned home to Utah in April. He was able to come by to visit. He got to see the end of the art night. It was so much fun to finally be able to give him a hug. Missionaries do not hug people of the opposite sex. It just makes things easier for everyone to follow the mission rules.

Thursday morning, we got up early and headed down to BYU for the conference. We started each day in the Marriott Center to hear the opening speakers. Then we ran all over campus to attend 3 classes of our choosing, from a list of 13 for each hour, and then back to the Marriott Center for the closing speakers. The opening speaker was Kevin J. Worthen. He gave a great talk titled "Strengthen One Another in the Lord"

The second class we attended was taught by Rosemary Thackary and our buddy, John Bytheway, titled "Holding Your Ground, faith during the challenges of mortality". It happened that when we walked in and were looking around for a seat, the front row was open! We were front and center. It was fun when he walked in and saw us sitting there. He came over and talked to us for a few minutes, just after greeting Harriett Uchdorf, who was sitting a few seats over from us.

It was a great talk. He used quite a bit from his book, How Do I Know If I Know. We loved it!

We found Becky LaClaire in the crowd. She is the mother of Ethan, one of my kids' good friends from MCO. She came and sat with us on the front row for the next speakers, Mary Ellen Edmunds and Barbara Thompson, titled "More Strength to O'ercome: Dealing with Failure". They were hilarious and powerful speakers. 

The next class Sara and I attended was by Carol and Michael May, titled "A People Prepared to Meet Christ". Grammy attended "Teaching Children to Deal with Bullying" by Janeen Graham and Hank Smith.

We found our good friend, Jennifer Gent, Sara's young women's president at church.

After the fourth hour, Sara and I went to the bookstore to see Howard and Shari Lyon. We knew they would be there signing art, but we didn't know that there would be tons of additional artist there as well. We were in art heaven!!! 

We met Yongsung Kim!!!

And Del Parson!!!

We got to meet and be buddies with Julie Rodgers. We fell in love with her and her art!!! She invited us to come stay at her horse ranch in Kanab, Utah and said she would love to paint Sara.

This is one of her pieces. Isn't it lovely!!

We also met Liz Lemon Swindle, Sandra Rast and Dan Wilson. They also had incredible pieces!!

While we were there, we also saw one of our favorite missionaries from about 10 years ago, Brando Pickett!! It was great to catch up with him for a minute.

The closing speakers were Jean B. Bingham, Sharon Eubank and Reyna I. Aburto, titled "That We May All Sit Down in Heaven Together."

The mountains there just feel like home. 

After the closing speaker of the day, we got some dinner at Costco and then went to Deseret Book to look at more art.

These were some of our favorites.

Kendra Burton

Greg Olsen

Julie Rogers

Sandra Rast

The waves in this one were unbelievably beautiful!!!

Yongsung Kim

Dan Wilson

Thursday evening, there was a night of entertainment hosted by John Bytheway. The entertainers were, Carlee Reed, Mercy River, Jenny Oaks Baker and Gentri. It was tons of fun!

Day two of Women's Conference

Morning came early. Sara and I had the giggles the night before and had a hard time getting to sleep. We made it there, not only on time, but early enough to get a good parking spot and take a bunch of pictures. (pictures in another post) The opening speaker Jennifer Brinkerhoff Platt was awesome!! Her talk was titled "Love One Another as I Have Loved You."

Then we attended "Are Ye Stripped of Pride?" by Bret Andrus and Alison Squire. It was powerful and emotional. We all got pretty teary. Next was "The Prophent Joseph: "Thy Friends Do Stand by Thee" by Heidi Swinton and Susan Easton Black. They are both incredible historians and had wonderful stories to share and then spoke of finding and being those same kind of friends, and standing by each other through thick and thin. Then we heard Joy D. Jones, Bonnie H. Cordon and Cristina B. Franco speak on "Up, Awake, Ye Defenders of Zion" on protecting and defending your faith.

I saw my dear friend from MCO, Monica Shumway!

The concluding speakers of Women's Conference were Elder and Sister Gong. We loved them! They spoke on strengthening one another in the Lord's love.

When it was over, Grammy went to the art museum and then visited with the Opels who live with in walking distance of the campus. Sara and I sat on a bench in the beautiful Utah weather and waited for the traffic to clear. She spent the next two hours talking on the phone with a friend and sharing her experiences. I just relaxed and enjoyed every second. Then we did a little more shopping before picking up Grammy for dinner.

We had to get Thai food, of  course! And boy was it yummmmmy!

Saturday morning, Howard had Sara model for some future paintings. It was lots of fun! He took pictures for about an hour and a half. 

In this one she will be feeding a bird.

Howard sent me these few from the shoot. I can hardly wait to see what he paints from them!!!

While staying at the Lyons' we were able to meet Tyson Snow, who is living with them for a  while. He is an incredible artist as well. He paints and sculpts. It was all pretty amazing!

Howard and Tyson had to say goodbye to us. They were headed to an event in California.

After our goodbyes, we went to see Tuck Everlasting the Musical in the new Jewel Box theater in the Hale Center Theatre in Sandy. It was a gorgeous theater!!!

The sets were outstanding and the show was tons of fun!!!

After the theater, we did some more shopping and then we went to the Bytheways for some time with Kim!!! Gosh, I love that lady. She is a soul sister, for sure. We never finish talking and it is painful to say goodbye.

These two have been friends since they were 6. It's crazy how much they have grown.

Andrew and Sara

It was nice to visit with Shari that evening when we got back for the night. She is so welcoming and sweet. We always feel so at home there. They had had a church activity and used this giant head for a skit. It was pretty cool.

We got up Sunday morning and said goodbye to Shari and then got on the road headed home. We stopped in Fillmore for church at 11:00 am. It was a nice ward and we enjoyed the meeting.

We had tons of fun just talking together on the drive. We had taken the 16 personalities test and talked about that for hours. We talked about all the great things we learned and enjoyed every last second together. What a great experience for our three generations to bond and become even tighter. I love these ladies!!!