conference review.

Bible conference was just perfect. Some of the best times (in my mind, of course) were playing pranks on my brother because I'm still a little sister like that. Some of it was just plain silly stuff over the phone from room to room, cell to cell and via text. Nothing worth going into great detail over-- but some of it just made my side hurt from laughter. I love that my brother and his family and my husband's brother and family attended the conference with us. It's a great blessing to be around like minded people, especially when those people are family. We belong to an amazing fellowship. God spoke to me through several of the messages, giving me guidance and direction regarding some specific issues.

The kids had a blast with all their cousins. During the mornings, most of them were involved in church activities designed for kids, but after lunch, the hotel pool would be packed. Kids of all ages. Jumping, splashing, squirting, yelling, laughing, wrestling, launching. It seemed as if most of them were related in one way or another. How awesome is that. The first couple of days the cousins all piled in our 15 passenger van to get dropped off at the children's church. The kids thought it was way cool-- it was like being on a school field trip, but with all your best friends. Laughing and chattering away.

On Wednesday our van's electrical brain broke. Every time we tried to start it, the engine would cut out. My husband unsuccessfully tried a couple things hoping to get around the electrical failure, but our Great White van wasn't going anywhere. Shut down. We had triple A pick it up and it was taken to a local Chevy dealership. We got it back on Friday, the day before we had to leave and although it cost my husband more than he would've liked to spend, he said it turned out to be cheaper than if we had gotten it done back home. I guess that's called a blessing in disguise.

Now we're home only to find out that we've brought back an unwanted guest: the stomach flu. It has been going through each member of our household. One night my husband was up more than a dozen times-- changing bedding, getting kids buckets and cleaning up children with vomit all over them; I won't even mention the worst stuff. And right now, this bug is making me feel really bad. Real bad.