California! Knows How to Party

 Okay, this is awesome. Once a year my mother-in-law uses some of the proceeds of the sale of her parents' farm to bring all of her daughters and daughters-in-law to one place for one weekend to have a mothers' conference calle MFME. (Those who aren't mothers yet come as "future mothers"). Since Jonah has four sisters and three sisters-in-law, this is quite a group! I love these sisters so much and we always have the most interesting, thought-provoking, ennobling, and hilarious discussions. 

Jonah's mom usually asks us to read a mothering-themed book for discussions, and this year we shared favorite mothering articles that we read for other discussions. We laugh, we cry, we get really really tired (well, not me, but you others know who you are)... and we eat. We make sure that we eat three full meals, plus snacks and desserts, every day. Because, when you are a mother, you often miss out on a meal or two. AND, we talk about the meals the whole time we are eating the meals. This is a very important tradition of the MFME retreats. 

Only nursing infants get to join the crew, so we all have this enlightening sense of freedom the whole time. It's a much needed boost of goodness to help us all go back into the "trenches" as better moms and better women. 

For a few years, California has been the most central location, so we have gathered there. This year, Linda found the most ecclectic luxury eco-home to rent right in Laguna Beach. The weather was heavenly and the whole weekend went by too quickly. 

There's the crowd in our usual "waiting for a table" discussion postures. 

For some better photos and much better and more complete synopses of the weekend, I suggest you click over to my sister-in-laws' blogs on the subject. *But I have to add that they did not cover one of my most memorable points of the trip, which was when I shared with them the dream Elsie had just had. Elsie had dreamt happily that my breasts were so large/long that the reached around and encompassed the whole world. I love that she shared that dream with me. Isn't that true motherhood in a nutshell? Don't we all want to not only nourish our own children but to let our maternity nourish the whole of humankind? We have a new acronym: BAW... breasts around the world.

Linda (Jonah's mom): http://eyrealm.blogspot.com/2013/03/plugging-in-to-mothers-and-future.html

Saren: http://looslifamily.blogspot.com/2013/03/mfme-2013.html

Shawni: http://www.71toes.com/search/label/MFME

Saydi: http://bostonshumways.blogspot.com/2013/03/mfme-2013.html

Charity: http://drippingwithpassion.blogspot.com/2013/03/eyre-girls-hit-laguna-beach.html

I don't think any of the sisters-in-law-in-law did any blog posts, but they are pretty much the most awesome ladies in the history of the world because they are married to my husband's brothers, which means they have impeccable taste in men.

Here we are after church at my mom's ward (congregation), where a good friend from New Zealand is serving a mission!!! I think he was a tad embarrassed when I made him take a photo with all the pretty ladies. Love you Elder Armstrong!!

And here's a little video I made... mwah ha ha ha. 

Since we were having the MFME conference about ten minutes away from my mom's condo in Dana Point, I used a companion pass to bring Elsie along on the trip, where she stayed with my mom and her husband Ken for the four days I was at the MFME retreat. She was ostensibly ecstatic, to say the least. 

We had a horrible flight over the Pacific, but she didn't even notice with all over her overflowing excitement.  She even got to see her cousin Lyla in San Diego before we headed north. By the time I got back to my mom's on Sunday, she was refreshed and full of joy. Jonah and I had decided to let her go because she has seemed to be having a little bit of a hard time lately. She just seems a little isolated in the family, so this was a good time to help her recharge. Plus, we've taken the two older kids on trips during their year in Kindergarten, so we solidified it as a tradition. 

I was lucky enough to have three days at my mom's house. She introduced us to a cool, gigantic, addicting store called Hobby Lobby. Look at this (silk) rose!

Then, just to make my week extra perfect, my sister came over from Las Vegas! She brought her three kids and then I was truly in heaven. Finally, I got to meet, hold and love my new nephew Luke. Your sister's kids are like your own, don't you think?! It was breaking my heart to only see and talk to Luke over FaceTime. When I finally held him, my soul felt complete. It was like I had a child I had never met! He and I bonded instantly of course. 

It was equally heavenly to be with Ruthie and Reggie too. I love those kids and love to be with my sister and mom. There are no words to describe it. 

My mom had some free tickets for the Santa Ana Zoo, so we had a fun day there, although the weather had suddenly turned frigid. What the heck!?

Elsie and Ruthie, after years of nearly aggravating each other, have finally learned to get along and be buddies (I think it helped that Ruthie's idol Cam was not around to compete for her attention). 

Here's my cute mom doing some dancing with the girls. 

And here is five-month-old Luke. He's the apple of my eye.  

I was understandably sad to leave all these people I love so much, but it was okay because I was heading home to happy, healthy and well-cared for kids thanks to my dear husband who not only held down the fort, but did it with grace and aplomb. Thank you Jonah for spoling your wife once again! And thank you Linda and Mom for the memorable week.