This photo was accepted to the Documenting 2022 exhibit by the Made For Documentary team this week and I'm proud and honored to have it included among the work of so many other great artists. It is one of my favorite pictures of my own family in 2022 so I thought I'd share a little more about the meaning behind it for me.

Some of you may recognize this scene as General Conference weekend of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, when twice a year, in-person church is replaced by broadcasts of inspirational messages and songs. Or maybe you've seen something similar in your own home watching church on TV either during the pandemic or by preference. I've documented these weekends in our house for years because I love being all together as a family and seeing how the family changes every six months.

Most of the photos I run across of other families watching conference show happy, peaceful children watching in rapt attention. Before I had kids, that's how I thought it would look in my house, too. Then I had kids and quickly learned that it's a big ask for little ones to sit quietly and listen to a bunch of adults talk about things like serving others and finding hope in hard times. I saw a couple options for myself - I could just skip watching conference with the kids and listen to a recording on a podcast when they weren't around, or I could watch it with them and try to keep them entertained and quiet as best I could. There's no one right answer for this, but I went the entertainment route and bought out Dollar Tree of every quiet activity I could think of. And it worked, mostly. There were still the inevitable fights that break out between my kids when they have been within three feet of each other for more than ten minutes. More than once I've shouted something to the effect of, "Hey!! Stop hitting your sister! Didn't you just hear the speaker? She just reminded us to love like Jesus!!!" Yet for the most part, we are there, together, watching and listening and learning.

I love looking through my photos of conferences past and seeing how, as the kids have grown, we've needed fewer and fewer coloring books and bingo games. When I came across a "Be Reverent" banner a few years back in a pile of stuff from church destined for the dumpster I couldn't resist bringing it home to hang up every conference as an ironically bold reminder to the kids to be solemn and respectful. (They love pointing at it when they feel like one of us is talking too much.) We still haven't achieved the perfect, rapt attention that I imagined would happen before I had kids and I'm okay with that because I know we are trying. I know I could make it look like we're already there by only photographing the times when we really ARE listening intently and taking notes and cuddling together on the couch while we hear an amazing choir sing a favorite hymn. I have photos of those moments too. But I love this one because it shows a reality that isn't seen as often - a family that is far from perfect but that is still trying. My husband and I value the inspiring messages of peace and love that we get from conference so even if the family isn't always quite so peaceful and loving during it, and even if we fall short of the goal of angelic children and no biting (even just no biting would be nice) we still keep watching and listening. We keep putting forth effort, hoping we all become better people because of it. I think that as a parent, sometimes that's the best you can do.