Happy birthday Relief Society

We had our Relief Society birthday party on Thursday.

We are on a healthy kick, so our dinner was this amazing salad. We learned a lot about doing a salad bar. We had barely enough lettuce -- 6 heads, 3 iceburg and 3 romanine.

We had twice as much toppings as needed.

I like salads with a lot of different colors. So I took pictures of our beautiful toppings.

Along with our lettuce, we had grilled chicken; tomatoes; cauliflower; bean salad; . . .

shredded carrots; shredded cheese; sliced red, yellow and orange peppers; cucumbers, chopped purple cabbage; cottage cheese; hard boiled eggs; . . .

strawberries; pineapple; broccoli; diced apples; spinach; . . .

pickled beets; sunflower seeds; slivered almonds; crasins; croutons; and salad dressings.

I'm sure I didn't capture some of our toppings. I was beautiful and delicious.

I was trying out my kitchen ninja (food processor) and the purple cabbage, cauliflower  and broccoli were chopped to surprising fineness. I made different bowls of broccoli and cauliflower florets, but the processed bowl seemed to be a bigger hit.

We also had rolls and butter.

For dessert, we had a cream puff bar: vanilla and chocolate puddings, fudge sauce and whipped cream.

We did a short program based on the talk from Women's Conference: The Lord Has Not Forgotten You, by Linda S Reeves, 2nd Counselor in the RS General Pres.

We recorded five of our sisters telling how they knew they were not forgotten. In between the segments was an amazing song that I had never heard. I'm not sure how that happened. It is called "Ninety and Nine" by Micheal McLean. I came home that night and bought it. Now I have it and can listen to it when I want to. :)

I thought about all the ways that I have felt remembered by the Lord in my life. Sometimes it is so easy to feel small and insignificant -- forgotten. But I have had moments when I am certain that He knows my name, He knows my pain, and that He loves me in my struggles.

I think that is the reason for our struggles -- we need those times when we need Him so desperately that we actually find Him. In those times we seek and we find.