One thing that made General Conference even more special was the addition of an uncle. My brother Jordan drove up from Maryland and spent the weekend with us. This is the first time since 2001 that he and I have lived within a few hours of each other. Not wanting to waste that proximity, I invited him to visit. He told me that he was coming, not to spend time with me, but to prove to his nieces and nephews that he is, in fact, the fun uncle. To the eight other uncles: I think that sounds like a challenge.
He did lots of uncle-y things while he was here; he swung the kids around by their ankles, played with them at the park, laughed when they were funny, played Legos with them, read books. He also conducted a cooking class with Cooper and Phoebe. Jordan is an excellent baker (a hobby we share and therefore discuss often) and is known for making delicious cookies. Between Conference sessions on Sunday he decided to be brave and have them help him whip up a batch of chocolate chip oatmeal coconut cookies. It went pretty well. He did have to ask the kids to step away from the hand mixer on multiple occasions, but I think that was the biggest conflict. We're still enjoying the fruits of their labors.
When he pulled the first batch out of the oven I commented on how puffy they were. He asked the kids what cause that and Phoebe yelled, "Baking soda!" He was pleased that she had retained some of what he'd said.
The kids didn't want Jordan to leave, but real life was beckoning him back home. The boys were at school and Sophie was taking a nap when he departed, so it was just me and Phoebe. If I'd been thinking I would have taken a picture with my brother, but at least I got some of Uncle Jordan with Phoebe. She was mad that he was leaving, so at first she refused to smile. She relented eventually.
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