FBC Fall Conference

This last weekend we headed up to Warm Beach to attend our church’s Fall Conference. We had quite a packed day as we headed up there. We started if off by visiting my grandma in the hospital. She had a heart attack last week and was admitted to the hospitals to make sure she was okay and to have some tests done. She’s home now, thank God. But we wanted to make sure we saw her before we were gone for the weekend. Kayley was a wonderful visitor and made Gram Bell light up whenever she smiled. We were very glad we were able to stop by and see her and cheer her up a bit before heading up north.

Our next stop was the outlets for some shopping. Kayley got to ride around in her umbrella stroller for the first time and seemed to enjoy being able to look straight ahead and check out all the sights right in front of her instead of just being able to see whoever is pushing her. Plus, Kayley really enjoys sitting whenever and wherever she can. We ended up only buying things for Kayley: a couple warm PJs and some 9 month long sleeve onsies and some pants since it’s starting to get cold and wet outside. We had the pleasure of running into Pastor Craig and his wife Lois at the outlets and ended up running into them again at Five Guys where we all ended up having dinner before driving the last little bit to Warm Beach.

She just woke up from a nap before we put her in her umbrella stroller for the first time. I think she was a bit confused before she decided it was a fun thing

 Going to a conference with a baby who basically only breast feeds is a lot of work! Especially when she doesn’t take a bottle (we kind of gave that up…). There’s no leaving her in the nursery with a snack to hold her over until mommy is done and comes back to feed her. This was the first weekend excursion we had where we had a set schedule, and Kayley’s schedule had to work around it, instead of having no schedule at all and planning our day around her. It was different to say the least. Plus, when you have a baby who loves to look at everyone and everything, and refuses to take naps when she’s tired because she just wants to look and study everything, it is also hard. You end up having a baby who is so tired she doesn’t know what to do with herself, and ends up not sleeping well at night because she probably is afraid she’s going to be missing out on something.

Kayley loved being at the Fall Conference though! She loved being with her friends in the nursery, she seemed to really enjoy the walk we went on in the woods, she loved seeing so many people around her all the time who would stop and say hello, and she loved all the hugs and smiles people gave her. We have a very loving church family and I think she’s starting to get the idea that she’s a part of it!

Andrew and I enjoyed our time at Fall Conference too. Yes we were tired, but it was great to be with our church family all weekend long. We even had the opportunity to lead the junior higher and high schoolers in worship together – the first time we’ve ever led worship together! We didn’t get to attend much of the sermons or small groups since we were leading youth worship, but it was great to hear bits and pieces about them and what people got from them. I’m looking forward to listening to them online since I didn’t get to listen to any of the sermons at all. As soon as we were done with worship, Kayley would be hungry, and by the time she was done eating, the sermons were done. But I really enjoyed getting to know individuals from church more by sharing a meal with them, or bumping into them during our walk in the woods down to the water, or helping out in the nursery with them.

Someone asked us if we plan on attending next year. We immediately said yes in unison. They then asked us if we could change our decision about going to fall conference this year, would we? We both replied with a firm no. Over all we both enjoyed our time at Fall Conference and hope even more people come next year. This was my third year going, and Andrew’s fourth, and it’s something we both look forward to. So we both can’t wait until next year when Kayley will be almost a year and a half and probably trying to run all over the place. 

The beautiful view down at the water

On our walk we saw many spider and showed them to Kayley

Kayley also got to see her first banana slug (these make me think of Humboldt)

And a snake! It was hard to get a picture of since it was slithering away in fright (I almost stepped on it... I didn't see it on the path at first since I was looking at all the plants on the side of the path)

This trip was the last time Kayley will use her Moses Basket. As you can see, she is almost the same length as it

Family time at Fall Conference