October 8 & 9

We had a GREAT weekend!

It started a bit early with a little over an hour drive to Historic Kirtland. We thought we were too early for Holden Arboretum. Turns out we could have gone straight to the Arboretum, but we did not know. So, after a short tour at Kirtland, we walked one of the paths at the arboretum.

On our way to the arboretum, David asks me to check and make sure he had placed the batteries in the camera. We have to keep the batteries charged to full power because the "old" camera does not acknowledge the charge, so he had been charging them... I open the bag and find a new camera! Hurray! Now, we will have a camera when David send the old one back to get fixed/refurbished/etc. This camera is a nice small one that fits in my hands, so Happy Sherri!

The path we took at the arboretum was only about 1.5 miles long. David was saying they have about 20 miles of trail.

When we were done with the trail it was lunch time. We found a buffet with our lovely GPS unit.

And after lunch we headed for the Kirtland Chapel for the Families Supporting Adoption (FSA) conference. Really the whole point of the weekend...

The guest speakers were John and Jane Covey, brother to Steven R. Covey of Franklin Covey fame. John still operates with the company and with his wife continue to provide conferences to those interested in the "7 Healthy Habits..."(you fill in "successful" or "marriage"). "What is most important in your life? Do you show it, or do your actions express a different set of values? For example, do you list your marriage, family, church and friends as some of your top most important things in your life but do not make time for dates and one-on-one time with your children?" (At least to that effect).

One of the take-aways from the Birthparent panel for me was how it will not matter what we have on the profile. We will have to wait until they find us. It does not matter what we say, how we express ourselves, or what pictures we have up. It will only be through the Holy Ghost and what spirit we share.

Take-away from the Birthfamily panel: Keep them in mind too. Be respectful of the WHOLE family (as if we wouldn't), but make sure what the birthparents need are within the boundaries of the remainder of the family.

Saturday morning we had the opportunity to have a morningside in the Kirtland Temple. The director of Historic Kirtland is the uncle to one of the wives on the Northeast FSA board. We had the opportunity to have the Sister Missionaries sing songs from the era of when the saints were in Kirtland.

Needless to say, by the time we were headed for Stake Conference (local area church meetings larger than our regular congregation) we were tired of sitting on the benches. At one point Saturday night I stretched my legs so I would not go crazy. I am too short for those benches, let alone 2 days of them (he, he, yes, I am looking at you Shawn). Friday afternoon + all day Saturday + Sunday morning services = 2 days. Even David was having some trouble. All for a good cause. :)

School? I had a paper to finish Monday. Nearly everything else was completed Thursday. I planned ahead, thank goodness. This is the last week for this class. One week off, then my FINAL class! 7 weeks from today I will be a happy girl! November 30th will be a really good day!