Women's Conference - III

Joshua and I got to go to the 3rd Annual Bell Women's Conference. This year it was my aunt Melanie's turn to host and she happens to be the one aunt who lives out of state. So 16 of my aunts and adult female cousins and Joshy and I flew to San Fransisco to Nate and Melanie's beautiful home. It was a blast. The past two women's conferences have been just one night but since we traveled a lot further we extended it.

Most of us arrived Thursday morning where we were picked up in two Suburbans (my aunt traded a friend of hers a smaller car for her big car). When we all went places it took both Suburbans plus a car. Anyway, after arriving everyone but me and baby love took off for Stinson Beach for a hike and then to a campground where they cooked dinner around a campfire. Joshy and I stayed behind and settled him in for a good nap. I got to chat with my cousins who live there and loved getting to know them a little better. When the group returned we chatted for a bit and then headed to bed.

Kristin, Brittany, Ashley,Kristen, Eliza, Brynn, Mandolin, Tiff, Tasha, Ally, Melanie and Megan

Friday morning we got up and after breakfast and 16 women showered and got ready headed off to the Oakland Temple. 3 of my cousins haven't been through the temple yet so they volunteered to watch Joshy for me so I could go. We were a little late getting to the temple and discovered we had missed the session which was only every hour on the hour. Melanie asked if there was anyway they could do a special session for us and guess what - they did! They were so kind and the 13 of us got to do our own session, it was so neat. Thank you so much Megan, Brittany and Ashley for taking care of Joshua for me!

Kristen, Brittany, Tiffanie, Tasha, Kristin

After the Temple we headed into town for some shopping in Chinatown. We had a fun lunch there and then walked around and got some souvenirs for our kids. We then headed back to Mel's house where her sister-in-law came to teach us a class on marriage. It was wonderful, she was a great speaker and had tons of great information. We also had a great dinner and stayed up late, late, late (or should I say early?) chatting and laughing. Great times.

Liza, Allyson, Melanie

Saturday Melanie's son, Jackson, who recently returned from a 2 year LDS mission in Madagascar showed us tons of pictures and told us all about his mission. It was fascinating! We then headed to a nearby town for lunch and more shopping. My Mom, my aunt Jan and I were flying out that late afternoon and the rest of the group was staying til Sunday. After lunch we said goodbye and Melanie took us to the airport. We went through the whole checking in, security, boarding and then after taxiing out to the runway we were told there was some maintenance issue so we'd have to wait for a few minutes. Then we were told we would be de-planing and then we were told that that was the last flight out and we would be spending another night in San Fransisco. Huh. We felt fortunate that we had great company and accommodations waiting for us so we dealt with our disappointment of missing our families for one more day and went to settle up with Delta at the ticket counter. 3 HOURS LATER, we had a shuttle ride to my aunt's and a $50 flight voucher. That wait was NOT awesome. Fortunately I was in excellent company and my Mom and Jan were amazingly cheerful and helpful with Joshy. We took turns standing in line. If they hadn't been with me I'm pretty sure I would have just sat down on the floor and cried. We finally made it back to my aunt's house where we were greeted with lots of love and sympathy. Our husbands were wonderful sports about the extra day, my kids burst into tears but pulled it together and hung in there one more day. We had another really really late great fun night chatting and laughing. Sunday morning we got up and re-packed and hopped aboard our shuttle, jumped back through all the airport hoops (got another $50 flight voucher - yay, Mom) and finally made it home!!!

Tammy, Brynn, Mom, Megan, Mandolin, Ashley

Sadly, Brennan had to go out of town about an hour after I got home, but only for one night. It was great to see them all again. I missed them so much but the trip was perfect. Joshua was an ANGEL, and there were always lots of willing hands to help me with him. The women I got to be with are just plain amazing and I love them so much. I feel so blessed to be able to rub shoulders with some of the finest, brightest, strongest, most righteous women in the world. These women are phenomenal women, wives and mothers and I came away determined to be better.

Thank you so much Brennan for taking time off work to run things at home. The house was clean and the kids were happy. They had a great time with him. I'm so grateful I was able to leave things in such capable, willing hands. Thank you all my aunts and cousins who made the trip so much fun, especially Melanie! To all my sisters-in-law and cousins and aunts who didn't come, we missed you so much. Can't wait for next year!