From a recent Adoption Conference

Families By Divine Design was the theme of the 2009 FSA Regional Adoption Conference for Oregon, Washington, Alaska, California, Idaho, and Hawaii held in Portland, Oregon this past November. It was definitely divinely inspired. In fact, Rebecca Harrison, one of our Regional Co-Chairs, said how amazing it was to be involved with this conference and how she truly felt the Lord's hand in the planning of it. More than once she marveled at how smoothly things would fall into place after initially not knowing how to make it all come together. She felt strongly that there were people in attendance at the conference whose hearts needed to be touched by the information shared there.

We had over 170 attendees from Idaho, Washington, California, Oregon, Arizona and Utah. Amazing! We were blessed to be able to hear from so many amazing presentors and to hear such inspiring stories from adoptive professionals, adoptive parents, adoptees and birth parents.

Here is just a sampling of the feedback we recieved from attendees:


Adoptive Applicant- "I liked having Elder Brinkerhoff speak about how adoption relates to the gospel. I also liked the theme of Divine Design of Adoption."

Adoptive applicant- "Loved Lindsey Redfern, Growing Up Adopted panel, hearing from the Family for Every Child rep, birthparent panel, DHS, Hearing about people's experiences, experts with varied experiences & different perspectives."

Friday night Adoption Triad speakers with our Regonal Co-Chairs

Adoptee- "I liked the triad speakers a lot! EXCELLENT! WONDERFUL SPEAKERS!

Adoptive Parent- "Well organized & variety of classes. Exceeded expectations."

Adoptive Applicant- "Very beneficial. Multiple concerns of mine were addressed; most of which I came to the conference praying to know what to do."

Presentors from Adopting through the State.

Adoptive Applicant- What they liked most about conference- "Interacting with other people in our similar situation, presentations given from different perspectives, valuable information"

Birth Parent- What they liked most about the conference- "How open everyone is. I felt very welcomed and got to talk with alot of educated women and men about adopting and about parenting."

Adoptive Applicant- "It exceeded our expectations. We loved it. Classes and panels were excellent. Speakers presentations were great and gave very valuable information. The talks on the triad were amazing."

Lyn Welchel from Lane County Heart Gallery shares inforation and her story.

Class Presentor/Adoptive parent- "I loved the idea of having a birth mother and new adoptive couple applicant come to the pre-conference training. It was truly inspired! I loved the fsa store. I loved the whole set up of the fireside on friday night (it was like a date night--dinner and fireside, great idea!). I loved Monica Blume's class. I loved the mingle part of it and I adored the lady that did the Heart Gallery. Loved that she was lds, loved that she has foster children, loved that she was able to share so much. brilliant."

Adoptive Applicant- What they liked most about this year's conference- "Better understanding the perspectives of the birth parents, adoptive parents & adoptees."

The Growing Up Adopted Panel.

Adoptive Applicant- "We have been investigating and going through the adoption process for almost 2 years. We learned alot of new things this conference."
What they liked most- "Everything was fantastic! I have to say the panels of the birth mothers /father was very helpful to get a first hand response and comments from them. Also the adopted children was just as first hand and fascinating."

Investigating Adoption- "It was beneficial to share real life experiences and get a true and accurate picture of how the process affects all parties."

Adoptive Applicant- "The conference was very enjoyable and informative! The breakout sessions were very helpful in presenting info I wasn't aware of. The general sessions were very spiritual and uplifting!"

Congratulations to the Allreds

The Allreds have been blessed with a little baby boy. A big CONGRATS to them and their family. Check the little angel out HERE. We would love to hear his story from the Allred family.

Back in business

So its been a while since I posted, and been awhile since we've been keeping up with FSA. Well, most of you got the email that we are having our education classes and Adoption Celebration on the 14th of November. 9:30 to 1:30 and we will be having lunch. Please RSVP either in a comment on this blog or email me at foreverweeks@yahoo.com .

Happy November Adoption Month!

Please take note that we have added another "parents-in-waiting" to our sidebar. We would love to add you all, just send your link to me via email and I will add your family.

Hope you all are enjoying you Fall.

Back to School

For some, this is exciting and others....just another day! Me...just another day, my kids are not school age yet. But this also means that most are back from all kinds of fun vacations, or great summer get-a-ways. We want to hear about your amazing summer stories. Please send me an email with ONE picture and I would love to post any fun and exciting stories that your families have been up to.

Also, we are getting back into the FSA swings. Be prepared for updates on FHE's, activities and education classes coming up. Can't wait to hear about your summer fun.

foreverweeks@yahoo.com

Still here!

I am still here, but summer is crazy. I hope everyone is having a great summer and playing out in the sun. By fall we will try to get together as an FSA family more often. National FSA Conference is coming up in a few weeks. What a great opportunity to go and get a great uplifting experience about adoption. If you can plan it, go. Please be in touch if you have any questions.

Just a wish for Mothers and Mothers-in-waiting. You are in our prayers!

Another update for Birthmother Day!

Well, this Saturday is Birthmother Day. I didn't get the response I was hoping for, for the activity I was planning. So instead, I wanted to share with you what the FSA is doing for our local Birthmother's. We will be giving them flowers, to let them know that we appreciate them and support them.



Please remember to recognize your own birthmothers. For many of us, this is how we are Mothers.

Have a great week.

Birthmother Day!

As mentioned in the previous post, Birthmother Day is May 9th, the day before Mother's Day. We are planning a Spa Night for our local birthmother's. Here's what we are planning to do...

Mani/Pedi's for the birthmothers
Maybe parafin waxing
and Makeup

This is an opportunity for adoptive parents and parents-in-waiting to show your appreciation to birthmothers. We would really like to get an idea of who will be able to make and help us out with this activity. By help, I mean, adoptive moms and mom-in-waiting will be doing the mani/pedi's and waxing and makeup for the birthmoms, while the adoptive dads and dads-in-waiting will be serving dessert. We will need help with making the dessert ahead of time and if anyone has connections with supplies that we can use. Please contact me via email or by leaving a comment here. Thank you for your consideration and help, while we look to an opportunity to give back in service.

Update

Another great class tonight. We learned about the internet and how to network yourself throughout your adoption journey. The journey can be long and sometimes hard to be patient. One thing you can do to gain control back while you "wait"...be proactively involved with your search for your children. Just a few ideas that we talked about tonight...

beta.itsaboutlove.org
parentprofiles.com
adoption.com
set up a blog
get a website

There are a lot of ways to be proactive in your search for children. We encourage you to participate and move your family forward, rather than sit back and wait for things to happen and come to you. You all are always in our prayers and hearts.

Another item of business: Birthmother Day!

Birthmother Day is always the saturday before Mother's Day. Without our sweet birthmothers, it is difficult to be mothers. We feel it is important to honor these angels. This year Birthmother's Day falls on May 9th. This will be our May activity. We encourage all who are involved with FSA, whether you have adopted in the past; whether you are adopting now; or whether you are "Parents-in-Waiting", please join us in our activity.

We have a few ideas for our Birthmothers but we wanted to get a poll on what our adoptive parents (and in waiting) would like to participate in. Remember, this is our way to thank them and show them that we love them.

Option 1: Dinner and a musical program

Option 2: Spa night with games and dessert

I would like to see what people would prefer or what activity would we get more participation with. Please leave a comment at the bottom of this post as to your preference.

Last item of business. To the right of this post you will see in the sidebar, a section titled "Parents-in-Waiting". This is where you can have your blog, or website put as a link to share with others. Just another opportunity to tell others about yourselves...we all are here to help and share.

We love you!

Service Donations

FSA started a project a while back, which we will be finishing next week. They are putting together bags for children. They have been able to gather most of the things that go in the bags, but in need of just 10 more childrens' books.

We would appreciate the donations of any new childrens' books that you can help out with. Please bring them to any of the two remaining adoption classes, or you can just drop them off at LDS Family Services in Twin Falls.

Thank you for your help.

Also, class on the 23rd won't start until 7:00 pm. This will be our birthmother panel...a really great opportunity to get to know birthmothers and hear their stories.

Class for the 16th will still begin at 6:30 pm. Hope to see some of you there.

First Adoption Education Class

Tonight was our first Adoption Education Class. I want to thank those involved for setting it up and getting our speakers for tonight. Thank you also to our speakers for sharing their stories and educating us on so many other options in adoption. We learned about adopting through the state, health and welfare, foster adopting, PRIDE, private attorneys and others.

There are so many opportunities for adoption, please be aware of your options and resources out there. If you have questions don't hesitate to ask your caseworker.

Thank you again for all who participated in tonight class.

Welcome

Welcome to the Twin Falls chapter FSA Blog. I am so excited to be a part of the Twin Falls FSA. My name is Paula. My husband, Carl, and I are your new FSA chairmen. We are thrilled to have been given the opportunity to serve the Twin Falls area and get to know so many more new people.

The purpose of this blog is to inform, communicate and share. We plan to post all the "happenings" of FSA for the Twin Falls, Idaho chapter, keep you informed of news and updates, and share fun stories and ideas.

We hope that you will enjoy participating in our activities and getting to know others. If you wish to share something on the blog, you can email me at foreverweeks@yahoo.com.

Thank you for your interest and we look forward to an awesome year ahead.