Last week we headed to Murphy, North Carolina, to attend the annual F.E.W. conference (Family Encouragement Weekend) hosted by the Neely Team.
This was the first time we had attended this particular conference in NC since it's a long 7-hour drive from here in Virginia. Seeing as Sarah, Eric, and Andrew in Georgia live close enough for a quick visit after the conference, we thought this was a great opportunity to see them.
Years ago we attended a couple of the F.E.W. conferences held in northern Virginia and hosted by the Wilkes Team. Here are the links on the blog for those conferences: Family Encouragement Weekend ~ 2010 and Family Encouragement Weekend ~ 2011.
We also listened to special music presented by the orchestra as seen below, and many young people who came to the conference brought their instruments to play together...I didn't get a photo of that entire group. Hannah wished she had known to bring her flute to join them. We enjoyed all the great hymns during the two-day conference: 
One of the main advantages to attending conferences like this is the fellowship with other families. Here's Hannah with our dear friends (and Sarah's sisters-in-law) Abby and Emma: 
The ladies' Saturday morning devotional by Mrs. Staddon included fruit, cookies, and tea as we listened to her talk on Mary, Martha, and Hospitality: 
Tom and Greg talked together during the conference: 
And, of course, the afternoon included outdoor activities for the young people as shown below: 
Hannah joined the group and enjoyed the fresh air and camaraderie: 
The older young adults helped direct the outdoor games while the ladies inside prepared the lunch meal: 
We enjoyed all the messages, singing, and fellowship times throughout the weekend. My favorite times were the prayer group sessions each day where we gathered as four or five families in a group and introduced ourselves and shared prayer requests with the group. The dads around the group prayed for the requests, and we were able to get to know several families better as a result.
One final singing picture of the Neely, Staddon, and Wilkes families:
After the conference ended Saturday evening, we were back on the road headed to Georgia where sweet little Andrew awaited his Granny Deb to give him lots of hugs and kisses. :)
And here are sweet Andrew's parents, Eric and Sarah. It was so good to see everyone again!
Hannah had a great time entertaining her little nephew: 
And Grampa Tom enjoyed himself, too! How do you like Andrew's camouflage cloth dipe?! Sarah is a cloth diaper lover from long ago when she made tons of them for her future babies.
For those of you who have been praying for Andrew, he's come a long way since birth! He continues to need prayer for some issues he's still facing. As you can see, he's still on feeding tubes and just beginning to learn to eat. So many prayers have been answered for this little munchkin!
This is one of my favorite pictures from the weekend. He's such an adorable 10 1/2 month old... always smiling and a genuinely happy baby: 
I can't wait to see him again!
~Deb
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Deb, it looks and sounds like this trip was just wonderful! The conference sounds like such an encouraging time. How blessed to fellowship with like minded families and enjoy some sweet times of learning, sharing and prayer.
The pictures of you all with Andrew are adorable! So many blessings and answers to prayer, we do serve a mighty God who delights to show the world He is in charge!! So happy for you guys!!!!!
Posted by: Chris | Thursday, March 09, 2017 at 10:00 PM
There's my favorite baby in the world. We enjoyed visiting with you all last weekend and look forward to doing it again soon. We were blessed to see that sweet little boy yesterday. He is such a happy precious little fellow and has quite a fan club for someone so small. :)
Posted by: victoria | Friday, March 10, 2017 at 09:14 AM
Hi Deb! Love the pictures of Andrew. Do I spy red hair in his photos or was that just from the lighting? I love auburn hair. Sarah looks so happy. :)
Have a great weekend!
Toni
Posted by: Toni | Friday, March 10, 2017 at 01:53 PM
Hi Deb, thank you so much for sharing such wonderful pictures of some of my favorite people. Andrew looks like he has grown so much! I love his red car - don't think I have ever seen one like it. Glad you had such a fun visit.
Posted by: Barbara J. | Saturday, March 11, 2017 at 12:07 PM
Nice pictures of the conference.I am sure everyone was glad to have had nice weather for the outdoor activities.
Adorable Andrew.He looks so much bigger and showing a cute smile with cute cheeks.Love the camo diapers.
Posted by: Tammy C | Sunday, March 12, 2017 at 10:56 AM
Hi Girotti's!
We (Danielle and I) loved looking at all your pictures. My goodness, Andrew is so cute, and what a happy fella!
Deb...my family is giving serious consideration to attending the NCFIC conference this year and wondered if you know whether you will be going, or if it is too premature. This would be a first for us. It looks to be Oct. 28-30.
How is your weather? We had a warm spell in western NY in February and March has been brutal. Temps staying in the teens, high winds, and now a snowstorm for Tues and Wed. Guess that is what you call coming in like a lion!
Posted by: Rhonda Noether | Sunday, March 12, 2017 at 09:42 PM
It was a blessing to talk with you at the FEW, Hannah, and get to know you better. I love your blog! :)
Posted by: Esther Staddon | Tuesday, March 14, 2017 at 09:48 AM