In the last post, I shared with you how great I thought the decor was for the Birthmother’s Beach Bash. But of course, the weekend/day involved more than just the decor, even if it was great!
My niece Holly was nice enough to accompany me. Well, and drive me! Oh ya and be my assistant! Um, and I tacked bodyguard on to her list of duties just because it sounded cool! (hehe) (Thank you Holly!!!)
On Friday night, after we decorated the room for Saturday’s festivities, the people who were staying at the hotel plus Melanie all met up for dinner. It was fun. We went to a restaurant that was within walking distance from the hotel called Town. It was fancy schmancy and very yummy!!
On Saturday morning, 
Holly and I awoke bright and early. We checked out of our hotel room so we wouldn’t have to worry about it later and headed to the room we had decorated the night before and met Melanie. Holly worked the registration table while Melanie and I did last minute things and greeted everyone.
We always
start the morning off with introductions and door prizes! And of course a gift for the birthmom who has the youngest child (almost two months) and the birthmom who has the oldest child (20ish.) Oh ya, I can’t forget about the 
goodie bags! Each birthmom receives a goodie bag when she arrives. This year’s bags were awesome! They were made by an adoptee in honor of her birthmother. (Thank you D!) They had some pretty cool stuff in them too! A message in a bottle, flip flop shaped soap, flip flop shaped gummies, a palm tree shaped chocolate, and more!
After intros and announcements, we went into
breakout sessions. This was a new element I had added this year and was very excited about! I was also a tad nervous since we had never done them before but they went great and I think everyone really enjoyed them. They were told to choose one from Session 1 which was birthmother grief and an open discussion on the feelings surrounding closed adoption, search and reunion and then one from Session 2 which was Journaling and adoption in the Bible. All the breakout session leaders did a great job and it was exactly what i had envisioned.
We always do a craft. This year we embellished flip flops. We actually did this two years ago and everyone loved it so much and it was requested so we decide to do it again since there were only a few people who had been there that year that were in attendance this year. We used fabric or what I call “fluffy stuff” (that fluffy yarn) to make the flip flops cute and girly. It was fun and I really liked seeing all the different finished products.
After craft time, came lunch time. Lunch was a buffet of different types of sandwhiches, potato salad, pasta salad, etc. We ate lunch outdoors on the veranda since it was such a pretty day outside. It was nice and relaxing.
Since we were outside, Melanie led the girls in a balloon release. Each girl had a slip of paper and wrote down a prayer for her birthchild and then tied it to the balloon. It was then sent up, up, and away!
After the balloon release, we headed back inside fo the “program” portion of the afternoon. I started it off by reading an inspirational selection from the book My Beautiful Broken Shell by Carol Adams. Next, we had several speakers: an adoptee in reunion, a birthmother in reunion, and adoption professional who shared how birthmothers helped her deal with her own loss in life. Then 
came the slideshow that I make each year featuring our birthmothers and their children. (It will be online as soon as I can get it back on a cd and to my Dad’s to upload!) And we ended the day with our candlelight ceremony that is always my favorite part just because it is so touching. Each lady shares a prayer, hope, or wish for her child.
Also, at the end of the program, Melanie presented me with a very sweet gift. She had a shirt made for me featuring the BirthMom Buds logo. I LOVE it! (Thank you Melanie!!!)
I’m always so touched at how appreciative and thankful these birthmoms are of this event. It makes all my hard work worthwhile. It was a really amazing day and I’m already looking forward to next year!
For another recap of this event, visit Leah’s blog.
Coley's Corner 
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