Edmonton Exmos

Thursday:
The mini-conference in Edmonton was most definitely worth the 6-7 hour drive. Of course, after that long in the car Baby Lu was pretty fussy. So I missed a lot of the lectures. However...thanks to the joys of technology I won't have to miss out (and neither will you)!
Bob McCue: Mormonism in Context
Lyndon Lamborn: Destructive Mind Control

We stayed at the home of an exmo. Lyndon was staying at the same place. It was nice to get to spend a little extra time with Lyndon and our host. Plus, Lyndon makes the best salsa I have ever had.
Friday:
We spent a loooong time at the West Edmonton Mall. Then, in the evening, there was a big gathering of local exmos with food, beer, and a cozy fire. It was one of the highlights of the entire trip. Meeting so many other people in person who get what it's like to leave the Mormon church was a really wonderful experience. And now my Facebook friends list is getting longer. Lucy was quite popular and she made a lot of friends too. But that's not surprising. She is adorable. And earlier in the day she had been "flirting" with Lyndon.

Lyndon gave us an autographed copy of his book, Standing for Something More: The Excommunication of Lyndon Lamborn. I looooove the title! I've already begun reading it (post to come when I finish it). He also shared his salsa recipe with us! Yum!

Saturday:
We packed up, said our goodbyes and headed home.

us with Lyndon

us with our host, Michelle

We had so. much. fun. And we met so many awesome people. If we end up in Edmonton for Adam's med school I will be very happy to get to spend more time with everbody (except, of course, Lyndon who lives in Arizona and Bob who is from Calgary). There's talk of trying to get Richard Packham to speak next year. That would be awesome. But even if they can't get him, or another speaker as good as this year's speakers I still think it would be worth the drive. I have friends who are Mormon and I love them. I have friends who are nevermos and I love them too. But it is a really meaningful thing to now have so many new friends who are exmo. They "get it." And they "get us" without having to try to explain anything.

Yup, definitely worth the long car ride.