On the weekend of October 8 some of the amazing women and men who work hard to make Natural Parents Network the wonderful community and resource that it is got together for a meet-up at two locations across the U.S. — the Midwest and the Northwest. This was the first time that many of the volunteers have met in person after a year of collaborating on this amazing website. Please scroll to the bottom of this post for a list of links so that you can read what some of the other volunteers had to say about this incredible First Annual Natural Parents Network Team Get-Together!

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Most of the volunteers at the Midwest get together

Many of the volunteers who make Natural Parents Network fabulous met in two different locations last week for our first ever get together. Thirteen volunteers and their families met at Dionna’s house in Kansas City, and eight volunteers and their families met in Seattle at Moorea’s house. On Sunday evening, we also connected via video chat with several more volunteers who were with us in spirit, but could not drive or fly to one of the two locations.

The Northwest volunteers

Today many of the volunteers are posting about the get togethers on their own sites – you can find links at the end of this post. We also wanted to thank some of the companies who generously donated product samples or offered coupon codes to our volunteers – we were able to create some fun “welcome bags” for the Midwest volunteers with the samples, since they came in for the whole weekend. The coupon codes are good for all NPN volunteers!

NPN would like to thank:

• Earth Mama Angel Baby donated an awesome gift bag that included samples of Angel Baby Lotion, Calm & Clean Hand to Toe Wash, Angel Baby Bottom Balm, Natural Nipple Butter, and Organic Milkmaid Tea (Like Earth Mama Angel Baby on FB)
• Lunapads donated beautiful pantyliners (for the women) and organic handkerchiefs (for the men) (Like Lunapads on FB)
• Beauty Without Cruelty donated samples of Rosemary Mint Tea Tree Shampoo and Conditioner (Like Beauty Without Cruelty on FB))
• The Natural Newborn donated samples of Peppermint Lip Balm and Unscented Hand and Body Lotion (Like The Natural Newborn on FB)
• Tom’s of Maine donated tubes of Wicked Fresh Cool Peppermint Toothpaste and Children’s Fluoride-Free Silly Strawberry Toothpaste (Like Tom’s of Maine on FB)
• ChildOrganics donated samples of Baby Bottom Better and gave our volunteers a coupon code (Like ChildOrganics on FB)
• Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children donated handmade reusable produce bags to put everything in
• Hyvee donated a $25 gift card to offset expenses (Like this Hyvee on FB)
• Heirloom Wooden Toys offered our volunteers a coupon code (Like Heirloom Wooden Toys on FB)
• Natural Pure Essentials offered our volunteers a coupon code (Like Natural Pure Essentials)

Thank you for making our gatherings special and for supporting our community of volunteers!

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To learn more about all the members of the Natural Parents Network team, visit our about page. To become a volunteer for NPN, first please check out what we’re in need of, then contact us if you’re interested in helping out. Here’s information about some of our lovely volunteers, including all of those who are writing about the gathering today:

Midwest Gathering Attendees:

Dionna at Code Name: Mama writes Wanted: More NPN Volunteers in Kansas City! Also find Dionna on Twitter and Facebook!

Jorje at Momma Jorje writes Vacation Weekend with Volunteers.  Also find Jorje on Facebook!

Amy at Peace 4 Parents writes The Value of Parent-to-Parent Support, Truth, Love, and Healing.  Also find Amy on Twitter and Facebook.

Amanda at Let’s Take the Metro writes The Gathering.  Also find Amanda on Facebook.

Joni Rae at Tales of Kitchen Witch.  Also find Joni Rae on Twitter and Facebook.

Mandy at Living Peacefully with Children.

Rebekah & Chris at Liberated Family.  Also find Rebekah & Chris on Twitter.

Northwest Gathering Attendees:

Lauren at Hobo Mama writes Meeting My NPN Friends.  Also find Lauren on Twitter and Facebook!

Amy at Anktangle writes Meeting the NPN Family.  Also find Amy on Twitter and Facebook.

Arpita at Up, Down & Natural writes Me And My Ladies ~ First Annual NPN Team Gathering.  Also find Arpita on Twitter and Facebook.

Kristin at Intrepid Murmurings writes Seattle Bloggy Meetup & Gluten-free Shortbread! Also find Kristin on Twitter and Facebook!

Jennifer at True Confessions of a Real Mommy.  Also find Jennifer on Twitter.

Shannon at Pineapples & Artichokes writes Thanks.

Moorea at MamaLady: Adventures in Lesbian Parenting writes The Natural Parents Are Coming! Hide the Stroller!

Fabulous NPN Volunteers who were unable to attend:

Melissa at The New Mommy Files writes Building a Modern Day Village.  Find Melissa on Twitter and Facebook.

Rachael at The Variegated Life.  Find Rachel on Twitter and Facebook.

Darcel at The Mahogany Way.  Find Darcel on Twitter and Facebook.