Greetings!
I hope you had a wonderful holiday weekend full of lots of love, laughter and good time with family and friends. Here in the Midwest, we had cool temperatures on Friday and Saturday but we’re back to heat and humidity today.
I love the 4th of July weekend. Usually, it means good barbecue, spending time with family and friends and lots of fireworks. This weekend is always full of good times! Last year, my husband Tim and I were in Glacier National Park with all five of our children and our 10 grandchildren
. 
And here is our newest grand baby all decked out for the 4th!
Crazy fun times! This year, the 4th of July weekend was a bit quieter as Tim was on hospital service and working all of the weekend. None the less, it makes me think of family and wonderful times. Oh and I can’t forget our other baby, our black lab, Acadia (aka Cadie).
As you can probably guess from her name, we love national parks, hiking and the outdoors. Oh and I LOVE the Saint Louis Cardinals! I even have Matt Carpenter’s autograph.
I have been the NFED Executive Director for six months and I am so honored to be in this role. I have been with the NFED for almost 13 years. We have such a great staff that my job is easy (well maybe :)). I think it is time for me to let you know a little about me. I am a very private person; thus, you will see nothing about me on Facebook. 🙂 I am married to a wonderful man, Tim, and I am a mother of five beautiful children, all of who are grown, have jobs and off the Fete payroll. A good thing, right? I have 11 grandchildren. So, I started having children at 14 🙂 (Not really!) They all know how to say ectodermal dysplasias and how important the NFED and our families are to me and how committed I am to our mission.
In two weeks, I will be leaving for Columbus, Ohio and I am so very excited about Family Conference. I am looking forward to seeing old friends (not really “old”, but rather families who have been around for a while) and meeting new families.
To our new families, welcome to the NFED family and to the other families, welcome back! We welcome you with open arms and lots of hugs. We are a family. Yes, we come from different cities, different cultures, ethnic back grounds and walks of life. But together, we are a family. Family Conference is a wonderful opportunity to learn all kinds of great information about the syndromes and appropriate treatment. But more importantly, Family Conference is such a great opportunity to develop life-long friendships and support systems.
Together, we will make this the best conference ever! Staff tells me that I say “Wow, this is the best conference ever!”, every year. This year is a record for number of attendees. We are at 430! So, I want to be sure to meet each and every one of you. I am so excited to see everyone at conference. For those of you who can’t make conference this year, we will miss you terribly! So make sure you watch for Facebook posts and follow the NFED blog to keep up-to-date with what is going on. We are here for you always. And we know you are here for the NFED and all of the families; together, we are strong! Together, we can do great things and stay true to our mission.
My love and hugs to you and your family!
XO
Mary Fete
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