Ahhh... The Retreat

I didn't post this right away, because how can I do it justice? I had over 150 pictures to choose from, and they were all so much fun. (Ok, some of them were blurry, but it is hard to choose!!!)

If you are interested in a CD with the pictures that I took, please drop by a blank CD and I will make you one--you can pick and choose from there!

So, here's the write up on one of the funnest weekends I have had in a long time!

Friday afternoon about 12 of us met at The Homestead (Fanny's Grill) for supper. Unfortunately I left the camera in the car. Ooops!

After dinner some of us headed to get ice cream at The Dairy Keen.

Then carloads of party girls started showing up at the house around 6:30pm.

We started out the night with some "Minute to Win It" games. We did some apple stacking and some sucking of M&M's. As expected, Mindy beat us all - in both of them! Please.... do not go up against Mindy in any game of skill or chance and think you have a chance of winning! Yay for Mindy!!! :)

I mean seriously, look at Janelle go, and she still didn't win! Nice try though.

When most everyone had arrived we played a nice farming game. Everyone was given a card with one of five animals (pig, dog, cow, sheep, cat) and we had to put on a blindfold and start making our animal noise until we could find (and hang onto) all of the other animals of the same kind. Says Sue D. "I'm just glad I went to the restroom before we started this". Everyone was wiping the tears from their eyes as we took off our blind folds.

We played that a few more times, then started our next game.

Who am I? Some were pretty quick to find out, others simply gave up after a while!

Then we broke up into 2 groups and played "Times Up" or "3 Men (women in this case) on a Couch". Sadly, me and my camera weren't in the room for the 3 men on a couch game, but I sure had some fun with the Times Up crew.

Here's our favorite picture of Kristen doing her impression of Leonardo DiCaprio... I believe it has something to do with the Titanic.

After we finished up those games we started doing our skits. These weren't just any skits! We divided up into 4 groups, and each group was given a basket, crate, or bag with props, a famous person's name, a famous quote, and a ward calling that had to be incorporated into their skit. Holy Cow! I am blown away by some of the acting skills and creativity of these ladies, especially at 11:30pm!

Here's some pictures of the skits...

Mindy as a super hero, with Sarah rapping the story along.

Dawn as "Mollie" with her good works and individual worth head band, bringing Hannah Montana (Janelle) to YW with her.

Little Red Riding Hood (Tabitha) going to visit her Nursery Leader (Teresa), when the Big Bad Wolf (Saffron-in a pirate hat) stalls her!

Hmmm... they said they wanted to hide in the garage, because they couldn't decide what to do. I'm impressed with the Activities Committee meeting they portrayed after I forced them to participate anyway! Great job ladies!

After the skits, we turned it down a notch and had a little devotional. Arah reminded us how important it is to be happy with ourselves no matter what. We watched a great video that helped us all remember how fragile our lives are and how lucky we are to be women, mothers, sisters, and friends.

Then I'm not sure what happened... I went to bed! All I know is they were pretty quiet, if they stayed up!

Early (8:15) Saturday morning Mindy woke us all up with their family wake up songs and BYU fight songs. She's quite the morning person! :)

We had a great breakfast (with microwave, pre-cooked bacon) and welcomed lots of new faces!

Then we started our day of rejuvenation. We had 4 excellent speakers who helped us remember the talk that Sheri Dew gave our stake several months ago.

Sue started with "Personal Revelation", she says she learned more than us, but we all learned a lot from Sue. Thank you!

Then Dawn with "Not belittling or 'pecking' at each other". What a great reminder we all need to build each other up, and not tear each other down. Thank you! Dawn

Then we had a food break... that lasted longer than the 5 minutes we planned!

Kerstin was next on our day. She gave a wonderful presentation on "Understanding the Atonement". What a wonderful perspective she gave us, and the tears were flowing, as the spirit was so strong today. Thank you, Kerstin!

Next was Tabitha, she talked about "Remembering Our Individual Worth". She told us some amazing things about her conversion and shared such sweet testimony to us. No one could have shared this like she did! Thank you!

Next was lunch. I can't believe how little each person was assigned, and how much food there ended up being. Thank you to everyone who brought food (and took some home with you!)

After lunch, Arah had asked several women in the ward to share their testimonies. Each one of them had so much to add to our special day. Then the time was open to anyone who wanted to share. How lucky we were to share such a special and spiritual day. I feel truly uplifted by each of you, not only at the retreat, but every day!

Thank you to all of you who made the preparations and took the time to come. Arah and I discussed on the way home how that 24 hours went almost better than we could have ever imagined, and it's all because of YOU!!!

If you weren't able to join us, we truly missed you! We are hoping to do this again in the future. Keep your fingers crossed.

Love,
Karen