A Much-Needed Retreat

I know I’m posting out of order, but that’s just the craziness of my life! This trip actually took place the first weekend of April.

I have two dear friends from college who decided during one of the most difficult times of my life to drop everything and come to my rescue. Chelsea was living in Colorado at the time, Kris was in the Dallas area, and I was living with my in-laws and pregnant with Jessie Claire. Jessie was just a few months from arriving, my mother had passed away a few months before, and we still didn’t have a house. To say the least, things were pretty stressful and, quite frankly, dark for me. Anyway, these two precious people did something for me I can never forget. Chels flew from Denver to Dallas and then she and Kris drove to Clinton to basically deliver a baby shower on my front doorstep. They came with gifts, lots of laughter,and, of course, Kris had baked goods! We played, ate, and shopped together, and thus began our “tradition.”

Two summers ago we hooked up again in Jefferson, TX, which proved to be pretty convenient for everyone. Chels, by this time had moved to east TX so it was a quick trip for her and only about four hours for me. We stayed at a bed and breakfast, shopped, ate and laughed until the wee hours of the morning.

Since we’re all in the same state again, we (actually Kris who always gets the ball rolling) decided it was time for another retreat. She threw out the suggestion that we each bring our oldest daughters along for the ride. I have to say that while we didn’t get as much personal visiting done as in the past, I have no regrets! Our daughters LOVED each other and had the best time playing together. I may be dreaming, but how great would it be if their friendship continues to develop through the years? Kris’ parents have a time share at Canyon Lake so we shopped in San Marcos and slept at the condo for free! Now that’s a retreat.

Somehow, we always forget to take pictures of ourselves on these little trips (which we are going to HAVE to get better at), but we did manage to get some of the girls.

Emma, Reagan (Kris), and Alex (Chels) during a morning swim

Lunch at Johnny Rockets

Walking between shops at the outlet mall.

A Weekend in the Woods

Well, I don’t have pictures from this big adventure yet – trying to get my non-tech friend to send me the ones she took, but I couldn’t wait anymore to post. We all survived, had a blast and got a little bit of sleep to boot!

Sleeping in our tent: we did have blow-up mattresses which came in mighty handy as the ground is really hard! (Feel free to laugh at me here.) The girls used their sleeping bags on top of the beds...keeps them from fighting over the covers. :-) Todd and I were sleeping in luxury with our cotton t-shirt sheets. We actually needed a fan for a while the first night, but when I woke up for the millionth time around 1 am, I turned it off...definitely a little chilly by then. I think the first night Emma had to go to the bathroom, Aubrie woke up cold and out of her bag, Jessie took Aubrie's pillow, and our friends' little girl had night terrors right next to us, and that kept E and I up for a while as we had just returned from the potty. Glad to say that the second night was VERY calm in comparison. We did have some younger campers next to us that second night who decided it was a good idea to wash dishes around 2 am. I'm sure I would have thought that at some point in my life LONG ago, too. :-)

We had s’mores over coals because we're still under a burn ban so it took a while but was so much fun! We also had an Easter egg hunt and just about lost Aubrie on the "mountain" behind our campsite. We were packing up and lost track of her so I go to a neighbor's site to look for her. I see her coming down the mountain, and let's just say that I've not allowed myself to think of what would have happened had she gone down the other side of the ridge... thank you, Lord, for your protection even when we're not asking for it! (For those of you who’ve read The Shack, I can’t let my mind go there either.)

The pictures I’m waiting for are of our crew up the mountain and on our hike that we took, and I'll be sure to share as soon as I get them. We have proof, I mean pics, of our pastor leading the kids in pushing down a pine tree which we're pretty sure is against the rules in our state park. He's a crazy man. We had seven families and about 14 kids along for the ride...it was wild to say the least.