Ladies retreat '11

Toward the beginning of April, we had a ladies retreat. This, I highly recommend to any lady. It was the perfect weekend getaway. We had so much fun! I went to a mom's retreat a couple years ago with my good friend Megan, and we learned so much from it that we wanted to host one the next year. We did that last year, and though it was fun, it was a bit overpacked with classes and not long enough. So this year, we made it two days, and loosened the schedule. I was SO sad that Meg couldn't end up coming, but it was still really fun.

I admit, I don't like planning events. I hate it, actually. I'd much rather attend an event. BUT, this group of girls is just too great, that I felt like they deserved a weekend getaway.

Here are just a few pictures that captured our weekend, in no particular order...

A group of us went up early and hiked a couple trails at Zion's National Park. Beautiful, but it was kinda cold.
The next morning, we toured Brigham Young's winter home in St. George. It's fun to have a professional photographer come along. You get amazing pictures.
Here's my friend, Brittany. She's gorgeous, talented, and just about the nicest girl on the planet. I told Brandon that she would make a MUCH better Bishop's wife than I do.
I like these few pictures because of the awesome wallpaper. We called this house the House of Good Intentions. It was a very...interesting house to stay in. We had a mouse, backed up plumbing, a half-working grill, and awesome wallpaper. I tried to find a place that will sleep all 16 of us. This was the only thing I could find that was within our budget. Oh well, it made for really good memories. :)
Kristen giving her facial class. She was a last-minute addition for the classes, and she was great!
She also was nice enough to model for the photography class. She's beautiful, isn't she?
This is Jen. We talked one night, a group of us, about how completely gorgeous she is. I hope she's okay with that. We were talking behind her back, but they were only good words, so we didn't consider it gossiping. :)
Rachel teaching her gardening class. She will be the only reason we all have successful gardens this year. :)
Marta helping us all crochet. She got sick after the first night, and went home. Poor girl.
Rachel, 7 months prego, holding the only baby that came this year. He's 6 weeks old, and we all had so much fun holding him. I love this pic.
Here's all of us before we all went home. We seriously, well at least I did, had so much fun!
Erica giving her massage tips class. She gives massages, at your house, if you're interested. :)
All of us looking at our class sheets.
This is my favorite photo ever. This completely captures the essence of Janae. I also realized (well, I knew this before), that Janae is the most likeable person ever. Everyone loves her. You just can't NOT like her. She's due in a couple weeks, with her 4th baby. You are seriously lucky if you are born to her family. All the kids LOVE her.

I had so much fun. I'm so glad that I planned this. And thank you Rachel. You were a huge help in the planning process. Because of her, we were never hungry. We had delicious food and treats. She's the gourmet chef around here.

I'm not planning it next year, just so you all know. :) But THANK YOU for the gift card. You are all too nice. Let's do it again, okay? :)