Now's My Chance!!!

to blog... But I'm so tired and wiped out and not in a bloggy sort of mood! ~sigh~ I'm not up to posting all of the pictures, but I'll have to post this one.

Is that not the coolest snowman you've ever seen! And THAT, ladies and gentlemen, is what Ladies' Retreat in Colorado is all about. Ha! Okay, so that's not what it's ALL about, but how many Retreats could you go to and do THAT?! These six girls built this gigantic snowman during free time yesterday afternoon... after sledding and having a snowball fight and who knows what all. I LOVE IT! And it makes me SOOOOO happy that some of those Hatch ladies were part of it--they never see snow and this must have been just the coolest thing in the whole world for them. What memories!!! My husband declares that our ladies out here would find a way to attend Ladies' Retreat NO MATTER WHAT--if they were on their death bed, if Retreat was in the middle of a tornado--WHATEVER... and that it has NOTHING to do with anything spiritual. Ha! He's wrong. It's very spiritual. ;-)

~sigh~ I hate it that I'm so far behind on blogging about so many great things! I never blogged any pictures from our trip to Texas for Brother Ammons' revival in Andrews (and I've got a GREAT one of Jeremiah in a mustache!), or from our family's trip to the pumpkin farm last week, from our snowy puzzle day... ~sigh~ It's just so overwhelming!!! And now I've been to a fantastic Ladies' Retreat and I have IT to blog about, too! THERE'S JUST NOT ENOUGH TIME IN THE DAY, I TELL YOU!!! It wouldn't be so bad... I COULD catch up on it all... except that I'm going to be in Colorado for the next week... with PEOPLE!!! Tonight we're in a motel room, but this is the only night (thus the blogging), the rest of the time with be staying with church folk. So I thought I'd take a few minutes and at least blog SOMETHING.

Okay, okay, okay. Blogger was real quick with the pictures tonight and it's always so much harder to blog LATER on, so I'll go ahead and do a Ladies' Retreat post while it's fresh on my mind.

IT WAS WONDERFUL!!! As for those spiritual things that my husband declares are non-existant there (ha!), I was sooooooo blessed at Ladies' Retreat. The singing and praying and worship were so good, but Emilee's classes were the things that just really spoke to my heart. There were soooooo many good, rich, deep things (and she says she's no teacher--HA!), but something that really, really touched me was all of the things contained in the year of preparation that was spent just getting Esther ready to be presented to the king. (Our theme was "For Such a Time as This," thus the Esther thread throughout the weekend.) Em talked about the different processes of the spices and perfumes that were used--those of the king's own preference and choosing. These girls had been brought from all over the kingdom and were perhaps taken from the fields, working and toiling in the ground. They knew nothing of royalty and there was so much involved in preparing them to be presented to the king--the protocol of how to walk, talk, and behave in the palace and in the presence of the king--only part of which was that when they came into his presence they were not to smell "earthy," but be infused with the king's own fragrance. Think about that!!! I don't want to come before my King smelling "earthy," consumed and distracted by the things of this world even if they are simple unsinful distractions. ~sigh~ I can't say it all right here, there's no way I could convey what was ministered in the class. You just should have been there. ;-)

Okay, some pictures...

We drove through Juarez on our way to Retreat. Who knew?! Okay, so it was really in some little town north of Sante Fe and they were preparing a movie set. Still, it was cool.



I never can keep myself from taking pictures when we drive from Walsenburg over toward Westcliffe. ~sigh~ LOVE IT.



This one will probably be our next Western Skies header. :-)



Sam really enjoyed the scenery. ;-)



We spotted these two wild turkeys as we neared the campground.



We had quite a difficult time making it up to the lodge. There was at least 2' of snow there (I LOVE COLORADO!!!) and that doesn't make for very good driving conditions. I think everybody made it to the campground, but it wasn't easy. And once arriving there was NO WAY any of our mini-vans (the vehicle of choice in our region, it would seem! Ha!) were going to be able to make it up to the lodge we stay in. John, the truly wonderful groundskeeper hooked a chain up to our vans and yanked us up one at a time throughout the evening until everybody made it. He ended up having some trouble with his truck though, so he let Sister Stacey borrow his 4-wheeler and she toted up several loads of luggage and then Sister Janis. ~sigh~ I love starting Retreats like this! We must have 10 times the memories other people have. :-)



Icicles... Soooooooo cool...



I stole most of these pictures from Belen's camera. I'm so glad she had it with her--these are the best pictures of all!!! Sister Erika and...



Sister Raquel taking their turns with the sleds. Ha! I just love these pictures!!!



I put this picture on especially for my Mom. I can just feel her joy looking at Sister Soto play in the snow!!! I WISH YOU COULD HAVE BEEN THERE, MOM!!! (Please stop crying now--I can feel it all the way from here!)



Having way too much fun...



The MIDDLE section of the snowman was taller than the girls who built it! Ha!



Some of the girls went to John and said, "You remember when you said that if there was anything you could to to help us out over the weekend to just let you know... what exactly did you mean by that?" He laughed a nervous sort of laugh and asked what it was they needed. "We need your help putting the head on our snowman!!!" Ha! So he and Anne (an assistant manager there) came out and helped hoist up the very large, very, very heavy head. The snow was so heavy and perfect for packing. One of those extra blessings from God just to show how much he cares about the little things. :-)

John, the only one tall enough, put on the finishing touches. (It makes me laugh to think about what HE must have thought of all of these crazy grown women out there sledding and building a huge snowman... Most ladies' retreats probably consist ONLY of sitting around the fire, sipping hot tea and chatting. I think he thinks we're nuts, but he always seems to really, really enjoy having us there! Ha!)



I just can't get enough of these pictures. The more I look at them the more it bothers me that I somehow missed out on the glorious experience personally!



Sister Vicki almost killed herself ALL WEEKEND LONG slipping and sliding up and down the mountain in her slick-bottomed boots. She couldn't even stand upright long enough to pose with the snowman! Ha!



Now THOSE are icicles!!!



Tammy and her sleepy boy. Everybody all together now, "Aaaaawwwwwww...!"


Okay, that's it. SO MUCH MORE TO TELL, but that's going to have to be good enough. It's late and I'm quitting. It does make me happy to look at the pictures again and again. :-) So many wonderful, fun, and SPIRITUAL things to make me smile!!!