Great Retreat in Idaho Falls

I spent Friday night driving up to Idaho with two dear friends (one of whom is luckily also my cousin), Tiffany and Taunie. We talked about everything from the very serious to the very silly on our drive and it was such a fun trip!

Then we arrived at the home of a mom we'd never met before who'd agreed to host our Idaho Falls Retreat and graciously let us spend the night at her home so we'd be there ready to go the next morning. As soon as we walked in, our hostess told us that we actually weren't strangers - her dear parents were our good neighbors in St George. I love how The Power of Moms makes the world so much smaller and how we can show up anywhere from Idaho to Australia and find instant bonds with moms we've barely met but feel like we've somehow known forever.

Saturday's Retreat was amazing. I know I say this every time. And I have to admit that there's always a little worry as I head into each new Retreat that maybe somehow this will be the Retreat that flops, the one where moms don't seem engaged or where the food doesn't show up or something like that. But we've now done 17 Retreats and every single one has been a fabulous experience for me - and sure seems to have been a fabulous experience for everyone else there based on the feeling in the room while we're there, the lively conversations that go on, the tears and laughs involved, and the kind emails and blog post links I receive after each event.

This Retreat had a special place in my heart because deep down, I'm sort of an Idaho girl. My mom's from Idaho. We spent every summer growing up at Bear Lake in Idaho and continue to spend our summers there.  My husband's from Idaho so that has tied me to Idaho even more as I've developed a deep love for all his excellent family members and his family's farm there (we even named our oldest son Ashton after the town where Jared's family has farmed for generations). So it was extra fun and meaningful for me to be able to help present our first Retreat in Idaho.

Here are all the wonderful moms who attended. These 42 women collectively mother 164 children. Those are some lucky children. They have excellent moms who are working to be even better. They will go forth and do great things in the world thanks to the good moms and families they come from. And the ripple effects will be endless. Thousands of lives will eventually be effected by what was discussed and shared on Saturday. This is a picture of true power:

I wish I'd had time to sit with each and every one of the moms who were there and pick their brains and bask in their goodness - but I was so grateful for all the great comments and ideas that were shared and for the moms I was able to get to know a bit (and the moms who I already knew because they'd come to other Retreats before - so fun to see some familiar faces and build real relationships with these great repeat attendees).

I loved presenting with Tiffany and having my cousin Taunie there to add her wisdom as well. Taunie will be my co-presenter at our upcoming Spokane Retreat so it was great to "practice" presenting together a bit. Tiffany and I go way back to the days when I lived in England when I was 16. She and I went to church together there. She was this cute little 12 year old. Who would have guessed we'd be great friends who enjoyed presenting together at Power of Moms Retreats one day!

This Retreat had a special place in my heart because deep down, I'm sort of an Idaho girl. My mom's from Idaho. We spent every summer growing up at Bear Lake in Idaho and continue to spend our summers there.  My husband's from Idaho so that has tied me to Idaho even more as I've developed a deep love for all his excellent family members and his family's farm there (we even named our oldest son Ashton after the town where Jared's family has farmed for generations). So it was extra fun and meaningful for me to be able to help present our first Retreat in Idaho.

At the Retreat, we talked about how to take care of ourselves as women and take care of our own mental, emotional, social, spiritual and physical health so that we can be in a better position to really give what we want to give to our families and be great examples of personal progression to our kids. We talked about creating margins in our life and while I've talked about this again and again, this time I'm SERIOUS. I WILL have more margins in my life (a little more about that in my last post on what I learned in the scriptures this past week).

We also talked about building an effective family discipline system, family economy, and family culture and so many shared such great ideas. One of my favorite ideas we talked about that has become a new mantra for me is this:

A lot of the best stuff came out in the small group discussions as all the moms had a chance to learn from each other. There is so much wisdom and love and experience there when you get a group of deliberate mothers together!

Along with lots of talking, we ate lovely food, passing around everything from chocolate covered pomegranates to grapes to carrots (got to have some indulgences alongside the healthy stuff...) and enjoying great sandwiches at lunch that were provided by our lunch sponsor Gator Jacks of Rexburg. If you're in Rexburg, be sure to give them a try!

If you can't make it to a retreat in person, you can have your own personal Retreat or get together with some friends to watch our Virtual Retreat. I love that we can offer this now because I used to feel so bad when we'd get emails asking us - and sometimes begging us - to come do a Retreat in a given area. We just can't get everywhere in person. But with these video-based Retreats, we can get everywhere at least virtually and all moms can benefit from at least a piece of the Retreat experience.

If you want to make it to a Retreat or Workshop in person, check out our Upcoming Retreats and Workshops and see if there's one you could attend. According to one mom, "Today was the very best use of my time and money that I could ever imagine. My life and my family will forever be changed."