Ladies' Retreat

Stephanie and me by our gas fireplace (in the room!)

My roommates

This past weekend was my church's annual ladies' retreat, and for the first time in several years, I was able to go! We had it at Rustic Creek Ranch not too far from my house, and this place was so cool. Even though it's an RV park and right off the freeway, we couldn't believe how nice our little cabins were! I roomed with Stephanie and Stephany, two good friends from church, and Stephany's sister-in-law Gloria, who soon became one of my favorite people! We rode there together and got in right before things started Friday night. Here is a picture of our table:

Stephanie, Gloria, Stephany, Lisa, Sarah, and Lisa. Confused?

There were about 50 women there, and the first night we played games, sang, and had a short devotional. I was the song leader, which I loved because I love picking my favorite songs that align with the theme. If you've never been somewhere where 50+ women sing praises to God a cappella, you have really missed out. It was beautiful. I talked my roommates into staying up late, and we invited three other friends, Kelly, Danielle, and Tanya, to our room to paint nails and gab. What else would you do on a ladies' retreat?? We ended up laughing and talking until 1:30 a.m.! While we were hanging out, my roommate Gloria decided she would take a long bubble bath in our amazing jacuzzi bathtub. She borrowed some bubble bath from Stephanie and asked if anyone needed anything in the bathroom before "Calgon takes me away." She was in there for quite awhile, and when she finally emerged, looking sheepish, this is what I saw:

Now THAT'S a bubble bath

We couldn't believe how many bubbles were still in the tub after she had drained it! She had to tell us what had happened. Instead of putting the recommended capful of bubble bath in, she had dumped her remaining bubble bath and half of Stephanie's bottle in there. Then, when it got pretty full, she turned on the jets and closed her eyes to relax. She started to feel a tickling sensation around her neck and opened her eyes, only to discover that the bubbles had grown exponentially and were spilling over onto the floor! She said she started hollering for us, but we couldn't hear her over our talking and laughing--which she could hear, and thought we were laughing at her! She had to drain the tub and get in the shower to rinse off, then started trying to scoop the bubbles off the floor and back into the tub. She had to rinse off again because she had bubbles all over her! The bubbles never completely evaporated from the tub, by the way.

Gloria and her bubbles

Saturday we started breakfast at 8 a.m., more songs, and then our guest speaker for the rest of the morning. Her name is Sarah, and she was absolutely the best ladies' speaker I have ever heard. She spoke on many topics, but the overall theme was living as a Christian in the 21st century. She was inspiring and very familiar with the Word--nothing she said was not backed by scripture. Wow! It was great. My sister-in-law Stephanie came around 11, and we had Babe's chicken for lunch and then another hour of the guest speaker. It still wasn't enough, let me tell you! We had such a great time, and it was nice to get away with some girlfriends for a little time.

Lisa serving Babe's chicken :)

Mom and me on Saturday

Me and Stephanie #3

Meanwhile, Chris and Noah had some daddy/son time and went to Red Robin Friday night for burgers. Daddy made Noah pancakes on Saturday, too, so I don't think Noah was ready for Mommy to come home!