Our L.A. Retreat . . . Such a Treat!

Hi! This is Alia, April's daughter.  :D  My mom is getting the kids ready for bed and getting ready for a webinar with Saren, so I offered to help update her blog!  She had a wonderful time at The Power of Moms Retreat this weekend. 

Below are LOTS of pictures that she took while she was there, and I will tell you all about them!

My mom didn't take any pictures on Friday during her MOM session, so she'll add one of those later, but it was a great experience, and she really appreciated having Sarah Chapman there to help her!

Friday night, some of the ladies stayed for a really nice dinner that Amy, Susan, and Sarah Chapman prepared . . .

and then they had a delicious dessert.  (See how there's a daisy on that cupcake . . . like on The Power of Moms?) 



After the games, Allyson played some fun songs on the piano, and my mom felt SO happy to be there.



After a great night's sleep on Friday night, everyone came back to this beautiful house for the Saturday sessions.  My mom wanted me to be sure to thank Lisa Palmer for letting The Power of Moms have their retreat at her house.  It was absolutely lovely!



This retreat was really special for my mom because her mother, sisters, and sister-in-law were able to come.  These are their names (from left to right): Laura, Lisa, Linda, my mom (April), Zoe, Melanie, and Susan.

On Saturday morning, Saren and my mom focused on "Taking Care of the Person Inside the Mom."  Allyson (pictured below), provides the "Comfort Food" for all of the moms there by encouraging them to be their very best selves and not to compare themselves to other moms.



This is my mom's friend (and Allyson's sister-in-law) Shauna, who was there with her brand-new baby.  So cute!



During the Retreat, they did an exercise called "Thought Replacement Therapy," where moms shared some of the negative thoughts that pop into their heads during the day. 

Then they crossed out those phrases and replaced them with better ones.  I don't really understand why moms would think these thoughts.  Seriously . . . without moms, the world would stop.

It's neat to see all these moms in one room, wanting to make their lives better.

This is Kristi Eyre, Saren's sister-in-law, who just had a new baby!



This is my Grandma Zoe.  She was so excited to come to the Retreat.

An author named Beth Aldrich spoke at the Retreat, too.  She wrote a book called "Real Moms Love to Eat."  My mom liked how she was so positive and encouraged women to take care of their whole selves.



Before lunch, everyone participated in discussion groups out on the lawn.  They focused on finding more joy in motherhood.

Don't they look happy?

This is the DELICIOUS lunch--with sandwiches, salad, and cookies from the La Canada Panera.

Here's a picture of Saren presenting Family Systems:

And Susan Chapman talking about Love Languages:

My mom is always sad to leave all her new friends.

This is Allyson Reynolds and Laurie Brooks:

It was Christine James' birthday, and in the middle of the Retreat, the doorbell rang, and it was a delivery person with flowers from Christine's husband.  All the moms said, "Awwwwww."



 

And in the middle of the Retreat, there was a very loud snoring noise.  Everyone looked around to see who was fast asleep . . . and it was this cute dog who had laid down right at the front of the room!

When the Retreat was over, my mom and her new friends took lots and lots of pictures.  Here are a few:

The moms in the photo above were so sweet and kind to my mother.

The mom in the photo above is named Melanie.  Her niece Morgan was one of my best friends when I was two.   And this mom below, named Mary Jenkins, is going to record a podcast with my mom really soon.

These are two of my mom's friends from our neighborhood.

And this is Beth Aldrich with my mom:

Isn't this baby darling?  He belongs to Sarah Chapman, who helped put on the Retreat.

Here's my mom with Laurie Brooks:

And this is my mom with Suzy and Malea:

This is Daisy and my mom:

These are the presenters and the hostess: Susan, Sarah, Allyson, April, Lisa, Amy, and Saren.

After the Retreat, a few mothers stayed for a Train the Trainer session.  They are interested in hosting workshops and Retreats for The Power of Moms.  Isn't that exciting?

Then they took more pictures!

My mom got home the next morning and found that we had made a little "house" for our Zhu Zhu Pets.  Here is a picture of the King & Queen sitting in their room.

Here are the two grown-ups and the two babies enjoying a "dinner" together.

Finally, we made a little "fish-shaped" swimming pool for them.  The only problem was that my little brother (4 yrs old) kept making his little action figure crash into everything. :D

Oh, and here's a picture of many of the women who attended the Retreat.  They forgot to take a group picture before everyone had to leave, but this was a part of them.

 
I hope you enjoyed hearing about the Retreat!  My mom will tell you more when she gets a chance.  Have a great day!