POM Retreats

Kind of a big thing that happened in the last two months were the fabulous one day Power of Moms retreats up at the Eyre's house in Park City--one in April and one in May. (And if you don't know about the Eyres, values parenting, and haven't read any of their books, here's their website. I just love their philosophy!) The Eyre's travel all over the world teaching their great parenting curriculum to all sorts of people in all sorts of places, they also lived in England for a time as mission presidents for our church, and they've done a bunch of humanitarian work in various countries as well.  As a result, they have some pretty cool stuff in their house, not the least of which is their fireplace mantel from Bali that you'll see in the pictures below. 

With the exception of the camera man, Richard was the only man in the group of over 100 women, and as the man of the house, he seemed to be really enjoying himself. My favorite moments were when he ripped off his top shirt to expose his "serendipity" t-shirt underneath, and when he rode in on a horse and delivered a presentation as "Tex". He's a crack-up:

His wife Linda couldn't be more kind and down to earth. She always makes me feel like a million bucks:

All four daughters were at the April retreat, and these are the three that are moms--Saren, Saydi, and Shawni:

Saren and April, co-founders of the website:

They also have FIVE sons, but here are all the Eyre girls together:  

A picture of all of us that presented at the May retreat. I think I look like a fat midget on a bad hair day standing next to tall, graceful Shawni--National Young Mother of the Year--but that's how the cookie crumbles:

We had just come home from our spring break at Arches the day before, so I think I look just about how I felt in this picture (tired and worked over!), but I like to remember the fun I had with Lindsay, one of our board members that I met at our first retreat in St. George last year. She gave birth a few weeks after this was taken, and her face is still skinnier than mine! Waaahhhh:

These next pictures are from the April retreat a few weeks ago. (FYI, Saren was named after Richard's favorite word, "Serendipity.")

 

My cute neighbor, Jen, went with me. The same one whose husband saved me from the axe murderer while Brandon was out of town. And we both graduated in 1989, so we rock:

Tiffany is another good Power of Moms friend (on the board) that I also met at the first retreat in St. George. One of my favorite things about my work with this group is all the fantastic women I've been able to meet and get to know:

We've been getting some really good press lately! Here's a clip from the Salt Lake morning show, Studio 5, and the same show did a "best of" at the end of their Mother's Day week and named The Power of Moms the "most inspirational" website for mothers. Isn't that coo!?


Speaking of motherhood, I need to get some dinner made, laundry folded, costumes prepared for the dance festival tomorrow (does anyone else wonder why we do these things at school? if I want my child to learn to dance, I'll sign them up for dance lessons after school, right? sorry to be the party pooper . . . .) get Kate to a harp lesson, get the little girls bathed, everyone in bed at a decent hour so Jen (above) and I can plan out the next month of cub scout activities. Ah, motherhood!  The job that never ends.  


Here's today's post about wether or not having kids makes us happy.  Leave a comment! Please?