-First and foremost, spending time with those I love, my family and dear friends, the Thunells.
-It's like a youth conference or EFY for your whole family. Fun. Spiritual. Enjoyable. and Unforgettable.
-It's a true vacation for mom and dad. For a few hours during each day, the kids separated into age groups and participated in activities lead by incredible BYU students. The kids LOVED it. Hiking, pirate adventures, fishing, swimming, rock climbing, story time, face painting, etc.
Yes, even little Lincoln was taken care of by sweet girls so we could listen to speakers, go for a hike, etc.
At first I was apprehensive about it, but the girls were amazing. Lincoln was a champ, and it was extremely nice to really and truly relax as a mom. I think we need that every once in a blue moon!
-The surroundings were absolutely amazing. All I had to do was glance up at this majestic mountain valley and feel invigorated by nature. I'm an outdoorsy girl at heart. And the artist in me couldn't get enough. The pottery shop was built over a creek. Can you imagine throwing pottery on a wheel all the while listening to rushing water and looking at it through the floorboards?! Sheesh it was awesome!
-The food was great. By no means is it a 5-star restaurant. But…I didn't have to stress about what, when, or where we were going to eat. When you think about it, that is a major ordeal when you are on a vacation. This was a no brainer. Definitely heaven for my "cooking challenged" personality!
-It was a wonderful chance for us to connect as husband and wife. We were able to talk. Really talk. Sit on a swing, take a walk, eat ice cream, and just be together for a little bit.
-It was so well organized!! If you love structure–it's fabulous. If you love non-structure–it's still fabulous. You have total control over how you want to spend your time. If you want to participate in every activity, you can. Or if you just want to take it easy and do things spontaneously, you can do that too.
-The classes were amazing. Each week they invite different speakers. We lucked out to have one of my old BYU teachers, Susan Easton Black, there. I adore listening to her. She has a wealth of knowledge about church history that is unparalleled in my opinion. It is a treat to sit at her feet and soak in the stories she has to tell.
-The other speaker was a professor of marriage and family at BYU. I learned SO much from him. I want to share just a portion of it. He spoke to us about the divine design of marriage and the responsibilities of husbands and wives. He really brought the Proclamation on the Family into a new light for me. He emphasized that in a marriage "fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners." Often I misunderstood the distinction between leadership and decision making when it comes to our husbands holding the priesthood. He showed us so many quotes (wish i could remember them all) about husbands and wives being co-equals, working together, making decisions together. This is where I came to a better understanding of it. Most often i will always default to jeff and say, "you hold the priesthood, you make the decision." Not so. We need to make it together. Both pray. Both receive answers and move forward in unity. He explained it using the metaphor of a canoe. We are in it together. We both need to decide on the destination and row together towards it. But a leader is needed in that canoe should course corrections arise and to guide us toward our mutually agreed upon destination. This is where priesthood leadership comes in to play.
That whole discussion just really helped me become a more pro-active member of our marriage!
The next thing he brought to light was the different responsibilities of a father and mother. In the Proclamation, fathers are given 3 P's: to PRESIDE, PROVIDE, and PROTECT. And how many responsibilities do mothers have….just 1: to NURTURE. If you want to create an equation, it would look something like this: 3P = 1N
So, what did I learn from this…….. our one N is hugely important!!!!!!! It is the one responsibility we have–equal to the 3 responsibilities of our husbands. We should and must realize the divine importance of our calling to nurture and not down play it, delegate it, or feel it is not valued. Just as important is the need to magnify that responsibility and not to think that just because we are at home with our children that we are necessarily nurturing them. Simply languishing out each day just being a body there to make sure our kids don't die is not nurturing!! This struck me so hard. I slip into that feeling at times. But i'm grateful to receive a recharge on the importance of being a great mother, not just a nice lady who makes peanut butter and jelly for lunch.
Lastly, another metaphor he used to illustrate this point of 3P = 1N. Take a pair of scissors as an example. If you separate one sheer from the other, it is useless. Both sheers (husband and wife) are needed to make the scissors (marriage) function as a whole.
And can you see this? 3 fingers (3P) on one side and 1 thumb (1N) on the other. Brilliant, I tell you!
-And so, in a nutshell, it was a wonderful vacation. A wonderful learning experience. And a wonderful place where I hope we can return again soon!
