I'm proud to say, I was the Chairman of the retreat committee and while it was an exhausting 6 months, it was worth it.
Holt and I met Bruce Whitehead (owner below with his 'thank you' after her spoke to our group) and loved him from the get go. There is no doubt about it... he is a great businessman...BUT he is an even greater man of God.
This is Britney's Bluff...and this chapel was made for her wedding..
it... is... breathtaking!!!
The ladies arrived Saturday night on a hay ride...
and of course...we arrived to a band! The Calvin Miller band to be exact and they were great!
the table was set... and the party was ready to begin
and take in the view....
and for me, I just enjoyed the rustic and beautiful way everything is decorated. It's old timey...and new... and oddly, it feels like home.
Mid evening, we roasted marshmallows
with the guitarist's daughter Briaunna....for some reason, she loved me and is my new buddy on
SKYPE...
She said "have you ever heard of Skype?" and I said "yes" and she asked me to be her Skype buddy. She told me (and everyone else in an ear shot) that I HAD TO BE younger than 26...
how could I NOT be her Skype buddy?
I wished I liked chocolate...these would have been good.
Donnie trying to snag a bull... I started that and wish I let someone take a photo of me. It was hard -but fun!
Courtney (Bruce's wife and now friend of ours) - she takes all the pictures on their Facebook page and their website... www.wbranch.com
this was the staff and they felt more like family
Here is Bruce with Vicki (his assistant) and our fellow TYPO member. Thank you God that she was on committee.
I have a picture of a picture of a picture....
and the awesome sunset and this doesn't do it justice.
I just love these flowers
Do you see what I see? The face in the sky... and he kind of has a cowboy hat on. It was awesome!
This is Miracle Bluff. It is the place where Bruce last watched a sunset with his son Will.
One day Bruce was brought over to the Bluff and some of the ranch workers built him this...
AWESOME. he teared up telling us.... we cried.
Some of the girls...
and at Miracle Bluff... we say this...
a cross in the clouds.
Again, the camera didn't do it justice. It was CLEARLY a cross in the sky
This is in the wrong order, it's the last pic I took... the other girls and Scott riding off into the distance to return the horses....
these are 3 of the 4 horses. Mine is Pepper. She's on the left. She was a #&*@! but I loved her.
She bit EVERYONE. She hated the other sweet horse and she was just foul. She started out ok, so maybe it was me that she hated...not sure. Thank God I had ridden before because at one point, the two non-riders got "stuck" - horses wouldn't move so the guide (Scott) went back. Well Pepper... she loves his horse Blanche and she wasn't having any of it. I held her rains and she tried to buck me a little.
I stayed on... but then she tried to run me into a low tree and knock me off. I pulled a Matrix move and laid back on her and cleared the tree.
this is the horse she hated. Guess he's new and they are all still establishing the pecking order so he had to eat alone.
I think we scared him a little...
but I will say... Pepper... you are the first horse that has scared me in a REALLY long time.
yeah, I'm talking to you.
You didn't buck me..
You didn't win.
Julie - 1 ; Pepper - 0
Who's laughin' now sucka!?
I guess you are!!!
I have to say...
I felt as if someone were staring at me since I walked in the door.
I don't know why....
Oh wait... I see...
hee, hee, hee
This was the side patio of the ranch, we loved it and relaxed all weekend long. Well, THEY did... I worked.
This is Vicki, she greeted everyone with a margarita. I wish I liked those....
and my favorite bridge, LOVE it
Oh crap...I left this in here... hahahahaha
more girl time
and my 2nd favorite flowers... ok, maybe third.
it's beginning to look like bluebonnet time. Come on rain!!
Craft room was ready to go
crafts are made
coasters drying
and there were men present for some clay shoot
antlers everywhere
artifacts from earlier times
remember Wilson?
long hallways gave you privacy
notice team 2 won?
Guess who was the team leader of Team 2??
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOYA! ME!
Here's the whole gang. Why did I wear that stupid hat?
group hayride
animals on the way...
pics of pics
this zebra is in trouble and technically in time out
they even have "decorations" outside
love this old car!
a field of bluebonnets
It was an exhausting weekend. I literally gave and gave and gave for this retreat and it was worth it.
Thank God!! I don't take missing a weekend with my family lightly.
Back to the WB we will go at some point. It will be our home away from home in Texas, I can just feel it.
It looks like a fantastic place to visit. I'm glad that everything went well with the Typos Retreat and they were very lucky to have you as their chairman.... I can't wait to come see all of you in less than two days...wuhoooooo
ReplyDeleteCongrats on a job well done, honey....