The 2011 Father and Daughter Retreat

Ah, how blessed I am in my father!!

And how perfectly wonderful it was to spend a whole weekend with him and Martha at the beautiful gardens at Callaway, enjoying all the wonderful things the incredible folks at Vision Forum have prepared for everyone! Hilarious games, picnics, inspiring talks, a Victorian high tea, a whole afternoon to just be together and enjoy butterflies and talking, and then some more entertaining games Saturday night...This was one of the most wonderful events ever, I think, and we were all truly blessed by our time. May the Lord richly bless the anonymous person who sent us to this event. Our hearts are full of gratefulness to the Lord for you being used by Him to encourage us. He is good!

And now, loveliest observers, I give thee, an host of pictures...We got to ride up with the dear Davis family!! Needless to say, that was lots of fun. :) Here's Uncle, 'Manda and the girls approaching us on the Grand Lawn Friday afternoon during the games. (He was coming to claim the jump rope. ;)Amanda, Elizabeth and Joanna...three precious sisters!Visiting....Mr. Doug giving everybody instructions. (It was a gorgeous day!)

Mr. Brent and dear Katie listening...it was so good to see them!!

Meeting new friends in the buffet line....Here's Marth with the sweetest young lady from Washington! (Her flower in her hair was so cute!)Sister dear, your outfit is incredible.

Tall Blue Eyed Blondes need an occasional doozy published... ;) Our beloved Daddy (he is an excellent picnic-er!)

Inside at the ice cream social, we get to talk with the wonderful W.s!! They are SO much fun to talk to.

And see? This is our little room, and it was so nice and clean! And they even had fresh flowers beside the sink. I thought that was just too sweet.

That next morning we enjoyed listening to the Botkin sisters.......Mr. Scott Brown, and Mr. Botkin....what an encouragement their talks were! They spoke on particular aspects, as opposed to a big overview of the father/daughter relationship. I really enjoyed that aspect of this retreat. You might want to order the recordings...each sessions was filled with such meaty goodness, and made one want to go home and get to work/work more diligently on some things. It was just wonderful.

At noon came the high tea, which is always much fun. (Martha won the tussie mussie center piece, so we got to take these lovely flowers home! :)

The tea is one of the most enjoyable things of the weekend. I just love watching all the daddies and daughters dressed up in their finery, around a large white table piled high with dainties, the daddies looking like big teddie bears perched on little chairs, the tea cups darlingly out of place in their big hands, with their little girls looking like pink cheeked china dolls, smiling and in quiet awe of the splendid spread, all of it looking a bit like a scene from a child's play room...I just love it to pieces! (of course we all warmed up and talked and had a blast, and we all forgot the last piece left on the plate rule, and laughingly ate up every last piece of food. :D Heaven knows why Victorian people were so short and died at sixty, LOL....)

I just love, love this shot...they were laughing so hard when I asked to get their picture!! We had the most wonderful waiters and waitresses. Callaway seems to do things so nicely.

Our sweet tea companions across the table...

....and to our right. It was such a pleasure meeting you all!

Martha with her lovely flowers.

Some dear folks from way up North in Alaska!

And, the absolute cutest little girl I have ever met.

This is how Martha met her. She walked right up and introduced herself.

"Hello, I'm -----."

"Hi, my name is Martha."

"My father is 15, and my mother is 30."

Silence.

"There is two sisters and four brothers." in her squeaky yet distinct tone.

"Ah, so that makes seven of you, then?" Marth ventured.

"No. Ten. Because there's a grandma. I like to play hide and seek."

"Oh, that sounds fun. (seeing the session was starting Martha bid farewell with,)

Well, I'll see you later!"

"OK. We'll play hide and seek later!"

Needless to say, I had to meet the child, so the next day Martha and I got to talk to her some more in the line to get our portraits taken...We were both delighted and impressed by our conversation with her...and we laughed allot. :)

After we got our picture taken, we got to enjoy the whole afternoon with Daddy, asking him questions and sharing our hearts....I have THE most awesome father in the whole world...

We went with the Davis' to the amazing butterfly center. On the way there, there was a tornado two miles away, and we got caught in the hail-it was the biggest we had ever seen, and there was tons of it!! We're so grateful to the Lord for protecting everyone there. And it didn't seem to damage any cars, so that was nice.

Watching butterflies hatch.

I could not help but think of GrandMama, looking at all those butterflies...I wonder if she and GrandDaddy ever came here...she would have loved it! I miss her so much...

They kept landing on my shoe. Weird.

Felt a little silly, 'cause a little crowd of passerby-ers gathered around my foot and started taking pictures of the several that had landed there. Glad my toes were painted...

"What the worl' is this thang movin' 'round fer!?" ;)

It is so dreamy in there, with butterflies alighting on everything....

I love this picture...sister, father and a bright blue butterfly.

"I thought we liked stripes this year."

After a while, at the gift shop, the prices one reads start to wear on the mind and body...

Beautiful paintings!

The dear Davis girls and their Daddy!

Amanda and her little sisters...

Marth and I with our beloved father!

Another shot....

some of the dearest girls in the world to me....

The Twinlings

I love you, Marth! (and we missed you, Darth...)

Heading over to the vegetable garden, loot and Twins in tow.

After it hailed, a beautiful mist rose up off the ground, and the air was strongly fragrant with the smell of flowers and pine...everything was wet and refreshed, and the bark on the trees dark and nurtured. The Gardens are breathtaking after a storm.

Meerce

Moi, apparently bossing some poor soul around.

The rosemary bushes were ginormous.

Marth and me in front of one of them.

Two great men.

Grass, still covered in rain drops.

Martha and I-Everything was so perfect for pictures, so we took a ton... Aren't the tulips gorgeous!?

Garden picture #2Loveliness

And #3...

#4 Self Portriat (i.e., The Surest Way to get an enchanting angle of the chin)

Tulip facing upward...

Martha looks like an elegant and proper governess here. :)

Elizabeth and Joanna....

....with Favorite

Peachy Rose
Such a precious and godly friend...

I love watching my sisters laugh!Elizabeth and Joanna, with Next-To-Favorite. (I'm okay with that now... ;)

Adeline Grace! (that's moi)

And here I am again, posing beside this incredible tree!!! It was amazing. The blooms looked exactly like hydrangea blossoms, only in a tree form.

My father and my father's friend. We are blessed.

And...the most incredible, exciting thing of the whole weekend-sweet Lindsay's engagement to Mr. Brantley Disharoon!! We are so thrilled for them both, and praise the Lord for this beautiful couple He has brought together. He proposed Saturday night, and all of us retreat attendees got the joy of seeing them together with a lovely ring on her finger...May God richly bless this precious (and adorable) young lady and gentleman. Hooray!!

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