Willy Autumn Retreat Day 3: Willardsons are Peacemakers

 I am approaching 18 years of blogging and I still don’t know how to post photos in order. Whatever. Here’s a recap from Day 3 of the Willy Autumn retreat, which ended by watching the Holy War

Quincy went to the game (wig by roommate Allie, bails by roommate Grace) and was in row 7. Said it was the best game yet. We got a lot of flame -especially from my in laws- for naming our kid, Bear, but now thanks to the BYU 2025 QB, it’s suddenly a great name. Cougars are 7-0 this season and a win against the U makes it extra sweet. 

I puzzled during the game. Cabin life is lovely and I didn’t have a pressing guilt that I should* be doing anything else. And that is why vacation is awesome. I’m feeling very grateful for this long weekend. 

There was a pretty decent thunderstorm that rolled through on this evening, but we got out for morning playtime outside, took a quick drive over to Baker Ford on the Buffalo river (less than 10 minutes), and skipped rocks, and thrilled one another by swinging out over the river on a rope swing we found. 

Bear is giving Lord of the flies here. This is right after he got in the river fully clothed and his bikes filled with water. He was wet and uncomfortable, but unable to be anything but angry about that. So we let him be and he “let the wild rumpus begin.” Sone context: we gave Bear an unmedicated weekend. This was challenging for everyone, but also an informative, well timed, and necessary experiment. 

Our retreat devotional content was about resolving conflicts peacefully. 

We reviewed the Circle of Control. Things within our control: our thoughts, our words, our actions. 

The formula we came up with is:

my thoughts + my words + my actions = my response

We paired this against our other formula for the weekend 

Willardsons = disciples of Christ + Best friends + Peacemaker + hard workers

So the big question is, “do my thoughts, words, and actions show that I am a disciple of Christ? A peacemaker? Best friends with my family? A hard worker?” 

This pretty drive on the way back also prompted some poetry reading, because I love poetry and because my younger kids are not familiar with Robert Frost. We had a good chat.

I served chorizo and beef tacos for lunch and Haystaks for dinner. The sky opened and poured buckets. We played a family round of Bank, ate key lime and chocolate pies, journaled, puzzled, and BYU sportsed.