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. 

Willy Autumn Retreat Day 2: Willardsons are Disciples of Christ

 Day 2: this place is magical. We had a big pancake breakfast. We played outside for hours, throwing walnuts as far as we could, we played frisbee, made friends with a kitty that the children are obsessed with and named Lucy, we had family devotional on the big porch, we worked on a family creed, we played ukuleles for hours, the boys played poker, the girls worked on junk journals, all combinations of siblings played games, watched the dodger game, and puzzled. I feel like we reclaimed a piece of childhood for our children today. They found four leaf clovers and pressed flowers and feathers into journals and and sat on a fence and napped in hammocks. We roasted hot dogs and smores and sat around a campfire laughing at a “ghost story” written by chat gpt that turned out to be satire about a messy teenage boys bedroom and a mystery smell coming from a wet towel and sour gym clothes under his bed. 

After lunch we drove to red bluff lookout and went on a tiny hike that was terrifyingly steep along a cliff. Corbin lost his mind over our careless choice and went back to the van when he couldn’t bear the thought of anyone slipping and getting hurt. This character trait of his doesn’t come out often, but on occasion he surprises me. Last month, he refused to attend a priest quorum activity because they were going shooting, and he said that a group of that many collected teen boys together is guaranteed to produce foolish and impulsive behavior. Adding guns—even with safety precautions in place—“is just stupid. I know these boys. They’re my friends. What’s safe is to assume someone might be stupid.” 

We respect his decision to opt out when his peace has hit its limit and I am secretly a little relieved to see that is comfortable holding his boundary. 

Anyway, we stopped at dollar general on the way back and purchased more glue sticks for journals, a lighter for the camp fire (let it be known that Bear had kindly offered to start one with two rocks. Bless his enthusiasm.) and we surprised the kids with the most unexpected treat we’ve ever purchased for them: a can of tuna.

For Lucy the cat. 

We are cat feeders now, I guess. 

No, I have not forgotten about the cat we intoxicated in Croatia. Lucy devoured that tuna and the little kids were as enthralled as if they were watching a blockbuster movie. 

Other things: Soren ran laps around the perimeter of the property and got a 3 mile training run in. Each of the kids took turns joining him for little stretches. 

We FaceTimed with Reese and Quincy today. Reese was on for scripture time and the morning lesson and watch over FaceTime when Lucy the cat knocked the easel down and hopped up onto Corbin’s lap. She was not received well by Corbin haha. 

And then at dinner, Lucy grabbed a hot dog right off a plate. I thought Aaron was going to drop kick her. Bear took her to the edge of the driveway and put her down (she followed him back to the fire pit, comically) and Sloane told everyone they are heartless for ignoring our hungry cat-friend, and stormed upstairs for awhile, but she returned for smores, and Lucy curled up beneath her chair the rest of the night. 

We studied Brik V Eyre’s talk: “Know Who You Really Are” today. 

I love my family. Today was a really good, slow, full, beautiful, and wonderful day. 

Willy Autumn Retreat: Day 1 Silver Dollar City

For Fall Break I dreamed up a family retreat for the 7 of us. I charged Aaron with finding us a cabin in the Ozarks and took care of the rest. 

I made a basic itinerary with morning and evening devotionals, family bonding activities, meal plans (which I fine tuned after this little video I sent the girls when they asked how my fall break plan was going). In a perfect world, I would have prepared differently, but in the one day before we left that we decided to do this, I’m pretty proud of what I came up with! I also baked a double batch of banana muffins, made homemade granola, and precooked the meat and chorizo for tacos, and packed the cooler with everything needed for 2.5 days of semi-seclusion.  

Day 1: Willardsons are Best Friends!

Family devotional, pack the van, Silver Dollar City, drive to Saint Joe, get settled, evening devotional, bedtime. 

Highlights: Mom and Bear rode Time Traveler! This was Bear’s first time and he was so excited! He was barely too short last year, so today was a big deal. He loved it!!

Sloane went on her FIRST “roller coaster” and was very nervous but decided to be very brave. All of us joined her on the grand exposition kid coaster. She’s SO proud of herself! She liked it! Not enough to go on another big ride, but this was a huge win! 

The weather reached the low 80s. We ate and played and admired all the pumpkin things and drank cold pressed cider and danced at the outdoor concert. What a glorious day. 

 

Good to Be Part 2

Miss Reese is in love and I get a different temple from her and Logan each week. Great place for a date, you two! 

Quincy is buried in midterms and spending hours in the math and biology TA labs. She did a fall photoshop up the canyon with her roommates.  I love them. 

(Cambria, Allie, Quincy, Grace) 

This week I declared war on the cabinetry in my home. Over the last year, at least one cabinet door or drawer from each room has come off the hinges. Kind of like how all the lightbulbs in a new build burn out at the same time or the appliances all die in quick succession. The tiny screws used for installment are a cruel joke and when my bathroom drawers all broke the same week, I’d had it. 

One hour, a few dozen longer screws, and a level later and everything is opening and closing just as it should. I repaired 5 cabinet doors and several drawers. Go me. 

Reese was on my brain during a run/walk this week and I laughed after the 6th time I passed her initials on the road and took it as a sign to call her. I love you Reese! 

Bear and I started the Ickabog together. He is such a snuggler and JK Rowling is the best. 

Having an adult child in a similar field of study means we get to talk about interesting behavioral science theories and how the models apply in our own family dynamic. This is a screenshot from a long conversation I had with Reese over text about her POV of sibling relations when she was age 10. It makes no sense without the context of our conversation, but I’m documenting anyway because I loved the discussion . 

Date night with the Willies: Aaron used our Christmas gift from my parents toward WAC tickets and took me to the Neil Diamond Musical. When I was a tween, I asked for one thing only for Christmas, and it was an album of Neil Diamond’s greatest hits. I loved this musical for mashups of the soundtrack of those years. 

Taco Time! I started a tradition with my dad called Taco Time. Last month, we went to Viva Tacos. This month I introduced him to the farm stand breakfast tacos at First Watch. 

I helped my mom do some cabinet organizing in her house last week. We put all her pitchers up on top of the cabinets, purged the mugs and mini appliance shelves, and made some space on the counter top. I love this time of year and always feel inspired to start and finish a bunch of projects!