TOFW & TOFG

Last November my sister-in-law, Kasey, asked if Elizabeth & I wanted to join her & Abi for the weekend in Phoenix for a Time Out For Women (and Girls) event. I gladly agreed thinking it would be a nice time to spend with family & have a break from my mommy routine.  To my pleasant surprise Elizabeth LOVED it!!! The whole ride home I got an ear full of chatter from Elizabeth as she told me all about the wonderful things she learned & about how she felt the spirit as the presenters talked.

 

So when Kasey mentioned that her & Abi were going in March, this time to Long Beach, I decided Elizabeth needed this testimony building opportunity again. It helped that the event happened to coincide with spring break & Elizabeth's 14th birthday! Rachel was only a couple weeks away from turning 12 so we invited her to come along.

 

When I told Elizabeth we would get to out to "Time Out" again, this time in Long Beach, California, she replied, "can we go to the beach?" "I imagine we could do that" was my response.  So before we headed to the event or checked into our hotel we stopped at Manhattan Beach hoping to have a nice relaxing, sunny opportunity to dip our toes in the water.

 

We were able to dip our toes in the water, but it was not sunny. It started to rain just as we pulled into the parking lot. Thankfully there was a pier to keep the rain off our heads. The waves were fun to watch as they crashed into the pier & the girls were fun to watch as they chased the waves in the rain.

By the time we left we were the only crazy people at the beach and I think we caused a little worry from the life guard; the storm was moving in & we weren't leaving. When we finally did leave the life guard was parked in his vehicle on the beach watching us closely. Crazy Arizona girls!!

By the time we all rinsed the sand off our feet in the puddles of the parking lot we looked like drowned rats!

And the storm was a brewin'.

 

Despite the rainy start the next day & a half was filled with good food, good company & some very uplifting & encouraging messages about faith, covenants, service, motherhood, & the Savior.

As part of the event we chose to participate in a service project to color alphabet flash cards that would be used to help refugee women learn English.

Before we returned to reality we enjoyed a leisurely stroll near Long Beach Harbor, where we got to see the Queen Mary, a cruise ship (yah, never going on one of those), some quaint little shops & one amazing candy store.

Elizabeth is already asking, "when can we go to time-out again?"