I went to bed late last night after a full (but very relaxing) day in St. George, Utah with my Stampin' Up! friends. So I am posting this morning (after doing yoga – led by Lisa Pretto) to show you some photos from the first day.

Wednesday, September 16th

I worked on my swap pages on the plane while I enjoyed the company of my upline and good friend, Susan Campfield.

Utah is so beautiful!

After arriving in Salt Lake, we transferred to our second flight to St. George.

Almost there! Our bus group below was one of the first to arrive. (Starting on the back left… Lorri Heiling, Pam Morgan, Allison Okamitsu, Shari Caspers, Eldonna Epp, Kay Kalthoff, Terri Gaines, me and Susan Campfield.)

The little touches made us feel so welcomed, loved and appreciated. We realized right away that we would be spoiled on our retreat. While waiting for our rooms to be ready, we hung out in the Gathering Place. There was candy, fresh fruit, frozen desserts, and prizes! I won a pack of designer paper.

I love how everyone gets their own room! This is probably one of best moments of Founder's – getting up to see your room and seeing your name sign on the door.

After unpacking a bit, going back downstairs to visit and see more people arriving, and eating a fabulous lunch, I headed back to the Gathering Place (our special Stampin' Up! room) with a purpose..finish my swap pages! I soon had lots of company. There were others that needed to finish their swaps AND there were others that came just to visit and help. I was VERY appreciative to those that gave me a hand. I think I still would've been working on them today had they not stepped in.

Here I am with Shari Caspers, Kay Kalthoff, Jackie Bultje, and Terri Gaines.

I finished my swaps in less time than I thought, and so I helped a couple more demonstrators with theirs. Everyone helped everyone it seemed. Such great conversations! In fact I have lots of new class ideas already. 🙂 Be ready stampers!!

It was already time for dinner. And what a fabulous welcome dinner it was. The table decorations were stunning! We had our own special place to sit (so we could mingle and meet new people).

Sara Douglass gave us an official and very warm welcome and introduced that fabulous staff that would be taking care of us this week.

And then it was time to enjoy!

Each table had a full cake on their table. Look at this glorious work of art!

And the food!!! Again…OUTSTANDING! (I have to say, I am in awe of how they are catering to my special diet, too. I was able to eat ALL of this AND a wonderful dessert. I want to take the chef home with me.)

Here I am with my table mates, the "Bermuda Bays." Starting to my left…Erica Cerwin, Darla Roberts, Tami White, Sarah Schueler, Nancy Lewis, Alison Solven, and Susie Wood.

I didn't want the fun night to end, so I hung out and chatted with many afterwards. I didn't get up to my room until about 11 PM which was midnight back home.

What a fun day!