Founders Circle - Friday Fun!

One of the highlights of the Founders Circle trip each year is the visit to Kanab, UT where our awesome rubber stamps are made.
Yep! Right here, start to finish in the good ol' USA! Love that!

It's a pretty early morning for a bus ride, the sun is still coming up over the gorgeous southern Utah landscape:

But it's SO worth it to arrive at the manufacturing facility in Kanab to see all the employees lined up there with signs greeting us:

They are a fantastic group of people, warm and welcoming, and truly at the heart of what we do.Their signs may say "We love our Demonstrators", but we really love them too!

And honestly, have you ever seen such a gorgeous 'factory' in your life??
It's just as beautiful on the inside too.
And the CLEANEST factory (and one of the greenest) I've ever seen. Awesome!

Here's a photo of me with Shelli Gardner in her apartment over the plant:

I respect this lady so much. 25 years ago, she and her sister LaVonne took a germ of an idea, a dream, and took a chance and started Stampin' Up!.
As we look around today at where SU! has gone, what it has become, the lives it's touched and enhanced, you can't help but feel that anything is possible with persistence, consistency and a belief that you're doing what you were meant to do.
I'm grateful.
Without SU!, I'd be working outside our home and not living out my purpose. That may sound deep, but I feel it every time I drive Emma to the rink, travel for a competition or have a heartfelt talk over milk, coffee and cookies after school.  My prayer is to always be the wife Mark needs, the Mom that Emma needs and the child of God that I was created to be. It's a gift that allows me to live that out each day.

So enough mushy stuff, here's some more pics:
I love taking photos of Shelli's decorating. Her vintage/retro style is right up my alley and I get so many ideas for what I want my home to look like.

Love the old door and embossed metal for a headboard!

And how cool is this? Old doorknobs for picture hangers!

Outside of the Kanab facility, there is a big rock with our logo. A very popular photo spot.
Here I am with my third level upline Jan Wakeland and five more of her RemARKables team members who earned Founders this year. (including my first and second level uplines Christina Crawford and Joyce Feraco. Joyce reached her 1 million dollar sales milestone last year!) Tamra Davis, on the left, earned Founders for the first time this year! Go Tamra!

I know you've seen me with these gals before - my buds from my second year on the Advisory Board 2010-11. We're missing Jodi and Meg in the picture, but they were on the trip too.

And I reached a milestone on this trip!
For the FIRST TIME EVER, I won a prize at an SU! event!
WooHoo!!!
Here's a pic of me with my new Simply Scored and Diagonal Scoring Plate - Yay!

So our next stop was somewhat mysterious. We drove south into Arizona and crossed the Glen Canyon Dam. It was a little disconcerting to see this sign:

And then they gave us hardhats since we were under the bridge:

Yeah, that bridge.

Makes you feel pretty small, eh?
Try being there!

Georgia and I look pretty chill as we head out on our adventure. We were headed out on a 3 hour Colorado River Rafting trip!
It was a great surprise!

Bonnie, ingenious as ever, created her own sun visor:

We had a stop about half-way to walk up a short trail and see some ancient hieryoglyphs:
(it was REALLY hot!)

So hot in fact, that when we came back down the trail, I took off my shoes and walked straight down in to the Colorado River.
At 47 degrees, it was bracing, but felt SO good!!
If I'd have had my bathing suit on, I'd have dived in - swear!

Eventually we had to get back on the raft, but look at what we got to see:

Talk about feeling small.
It's amazing to me how with a swipe of his finger, God created all this majesty for us to enjoy. I cannot understand how anyone could fail to recognize His glory in this beauty.

More cooling off in the river. Several of us sat on the outer pontoon of the raft for the trip.
Made for sore behinds, but, we were able to hold on to a handle on the inside of the raft and dip our feet in the water.
Bliss!

Can't you tell it was a glorious day?
Words really fail me in trying to describe how beautiful it was.

When we arrived at the end or our trip, we found our dinner in these awesome cooler bags!
Another fantastic gift from SU! and a delicious meal as well. The salad dressing was delish - wish I knew what it was so I could have MORE!

Last Friday was truly one of my most memorable days ever.
I love the beauty of our land and love that I got to enjoy it with fun friends on a special trip.
Feeling very blessed.

Happy Stampin'!
~~Robin