Holy Cow!

So last night Braden & I took my parents out for dinner at Texas Roadhouse in Sierra Vista. We have a tradition of going out to dinner this time every year to celebrate my birthday on the 14th and their anniversary on the 15th.



We had a delicious dinner and a good time visiting, and on the way back home, just outside of Sierra Vista, we were talking about how blessed our family has been that out of all of us children and grandchildren (33 in all), nobody is sick or in the hospital... and just then, we ran into a cow that was on the highway. Braden was driving my parents' new car.



It smashed up the right front fender and tore the right rear-view mirror off of the car, and threw the cow to the side of the road. (The cow didn't quite die, so later the sheriff deputy who came out had to shoot it in the head. Yuk.)



Nobody was hurt, except the cow, and the insurance will pay for the damage to the car, so all's well that ends well, but WOW... what a ride....

Road Trip with THE GIRLS!!

So my friend Donna just turned 45, and is engaged for the first time! My other friends from High School are so excited for her, we just had to go out to Utah and attend her bridal shower and spend some time celebrating with her before she moves out to Oklahoma to get married.

We had the BEST time... we hadn't been together in about 27 years, but those years just melted away and it was like we were teenagers again. Except, as Arlene said, now I understand most of what they're all talking about. :)

Linda (who lives in NM), Stacey (who lives here in St. David), and Jenny (who also lives here) met at my house Thursday night and we drove as far as Gilbert, to pick up Arlene (my cousin, another of the "old gang") and stay the night there.

Next morning, we left at about 8 and drove to Flagstaff, where we stopped for lunch and visited with Jenny's daughter and sweet grandbaby Nathan.

Then we were back on the road, and got to Donna's place in Murray, Utah at about 10pm. She was so happy to see us, and we were all a little sleep-deprived so that evening was a riot. We laughed and laughed. A lot. About stuff that wasn't even very funny. You know how it is.

On Saturday we went shopping at Gardner's Village, and then went back to help Donna get set up for the shower.

It was a lot of fun -- good food, and a lot of nice people showed up, including our old Seminary teacher, Brother Richens!! It was so good to see him and his wife again after 30 years! He broke his back 11 years ago so is in a wheelchair, but other than that he's still the same guy. Donna seemed to really enjoy the shower, and ended up with over $1,000 in cash gifts!

That evening we drove south to Richfield, and stayed with Bro. & Sis. Moss. (Brother Moss was the missionary who baptized Donna's family years ago.) They are such delightful people and they were so kind to let us stay in their beautiful home that night. We had a lot of fun visiting with them and getting to know them.

The next morning, Sunday, we left for home, and Donna went to Stake Conference with the Mosses. We drove all day, got to Gilbert at around 7, ate some yummy steaks that Arlene's husband Kris had grilled, and even got Cheryl (another of our high school friends who lives in that area) to come over and see us! We also called Shella on speakerphone (yeah, another one, who lives in St. David and wasn't able to come on the trip with us), and told her we missed her and also congratulated her on her new calling as Relief Society President!

After visiting there with Arlene's family for a couple of hours, the remaining four of us headed out again for St. David and got home around midnight.

It felt funny to be back home, after spending 3 fun-filled days with my best friends... it was nice to be home, but I was really sad that it was over.

More pics of our trip can be found at http://picasaweb.google.com/btcml53872/UtahTrip##