Buffet and Bowling in Mequite!

So the 8 of us have been planning this trip for over a year and it FINALLY happened!  The Scotts, Cluffs, Millers and ourselves have tried numerous times to take a trip to Mesquite to eat and go bowling but something always came up like pregnancies, family reunions, church callings or some odd thing to not make it happen.  But this last weekend it happened and it was a BLAST!  Ray borrowed his sisters vehicle so we could all fit because every single one of us has a 7 passenger minivan.  Hahaha!  We had to wait until the Stake baptisms were over then we headed off.  By the time we got to the gorge it had started to rain.  Two minutes into it the rain was starting to pour.  Ten minutes later we could not see the road.  All of the other vehicles were pulled off of the side of the road but Ray kept driving and I offered up a good loud prayer to help us make it out alive.  We did, thankfully, but Jalee and I needed to change our pants when we got out because we sat in the very back where you could really feel how bad we were hydroplaning.  I think I drew blood on Joel's arm digging my fingernails into him.  It was super scary!  Daniel kept pointing out the "waterfalls" which really looked like flooding that was turning into mudslides on the canyon walls.  We were so relieved to get out of there.  Once we got into the Virgin River Casino (the place Joel and I spent our Honeymoon almost 21 years to the day earlier) we were able to relax and enjoy the rest of the time.  We smooshed all 8 of us into a corner booth to eat.  It was fun.  I loved it.  We laughed and talked and just had the best time.  I hadn't had such a good time in I don't remember how long.  I wasn't in charge of anything, we weren't on any kind of time line, no one expected anything from me.  It  was AWESOME!  

 

 

Bowling was great.  Joel, Sarah, Daniel and Josh...hey wait...that's one from each couple...I just realized that...funny...OK sorry back to the story, had gone bowling a month earlier with all of the youth from our neighborhood. So, they had gotten in a practice before the other 4 of us.  It didn't really show.  Haha.  Except Sarah and Joel were the only ones to break 100 in both games.  We were all pretty pathetic but it was so much fun.  Ray got a Turkey in the first game and Joel was 1 pin away from it in the last frame in the last game.  The first game we played couples but the last game we played boys against girls and we would have won if Katie and I would have kept up our game.  Oh well, we'll get them next time!  We just need to start planning it now so that it doesn't take a year to actually do it again.