Crazy Trip!

After my post on Thursday I've been trying to decide what to write about today. Randy and I's life is actually kinda boring lol But then last weekend happened and I have something to write about!

I'll just start off with what we were doing.

Billings, MT Temple

One of my very best friends and her husband have been married for almost 4 years now. They were married outside of the temple, not because they weren't worthy but because they felt like they weren't quite ready. This past weekend they finally felt ready to take the step and be sealed together and to their two cute boys. They invited Randy and I, and so we booked a hotel room for the night before.

We left Friday afternoon/evening to head to Billings, MT, where the temple they had chosen was. We dropped off Oscar with the friend who was watching him and went on our way. I drove first because I love to drive and I also didn't want to be driving too late because I was exhausted. (I struggle with insomnia and hadn't gotten to sleep til about 4 the night before)

On the way there a couple of things happened. While I was driving, a semi kicked a piece of tire out and I hit it. Scared me pretty good because I hadn't seen it but Randy had. Then the next thing that happened was even worse!

I saw what looked like headlights coming from the other direction but to me they looked like they were on our side of the freeway! I kinda shrugged it off and thought that maybe the road turns and they're on the other side. As I got closer I realized that they were reverse lights on a vehicle on our side of the freeway. So I got ready to be courteous and change lanes. I didn't make it. Just as I was getting ready to change lanes, I saw why they were reversing. There was a very large deer right in the middle of the lane I was in! It was too late to change lanes and so I had to straddle the deer as best as I could. Randy wasn't paying attention so I scared him as my car hit the deer and rolled it under my car. It literally sounded like I had actually hit something dead on. We pulled off at the next exit to check to see if there was any damage. Luckily there was not any damage to the front of my car. We believe it knocked the tires out of alignment but not too bad.

Randy got to drive after that! LOL! I didn't want to hit anything else! So he took over driving from then on. Unfortunately we were not done hitting stuff... As he was driving a truck kicked something metal looking out right in front of us, and though Randy swerved out to miss it we still caught the edge of it.

We eventually made it to Billings. And we were definitely counting our blessings. We were maybe only about 5 minutes or less behind the car that was reversing to pull the deer off the road. It could have been us that actually hit the deer and not just running it over.

When we made it to Billings we started looking for our hotel. We parked and went inside and told them our name for the reservation. They didn't have our reservation! We told them that we had a confirmation email if they wanted to see it and they said yes. So Randy pulled it out. Turns out we were at the wrong hotel!! We were in the C'Mon in instead of the Comfort Inn! (This was easy to do since there were probably 5 hotels in this one little area.) So we asked where the Comfort Inn was and they pointed us in the right direction.

Finally we made it! We hung out in the hot tub/pool for awhile and then we went to bed for the night.

The next day turned out better. We woke up and ate breakfast and then got ready for the temple. Amazingly when I curled my hair it actually turned out the way I pictured it! That rarely happens! We then went to the temple for my friend's sealing to her family.

Some ducks we saw outside our hotel :)

It was a beautiful ceremony! I learned some things and relearned others. You could definitely feel the spirit there surrounding their little family. You could tell that the Lord was proud of them and so very happy that they were being sealed for eternity!

After they were sealed we all took pictures outside the temple. They were in their white clothes and looked so beautiful standing there with their children also dressed in white!

Randy and I have a tradition to take pictures together at the temple every time we go and so we did that while waiting for them all to change. I put a few of those in for your enjoyment. ;)

Being dorks :)

Me acting crazy ;)

ATTACK!!

And a good one :)

When they got out we took a few more pictures and then went to lunch/dinner. We went to Red Robin. This was my first time ever being there and it was delicious! Then after that Randy and I went to Hobby Lobby to get some fabric and then got gas and hit the road!

I drove first again. We usually drive to Sheridan and then switch drivers there. We were both exhausted from a long day and were anxious to get home to get Oscar. As we were driving it had been about 45 minutes and Randy pointed out a rest stop and said "Do you remember there being a rest stop?" I said no but maybe we just weren't paying attention. So we kept driving. After about 15-20 minutes, Randy pulled out his phone to see how much longer it was to Sheridan. It told us to turn around! Randy thought maybe the address to Hobby Lobby was still in there so he closed the app and retyped in Sheridan. It told us to turn around again! Turns out we had missed the junction to head to Wyoming and we were on our way towards Bismark! (This is an easy thing to do since the exit comes up quick and isn't marked well.) So we took the next exit and turned around. Our 3 1/2 hour drive had now turned into a 5 1/2 hour drive! So instead of getting home about 9:30 we didn't get home til almost midnight!

We switched drivers in Sheridan after getting a snack at Mcdonalds and taking a quick potty break. We hit the road again. Randy was now driving. We were both tired and grumpy by this point and so the rest of the drive was pretty quiet. We picked up Oscar from our friend's and went to the store to get what we needed for dinner the next day and then went home and passed out! We all slept in until almost 10 the next morning! Including Oscar who usually wakes up about 7!

Sunday we got our Christmas tree up and pretty much had a nice relaxing day!

Our pretty little tree :)

So there you have it! Our crazy trip was pretty crazy! It was a wonderful weekend despite everything that happened but I hope the next time we go to the Billings temple everything goes much smoother than it did this time. No hitting deer or debris, taking the right exit, and finding the right hotel first (if we get one).

Have you had any crazy trips? Let me know in the comments! I love to hear from you!

Til next time!
Becca