What a Weekend!

So we started out this weekend on a great note.  My parents came down to visit Friday night and stayed the weekend.  They watched Mackenzie and Isaac for us on Saturday while we took our nephews, Gavin and Nathan, to the Notre Dame game against Air Force.  We got some tailgating time in (which consisted of Root Beer, Capri Suns, Diet Coke, summer sausage, cheese and crackers, Funyuns and a couple of Kit Kats) and got to throw a football around and play the bean bag toss game.  We then headed towards campus.  We timed our shuttle drop-off perfectly so that we got to see Coach Kelly and the team walking towards the stadium.  Nathan got quite a few hand slaps from the players!  We then headed to Bond Hall and watched the band play before hiking to the stadium.  We had pretty good seats for the game, in Section 15, above the Air Force band.  Unfortunately my camera decided to stop working in the first quarter, so I can't download any pictures right now, I have to find my memory card reader first.

The weather was fantastic, the B2 Bomber fly by was excellent, and the game was pretty great too.  By half-time Nathan was losing steam, so we made it through the third quarter, at which time the score was 46 - 16 ND, I believe and headed out to get an Elephant Ear and hike back to the car.  Here is what happened somewhere between Howe and Angola:



This picture is from after the car was towed to the shop.  I didn't actually get to see the car until we got there.  As we were driving on the toll road, passing a semi truck, a deer jumped in front of the car out of the median.  The road was really dark and I never saw the deer at all (until it landed on the other side of the road, luckily clear of traffic in the right lane), Brian saw it, and slammed on the brakes, but at 70 MPH there was no way he was going to stop in time.  We were extremely lucky that other drivers were paying attention and no other cars hit us or were involved in the accident at all.  Brian was able to get the car into the median and we waited for the police and the tow truck.  The air bags deployed and everyone's seatbelt worked properly and we are also very fortunate that no one was hurt, although everyone was pretty shaken.

So now we are waiting for the insurance company to take over.  Brian, the guys at the shop and I are pretty confident that the car will be considered totalled, so we are probably going to have to look for a car here soon, but other than that, all is good.

Today we went to the apple orchard and pumpkin farm for some pickin' and some cider and donuts (rice krispy treats for Brian and Isaac, thanks to Grandma and Grandpa).  Everyone had a great time and after quiet time Shannon brought "the cousins" over and we made what appears to be a delicious apple pie while at Grandma and Grandpa's Carson helped them make applesauce.

So life is good and I am especially grateful for that today.