Bowling Mania

Rachel and Rachel

Our good friend Rachel, who stayed with us for a while in Jordan when she was between apartments, recently got her mission call to Romania. She'll enter the MTC on January 16th, so with Thanksgiving just around the corner, and then the business of the end of the semester, and then finals, and then Christmas, we figured that we should get together before life got too crazy. So, last night we went bowling at BYU.

"Are you very good at bowling?" Rachel asked as we entered the alley.

I started laughing and told her about the last time Andrew and I went bowling, back in August. It was just about a month after Rachel was born and our first time out of the house together without her. I don't think you can see in the picture, but our scores are on the screen. Andrew had been taking a bowling class so he was doing alright. I had just had a baby though, and I was not doing alright. I was using the lightest ball possible and still was rolling gutter balls most of the time. On our fourth frame, I had 20 points. By the time we left I think my total score was right around 40. Andrew broke 100, by far.

Andrew back in August--see how cocky he looks?
Me back in August

"So although I have my own shoes," I finished, "I'm not very good at all."

"Good," she said, "Neither am I."

Luckily, bowling is one of those sports that you can enjoy whether you are good at it, or not, so Rachel and I decided just to have a good time while Andrew skunked us.

But that is not what happened. I bowled like a pro, and totally beat Andrew. Okay, so I only beat Andrew by 6 points, but I did break 100, which is a first for me. I was nothing like the kids bowling beside us--who had both broken 100 by their 6th frame and were striking all over the place. So, I won with 108, then Andrew with 102, and then Rachel, who scored how I usually score. I'm still not sure where that skill came from. It just sneaked right up on me!


We all had a good time though. Little Rachel had so much to look at and really enjoyed cheering everyone on. I don't think that bowling typically has cheerleaders, but Rachel did a superb job--they ought to consider bringing her in full time.

Here we are cheering for Big Rachel

Rachel also had a fun time with daddy. He held her over the air blower--she liked that a lot.

She sat with the bowling balls, and even got to try some bowling out for herself. The balls were too big for her to carry, so we just sent her down the lane. (kidding, of course).

Good form, daddy!

We're excited for Rachel to go to Romania. Maybe she'll get to see Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Frank on one of their exciting trips. You never know.

Oh, and for anyone who's interested (those of you who went to Jordan with us), Allison also got her mission call. She'll be going to Japan--she enters the MTC in January as well.