Roadtripping with my Auntie!!!

Meet Rachel, my soon-to-be newest cousin!!!  She is marrying my cousin Ben on December 18th in the Salt Lake Temple and we are so excited for them!!!  My Aunt Donna (Ben's mom) came down from Bozeman, Montana where they live to visit me for a couple of days and then we drove down to Highland, Utah for Rachels' bridal shower.  This was my first time meeting Rachel and I already love her!  She is such a fun, cute girl!  Welcome to the family!!!

Bridal shower:

Donna and I got her this awesome crockpot which hopefully will come in very handy while they are in college!

After the shower we headed out to IKEA to do some shopping (I got some awesome things for the kiddos for Christmas), Rachel and Ben showed us where their reception will be and then we met up with Rachels' mom, brother, uncle and cousin at Tepanyaki in Lehi for some AWESOMELY delicious sushi and japanese food!!!

 The cute couple!!!

DINNER:

Dinner started out with some very delicious spring onion soup (which you drank directly from the bowl) as well as some salad with miso teriyaki dressing (to die for!  I wanted to drink the leftover dressing right from the bowl as well, and probably would have if the waitress hadn't come and whisked it away!)

Then this guy (our very entertaining chef) squirted some oil on the hot grill and lit it on fire! 

The fire died out and he went to work creating a delectable dinner comprised of japanese-style zucchini, mushrooms, onions and choice of meats (I ordered teriyaki sesame beef, while others ordered filet mignon and shrimp, chicken and scallops...all VERY good!)  Dinner also came with noodles or fried rice.

 Me and Auntie having a GREAT TIME!!!!

We also ordered some sushi, which Donna tried for the first time and liked!  YAY!!!

One of my favorite sushies:  Philadelphia- comprised of cream cheese, smoked salmon, avocado  and cucumber sticks.  YUM YUM!!!

After we STUFFED ourselved we headed back to Rachel's house where she finally had Ben whack open her pinata that her step-sisters had given to her as a bridal gift.  It was filled with some "questionable" items (aka honeymoon "gear") so she hadn't wanted to open it in front of all of her bridal shower guests. 

We then kicked up our feet, relaxed, watched "The Proposal," ate too much popcorn and soda and then went to bed to enjoy an extra hour of sleeping in the next morning!!  It was a fun day!!!

The next morning Donna and I headed back home (Chris picked my up in Pocatello).  Donna and I enjoyed great conversation, breakfast at Cracker Barrel and we hope to do it all again sometime!  Thanks Aunt Donna (Rachel, Ben and everyone else for such a fun weekend get away!!!)