Spring vacation?

I'm here in sunny Arizona, rather reluctantly, spending a few days with my brother Rulon and his family. You see, our dear Sarah and some of her friends had planned on driving down here for their school spring break. We thought she was doing well as far as being trustworthy, but disappointed us with some big lies on Monday. So we gave her two options: either lose the trip to Arizona completely, or I would have to go with them. We had one upset and angry daughter after that conversation!

So yesterday we left Orem at 5:30 a.m. and arrived in Mesa just over 11 hours later. Sarah was still mad at me and ended up sleeping half of the way here. I drove the entire way, even though I only had four hours of sleep the night before, but I wasn't about to let Sarah drive. I was extremely tired and experienced a real miracle throughout the day.

Every time we stopped for a potty break, I would get out of the car and start feeling weak and exhausted. I felt like I just couldn't go on and would pray for strength and the ability to keep driving. Then I would get back in the car. As soon as I sat down, I didn't feel tired at all and was able to go on. Then the next time I'd get out, that same exhausted feeling would come back. Another prayer and pleading with my Heavenly Father for strength--then I'd get back in the car and be okay. It happened every time we stopped. This was a very real answer to my prayers, and we arrived in Arizona without incident.

I'm glad Sarah didn't drive down here, either with me or with just her friends, because the weather on this trip was horrible. I've made this trip in rain and snow before, so I've experienced bad conditions, but yesterday the problem was the wind. The wind kicked up as we went through Beaver, Utah, and just got worse and worse as we went further south. Going across the Indian reservation south of Page was like driving through a constant sandstorm. The land is so dry that every gust of wind carried dirt and debris. There were times when visibility was down to just a few hundred feet. The crosswind was blowing so hard that it took all I had to keep the van straight on the road. The wind stayed with us all the way to Mesa. I don't think I've ever been so happy to get to Rulon's house!

Once we got here, we were informed that I would have to share a room with Sarah and her two friends (Rulon & Marcy's guest room is already occupied). I thought Sarah was going to explode with anger. She gave me a glare that would have killed me if it could. So I took the girls upstairs to our shared room and informed them that they all needed to stop blaming me for this. If Sarah hadn't lied to me and caused the problem, then I wouldn't be here, and if I get any more attitude we'll just turn right around and drive back home. The nerve of them to treat me like that when I'm the one who made it possible for them to be here at all.

Now that I'm done complaining, just let me say how much I enjoy Arizona's weather at this time of year. It think it's around 80 degrees today, and the sun is shining in a bright, clear sky. And even though I had to leave behind lots of work, it's nice to be forced to have a vacation. Now if I could just get Sarah to stop being angry with me and start working on her habit of not telling the truth!