Lifetime friends

On September 5th many years ago I met two incredible women that are still a part of my world today. Allison Crowther and Donna Goldston were my companions in the MTC. For anyone who has ever served an LDS mission- you know what the MTC is like, it is pretty hard and we lived with each other for 9 weeks studying the Japanese language. At that time I was devastated because I was leaving my boyfriend and both Allison and Donna can tell you I was completely pathetic it and now it seems funny but I imagine back then it was kind of annoying.
We arrived in Japan and I did not get to see Allison or Donna very often but when I did, it was like seeing family again. After we got home, we all went our separate ways, married, and had babies. Allsion lives in Washington D.C. with her husband and two sons and Donna now lives in Boise, Idaho with her husband and 4 kids.
I have STD conferences that I go to in Boise, Idaho and ever since I found out that Donna was here I have stopped in to say hello and spend some time with her incredible family.
Donna has a mountain of faith and is very kind and loving. When you walk into her home immediately you feel welcomed. She is still the same person as she was all of those years ago and she often kept me in line with a gentle "now, Boyd Shimai" Donna was definitely the leader of our little group, she had the wisdom of someone who had experienced life for many years!
Donna married a fine young man by the name of Byron Stepherson. Byron has his own business in insurance coverage and I might add that he is very successful. I could not have hand picked a better guy for Donna, he is funny, smart, and an incredible dad.
Their first son Henry, is 15 and wrestles. He has a big meet tomorrow and I am hoping that he makes it to state so that I can see their little family on my side of the state within the next two weeks! Henry has to maintain his weight in order to compete so while I was at their house tonight he was running stairs, treadmill, and all around the house to burn calories. I love how devoted he is!
Jane is next..(8th grade, I hope I have that right) Long strawberry blonde hair like her mom and very cute. She danced the majority of the time and worked on homework with her dad. According to her mom, Jane is excellent at solving problems and figures things out on her own, smart and beautiful...dang!
THE TWINS!!
Kate and Sarah are both in the 6th grade and VERY intelligent. When I first arrived tonight they were both upstairs reading a book. Donna says that they read a book per week. The twins are very athletic and flexible, while I was there they gracefully did a head-stand and invited me to do the same.... no comment. The same bond that my twins have, is evident with Sarah and Kate as well, they are best friends. I was sitting beside Sarah and had a very deep conversation with her. I asked her if her and Kate ever fought, her reply was..."arlene, we are not perfect" totally priceless. These two belong on the doublemint gum commericals..adorable, funny and very entertaining.
So tonight went something like this, arrived at Donna's, Byron continued to give me the update on the hockey game between Team Canada and Sweden (olympics), watched the women's snowboarding event and Shaun White (that kid is amazing) Donna and i helped with homework, we played apples to apples and the game " I never", I received a back massage from Sarah and she brushed my hair and put it in pony tails.
I love spending time with the Stepherson's, they are so down to earth and so much fun! I am so glad they are a part of my world.