Making Cow-abunga Memories

Every day is another day where we realize just how fast time is moving. It's hard to believe that what were once a handful of tumbling toddlers are now a brood in their teens and pre-teens; driving, dating, thinking about college, and trying to enact their independence.

It's not fun to think that in just a couple more years our lives will be rock with our first born heading out on his own. Even more,  when we look at our youngest we think, where did our little baby girl go? Time is not on our side.

So we are making the most of the time we have. I know we've said it before, but we want to make every minute count. We want to be able to sit down at those future family gatherings, laughing with teary-eyes as we remember the days when we did crazy, adventurous things as a family! This week, we created one of those future stories as we dressed up like cows and went to Chick-Fil-A for their annual 'Cow'-Appreciation Day!

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With Asher still at camp (bummer) the remaining 6 Higham's put on our home-made cow costumes and made our way to the new, local Chick-Fil-A, in Washington, PA! And YES, even the teens were dressed up!

We took a couple white t-shirts and added some peel and stick, black felt spots that we cut out. Throw in a few accessories like hair bands with ears, a couple cow-themed bandanna's, and a little face paint and 'poof' we're cows!

Amy and Breya had a double-dose of chicken-deliciousness as they went to a different restaurant for lunch. That restaurant gave out a ton of gift cards and free gifts. Breya even go to pose with the Chick-Fil-A Cow!

So why did we go so far as to dress up? Well, there was free food involved. That's right, we all ate dinner and didn't pay a dime! Do you know how much it costs to eat out as a family of 7, especially when you're feeding teenage boys? It's not cheap! And a free meal is a free meal!

But more than the free food, we, as a family have never done any like this before. To go out in public, dressed like cows, with teenagers... Memories. Simply said. That's why we did it. After today, we will always have that memory that begins with, "Hey, remember that time we dressed up like cows..."

Too often, as a family, we get caught up in the day to day routines of life. But to take an opportunity such as this, to do something totally outside our normal comfort zones...well, it was pretty awesome.

And kudos to our boys! Saying to Breya, "let's dress up like cows..." is easy! She's young enough to be up for just about anything. But to get your teenagers to dress up, and go out with their crazy parents, well, that takes a little bit more. Quite frankly, I'm super proud of them for doing what they did, especially since we ate early, and were the only ones in full cow costumes. (Others came in as we were eating, but at the time there was some real apprehension.)

Parenting should be fun. Family time should be fun, even when you're dressed up like cows having dinner at a chicken restaurant! 

And to Chick-Fil-A, I don't expect you to actually read this, but we want you to know how much we appreciate your restaurants and your desire to serve your customers. We absolutely love visiting your restaurants! The food is always excellent and your service is top-notch. We know that you train your teams to go the extra mile, and it shows. So thank you for loving your employees and customers! And thank you for the crazy promotion that allows our entire family to eat for free! It's truly a blessing! May God continue to bless you, Chick-Fil-A, as you seek to honor God with your business!

And to our readers, thank you, for taking the time to follow along! We really appreciate all of you!

- the higham family

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Hi we're Jay & Amy, and we've been married for 19 years and are super blessed to be busy raising our 5 kids; 4 boys and 1 girl. We juggle the adventures of life and ministry and share what we are learning as it relates to marriage, family, raising kids, serving in the church, and chasing after Jesus. Raising a family is hard work, especially in today's culture. But our hope is to encourage you and your family, as we live for the glory of God.

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