The Adventure!

Last July we moved from MO to KY and during the move Kevin drove the moving truck with two of the kids and I had the other three in the van with me. We agreed to meet at mile marker 80 in Illinois and get a hotel for the night. The only problem with that was the freeway splits at that point and there are two mile marker 80s, I of course went to the wrong one to meet up with Kevin. I was supposed to get the hotel while I was waiting for him and there were no hotels at this exit, also the gas light in my van had just gone on so I decided to drive up to the next exit get gas and rent the room and then go back to wait for Kevin.

The next exit had no gas stations and neither did the next, by this time I had gone so far and I wasn't exactly sure where I was so not know whether it was better to continue or turn back I decided to go on. I said a quick prayer that I would make it to at least within walking distance of a gas station and that we would be safe, as the miles ticked by this prayer became more a constant refrain in my head. I finally found a gas station and the attendant had just locked up and told me there was nothing she could do that everything was shut down for the night! The next exit also had a closed gas station, by this time I knew I had gone to the point of running the card dead any minute and I also knew where I was. There is a long stretch of nothing between Mt. Vernon IL, and Evansville IN and that is where I was right in the middle.

I drove the car as fast as I dared and coasted down every hill, finally that dreaded feeling that comes when the car is on fumes came and the car started to slow down. Once it got to a speed that I could run beside the car I had Julianna get in the drivers seat and steer and I pushed, for whatever little good that would do. In the distance I could see the lights of a gas station and also a hotel. When the car finally came to a stop I had to decide if I was going to wait on the side of the road with three of my children or walk what looked like a pretty decent distance to the hotel. In making my decision I took into consideration that it was close to 1am, I only had flip flops on, neither Keith nor Koen would be able to walk that whole way. I prayed to know what to do.

I put Koen in my backpack and zipped it all the way up, only one arm and his head stuck out, I then put it on so it was a front pack. I was worried that if I carried him on my back it might come unzipped. I then found flip flops for Keith and Julianna and explained that the car was out of gas but the gas station was close and there was a hotel but we would have to walk, I told Keith it would be an adventure. Needless to say he was scared, I was scared. We sang songs and were as far off the road as we could get (this means we were walking in high grass that was muddy do to rain) I tried to get Keith to walk but he was to scared and to tired so I ended up carrying him on my back. Our flip flops were more hassle than help and eventually we ended up barefoot, there were quite a few sharp sticks in ground so it was not a fun trek.

We finally made it to the road and were about 100 yards from the hotel when a car passed up, I held my breath hoping that they would just pass us by, they did. The car passed us and then made a U turn and came back, it was a young man he looked to be about a senior in high school or first year in college, he asked if he could help. I told him no we were fine that we were just headed to the hotel, he said he understood. He then parked a little way in the opposite direction we were going and watched us until we were in the hotel parking lot, he honked his horn as he drove by. I am glad that he was concerned for our safety and I was glad that he didn't try to help me, that would have made me nervous.

We checked into the hotel, we were muddy and gross. The clerk behind the counter asked what had happened and so I explained. The next morning I woke up early and told Julianna that I was going to get gas and the car, she waited in the room with Koen and Keith. I walked across the street to the gas station bought the only gas container, filled it and started the trek back to the car. A nice elderly couple asked if they could give me a ride and after a small moment to get a feel for the situation I accepted they were headed in the opposite direction so they dropped me across 4 lanes of freeway from my car. I got to the car safely, put the gas in and went to open the driver's side door when I realized that I had left the keys at the hotel. I walked back.

I got the keys, walked back to the car, zeroed the speedometer and turned the key, nothing happened. I then decided that I need to rock the car to get the gas into the lines, so I jumped up and down on the bumper and pushed it from the front and the back. Yes this would have been great fun to watch. It worked after turning it over a few more times while pumping the pedal the car started and I was on my way. I ran out of gas 1.32 miles from the gas station, God had answered my prayer of getting to within walking distance.

We hit the road after eating a hot breakfast at the hotel, and Keith decided that he did not want anymore adventures. We made it without further incident to KY, and Kevin did catch up to us eventually. To this day Keith will not agree to go on an adventure, but he also relies on prayer and singing whenever he is scared.

It was a great adventure and I am thankful that everything turned out so well for us and that we were safe. On a return trip to MO we clocked the distance from my gas light going on to the spot I finally stopped it was 86 miles. My van has never gone further than 25 after the light goes on, I have ran it out 5 different times. I know that I was blessed to have reached the only hotel in the middle of nowhere even if I had to walk over a mile to get to it. I also know that the Lord answered my prayer it was not luck, or a coincidence, or any kind of fluke.

Easter!

So I don't have much to say about Easter this year, it was fun and low key. We had a nice ham dinner and the kids dyed and hunted eggs, other than that we just hung out.

Julianna's New Year's Eve Party!

So for new years eve this last year I was busy counting inventory at the scrapbook store so I let Julianna invite a few friends to come and scrap with her. Kaiden, Keith, and Kevin playing the wii. They had a great night and it made everything seem to go by a little faster.

The pine wood derby!

So we participated in our very first pinewood derby and it was great fun. Kaiden designed his car with Kevin and cut it out and then Kaiden and I painted it and added fire to the sides. It was fun for Kaiden and the races were exciting in the end Kaiden came in 3rd so he was pretty happy and he has another trophy to add to his running ones.

More Utah.

We had a great time at the wedding Evelyn was happy to be able to see Megan come out of the Temple. We stopped at a military vehicle museum on the way out and we did a little hiking at a rest stop on the way home. We also spent a day walking around Smith & Edwards, the kids loved looking at all the stuff! We mostly just hung out and visited the weather was great until the second to last day and then it started snowing and raining turning the yard into a mud puddle! We started home early and we got lucky with great weather for most of the way, about 3/4 of the way through Nebraska there were high winds and tornados so we stopped for the night at a hotel. We got up on Sunday morning and headed to Saint Joseph for church, that evening we stayed with Adam and Marie again. The kids had a great time playing and visiting. Mon. we made it home without any other problems and life continues uneventful!

Our trip to Utah!

So recently we took a trip to Utah to visit family and attend a wedding! It was a lot of fun and the trip was a little more eventful than we are used to. On the way out we made good time, we left our house in KY on Friday evening around 6pm and got to Adam and Marie's place at about 3a.m. we stayed with them for all of Sat. The kids were excited to see cousins and it was a great visit. Marie made arrangements for us to go to a school carnival and so the kids enjoyed the fun and games there, they ate more sugar than I think we had planned but over all it was a great success. Koen and Eli are about the same size so that was fun to see, and Evelyn desperately wanted to stay instead of continueing on but of course that was not an option.

Sunday morning we got up and headed to Saint Joseph, we needed to check on the house up there and I had promised a few of the Young Women in the area that I would stop in and say hi. While the children and I walked around walmart with Marissa Kevin checked on things at the house and finally at about 10am we were on the road again and headed toward Utah! We made great time the kids were entertained with books and a video. We were lucky in that we were able to drive a rental car courtesy of Ford. Once we got into Wyoming the roads of course got a little bad and so we had to slow down, there were signs everywhere warning of black ice and a suggested speed of 45MPH. We passed a wreck involving a semi truck and that looked really bad. A little around midnight we passed through Rawlings we had intended to continue on and make it to my parents house around 3:3oa.m. but they closed I80 so we turned around and headed back into Rawlings where we got a hotel and stayed the night.

Monday morning we got up and headed out finally arriving at my family's house around 1pm. We were glad to arrive safely as the roads were terrible past Rawlings and we passed several accidents in the process of being cleaned up.

It was of course great to see everyone in my family, Miles and Joseph are so grown up I can't believe it every time I see them! When I think of them I think of how they were when I moved out, it is fun to hear there stories and see how they are different but exactly the same as all the rest of us! Of course the cousins had a great time together, Evelyn would love to have a little sister and was in rapture doting on Mari. James and John make Koen look like a baby they are so mature and talking. Kaiden was in heaven to have so many boy cousins his age! Julianna is a little bit the odd one out but she loves being the oldest girl in the group and she love the attention she get from grandma!

I have a lot more to write so I will have to add another post later it is late here and my bed is calling!!

Better late than never.

So once again I forgot the camera for my child's baptism, luckily a friend had an iphone and was able to get some snap shots for me. I wish I could have taken my own but this is definitely better than nothing. It was a great day he was so happy.He had a few of his friends share memories of their baptism and that was really great to hear some of his role models share their testimonies specifically to Kaiden.
He had Veronica Holt (his good friends mom) give the talk on the Holy Ghost, she gave him a tin that had neat little things in it to represent the Holy Ghost. He looks through it almost every day and a few Mondays ago he gave the lesson at F.H.E. and he told each of us what the things in the tin represent.
It is very obvious that Kaiden's baptism was important to him and I am happy for him and the choice he has made.