One year ago!

All of this happened last January, so please don't freak out and think this is all new!!  The reason I am writing about it is for a couple of reasons.

#1. It is one of those moments that I will never forget!

and

#2. I learned so much about feeling, understanding and listening to the spirit and I feel the need to remind myself of those experiences!

~~~~About a year ago (possibly this week)~~~~~

It was the night before and I could not sleep.  I was up all night long with this sickening feeling inside my stomach.  I spent the night on the couch and couldn't quite figure out what was going on.  As the night went on I knew that it had to do with the hubby going snowmobiling the next day.

Now it is important to understand that anytime I bring up to the hubby not to go snowmobiling, it is completely thrown out the window before anything else can be said.  It is simply not a subject that is allowed in our home.  If he wants to go sledding he is going to go sledding. period. end of story!

So I knew if I brought it up in the morning that I didn't feel good about him going, that it wouldn't be listened to.  But with the feeling that I was having I knew I had to say something.

The next morning after a being up all night, I asked Eric if he "had" to go snowmobiling that day.  Of course, he answered the way that I expected.  I waited a while and said "maybe you could just stay home today go snowmobiling another day".  Again the answer was the same.

As I made breakfast that morning the feeling didn't go away.  In fact it seemed to get worse. I knew that something was going to happen that day.  As Eric walked out the door I told him to please be careful.  He said "I will, it will be ok."  And then the door closed.  Tears came to my eyes and I knew that today was going to change someones life.    

I walked into my bathroom and cried for a while because I felt so helpless.  I kept thinking.  'Heavenly Father, why are you giving me these feelings if it doesn't do any good, anyway?'

I finally pulled myself together and decided that the only thing left to do was to pray.  I knelt by my bed to pray and cried to Heavenly Father to protect my hubby and those he was with.  I kept that prayer in my heart all day.  Eventually I decided that it would do me no good to mope around the house all day.  So I tried to cheer up and get done what I needed to.

The day went pretty well and I did ok with keeping my yucky feelings under control.

I was washing dishes at about 3:30 that afternoon and thinking of other things when immediately that feeling came back.  It was so strong and so clear that I knew that something had happened!!  I actually felt like someone had walked in the back door behind me.  I turned around to see who it was and no one was there. Tears came to my eyes again and I felt so sick.  I wanted to call Eric but knew that if he was on the mountain  his phone wouldn't work and if something had happened it wouldn't do any good anyway.

I paced that house and tried to stay calm.  I waited for the phone to ring.  It didn't.  Every noise I jumped.

We had planned to take the kiddos up to Pizza Hut that night for dinner and I thought, I can't freak the kids out.  I don't want them to feel the yucky feeling that I am feeling.  I decided that if I hadn't heard anything by 5ish that I would try to call Eric (normally when they go snowmobiling he doesn't get home until around 6 or 7 and sometimes later).  If he didn't answer then I would take the kids to Pizza Hut and hope that it was all just me being crazy.

So at about 5:30 I tried Eric's phone. He answered!!!

I felt a huge rush of relief and tried to act calm.  "Oh, I didn't think you would answer.  How are you?"

"Ummm....I'm good"

"Oh, good!  So what are you doing?"

"Ummm...I'm headed to Afton."

"Really, why?"

"Uh, well, we had a little accident today. I am taking Todd up to the hospital to make sure everything is ok"

"Uh-oh, what happened?"

"Umm...he was in a little avalanche today."

By now my heart is going a hundred miles an hour.  I knew it!!  I knew something was going to happen!!

"Is he ok?"

"Ya, I think so.  Can you bring me a change of clothes and meet me at the hospital?"

"Sure, I will be there in just a bit.  I love you!"

"Love you too.  Bye."

After I hung up the phone I was feeling a mix of relief and anger.  I was so mad that I couldn't have prevented this and that I was the one who was "warned" that something was going to happen.  Why not him, why not Todd, why not some of the others that where with him?  And I was feeling relief because it all turned out ok.  From the sound of Eric's voice it wasn't too bad and everyone was doing good.

I grabbed what I needed and we hurried out the door.  When I got to the hospital I left the kids in the car because I wasn't sure what was going to be happening with Todd and I didn't think that they would have be allowed in the ER anyway.  When I walked into the ER Todd was sitting on the bed, looking really good and his amazing wife Sandy (who had lost her first husband to an avalanche about 3 or 4 years earlier that same week) was there with her mom and Eric.  After talking to them for a little bit I realized that Todd was really beat up and that he was coughing up blood.  They were going to keep him there and make sure that everything was ok on the inside.

I was slowly realizing that things weren't as "good" as Eric made them sound but no one was talking about what really happened. I decided to ask them if the avalanche happened around 3:30.  They both looked at each other and said yes.  I told them that I knew that it had but that was all that I said.  After a little bit Eric and I decided to leave. As we were leaving and telling everyone goodbye, Todd grabbed Eric's hand and began to cry and said "Thank you!"  I will never forget the look on both of there faces.  It was then that I knew that the whole experience was a lot more than I was finding out right then.

We went to Pizza Hut which looking back now seems so strange.  Eric didn't say much or eat much for that matter.  And then we headed home.

It was later that night that I found out more about what happened but it wasn't until a few days later that the whole story came out.

~~This is the story that I know (I am sure that there are parts that are different but this is what I was told)~~
Eric, Todd, Darren and Bill were sledding (aka snowmobiling) on a hill.  The top of the hill was bare but the lower part of it had a bunch of trees.  Knowing that the avalanche conditions were high they decided to stay down in the trees.  Eric was leading the way with Todd, Darren and Bill following.  Eric was driving along and for unknown reasons got stuck on a tiny little tree that was poking out of the snow.  It stopped him and he had to get off the sled to try to get unstuck from this "dumb little tree".  Finally he got unstuck and drove down the hill to wait for the others.  Thinking it was strange that they weren't right behind him he turned around and drove back.  When he found them Bill was digging Darren out of the snow from the waist down and yelling at Eric to FIND TODD!!  

Not even knowing where to start he turned on his beacon and started searching.  Bill and Darren still had there beacons on so he was really struggling to find Todd.  Eric started probing for Todd and finally, when they got Darren unstuck they turned their beacons off and Bill did the searching while Eric did the probing (poking long sticks in the snow looking for something hard) Finally they thought that they had found him and started digging.  He was about 3 feet down and the first thing they found was his backpack.  Realizing that he was face down they started digging sideways trying to find his face.  But as they were digging they realized that they were digging out his feet instead of his head.  So they began digging the other direction.  When they found his helmet Eric grabbed it and turned it to the side to try to get Todd some air.  The other guys were digging out the rest of his body and they all began to pull him out of the hole.

Eric said that when they pulled him out of the snow he was a grayish purple color and that if he didn't know that it was Todd he would have never guessed.  He looked terrible, and didn't even look like himself.  They were just getting ready to do CPR when Eric noticed that he was breathing on his own, barely.

After about 10 minutes he started to get some color into his face and a while later was finally coming around.

In the meantime the guys were digging out his snowmobile and also Darren's snowmobile that had also been buried. Can you imagine how exhausted they must have been?

When Todd started to cough up blood but was well enough to get on his sled they headed out.

After they got to the trucks Eric decided to take Todd to the hospital and the other guys headed home.  It was just a little bit after that that I called Eric.

I still don't know why I was warned that something was going to happen and they weren't.  I was mentioning it to a friend of mine and I love what she said:  "Maybe they weren't in tune enough to hear it.  Or maybe they did hear it but wouldn't listen. And maybe it was just supposed to be a learning experience for you on what promptings feel like.  But, what would have happened if Eric had listened to you and not gone that day?"

So If Eric had listened to me who knows what would have happened!

Either way I am so grateful that everything turned out ok.  And I am very grateful for a Heavenly Father who knows us and is there for us.  He listens to our prayers we say out loud and knows the prayers in our hearts.  He is there to "stop" us when we need to (by putting a "dumb little tree" in our way) so that we can help others.  If Eric hadn't got stuck on that little tree and turned back around I don't believe that they would have been able to get Todd out soon enough.  We are constantly given blessings from our Father in Heaven, most of which we don't even realize that they are "blessings".  Sometimes we see them a trials or difficulties but he is very involved in our everyday lives and truly does know us and our needs.

That's Funny Friday

On my computer in the living room as my screen saver I have all of our pictures over the last few years.  And then I also have some of me and my family from when I was a little baby and then a couple of when I was probably about 4 years old or so.

So Keira came to me the other day and said:

"Mom, I just saw a picture of you on the computer and you had those shoots on your forehead."

Me: (trying to figure out what "shoots" are???)  "Ummmmm, I'm not sure what your talking about, Keira."

"You know, shoots." (As she uses her thumb and pointer fingers on both hands to show the area of her forehead)

"Uh, no, I don't know what shoots are, Sis."

"You know, when you have those short hairs on your forehead." (As she shows me the thumb and pointer finger thing again)

Me still very confused and Keira still standing there staring at me showing me her forehead......

"Oh, you mean......Bangs?"

"Ya, bangs!!"

Bahahahahahahaha!!!!!

 I guess she must have connected bangs with guns, so shoots is what she thought of!!

So from now on in our home.  Bangs are called Shoots!!

Love that girl!

Our weekend away

 My awesome sister and her hubby gave Eric and I tickets to a Motorbikes on Ice show for Christmas.  What a great idea for a gift.  Don't you think??  I sure do!

Plus, she offered to watch the kiddos for us for the weekend so we didn't even need to worry about a sitter!  See, I  told you she was awesome!!

So last Friday I picked the kids up early from school and we headed to Salt Lake City.  With a quick stop in McCammon to drop the kiddos off with my sister who met us there so that we didn't have to drive an extra hour to Pocatello.  There's one more reason she is so awesome! (More to come, you'll see)

I had to add this picture of the sunrise Friday morning.  Isn't it beautiful!

We decided to head to our hotel first and spend some time sitting in the hot tub.  I was feeling much better after being sick all week but still had a cough and runny nose and Eric was feeling a little sore from.....ummmmm....... lets just say that he feels like has been run over by a snowmobile (his own snowmobile).  Because there is a good chance that on his last snowmobile ride that's what happened. :)  So we thought a nice hot tub would be good!

When we got to the hotel they told us that we needed a little wrist band to get into the pool area.  We were a little surprised but didn't think much of it until we got to the said pool area.  

It was a water park!!!  Complete with a waterslide that goes outside and back in to the pool.  A large playing area for the kids and a really nice sized hot tub!!  It was really cool!!  We will definitely be taking the kids back there next time we are passing through SLC!!!

After we got done in the hot tub we headed over to the Maverick Center to watch the Motorbike show.  We couldn't believe it when we got to our seats!!  We couldn't have got any closer.  No seriously, we were on the front row dead center!!  It was awesome!!  Although I am pretty sure that I have to give my brother-in-law the thanks for that one!!  Thanks Nick!!

 Good thing we brought our jackets and coats!  It was really cold sitting and waiting for it to start.

 After it got started we had so much fun we weren't even thinking about the cold.  It was a lot of fun.  Notice in this first picture the starting gate.  And then notice the four-wheeler on the very far end.  She was in the lead the entire race and then on the last turn she got tangled up with one of the other riders and completely took out the starting gate!  It was really cool!!

 Notice how it's gone now?  The gate was broken so bad that they decided to just get rid of it and use flags to start!

 We really enjoyed the show, it was a lot of fun.  And it was so nice to get away for a little while!

In the mean time I got a text from my sister with these two photos.

 I told you she was AWESOME!!!

Two ninjas, batgirl, supergirl, and snow white (with her dress on backwards).  Like I said.  AWESOME!!

 Eric and I headed back home the next day (we had to be back for church on Sunday).  After meeting my sister in McCammon again to get the kiddos.  We were on the road for about 15 minutes when I looked back and saw this...

 

 I think they had a big weekend!  What do you think?

It was a really fun and short weekend.  Thanks again Sue!  You really are awesome!  The kiddo's are wondering if they can do it again next weekend :)  You good with that??!!

I had to add this cute picture of these two.  They have so much fun together.  They really are best friends!!

I hate being sick!!

No, really.  I am not one who gets sick often and so when I do, I am out.  I haven't slept at night for 3 days now, my cough sounds like a bark, I think my nose feels like it's his job to over flow the Hoover dam, my voice sounds like I've been smoking for years, my head wants to explode and really, I think it might feel better if it did, and for some reason, nothing is getting done around here.

I just can't figure it out.  The kids and hubby still think that they need fed breakfast and dinner and lets not even think about lunch, the laundry has piled up to a ridiculous height (I didn't even know we had that many clothes), the dishes in the sink (and on the counter) are beginning to talk, I swear that they are sitting there laughing at me, and the rest of my house.....well.......lets just say that at least it's still standing.

I guess I better start doing something before someone stops over for a visit!!

Or maybe I will just lock the door and pretend that I'm not here.

Ya, that sounds a lot better!

Happy New Year!!!

We made it!!  And I am sure that 2013 is going to be a great year! I can't wait to see what it is going to bring!!

We also made it through Christmas break and had a lot of fun times.  The best for me, besides sleeping in every morning, was spending time with my kiddos.  They really are great and I feel so blessed to be their mom.  The worst thing about Christmas break was that it ended too soon!  I also started feeling sick on New Years Eve and have been feeling like crap ever since.  I hate being sick!!  I just want to sleep all day, but life doesn't stop just cuz you get sick!  Wish is did though.  Wouldn't that be awesome!?!  I think so!

The hubby also used a few his days off of work to hang out with us too.  It was awesome!  We went bowling one day and had so much fun! 

 

Sure do love this guy!! And his super cool Duck Dynasty shirt!

On Saturday the kids and I went to the free matinee. It was "The Odd Life of Timothy Green".  We loved it.  It was a really good movie and the kids are still talking about it!!

Today also marks day 2 of no Facebook account and to be honest, I am really liking it!  Only once yesterday I got on my computer and out of habit went to click on Facebook.  But remembered that I don't have it anymore and smiled!!  I am really glad that I don't have it!!

Well, I guess am going to go try to get my stuff done that needs to be done and then maybe a nap!!  We'll see!