June is busting out all over!!!

I decided that I will take a lesson from my children...I know they teach me a lot about many things...and I will write my blog about this month and then I will post a slide show as soon as Emily and Chris show me how to put my pictures into a slide show like Rachelle did and has done before on their blog. So here goes the commentary with pictures to come later...

Richard and I had a fantastic vacation to Utah to visit our two sons and their families. One of the reasons we chose this month to go was because we had all the baby gifts to deliver (as well as a bassinet and infant car seat loaned to them by Brook and Dave but residing at our house) that Rachelle and Sprout received at the shower we gave her last month. Also we wanted to go up to Idaho and meet our new daughter-in-law Urasia, her daughter Macie, and George and Urasia's baby girl, our granddaughter, Brooklyn, now 3 months old. What a great family time!!!

We left on Saturday, June 6th and from the time we got into the Sierra Nevada Mountains until we reached Salt Lake City, it was rain showers with very few breaks and only briefly when they happened. I've never seen Nevada so green and actually quite lovely!! We arrived safely and happy to be there. The weather continued the whole time we were in Utah and Idaho with rain, quite heavy many times, everyday. Lots of thunder and lightening too. I guess that's what you get in the spring but people were saying it was quite unusual for that late in the season.

We had a great time in Utah. We relaxed and stayed with Jeff and Rachelle but when they were at school and work, we went over to Dave and Brooks and babysat for Carter...hurray, we loved that....while Dave had his chiropractic appts and had errands to run. It was so much fun! On our own, Richard and I ate lunch at Hires Big H which has been in Utah since the 50's. It was good food and fun atmosphere. We also had to have an Ice Berg Shake cause they are really thick and oh so good. Then we did a trip to...no not BYU this time...Barnes and Noble for Richard to use one of his gift cards.

We took to opportunity to attend the Temple in Utah but took a while to decide which one. We chose to go to the Bountiful Temple and thoroughly enjoyed our session there. At least that morning it wasn't raining so we got some good pictures as we walked about the grounds after the session.

Rachelle, Brook, and I did a mother daughter day at a boutique village just down I15 a ways. We had a great time wandering through the shops and looking at fun creative things. All the shops were in old little houses from the past with a stream and ducks meandering through it all. We spent the most time in the Christmas shop that seemed to be the biggest house too. It was a delightful day.

On Wednesday night I was priviledged to be able to give Carter his bath and enjoyed playing with him and his toys, then get him ready for bed including singing a song and reading a couple of his books to him. I loved every minute of it!! Thank you Brook and Carter for that awesome experience!!

Our "Daughters" took turns and shared making wonderful dinners for us. All our sons are so lucky to have their wives be such good cooks. Then on Thursday...I had the fun of making a Birthday Dinner for Jeff and the family and his two best friends, Ryan and Jonny. It was a fun evening with family and friends. He chose Lasagna, green salad, garlic bread, and brownie sundaes for his birthday dinner.

On Friday, Jeff and Rachelle road with us up to Idaho Falls to see George and his growing family. Urasia is lovely and very sweet. We felt right at home and so welcomed. She is truly a wonderful addition to our family. She has a cute 5 year old daughter, Macie and then of course there is baby Brooklyn. We had such fun getting to know them and reconnecting with Emeric and Seneca (George's great teenagers). We watched movies, talked a lot, ate good food and played "Buttmann". Saturday Brook, Dave and Carter came up from SLC and we all got to meet Urasia's parents who came down for Brooklyn's blessing that was done at the house. The Bishop came over and presided and Richard blessed Brooklyn with the Bishop, George, Dave, and Jeff standing in the circle. George kept and eye on Brooklyn every so often during the blessing and said that she was staring at Richard as he spoke and she was so good! She is really an angel baby. Very happy, well behaved, and so willing to come to others and smile readily. She is definitely a grandparents delight. It was so fun to watch so many of our grandchildren play together and to have time to interact with all of them. I love being a grandma!!

We drove back to SLC Saturday evening so that we could leave Sunday morning. We packed up the car and were on the road by 8:30 AM and it was sunny with no sign of rain...until we got to Nevada.

We got to Elko and stopped for a potty break and to change drivers. On the road again we were just past Carlin and through the tunnel by a couple of miles when there was a HUGE cloudburst and the road became flooded, big time. We were passing a Semi truck and with the flooded road and his wheels adding to it...we started to hydroplane out of control. We spun around and in front of the truck and over the edge of the northern side of the road with the driver's side going over first. We rolled our van one and a quarter times landing on the driver's side for the second time. We both had our seat belts on and never lost consciousness. It was still raining and all the windows on both sides of the van were gone when we stopped. People who were behind us on the road stopped and came to us asking if we were all right. We assured them that we were alive and doing quite well considering the circumstances. They told us that help was on the way.

The volunteer fire department of Carlin and the ambulance arrived first. They took out the remainder of the windshield so we could be reached that way if necessary. However the rear door and window of the van were still in perfect condition...amazing as that sounds so the EMT's came in that way to reach us. I was suspended over Richard hanging from my seat belt and I could see Richard's head bleeding badly. I was concerned but he was talking and said that he didn't feel in any great pain. The EMT's took each of us out on a back board with neck collars on and securely strapped down. I was put in the ambulance and Richard was put on a helicopter to get him to the hospital quicker because of his head wound. The people who witnessed the accident kept telling us they couldn't understand how we didn't get hit by the Semi!! We are certain that it was a miracle and only by the grace and love and protecting arms of a loving Heavenly Father did we survive that ordeal with no broken bones, no internal injuries, no life threatening injuries at all. No words can express how we feel.

I was examined and found only to have a few very small cuts and some bruises especially on the right side of my face so I wound up with a "shiner" worthy of a boxer. But I was released from the Elko Hosp and became a passenger for the rest of the traveling.

Richard was examined; he received a "$1000" reverse mohawk hair cut, and then his head wound was cleaned and sewn up with 10 stitches for a 4 inch gash on the top of his head; then he was CT scanned. He had some minor cuts on his left arm and big bruises on his legs just below his knees. The Dr. was concerned about a hemotoma on his brain so he felt that he needed a neurologist's attention so he told us we would be flown to SLC. Hurray. We are going back to family and where we came from! After two ambulance rides and one ride in a small "air ambulance" through turbulent weather (the pilot made an incredible landing...so smooth that we couldn't feel a thing...really!!) we arrived at the U of U Medical center. Jeff and Dave and their wives arrived and Jeff and Dave gave their Dad a Priesthood blessing. The Doctors did more scans and kept him over night for observation. After more than 24 hours, and determining that the 3 millimeter hemotoma hadn't grown at all, they released Richard Monday night to join me at Jeff and Rachelle's apartment once more . He hadn't really slept... only little infrequent snoozes the whole time since the accident so he was exhausted and so grateful for a bed to really sleep in for the whole night with no one poking and prodding him. Brook, Dave, and Carter bought Richard a really cute cap to wear to cover his stitched up wound. It's just like one Carter has and they sure look cute together in their caps.

Wednesday, George drove all the way to Elko from Idaho Falls to retrieve our belongings. When he was there, he spoke to the owner of the towing place and he told George that there were three other accidents on Sunday in the same general area of I 80 and they were all fatalities. The wrecked cars were there beside ours. He also told George that we had rolled down a 100 foot or more embankment because his 150 foot cable on his truck was completely extended to pull our car up to the road so he could tow it. A further testimony that we were protected and greatly blessed. George then drove all our stuff to SLC and brought it to us at Jeff and Rachelle's. He had dinner with us and then drove all the way back to Idaho Falls. THANK YOU, GEORGE!! We went through it all and didn't really have to throw away very much...which also is very amazing to us. We washed what needed washing and packed it all very tightly for our flight on Southwest Thursday evening. Some of our stuff was left behind but other family members going out in July will bring us the few things that we left in Utah.

Words cannot express the gratitude and love we feel for our family and all their help and the tender mercies of our loving Heavenly Father through this ordeal. We have been incredibly blessed!! Thanks to everyone for their thoughts and many prayers in our behalf. We have felt them.

We are now home and both of us returned to work Friday. Richard had his stitches removed today. His Dr says everything looks really good. We'll see how his hair grows out, it will be fun to watch and try to keep looking good as I am his hairstylist so I will do my best with the growing process. Rachelle's parents have loaned us a car until we can replace our van with something else. We will see what we come up with and I'll share it on the blog. Enjoy the slide show when I find out how to do it.

What a Vacation!!!

Well, Richard and I are back from our fabulous vacation in Utah. We love those majestic mountains and being able to spend time with our Utah kids and seeing their new homes. We drove out early Thursday the 14th and arrived about 7:30 PM at Dave and Brooks cute new 2 bdrm apartment. We had dinner there and were joined by Jeff and Rachelle. It was a lovely evening. We spent the night with them...Thank you Carter for letting Grandma and Papa sleep in your room...and then left early for the first of two days of the Zrii "Rising Star Academy" business training seminar. It was fantastic and so enlightening. We are very excited about this new business adventure we have started. It is the best thing to come along in our lifetime and will allow us to fulfill our dreams and help others along the way. Friday evening we had dinner at B & D's with J & R and enjoyed the evening together. We then moved into the guest bedroom of Jeff and Rachelle's new home just 5 minutes away. It is a 2 bdrm condo that is really nice too. Both families have just moved in so we were there to see the putting up of pictures and the arranging of belongings. What a process when you are just getting ready to start college!! I admire all both couples have accomplished in such a short period of time. Well done family.

Saturday was our second day of training in SLC and then back to Brook and Dave's for dinner all together. The meal prep was shared by Brook and Rachelle. What good cooks our sons have.
We enjoyed the time Saturday evening talking, taking a walk around their duck pond park like apartment grounds (where I got my toes mistaken for bread nuggets by the "friendly" ducks that surrounded us), laughing and playing games together. Sunday we went to church with Brook and Dave so that we could help out with Carter as they try to adjust to their new ward. It is the Millcreek Second ward in the area where Pres. Hinckley was Stake President many years ago. It's just down the street from their apartment.

We had a big surprise waiting for us when we walked into B & D's apartment. George, Seneca, and Emeric were there. They came down from Idaho Falls to surprise us and visit for a couple of days. We were very happy to see them. We all had dinner at Jeff and Rachelle's condo and enjoyed the evening together with lots of chatter and surprises. It was a mini family reunion.

Sunday evening we packed up and left for the second portion of our vacation...BYU education week in Provo. We were able to stay with Rachelle's grandparents, Jim and Jean Dunford in Orem. They have become good friends and we enjoyed staying with them and thank them for their hospitality. We attending BYU Monday through Friday going to 8-9 classes each day except Monday. We ate at Fuddruckers for dinner Monday which is a tradition for us. We were emotionally and spiritually fed learning many things with topics from Organizing our lives, to music by Marvin Goldstein, to Leadership skills and learning about the middle East. There are so many wonderful teachers and topics...something for everyone. Richard and I attended more classes together this year than we have in the past and that was lots of fun. We absolutely love Education week!!!

Saturday we met up with the kids again and went to lunch at The Gateway Mall, road "Tracks" to the SLC distribution center in the Joseph Smith building to make some purchases, then drove up to the Campus of the University of Utah to the book store while Jeff got his text books, then back to Jeff and Rachelle's to wait for her to get home from work. We took our family out to dinner at "The Old Spaghetti Factory" at Trolley Square. On the way home Jeff had to go to the Law school to pick up a Sylibus for a class so we got to see the Law school late at night. He can go into the building 24/7 with a special card he has so he can access whatever things he needs to do the work he has to do. We were happy to see where he will be spending so much of his time the next 3 years. Richard gave both of our sons a Father's blessing for their new challenges as they start a new phase of their lives.

Sunday morning we left Jeff and Rachelles for home at about 8:30 AM. We had a quick and safe trip home stopping for an hour or so at the Philpott's to see their wonderful, growing family. It was a fantastic, eventful, uplifting vacation. Thank you to all our Utah family for sharing it with us. We miss you.