We Have Been Blessed!

I've been thinking a lot about this last weekend and our little "adventure" on this side of the road. Even though it was pretty inconvenient, it could have been much worse. There were several blessings that made it bearable.

First, our cell phone battery had been dying quite frequently. Even newly charged, it would only last a few hours before dying again. This could have been a real problem, BUT I had just replaced the cell battery with a brand new one the very day before our trip to Cedar Point, so we had a phone to call for help.

Second, I usually measure out the exact amount of baby formula Hannah will need for an outing into a seperate container so that I don't have to lug around the BIG Costco-sized can! On Saturday morning, I did my usual measuring out of the formula, but then, for no real reason, on my way out the door, I grabbed the whole can too. If I hadn't brought the whole can, I would have had nothing to feed Hannah for hours!

Third, we have been blessed with amazing friends who were willing to drive over an hour away at 3:30am to pick us up! (We love you, SHUPES!) I never really worried about finding someone to pick us up, because even if we couldn't reach the Shupes, I knew there was whole ward directory full of wonderful people who would drop everything and come to help if they could (several with minivans too - hahaha)! I worried more about waking those good people up in the middle of the night!

A few months ago, some neighbors of ours had a car accident and called us for help. When I arrived and they thanked me, I said, "I'm just glad you thought of us." Their response was, "Well, all our family is out of state, so really we don't know anyone else to call." That was such a shocker to me, because as a member of the Church, I guess I'd always taken for granted the blessing of having such a strong support system around me, no matter where I go.

I feel so humbled and grateful for these and several other blessing and miracles that I benefit from every day. I don't alway deserve them and I may not always notice them, but somehow Heavenly Father sees fit to bless me with them anyway.

The Roller Coaster of Life

All I can say is that we've had a very roller coastery weekend, both literally and figuratively. To start it all off, I was on-call on Thursday. The bad part is that it entails working 24 hours straight (without sleep) taking care of critically ill patients in the ICU. The good part is that I got a three-day weekend afterward. Since we knew my schedule in advance, we bought tickets to see our favorite band, Rascal Flatts in concert on Friday night. My sister, Deb, drove in from Michigan to visit on Friday, and she even volunteered to babysit while we went to the concert. Thanks Deb! You ROCK!

The concert was awesome. Taylor Swift opened and put on a very rockin' show, but it still paled in comparison to the groovin' sound of Rascal Flatts. Aside from their awesome sound, they had three huge video screens on stage, combining video and special effects with pyrotechnics to create a truly amazing audiovisual performance. All I can say is that it was very impressive. At one point, there was a thunderous "boom" with the sudden appearance of thousands of pieces of confetti showering the crowd as strobe lights flashed through the darkness, lighting up the endless sea of balloons pouring down from above. After arriving home, we crashed for the night and woke up early Saturday morning to prepare for our annual trip to Cedar Point, currently ranked number five on the Travel Channel's list of world's top-rated thrill parks. Each year, the Cleveland Clinic offers its employees a free pair of tickets for the park, which lies just over an hour away from Cleveland, in Sandusky, Ohio. After packing the car with strollers, coolers, snacks, water, and child-care products for the day, we hit the road. We had driven no more than 20 minutes, when I saw the flashing red and blue lights in my rear view, indicating that I would soon be receiving a speeding ticket. I suddenly felt one step below the mold that grows on stale bread after it's been sitting in the dark pantry for a week. As the officer explained that he had clocked me going at least 15 mph over the legal limit, I expected the worst. Then, inexplicably, he told me to watch my speed a little more carefully next time and then he even volunteered to lead us to the correct exit to take us toward Cedar Point. He actually let me off with a warning. I was amazed.

About an hour later, we arrived at Cedar Point, and despite the blistering heat and long lines, we had a blast watching the kids ride the kiddo rides. Between me, Summer, and my sister, we were able to alternate turns riding the huge coasters and watching the kids. The best of all was watching Andrew squeal with excitement as he rode some of the larger coasters, something he had never been able to do in previous years because he didn't meet the height requirement. Logan also got a kick out of riding the kiddo rides with his cousin, Paiton.

We began snapping pictures to post on the blog, but we didn't get many before our nearly $400 camera suddenly stopped working, despite having a nearly full battery. Fortunately, it was only 6 months old, and still under warranty, so now we just need to fill out several forms to get it fixed. They just don't make things like they used to.We had a great time at Cedar Point and spent the entire day playing with the kids and riding rides. We didn't end up leaving until the park closed at 11pm, and because of the sea of cars, we didn't leave the parking lot until almost midnight. It was past 1:00 in the morning before we actually left Sandusky due to a horrible car vs. motorcycle accident just off the freeway. We had made it about 5 or 10 miles down the freeway when our car started sputtering and finally died. We coasted to the side of the road and tried for several minutes to get the car to start, but it was all to no avail. It was 1:30 in the morning, the car was dead, all three kids were asleep in the back, and we were more than an hour away from home. Since it was so early in the morning, we decided the best course of action would be to stay in the car and let the kids sleep and wait 'till early morning to phone some friends to come pick us up. We tilted back the seats and tried to sleep, but only rested about half an hour before, once again, the flashing red and blue lights appeared behind us. Because the rear windows were foggy from the moisture within the car, the officer approached cautiously, hand poised on his holster and ready to draw his gun if needed. After answering a few questions and explaining the whole story, he relaxed a little and essentially told us we were crazy to try to sleep in the car with three kids 'till morning before calling for help. In the end, we only lasted until about 3:30 before the kids all started waking up and crying for food, water, a bathroom, and being unable to stretch their legs.

Under the pressure of the kids (and realizing we only had enough water for one more bottle for Hannah), we caved in and called our friends, the Shupes (yes, this was at 3:30 in the morning). We felt SOOOO..... bad waking them up, but they were VERY kind about it. Rather than being angry about having to answer the phone at 3:30, he asked if we were all okay, and left immediately to make the hour-long drive through the middle of nowhere to rescue us. They are some seriously cool friends, and we are truly blessed to have them.

We made it home around 6:30 am and were actually able to get the kids back in bed and get a little bit of sleep before going to church. Afterward, we took the van and again made the drive back to Sandusky to tow the car back home. It was actually pretty tough traveling 45-50 mph while trying to keep the car on the road without power brakes or power steering (the battery had died because the flashers were left on through the night, and it wouldn't hold a charge since the engine wouldn't start) and trying to maintain an appropriate distance without dragging or jerking the tow rope. Eventually, we did finally get the car back home, and we all made it safe and sound.

After a weekend like that, going back to work will almost seem relaxing... ALMOST.

We have TWO cars!!!

This post is LONG overdue, but I want to say a HUGE thank you to Mom and Dad Anderson for our new car! Well, it's new to us! When they came out to Ohio for Hannah's blessing, they cancelled their plane tickets and DROVE all the way from Utah to give us their Buick! They are such incredibly thoughtful, giving people!

For the last three years, we have had just one car - our Pontiac Montana minivan. This wasn't much of a problem when we lived in Salt Lake, when Bryan could walk or ride his bike to school, but here in Cleveland, it has been much more of a challenge. If I ever needed the car for a doctor's appointment, shopping, or any other activity requiring a car, I had to wake the kids around 5:30am, load them in the van, drive Bryan to work, drive back home, and then hope and pray that the kids would go back to bed (yeah right!). Then we would pick him up in the evening after work (sometimes very late!). You can imagine I didn't like do that very often. So we were usually confined to home, the school playground across the street, or the library, if the weather was good. Cleveland winters are hard enough to bear without being trapped at home!

Now Bryan takes the Buick to work, and I have the van WHENEVER I WANT! We get to go out to the pool 2-3 times per week, shopping, free movie Thursdays, new and exciting playgrounds, or other outings, even on a whim! It's so wonderful! We are very grateful!

Thanks so much, Mom and Dad! Our new car is such a blessing!

P.S. Speaking of cars and blessings...

The air conditioning on our van hasn't worked for a long time! We've endured two hot, sweaty Cleveland summers without it! We just figured it would be too expensive to fix. Well, remember Bryan's car accident back in April? We took the van to the shop to be repaired, and when it came back, the air conditioning miraculously worked! Good as new! No kidding! Now we are cruising along, cool as cucumbers!

The Glass is Definitely Half-Empty

Today sucked...... I worked from 6 a.m. till midnight yesterday. On the way home, I remembered that I had a 6:30 a.m. lecture. I wasn't going to go, but I felt I should attend (especially since I didn't go to the one last week) because it might help me with some study questions I've been working on. That being the case, I woke up early with less than 5 hours of sleep so I could drive to work on my day off for a 30 minute lecture that turned out to be of very little value. On the way home, this happened:

Luckily, the other driver was not injured, and I received only a minor abrasion on my forehead. Because it was 8 a.m., the sun was directly in line with the stop light, and I couldn't see that the light had changed. It was one of those moments that seemed to pass in slow motion - one of those where you brace yourself for the oncoming tragedy, just hoping that everyone will be okay.

On the plus side, no one was injured, the police were very friendly and didn't issue a citation, and our insurance company was very easy to work with (they even had an the appraisal guy out to our house within three hours of the accident).

On the negative side, I get to look forward to paying the $250 deductible and watching our rates double. FUN, FUN, FUN!!!