Halloween Costumes

"No, Ryan, stay here, we're posing!"

Silly Fairy Princess

Buzz Lightyear and Bat Girl

Punk Lady, Buzz Lightyear and Bat Girl

Somehow this post didn't actually make it on to the blog so it is out of order. 

The first two are dress-up day at Leah's preschool. She wanted to be a Fairy Princess again, even though she was the same thing last year.  She went through lots of ideas of what she wanted to dress-up as in the weeks before Halloween.  We were all going to be Toy Story characters but the princess didn't want to and I didn't push it since I wasn't sure where I was going to find a Bo Peep costume.  When it came time for trunk-or-treating Leah decided she would be Bat Girl. Some generous friends gave us some costumes their boys had outgrown.  Ryan was always a constant and wanted to be Buzz.  I'm glad because some other friends had given us this costume last year and it finally fit him. I was whatever punk I could scrounge together in the hour before trunk-or-treating. Lance was a day of shark week. He and some women from school all took a day and wrote that day on their shirt with black tape then wore a paper shark fin attached to a headband on their head.

Jump On It

Auntie Kimm suggested we go to a place called Jump On It while we were up in Provo/Orem. It is filled with trampolines and air filled slides.

The kids had a great time jumping around. Auntie Kimm jumped with the kids between her legs so they could go high. Ryan laughed hysterically, Leah didn't like it so much. Ryan is still trying to figure out how to actually get off the ground when he jumps, instead of just bending and quickly straightening his legs, so it was good practice for him. The both were worn out by the end of the 1/2 hour we were there.

Ryan at the very top of the slide. Is he really big enough to go down that slide?

Now that Leah is at the top to show his how it is done maybe he will get the courage to go down.

Weeeeee!

Arches

I love that Arches is only about 20 minutes away. It is really just on the other side of town from us. I have never been, although Lance has. We decided to take a short trip Saturday. We drove in and got out a few times. We only made it as far as Balanced rock, which is a little less than halfway through the park. The kids were hot and ready for a nap. Ryan fell asleep about 5 minutes after we got into the car. Just wait until we do some actual hiking!

Our first stop, Ryan was trying to explore on his own. The sidewalk sloped down and of course he wanted to go that way instead of the way we were going.

Leah was deciding she didn't want to look at the camera or smile for pictures most of the day. She just couldn't quite hold in the smile on this one though. I love how Ryan is holding on to his sister's leg. Leah had high pigtails under her hat, that is why the hat looks so wonky.

Ryan sure does love those rocks!

Who cares about the amazing rock formations in back of him, give him some small rocks he can pick up and he is in heaven. He would have stayed here all day if we would have let him.

Climbing up the stairs to Balanced Rock.

At the base of Balanced Rock. Notice how Ryan is trying really hard to get away. That would be quite the drop down though.

Balanced Rock. I realize now that we didn't actually get a picture further away to show how impressive it really is. From some angles it looks like a thumb in the middle of two upright hands, at least the fingers of those hands.

Leah found a cave, ok, so I found the cave and pointed it out but she wanted to climb in it. She had a little difficulty getting out of it, especially since her sandal fell off. We really need to get her some tennis shoes.

Lance's Graduation

We went back up to Provo for Lance's graduation. It is about a 3 1/2 hour drive so we stayed the weekend up in Provo with my Grandfather.

Lance says this is what makes it all worth it.

All of us together.

Leah is pointing at the balloons someone lost and Ryan is, well isn't it obvious?

The kids only lasted about 10 minutes of the graduation ceremony inside. The rest of the time was spent chasing them around a section of the track (we were in the Smith Field House building). They had to find ways to entertain themselves...

I thank God for life!

I usually don't like posting without a picture, don't really like using this blog as a journal for me but more for the kids but I'm making an exception for this post.

I truly am blessed that me and my family are alive right now. On Saturday night we were traveling to Washington to visit my parents and 4 hours before our destination we hit a patch of black ice while using our cruise control (apparently not a good thing to use cruise control if the roads are or could be wet and icy, didn't know that before). Our truck slid and hit a reflector pole on the passenger side of the truck and then rolled into the median. I don't know how many times it rolled, I think it was just one full rotation, we ended up back on the wheels in the middle of the median. The truck shell came off when the truck landed on its top and stayed put when the truck landed on its wheels. Most everything that was in the back of the truck stayed in the shell with a few of the loose things scattering a few yards away.

After the screaming stopped (me and the kids) and the truck stopped moving I checked quickly to see if the kids were okay. Leah, Ryan and I were sitting in the back seat of the truck, all buckled in and safe. Ryan had snow all over him and a tiny scrape on his chin from the seat belt buckle. Leah later said her stomach hurt but has not complained of it since. We were all safe. Lance had his hands on the top of the steering wheel and got some pretty good cuts from the shattered windshield on his hands but didn't need stitches. I got out of the truck with Ryan wrapped up in a blanket to see what the damage was. Almost immediately a stranger stopped to help. They came over and helped me and the kids into their warm car to wait for the police to come. The driver happened to be a volunteer first responder ambulance driver so he took charge of the scene and helped us know what to do. It wasn't until I got into the warm car that I realized I had a pretty bad seat belt burn, no blood, just tender. The next day I had quite a bruise. Once the first responder ambulance arrived we left the warm car and got checked out. The kids were given a teddy bear each, Leah seemed to calm down and Ryan just ate the tag. There was no need for us to go to the hospital. They didn't have little bandaids for Lance's hands so they wrapped them up with gauze. This scared Leah pretty badly when she saw them. It took her a few minutes to calm down and be okay. Then, because she isn't a car sleeper, she started to get crazy tired giddy and had the paramedics laughing at her crazy antics. Glad to know she wasn't too shaken up by the whole thing!

I couldn't help thinking how bad things were. How were we going to get to my parent's house, how were we going to get home after that, how were we going to replace the truck (I was assuming it was going to be totaled)? I did keep reminding myself what a miracle it was that we were alive and thanking God because of it but I couldn't put the other thoughts behind me. I think I was in shock. I kept fixating on my lost cell phone and how they wouldn't be able to find it because it was white in the white snow. We didn't get service in that area so we couldn't just call it.

Finally the tow truck arrived and the tow men picked up all the scattered stuff and put it in our ruined truck. It took a bit to get the truck on the tow bed. All said and done, the major damage was on the top of the cab and the windshield. Both doors opened and shut well enough and the back seemed fine. All this was seen at night since I haven't seen the truck in the daylight yet. I am glad I was in the back though, since it was the passenger side that hit the hardest in the rollover process. We had purchased new carseats just a week ago so I'm pretty sure this is why the kids were kept so safe. The old ones were fine, just outdated and not as great as the new ones. We were taken to La Grande, Oregon (we were 20 miles east of La Grande when we crashed) and dropped off at a motel, we got what luggage we needed for the night and said goodbye to the truck. It was locked up in the tow yard.

My Dad drove down the next morning to come and get us. While waiting for my Dad we decided to go to church. We called the local meating house and were able to arrange for someone to come and pick us up. It was nice of them to do this for us and it was nice to be able to go to church. The ward was so friendly and nice, at first I think they thought we had moved in and they were excited for new blood. Lots of people were willing to help out if we needed anymore help. There was a really great spirit in all the meetings. My Dad and Lance will go back to La Grande tomorrow to pick up the rest of our stuff. We are pretty sure the truck is totaled so there shouldn't be a need to take care of it.

My sister graciously offered us her 2 round trip plane tickets so we can get home. We are looking for a new car, a minivan since that is what we were going to get anyway, just not for another year. I think unless we find a really great deal on a car we will probably just fly, then we don't have to worry about the roads again.

I am definately greatful we all walked away with as little physical damage as we did. I'm angry that we got in a wreak and right now I'm still a little angry at God for allowing this to happen. I prayed about when we needed to leave Saturday moring and felt that it would be okay for us to leave around 1:00 pm (we ended up leaving at 2). Why did I feel okay about leaving when we did if we still got into an accident? I'll have to work this one out and come to terms with it all. It is easier to stuff it all away and just be glad we are all safe.