Flat tire!

Steve and I had a very interesting experience on our way to my grandmother's viewing and funeral. We were driving on the freeway at a little after 8 in the morning when we heard a weird noise. I thought maybe it was some ice that had fallen off our roof, but we found out about a quarter mile later it was the sound of our tire popping. We had a flat tire. There was a really sharp turn right by the side of a cliff coming up so I hurried and pulled over where we were. Unfortunately where we were was right near the base of a mountain the sun hadn't come over yet. It was very windy and was probably below zero with the wind chill. Because it was right before a sharp turn no one stopped to help us. We also hadn't been paying attention to where we were so even though we had family willing to come help we didn't know where to tell them to go. So we were on our own.  This was also the first/only time we have gotten a flat in our van so we had to get out the owners manual to figure out where the spare tire and jack was. And of course the spare tire was underneath Spencer's seat. So we had to move Spencer to the front and remove his seat to get to the tire. Steve and I had both changed tires before so it wouldn't have been a big deal, except it was so cold! We were wearing church clothes and had one thin glove to share between us. So because we were handling metal with our bare hands they went numb and stiff. It took us almost an hour to change it because we couldn't use our hands. We would take refuge in our car for a few minutes then work for few minutes and back and forth. We finally got it done though and were on our way. I didn't want to have a bad attitude for the rest of the day, so for the 15 minutes it took us to get to a tire place we listed all the "blessing" from this experience.

-Good thing it wasn't engine trouble. We wouldn't have been able to fix that.
-Good thing we had a spare tire.
-Good thing the tire didn't blow when we went around that sharp turn right by a cliff. We could have lost control and gone off the edge.
-Good thing Rod slept through the whole thing.
-Good thing Spencer was pretty good (for a 3-yr-old) and we brought our ipad to entertain him
-Good thing it happened on the side of the van that wasn't right by the road. (We were right by a slope so we had to park pretty close the road to keep the van level)
-Good thing we left 2 hours before the funeral started so we weren't late. (We missed the viewing but not the funeral)
-Good thing it was a Saturday morning so tire places were still open.
-Good thing we were so close, so we didn't have to drive on the spare for very long.
-etc etc etc.

Although it was awful at the time, we worked together and were very blessed.

Sleepy Fun

About a month ago Spencer got really obsessed with sleeping with toys and stuffed animals. I came into his room one night, after I put him and Rod to bed, and found this scene....

Then I went to check on Rod and found him asleep with a little stuffed bear. I asked Steve if he put it in and he said he hadn't. Which meant after we put Spencer to bed he sneaked into our room and put the teddy bear in Rod's bassinet for Rod to Sleep with.  

What a good big brother. 

Grandma Church

A few days before Christmas my Grandma Church developed pneumonia from the flu and had to be admitted to the hospital. Her symptoms got worse and she had to be put on a breathing machine. The doctor said there was little hope and she was eventually taken off the breathing machine and passed away on Christmas Eve day. I was very shocked and saddened at the news. I kept thinking about a few weeks before when she had passed through southern Utah  She stopped in Cedar to visit us. It was her first time meeting Rod and she held him and kissed him almost the whole time she was visiting. She got to Cedar late and only got to stay for about an hour before she had to leave to go to another prior engagement. She said that now that she was here she didn't want to leave. She wanted to be with family. She gave us all at least 2 or 3 hugs and kisses before she left. I didn't realize that would be the last time on earth I would see her.  But a part of me was happy that she is with her husband and daughter again...she wanted to be with family.

This is the memory our family shared at her funeral (from my dad's perspective)

Mom was there for the birth of every one of our babies.  Vickie cried when her mom left after having her first baby, she had been there helping her for at least 2 weeks. Mom always tried her hardest to be at the blessings, baptisms, weddings and graduations of her grandchildren. Mom and Vickie were always there for one another, and would organize, take trips to Mexico together, and plan family gatherings.  The kids have fond memories of trips to Laverkin and family reunions.  Mom would babysit our children so we could travel, some memories our children have while staying with grandma are the house always smelling like herbs, picking cherries and apricots from the orchard, and helping pull weeds from the garden or mow the lawn with a coconut ice cream bar for a reward...and who could forget her healthy cooking?!  Jamen, Jace and Katie will never forget the day Grandma made broccoli soup and told the kids they could not have an orange creamsicle until it was all gone. The boys promised her they would eat the soup if they could eat the creamsicle first, and grandma being the loving person she was agreed.  They ate the creamsicle and then got to work on the soup.  One bite and they realized it was just blended up broccoli mixed with warm water, and could not gag it down.  The boys were glad they had already eaten their creamsicle, but Katie was not so lucky!  Grandma was a tireless worker and she always had a project going. She was also a resourceful pioneer woman, who would ring every ounce of usefulness out of any object. She was a woman of Faith. It made a big impression watching grandma's response when she was asked to say prayers.  She would always say thank you!, and we knew it really was a blessing to her to be able to talk to her Heavenly Father!  Above all, we all remember how grandma always made us feel loved and welcome. She always had a hug, a warm smile and a kiss on the cheek ready for every greeting and every parting. at the age of 80 Grandma was still as spry as most 30-year-olds. She worked in her yard, did her own cleaning and shopping and most especially still had energy to play with the great-grand-kids. She would play pretend with them, jump rope, get down on the floor and play with cars and run after them playing tag or hide and seek. She loved her great grandchildren and they loved her. Mom was a devoted mother to all her children. When her daughter Vickie became ill she was a great support to her and her family.  She was by Vickie's' side for her final days on Earth and even after she had passed, mom begged Vickie not to go.  It was hard on her to have her daughter gone, and we are so happy that they are back together again. I am sure there were many hugs and kisses shared in Heaven that day!