Humbling Experience

As I have said before I want to keep more of a journal this year, and with keeping that in mind we had quite the experience in February that I forgot to write about. It is tradition that for Super Bowl Sunday we head to Rusty and Tracy's house. It is one of our favorite traditions. Russ flies in from Oklahoma and it is a big event. This year we were just as excited. We packed the car, packed our dinner, pretty much packed everything but the kitchen sink. The kids were thrilled to be on the road at last. In fact because they were so excited we were surprised when about an hour into the trip they were all asleep, ahhhh the peacefulness. Kev and I were enjoying nice conversation and we, several times, commented on how peaceful the trip had been. You know the saying, "The calm before the storm." it's not a lie. When all of a sudden (I know a little dramatic but believe me it fits) the over heating light clicks on, bright, red flashing a little scary. We find the next place we can to turn off the road. When we do pull off there is smoke flooding out of the hood. Not something you want to see when you have a car full of kids and are not a mechanic. Kev pulls out the manual and then we hear the tapping on the window. (Please remember we are in the middle of nowhere, between Page and Flagstaff. )We pulled off where there happened to be a little store. The knocking came from the owner who informed us that this was private property and we couldn't park there. We were dumbfounded to say the least. He realized we weren't going anywhere and calmed down and told us he could have a tow truck there in ten minutes. Kev very kindly (because that's how he is) said can we wait a few minutes and see if we can get it to cool down. To make a long story short we were able to get it started and move on only to have it start over heating again. This time we pulled into a trading post called "Hanks". We were fortunate to have our Bishop only fifteen minutes behind us and he does know a thing or two about cars. After he arrived and we tried to get the van up and running we decided that it just wasn't happening and we had to throw in the towel. Bishop called friends to come get us and we rounded up our blankets to wait for our rescue. Did I mention I had packed dinner? Everyone was a little bugged that they had to wait for me to make their dinner before we left I didn't hear any complaining as they gratefully ate their dinner in our broken van.

I don't think I mentioned Hank, well all I can say is never judge a book by the cover, same goes for people. He was one of our many heroes that night. He saw that we were going to wait in the van for our ride. He pulled Kev aside and asked if he would bring us all in, he had a little place in back where we could keep warm (It was snowing.) Not only did he take us into his home, but he made us popcorn, offered us dinner, and turned on a movie. The kids thought he was pretty cool. Our ride, the Gardners, came not only to pick us up, but with a trailer to bring our van back home. I am a true believer that Heavenly Father answers our prayers.

Many things were learned that night, but the thing that we will always hold in our hearts is the kindness of others.