Oh the Wonder of a Box!

In this time of economic uncertainty, Eric has taken it upon himself to forgo his bed (complete with slide), and sleep in a box.  Our little princess has slightly higher standards; she has chosen a plastic container for her sleeping arrangements.When John woke up in the middle of the night, he saw that Eric had chosen to sleep in a box instead of his comfy bed.  Upon discovery of Eric's cramped position, John promptly placed Eric in his bed only to find him back in the box the following morning.

Coming home from Cedar Breaks

On our way back from Cedar Breaks we decided that we would go up to the peak to get more pictures from the top of the mountain.  We had about an hour before lunch so we thought we had time, little did we know what was coming.  On the top of the peak we ended up sliding as we were trying to turn around and slide off the road.  John kept trying to get us out with little hope, not even so much as a budge.

Then some people came up and tried to get to us to help but could not even get their car up to us so they turned around and left.  Then a Jeep came and tried to pull us for about 1 hour and had not luck.  

By this time Stan and Carol, who are at the cabin with Ashtyn waiting for us, had called the police to come and save us.  The police came in a big Dodge truck to try to pull us out.  While they were pulling, the rope snapped off their truck and hooked right into the taillight.  Did I mention that we were not in our car; we were in John's parent's car.

So at that point we had missed lunch and had been up there for a couple of hours.  

Eric decided that he would just take a nap because it didn't seem like he would need to be in his car seat anytime soon.

The police said that we would have to call the tow truck from Cedar City to come up and get us.  An hour later when the tow truck got there he tried to pull us out and of course failed.  When a tow truck cannot pull you out, you know you have a serious problem.  

So John and the tow truck driver started to dig out all of the rocks from under the car using a shovel and a crow bar.  

Some people in a truck stopped and two big guys came to help, which saved us.  They also let Eric and I go get in their car to stay warm with their wife/mom who fed Eric and I fruit and candy (we had long missed lunch by this time).  After digging out rocks for 2 hours they finally got us out and two truck was able to do the rest.

Once we paid the two truck guy, who charged us $157 an hour including the hour drive to and from Cedar City and the two hours of digging out rocks (you do the math) we were finally able to go home.  Stan and Carol were very happy when we came back safely, although I am sure that they will think twice next they let us borrow their car.

While we were stuck I was thinking about some of the conference talks that were shared during general conference.  I couldn't help but think about those that shared stories of serious struggles and it made me feel so grateful that we were safe.  I also recall a talk about being able to laugh about your life struggles, I think that one might come with time and far after we have paid for the credit card bill.

Where did fall go??

We went up to Brianhead, Utah thinking that this was the weekend for the fall leaves.  I packed up my camera and was very excited and eager to get some gorgeous pictures. 

 The week before we had heard was amazing and thought (little did we know) that they would still b

e amazing.  We got there on a Saturday night and when we woke up Sunday morning this is what we saw:

Although I did not get to see the fall leaves in all of their glory, the snow was still beautiful.  The kids thought that it was Christmas and kept talking about how excited they were that it was Christmas time.  I don't even know how they associate Christmas with snow since we have always lived in Las Vegas where we don't get any snow for Christmas :(

Stan took the kids (Eric, Arianna, and Ashtyn) on a ride in the snow.  They were so cute all bundled up.  When they got back they had hot chocolate, which they all loved!!All weekend Eric wanted to make snowballs and throw them at people.  He had so much fun chasing everyone and trying to get them. The picture below is at Cedar Breaks which was beautiful with the red rock and snow on top.

Cedar Breaks!!

26.2 Miles later

John just ran in the St. George Marathon this last weekend.  I am so proud of him, he did an incredible job.  He wasn't able to train as well as he would have like too, and still did an amazing job and finished with a great time.  Watching him come across the finish line was so incredible (I know I keep using that word but it really was), he still look like he was going strong even after running 26 miles.

Eric, Ashtyn and I went to cheer him on and it was just pouring rain, we were so worried about all of those runners.  On the side lines Eric and Ash kept cheering on all of the runners as we were looking out for Daddy.  Eric just kept saying how he was a marathon runner just like Daddy.  When we did see John I was a little worried that Eric was just going to keep running along side him to the finish line and I would lose him, but he did come back when I yelled to him.  

Eric was so excited about John's medal, he was so happy when his dad let me wear the medalStan and Carol came all the way down to cheer on John as well.  And as you can see by Stan's expression he was very proud of John as well.A little 'after marathon kiss' for my honey.