We struck a deal.  I would go camping on Friday night if Nate would take me out to a Mexican restaurant on Saturday.  Deal.  Camping was okay, minus the huge storm that blew in over the night, and I wasn’t sure if our tent was going to blow away with us in it or just cave in.  At 2:00am in the wind and rain I was dreaming of my Mexican dinner I had bargained for.

Saturday night we went to our storage unit and grabbed out all of our Christmas decorations.  After dinner at my favorite place, Fernandos, we were going to decorate our house with the kids.  Dinner was amazing, the kids did great, and on our way home we were just talking about anything and everything.  And then we got hit.

I didn’t even see it coming–I was in the middle of a sentence.  It all happened so fast.  Once we had come to a stop I turned my head around and saw two sets of eyes looking back at me.  Nate was okay.  The kids were crying, but they looked good.  I jumped out of the car, unbuckled my kids as fast as I could and tore them out.  Zack had taken his shoes off, of course, so I had to hold him.  Mackay wouldn’t stop shaking.  A woman came up to me and offered help.  I handed her a child.  We jumped in her car and moved away from the accident into a nearby parking lot.  And that’s where we stayed for about an hour as the fire trucks, ambulances, and police arrived.  While Nate was checking on the other driver, talking with police, and trying to piece together what happened with witnesses, we colored by number. We sat in a car with two elementary school teachers and a middle school teacher.  We couldn’t have been in better hands.

Nate kept me updated on details as he got them.  The woman was drunk.  They found the bottle of Vodka in her car.  She tried to beat up police, was tackled to the ground, handcuffed, and taken to jail.  My fear for the person in the other car turned to complete anger.  I felt like I could have punched her in the face.  How dare she get into a car after drinking.  How did she not think of my children, also getting into a car, so excited to decorate their home for Christmas?

But even with the anger the blessings can’t be overlooked.  How she hit us in just the right spot.  How close she was to ramming right into Mackay’s door.  I don’t know how I could have lived with myself if my kids had gotten severely hurt.  How my friend answered her phone when I called for a ride.  How she came immediately to pick us up.  How our neighbors brought over two car seats for us to borrow that same night.  How our friends are bringing dinner over to us tonight.  How we are ALIVE and WELL.

So though our bodies are still in a lot of pain, we are so blessed.  And I thank you all for your help and support.