I'll Be Home For Christmas (Even if it kills me)

Well, this was certaintly an eventful holiday season. You know how I was all set to go to the inn for our Anniversary, fate had different plans. It started with me getting a terrible painful infection so I went to the doctor that day and was put on antibiotics and Loritab for the pain.

Me at the doctor. I had a lot of time on my hands waiting the doc to show up.

I figured I wouldn't be able to enjoy the inn anyways so we decided to leave a day early to Arizona for Christmas. It took a while to pack so it was getting dark by the time we left. We got to Beaver and were headed over the UT-20. We had just finished talking about how cool our new car was because I had noticed the skylight, and looking at the temperature drop clear down to 7 degrees because we were so high up when we hit some black ice and the car went spinning out of control. We spun a couple of times until we were off the road (but on a flat section not off one of the many drops on that road) and finally hit something hard enough to stop. We got out (no one was hurt) and saw that the passenger side was smashed and the doors were lifted and stuck and the car was buried pretty well in the snow.

I say this is a roller coaster because this is when the good and bad really started to blend. Within 5 minutes cars stopped. One guy had a bronco and a towing cable, but the front was so buried in ice and snow we couldn't see to hook it up, and no one had cell phone reception. More people stopped and helped us to dig it out enough to hook up the cable. Then they pulled it back onto the road and the car still ran so we drove it down the mountain back to the I-15 until we had reception.

We called our insurance (I had just taken Jace's advice and upped all of my coverage or we would not be so well taken care of) and dispatched a tow truck. We had to wait for about a half hour, but the heater still worked, which was good because the doors on the passanger side were not sealed so cold air got in. I called my family to tell them we would be late and Jeff offered to pay for a plane ticket if that's what it took to get us there, even though the tickets were over $800!!! I just can't belive how much love and generosity we found throughout this trial.

I called my Grandpa Hunt who called my Great Uncle Kay (his brother) it took a while to get a hold of him, but as soon as he did Kay was on his way to save us. I havn't seen Kay since my family broke down in Beaver when I was 15. A cop came to take the report, I recognized him as the same cop who gave me my totally unjust ticket on my way to BYU. I was sure he would find a reason to ticket us, and I kind of think he was about to when we said we knew someone in Beaver who could help us. He asked who and when we gave him Kay's name he offered to call Kay himself. So now I have a much better memory with that cop and can release my past bitterness.

Kay arrived about the same time as the tow truck and we got everything out and he took us to his house. His wife Pam greeted us and they are some of the most warm, welcoming, and loving people I have ever had the privaledge to meet. We stayed up for a whole talking with them and then we got all settled in and Kay offered to drive us all the way home the next morning if we needed. We finally got to sleep, but poor Ken who was driving was so stressed out he had a hard time sleeping. I was on Loritab the whole time so I was able to sleep. The next morning Pam made us a yummy breakfast and we decided to rent a car in Cedar City to get us home, and Jeff helped to pay that significantly lower fee. Kay drove us to Cedar City and then insisted on giving me money for gas. What a wonderful person. I am so grateful that I got to know Pam & Kay better.

Fantastic

We rented a Dodge charger, and I tried to drive because as a whole I had been able to remain alert despite the pain killers, but as soon as I started driving I got really out of it and had to switch. Not long after Ken took over I started feeling sick. We were on that windy canyon road between St.George and Vegas so there was no where to stop. I looked around and all I had was an old towel I had been prompted to bring for some reason I was now figuring out and I threw up all over it, and the new rental car. Then I had to sit there holding it for about 20 minutes before we reached a gas station for me to clean up. When we stopped my infection burst as well. So, I got all cleaned up and changed my clothes and we were on our way once more. Just before Kingman I got sick again and we stopped by the side of the road and after some fresh air I felt better and was able to drive the rest of the way.

We FINALLY made it home for Christmas that evening. When everyone came home I went with Josh, Grace, and Corbin to see some Christmas lights and we got to relax and enjoy our holiday. (Well, most of it anyways, but that is another story)