It has been too long....

I just don't have enough hours in the day to get to everything I want to. Sometimes I want the days to be shorter and others I need to be about 20 hours longer...I'm sure everyone knows what I mean.
Life is going so well now and I'm going to keep up with this so I can make a book of it and share it with my children. I love going back and seeing all the fun times and crazy days at the Garcia's. Always full of surprises and trauma drama for sure.
So I guess I need to catch up on all the stuff that has happened in the last while.

October was a fun and exciting month with a lot of major awakenings as well. We started off the month with a fun time for Emily's birthday and then off on a trip to Vegas. We had two weekends right in a row we needed to be in Las Vegas. The first trip was for a break from life and the kids had 3 days off school - so why not. I hadn't been there in quite some time and thought it would be fun to take the kids, have Nef meet up with us on the weekend and then all drive back together...It was a great time. Oh my gosh - we got to see everyone and hang out and have a blast. We visited old friends, went out to eat way too much and played games, shopped, went to the movies and just relaxed- it was great. It lasted about 5 days of fun- then it all crashed!!!

We purchased a new van back in August and have loved it. Thought it would be the perfect way to break it in by taking it on a weekend trip. Well we did a little more than break it in-it really got it's first crash and a major one at that. With only a thousand miles or so on it I was sick when I found out what happened. Yep-I had no idea what had just taken place a short 10 miles from our house. Let me just preface this story with a quick low down of what happened the night before.

We stayed the weekend at our friend's house, Julie Stevens. We have been friends for almost 10 years and love her to death. We needed to be back in UT by 2:00 Sunday afternoon for Justin's homecoming-our nephew. So we had planned on leaving about 4ish in the morning and getting back just in time to change and go. BUT Nef had this great idea that we should just leave on Saturday night and drive all night. Normally, when we were younger and mentally stronger, I would have totally agreed that would be best and then everyone would sleep and we wouldn't have to make any stops, etc... But since we aren't in our 20's or 30's and we both need sleep in order to function, I begged him to stay and just get up early. I kept saying, "We aren't young, Nef. We should probably stay and just go in the morning. I think we discussed this for over 30 minutes and finally I gave in and said ok. I told him to go upstairs and get at least a few hours sleep and then we'd leave. Of course, by the time we packed and left he only slept a few minutes. He was tired...and so was I. I did my usual and took an ambien about 11:30 p.m. and let Nef know I wouldn't be driving anytime soon. I knew it help me sleep in the car, knowing it would not be a really comfortable ride home. And that I did. I slept off and on and Nef stopped more than he drove. He said he stopped about every half hour and got out to walk around, get a drink or see a man about a horse-because of all the soda he took in too keep him going all night. About 3 am I offered to drive and then I said-NO, I better not, I'm still sleepy and I better wait 'til morning. So he kept going. Finally, about 7:30 a.m. (we should have been home by now)we got to Kelly's house, where Nef had left his car before the trip, and it was a needed break. Nef went to the basement to snooze-out cold in seconds and sawin' logs like I haven't heard in a long time! So I was wide awake and asked who wanted to come with me. Of course, Christian wanted to hang with Logan and the girls were game to come with me. So off we went. I got a coke and filled the tank and we were set. We were almost home-a mere 12ish miles left to go and oops! mom blacked out WHILE she was driving.....no recollection of anything. I took a drink of diet coke and remember listening to the music on the radio and that was it. I came to right about the time we were coming to a stop in a field next to the freeway. I had NO! idea what had just happened and was stunned. I first turned around to make sure the girls were okay-they were and I told them to run and get out of the car as I could smell smoke and was hoping that the car wasn't ready to explode. Knowing that I had NO idea, I wasn't sure what had happened; but would soon know when two different men came running up to make sure we were okay. One of them drove their truck into the field and jumped out, asked a few questions, and upon finding out we were all fine, he took off. The other man kindly stayed and helped us through it all. He made sure we were all out of the car and then got all of our belongings out of our van, put it in the back of his truck and drove us home. He then made sure the girls would be okay and drove me back to the scene to wait for AAA to come and haul the van off. He told me all about the accident on the way home. WOW!!! I can't believe we are all alive and well. Plus, the miraculous part about this is that not one of us was hurt. Not even a scratch, a bump, a bruise, a cut....Only a guardian angel watching over us and protecting us. If you would have looked at the driver's side of the car you would have never known that an accident happened and that is where I was sitting, the girls were laying down, and their heads were on that side. When you looked at the passenger side you would have thought we flipped and flopped and did even more than that. The nice gentleman that took us home explained it to me and to be quick I will just say-I was in the left-hand lane when I blacked out, went across three lanes of freeway with no one 1/2 mile in front or in back of me, hit a concrete barrier, flew 30-40 feet in the air and landed in a field on the right side of the freeway. That's not all folks, none of that caused me to flip, roll and crash head on with anything else. I landed as if nothing happened, and then proceeded to continue on in the field and rip through a pot hole 3 ft deep and 5 ft in diameter and still keep on rollin'. Both of the tires on the passenger side of the car were thrashed. Completely ripped up and shredded to pieces. The engine cover was shredded and all over the field. How could we be safe and sound? I think we all know the answer...I was beside myself for days. I ended up four days later at the U of U in the hospital for 5 days while they did tests and figured out what it was that caused the blackouts. Of all things, it was the ambien. The sleep aid I so desperately thought I needed. After 5 days I was able to come off that and surrender my body from most of the pain I have had for the last 8 years also. It is a miracle what took place that day! I can't believe the whole thing had to work like that; but it does go to show that God has a hand in all that we do. He knows us and what we can handle and exactly when to step in and take over. I love it. I know this has been long but I needed to write it down so that I will always have a record of the event and forever have gratitude for the small and big things in life. I needed to be whipped into shape and taught a lesson. I have more gratitude now than I have ever had. I am so glad I was able to learn a life lesson and come out of it willing to go on and make a difference in my life. I hope I never forget this experience and always know who is incharge. . . I don't think I will ever forget the second chance I was given.
So, I'm going to add some photos in of the car:
So, this is a photo of some of the pieces of the car that came off from the underside of the car that we picked up and stuck in the back-why? I don't know. Maybe to get them out of the field and let the dealership that is going to fix it see what came off.... 
More "pieces" that came off from the underside of the car.
Front right side...doesn't look too bad does it? It is a pure miracle.
This is the tire that is shredded under and on the inside of it. Where the car first hit the ground after flying 30-40 feet in the air.

The side of the car that took all the heat. Luckily we weren't laying down on that side. Grateful again that we are all ok and happy to be alive. Grateful for a loving HF who sends His guardian angels down to watch over us. We love you grandma and mom! You will be forever in our hearts.  

* These photos aren't the best because they were taken on our phone before we left the scene.