A new Odyssey

well, not exactly new - used. yep, we have another minivan. dan and i went a week ago saturday just to drive a few and look around, but ended up buying one. i feel weird driving it around, it's just too clean.

after dan cleaned out the other one we both realized maybe totalling her was a good thing - it would have taken a lot of elbow grease to get the interior clean. there was an upside though - lots of treasures were found; emily's long lost charm bracelet, forgotten about toys that got shoved between the seats, mummified tator tots - the list was long. we think now maybe the silhouette willed herself to be crashed just so she could go to the car graveyard. we imagine she was just too tired to go on with all the spills on her seats, toys shoved places, and all the many old cheerios & goldfish smashed on her floorboards.

we had some good times though. as the man drove her up on to the wrecker the day she went to the junkyard, emily called out -- "i'll remember to tell your story!" and a great story she had.

i won her on an ebay auction - best bidding i've ever done. i bid just the next minimum bid at the last 15 seconds. i'm a pro. so the next week the four of us flew to los angeles, picked her up and drove through the desert and down Route 66. we saw all the sites, including the grand canyon - and we even stayed in a tepee hotel room. ethan was just 15 months old, and emily, almost 3.

i don't know if emily meant that story, or the one about the accident. when she does tell someone that story i remind her to end it with letting them know that God kept us safe, and the minivan & the seat belts did their job. the kids still ask everyday if we'll ever get into another accident, and i flat out lie to them and tell them, nope. they are also happy when we hit a puddle and don't crash. i'm sure you're thinking i should tell them the truth, that we might one day, but i'm not. i think i'll wait until things settle down a little.

so anyway, i'll miss you silhouette, but now there's a new odyssey to go on. i look forward to good times with her, yes, good times indeed.

"It was like we were in a tornado" Emily

we are safe.

well, we were on our way home from being in louisiana for nearly a week when we had an accident this morning. it had just started to rain and we were behind an 18 wheeler -- dan could not see well, so he changed lanes. we hydroplaned, & crossed over to the other lane. dan lost control, we crossed back over to the opposite lane & we hit a guardrail. after we hit the guardrail we started to spin in the middle of I 10. we did two 360s, and dan managed to get the minivan to the median safely.

after we stopped the kids were screaming, so we calmed them down -- they were all safely strapped in. i foolishly was turned around in my seat trying to sleep so i got a little banged up. i have some pretty serious bruises and some pain in my chest, and dan has some pain in his chest as well. the kids each have a place on their necks where their carseat belts dug into them, but otherwise they are unhurt.

it was the scariest thing i'd ever experienced. i remember screaming "NO!" and thinking, oh no! - we are going to die. i looked back at the terror on the kids' face and just prayed for His protection. by the grace of God we were not all seriously injured, did not cause another car to have an accident, or be hit by another car when we were turning circles in the middle of the interstate. thank you God, for your protection.

when we were able to get back on the road, we tried our best to not make a huge deal out of it with the kids. i was on the brink of hysterics the entire way home - but i did not lose it. we kept reminding the kids of how God was with us. they have thanked God for protecting us - but ethan wants a new minivan; an orange one. the two of them did lighten the mood on the way home. they each got on their play phones and called their friends to tell them we were in a "crash." they'd tell them how we spun in the road, and when the person on the other end sounded concerned we'd hear - don't worry, we are fine. :) emily said she felt like we were in a tornado. too much wizard of oz, you think?

good news though, we were able to drive the minivan home!! she's a tough old bird...but will most likely be totalled out. our inspection sticker is out and i told dan on the way home i don't think the car will pass inspection. :)

seriously though, please pray for us. i am having a hard time not thinking on and on about what could have happened. how blessed we were none of our children were hurt...blah, blah. y'all know how i can be. :) i'm so thankful dan was driving. i know i could have never gotten us out of that like he did. he's our hero.