When it rains, it hails

We are back from Vegas! It was a great weekend, til the end. We enjoyed the sunshine, celebrated Eva's birthday, ate tons of homemade ice cream, watched funny youtube videos, and laughed til we cried.

The drive home was where it got interesting. And by interesting, I mean life-threatening. We were making great time, and I was reading the very last page of the first Harry Potter book out loud when suddenly, neither of us can hear ourselves think- it seriously sounded like someone had thrown a tractor-full of pebbles at us! But no, it was just hail. Tons of it. We slowed way down and Tyler was being so cautious- we even thought about pulling over, but weren't sure about just stopping on the shoulder. Suddenly we were fish-tailing back and forth (luckily there were no cars in the lanes next to us) and Tyler was trying to get control of the car back when we veered off to the left, spinning. I closed my eyes just as we made contact with the median and were facing oncoming traffic, sure we were going to blow through the median and roll. We braced ourselves as we hit the median at the front, passenger side, and rear of the car and somehow did another 180 and magically stopped back on the right shoulder, facing the right way. It felt like a blink of an eye, but it kind of went in slow motion too. Not sure how to describe it. The next hour was something of a blur- two people pulled over and told us they had called 911, and then quickly left. We're so grateful they were behind us. A policeman came and called a tow for us, then got a statement going. I had the thought to take some pictures of the car, but when the policeman said "Be careful- if you guys slipped on the road, then someone else could also slip and hit you." I was brave enough to take one picture of the front, and then hopped back in to safety.

The tow truck came and lifted our poor car onto the bed, and then dropped us off at the nearest gas station. We were glad to be off of the road and away from the cop, who, frankly, was a jerk. Thankfully, we were able to get a hold of Aunt Dana, and she and Gabby came to rescue us from Payson. I felt so bad- I really thought we were closer, like in Springville or Provo! They were so sweet to come get us.

Once we got home, Tyler was on the phone with the insurance company, and everything's already being taken care of. We were able to get a rental car this afternoon, and our car is at a repair shop being estimated right now. Hopefully it isn't totaled and they can fix it relatively quickly.

There are just so many things I'm grateful for today. LIFE, for one thing. I saw on the news this morning that someone died in a similar, weather-related accident last night. I have no idea who the person was, but my heart and prayers go out to that person's family. I'm grateful for a wonderful husband who was able to handle the cop and everything else as I sat in the car crying like a basket-case. He is such a champ for handling me while also taking care of everything with insurance and repairs. I'm so grateful for another day with him. I'm grateful for insurance- if you don't have it, GET IT. I'm grateful for wonderful family- those who drop everything on a Sunday evening to drive all the way to Payson, and those who support us and are here for us every step of the way no matter what. I keep going over the accident in my mind- it is honestly a miracle that we didn't roll, and a miracle that Tyler and I both walked away from that accident without a single scratch. I know that we were being watched over and protected. We feel so loved, so blessed, and so grateful.