Friday, December 10, 2021

Father's Day Weekend: the Good, Bad, & the Ugly

I wasn't home for most of Father's Day this year, so I had Josh open his gifts from me and the boys a few days early on Thursday. Micah saw a card game online called Gnomin' A-Round, so I ordered it for him to give to Josh. The other 2 boys gave him gnomes to add to our yard collection. I gave him a shirt I found at the Idaho Potato Museum that made me think of him when I saw it: a potato riding a streetbike, and it says "When Potatoes Go Bad"! He loved the gifts! We instantly played the new card game, and it was pretty fun: it's very similar to the card game "Golf". I'm so grateful that Josh is the father of my boys! He's a great dad: he's taught them the value of work, he helps them with their motorcycles and vehicles, and he takes them on fun and memorable adventures.





On Friday of Father's Day weekend, I went to Mud Lake to celebrate the Summer Solstice a few days early with my Dominoes friends. We met at Val's house at dinnertime, and afterwards we sat around the campfire (that Angie brought) under the full moon. We laughed, talked, ate, and cooked Starbursts over the fire. Then we continued the party inside with more laughter, games, and even gifts (it was partly a going-away party for me). I had so much fun that night; I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time! We have the BEST time when we all get together!
Val gave everyone a domino necklace she'd made with one part being 6 (to represent the 6 of us), and one part being which number of the 6 we are. I chose the domino with the numbers 6/6 because I was the last one to move to Mud Lake in our group. It was such a special gift! Tanis gave us all matching rings that say: "I am enough". Just the month before, she'd given us all matching hats with the words "Hot Mess just doing my best" (as part of an inside joke we have), so now we all have matching hats, necklaces, and rings. I love these ladies so much!  





I spent the night at Val's house on Friday, and on Saturday morning I drove to Utah to be with my parents for Father's Day. I hung out with my parents all Saturday afternoon and evening. I did puzzles and played games with my mom, and watched TV and hung out with my dad. 




On Sunday, we had a family lunch with salads and sandwiches; my mom put out quite the spread for salad fixings! Most of my siblings came over to the house, which was nice. My goal was to leave early that afternoon to head back to Salmon, preferably by 2:00, but I got delayed by siblings and left later than I intended to. 


Father's Day Sunday was also the actual Summer Solstice--the longest day of the year. As I was driving on Hwy 28 a few miles past Leadore that night around 8:15, I came around a bend in the highway, and the bright sun (that was lower in the sky at that time) was suddenly shining directly into my eyes, so I pulled down the visor. In the 2 seconds it took me to pull down the visor, I had lost my visibility of the road due to the sunshine, and a deer ran out right in front of me in that exact moment. As soon as the visor was done, I spotted the deer and slammed on my brakes, but it wasn't enough. The deer hit my front end, and hobbled off. I took my foot off the gas and pulled over to the nearest pullout--and that's the last time I drove my car. It shut itself off, and wouldn't restart due to the radiator being punctured in the wreck and all the fluid bleeding out. Thankfully, I was back in cell service, and I immediately called Josh. He handled it well and said he would be on his way momentarily--I wrecked 45 minutes away from home. I called the towing company right after that, and David Turner said he was on his way, too. I was doing alright for the first 15 minutes while I waited; I walked back about 100 yards to the crash site and threw off all the debris from the impact, and then I returned to the car and sat inside to wait and panic and fear finally started to wash over me. I called Amanda and talked/cried to her. Then I called and told my mom about the accident. In the midst of all my tears, my neighbor Justin Williams drove by in his Fish & Game truck, and he flipped a U-turn and came back and parked behind me with his lights on so that others approaching the same bend where I'd crashed would be able to know to slow down as they approached my vehicle (I was still partially in the road). I was SO grateful for him being in the right place at the right time and for his willingness to help me! My panic had started after a semi truck came around that corner behind me, and there was a car heading the opposite direction, and the truck nearly struck me because it hadn't put on its brakes quick enough upon approaching my vehicle, and I feared I would be struck in my car from oncoming traffic since I wasn't completely off the road, but I also knew it was the safest place for me to stay while I waited. It was a traumatic night for me, but I was SO grateful for good men to come to my rescue--and I was especially grateful that they'd be willing to spend their Father's Day evening helping me alongside the road! Josh brought his truck, and we emptied all my bags and personal belongings out of my car and into the truck (he knew it was going to be totaled, which it was). I was grateful for his foresight. Not long after we emptied the contents of my car, David Turner showed up with the tow truck, and got my vehicle all loaded. He told us of some experiences he'd had in Sunday School that day with our sons, and it was a fun moment to see Josh, Justin, and David laughing and talking and acting like it was no big deal as they loaded my car from the unfortunate accident I'd had. 







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