Angel Bubblewrap

So......this morning I woke up to earth angels.  I am so blessed my children are alive.  Today I even enjoyed putting my 3 year old in time out with a new appreciation for his sweet little smile and mischiviousness.   Today I am not preparing for a funeral.  Today is my husbands birthday.  Today it feels like Christmas has already come and given us the greatest gift-LIFE.  Today,  "I have my family here on earth.  They are so good to me.  I want to share my life with them through all eternity."  Thank you for the prayers and thoughts and phone calls.  We have felt them minute by minute.

Thursday night at 5:32, 30 minutes before this crash I picked up the van from the repair shop. (Do you think I could get a refund?)  We were on our way to the boys Christmas piano recital.  (we never made it)  Before we left Ben was mad at me because I made him unbuckle and put his booster seat in and use it.  We were going to be 20 minutes EARY-that is a miricle in itself.  I thought since our piano was in route to Little Rock the boys could use the time to practice on the grand piano at the library before the performance.   It was 6ish and dark and we were going 45mph down 10th when a car made a left hand turn across our lane into a subdivision.  There was nothing I could do to avoid crashing.  We hit, spun, hit again and slid to a stop.  It was like a movie but I could smell the black powder from the air-bags, the baby was crying, the door was difficult to open.  I had to get my children out and keep them warm.  The boys were disoriented, I asked them to please get out and away from the van.  They could not open their door more than a foot and were trying to squeeze through.  I reached over Anthony and unlatched the baby's car seat and lifted it out.  I handed it to a lady coming out of her home and asked her to take him.  I unbuckled Anthony and carried him over to another woman.  The boys were out and going into the house.  I went back to shut off the van and get the diaper bag.  The door groaned and creaked and opened only enough to tug the bag out from between the floor and dashboard.  I was in luck I had zipped it before we left and my cell phone was inside.   I heard sirens in the distance.  I asked a  man standing there if he saw the accident and he said he was right behind me and he couldn't believe the car just turned in front of us.  I glanced over to see the car on the other side of the road.  There was no movement.  There were people to help him.   I went into the home to check on the children.  Baby was out of his seat and being rocked and comforted, Anthony was being held (he didn't say a word.)  The boys looked shaken, Caleb did NOT want to go to the hospital. 

 The side of his face was red.  He insisted he was OK.  Paramedics checked each child and had a look of disbelief on their face. 

Caleb and I were transported to the hospital in the ambulance.  The Larsons were on their way to pick up the other children.  They boys were secure in the Larson's van and the street was reopened when a second crash exactly like ours occurred.  Ben remembers hearing the airbags go off.  On our way to the hospital the medic's radio was on and I heard gun shots, "officer down" and more gun shots.  I asked him what happened and he said an officer in Nampa had been shot.  He hoped it was not his friend. 

After x-rays and check-up's we were released and reunited with my children.  We got to the Halls home and Ben, Caleb and I embraced at the top of the stairs and we cried together.  Caleb and Ben had been so brave, so strong, so blessed.  We truly had Angel Bubblewrap.  These boys have amazing things to accomplish and good choices to make.  

Christmas came early for the Schwartz family.  Prayers are heard and answered and SEAT BELTS, CAR SEATS, BOOSTER SEATS AND SAFE VEHICLES AND ANGEL BUBBLEWRAP SAVE LIVES!!!!

Ben was on this side.  He and Caleb banged heads and then Ben's head with his hand on his head (he had been sleeping), hit the window.

I honestly don't know how I had the strength to open this door enough to get the car seat and the children out.

Yep, my sexy bruised knee/leg.  

12 Joys of Moving

 2 AC units stolen/vandalized 3 times--for $35 worth of copper..who says crime doesn't pay?

Bolt cutters should have to be registered like a gun and they should have "fingerprint blades"

Sheba our new guard dog...dawg gone good at it too.

"James, I didn't know we had a gate in the back of the property."  "We don't"

Amazing friends and members who helped us MANY hours of mending fences. 

Our church building and the BEAUTIFUL Arkansas trees!

Soooo many nice people in Arkansas and accross the US.  I was amazed and blessed with the people of all ages that helped me with Joseph.  Angels are all around us.

 

My first blizzard in Seattle of all places

Pig MANIA!  The boys LOVED the pig POOP and snout our friends got the boys for a souvenir.

Home is where your hand is.  Thanks Grandpa for taking great care of the boys.  Thanks amazing friends, neighbors, home teachers, etc. for helping while I was gone.  We are going to LOVE Arkansas but MISS our friends and family.

Moving on

OK, we decided to move to Little Rock Arkansas and so I went to the liquor store to pick up....

some EMPTY BOXES for packing.  Yes, for your observant visitors, that is a picture of the Idaho Falls Temple on the wall above the boxes.  You know I was tempted to get out the CTR stickers to put on these boxes.  As bad of an impression as they give they are GREAT for packing goblets and other breakables!  And the price is not bad either.  No we do not have any family there and untill a few weeks ago knew NO ONE.

Yes, we are excited to move to Little Rock.  In fact when James went for his interview he said it reminded him of Boise, only with more trees.  No, I have never visited, but will Nov. 18th...hopefully to sign on our new home, get a look at the schools and meet our new ward.

However, I did receive this fortune the day our offer on the house was accepted:

This all happened so quickly and in the midst I was blessed to have a missionary experience of a lifetime.  I got to meet and become friends and sisters to Wilma, Nathalia, and Paola. My two door down neighbors and  kindred spirit sisters.

Within a few weeks they made commitments to be baptized- on condition that it could happen before we moved and before James left for Little Rock.  We went through the discussions like wildfire and it was a natural high like no other.  They were both ready to receive, luckily, I got to watch/cheer from the sidelines! (Yes, I usually hate sports analogies too.)

So here we are this week, showing the kids the house we have never set foot into, however some wonderful friends in our new ward graciously sacrificed time in their busy lives to look at the home for us.  Yes there are Christmas bows on the computer screen and I had Christmas music playing in the background.

Friday: Wilma and Nathalia were baptized.  Wow, was that the best treat ever!  Yes, better than choclolate.

Sunday they were confirmed members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and we had an amazing authentic Italian dinner made by the Larson family to celebrate. Ohhhhh soooooooo good.

Today, Monday, we waved good-by to daddy/James as he headed off to Arkansas.  The one thing I can not deny is the knowledge we have something to do or learn in Arkansas.  As crazy as people think we are and sometimes I ask myself "what am I doing?"  I know this is what God wants us to do.  I am following the promptings of the spirit in faith.  I love my family and friends and could not imagine making this move without their love and support.  There are truly angels among us, always.

Life is an amazing adventure.

Next blog post:  The 12 Weeks of Packing that's such a pain to me...

NO CARB Heritage Preserves

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Welcome Joseph James

May 14th we welcomed Joseph James into our family.  He is a sweet little man with a huge spirit!  His brothers are in love with him too.  We are so happy he is here.  Thank you to soooo many of you who helped us adjust this past few weeks.

My cousin died just over a year ago, so I created this story to help explain to his family where he is now and how they can join him.