Tucson

Mark had to travel to Tucson over the Christmas break, so since we didn't want him to be away during all of the fun we had planned, we decided to cancel our plans at home and go along with him instead. The JW Starr Pass Resort had a lot of fun activities going on during the weekend we were there. Everything from sledding to a "santa's workshop", to horse riding, an elf "tuck in bed" service, and much more. Mix that with a little hot tubbing and the kid's favorite breakfast buffet, it was a great, quick trip.
We did, however, have a frightening car accident while in Tucson. On our way back to the hotel after church we hydroplaned while driving on the freeway. It had been raining quite a bit that morning and the roads were slick. We were in the fast lane when we lost control and started spinning across the lanes of traffic. At least one time we got within inches to hitting another vehicle, but luckily we just continued to spin until we slammed into the guard rail on the other side of the road, stopping on the shoulder. The moment we started to lose control, I felt so shocked. I couldn't believe this was happening to my family and as we spun, I felt like we were on a roulette table and I wondered which of my family was going to get hurt. I felt so grateful when we finally stopped. Though stunned, everyone was OK. The car was even drivable. We were hauling a steel cargo carrier on our hitch which took most of the impact of the crash. It was smashed, but had protected the body of our SUV very well. The baby slept through the accident, Matthew wanted to do it again. The girls were shocked and grateful and both felt protected by our Heavenly Father. Mark and I were shaky, and couldn't stop reliving the situation over and over again. When we finally got back to our hotel room, we knelt in prayer to thank Heavenly Father for watching over our family that afternoon. I felt so much gratitude for His protection and also so much love for my family, knowing that in a matter of seconds life could have dramatically changed for us.