A Christmas Miracle in November

Thanksgiving is always a memorable time of year. Last Thanksgiving I remember we were all going to the airport to pick up my mom who always flies in to see my sister and I out here in Utah. Travis was nervous cause it'd be his first time meeting her and he wanted to make a good 1st impression, I was anxious too, but overall we were all excited! When on the way to pick up a friend at a pizza place, my mom surprised us! Her friend had already picked her up from the airport and when she saw us through the window she ran to the bathroom to try and hide but it was too late! We already caught her! It was one of the funniest moments and memorable Thanksgiving.

This year was also unforgettable, but for a different reason. My mom came as usual to visit her daughters  and Travis and I spent the weekend at my sisters for some family fun! My mom made us baleadas, we went to Bella's school play where she played the part of a nazi (intense), and then we went out for ice cream at Cold Stones and stayed up all night talking and catching up.

Saturday we all got ready and after breakfast we had lunch at Blue Lemon and took my mom to Scheels. We walked around the store, took pictures, and forced my mom, who was convinced she'd throw up,  onto the Ferris wheel. She had her eyes shut the entire time! She's a it of a wimp when it comes to rides.

Then we went to an old family friends wedding (Paolo Buendia) who I've known since my primary days, in fact, his dad was my bishop and interviewed me when I was baptized. Travis and I had such a blast dancing the night away and hanging out with some of my old friends from So Fla.

(Photobooth fun at the wedding!)

The next day we spent it in Provo. The family attended our ward and then I made chicken enchiladas for dinner and a chocolate raspberry tart to die for! We watched Mulan and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (the new one with Jonny Depp) and just hung out in our cozy apartment.

The rest of the week went on as usual for Travis and I with work and school. Wednesday afternoon my mom, sister, Bella and Gabe came to pick me up and we had lunch at Indian Palace and hung out at the mall and killed time until Travis came out of work. We had plans to go to the temple but it had closed early for thanksgiving so  we had dinner at Zupas instead, drove back to Eagle Mountain, and spent the night at my sisters again. Thursday morning the Thanksgiving preparations began. My mom baked the turkey, Sherlyn made yams, I put together a salad, and we got all dolled up to go to Travis' parents house where we'd be having Thanksgiving dinner. Travis left early to go help his mom with the Thanksgiving preparations and we met them there fashionably late for dinner. There was Turkey, yams, green beans, salad, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, gravy, and the fluffiest rolls ever! For dessert we enjoyed pumpkin and chocolate pecan pie with ice cream. We were stuffed! As usual, out Thanksgiving tradition includes going to the movies after. So we packed up our leftovers, helped clean up, and went on our way, when just around the corner the inevitable happened.

Trav and I made  a left turn and were in the median lane waiting for my sister to make the same cross. There was a stampede of cars coming, and Travis uttered "don't go Sherlyn" hoping she'd wait for the cars to pass. I looked back and saw that she went for it and was approaching our lane when a white pick up truck slammed into her door, glass and plastic shattering everywhere! I gasped in shock! We reversed to get closer and I jumped out of the car as soon as I could, cars whizzed past me and debris continued to fly around under my feet. I opened my sisters door to make sure she was okay since the impact was on her side. All was well, so I checked on the kids in the back seat, when I opened the door Gabe immediately asked "Am I bleeding?!"he had his left eye closed and blood was dripping down his face. I went into nurse mode and got a tissue to clean him up and apply pressure on the two cuts on his eyebrow from the frame of his glasses that had broken on impact. All the while, Travis was on the phone with 9-1-1 and getting an ambulance and police over. We put the kids in our car and I took them away from the middle of the road and to the side curb to wait for the ambulance to take a look at Gabe. My mom came over to, and as the police and everyone arrived a crowd gathered to see what had happened and if everyone was okay. Police reports were filed, Sherlyn gathered her things and a towing company took her car to a nearby yard. The front left headlight and bumper were blown out along with the tire. The trucks entire front was smashed in and likely totaled, their airbags had deployed and they also had a small child in the car. There was a brief comedic relief when one of the police vehicles slowly started moving down the road. My sister asked if anyone was in the car when all of a sudden it went up the sidewalk, knocked over the street sign, and parked itself in someone’s front yard! An officer ran over, apparently someone had forgotten to put the car in park!

Paramedics took a look at Gabe and gave him a gauze for his cut. After all was said and done, we took my mother-in-law's SUV and drove everyone to the ER where my mom got an x-ray for her chest; she felt a lot of pain from the seat belt pulling her back and Gabe got 7 stitches for his battle wounds.

(Gabe getting stitched up)

The whole time Travis and I kept thinking how grateful we were that everyone was okay and  no one was seriously injured in either party. We got home at around midnight, everyone got into their PJ's, and Travis gave my mom and Gabe a blessing that they'd recover quickly. The next day my mom was feeling TONS better, in fact, after getting Sherlyn a rental car and picking up our car from West Valley, my mom took us to City Creek for a Black Friday shopping spree and dinner! I'm still haunted by the images of the accident replaying in my head, but I am just so grateful for the true power of the priesthood that I have tangibly felt through this experience. It wasn't the best way to end the holiday weekend, but it was a testimony to us all that God's hand was present that night.