When it rains, it pours...blessings.

Warning: This entry is extremely long. You might want to wait till morning when your eyes are well rested to read this.

Over the past few weeks our family has had some bad luck, but being an optimist always helps brighten the dark and dreary sky. Here is a list of our luck over the past 3 or 4 weeks with commentary.

1. If you've been reading this blog you know that before our vacation our car was giving us troubles and cost us lots of money to get ready for the trip and to pass emissions (see "Idaho here we come"). Positive side-we made it to Montana and Wyoming and had an awesome time with our families.
2. A day or so before we left for vacation, sickness struck pretty much our whole family. We had various symptoms of the cold or flu. I was fighting it throughout the whole vacation time and probably got all my extended family sick, I was feeling lonely in my misery I guess. Positive side- Both of the kids slept pretty much the whole trip while driving 8 hours without making a peep and we didn't have to make any unscheduled stops, AWESOME!
Besides being sick all of us had a great time. Our so called "bad luck" didn't bother us while we were visiting and enjoying our families.
3. Heading home from vacation our "bad luck" returned with a vengence. Everything was going good, kids sleeping the whole way once again, great stories and conversation about our trip, and great music to listen to (thanks to Chris and Jenny allowing us to copy some CD's and Pop for actually burning them for us). Anyways, everything seemed great, besides the fact our vacation was over or so we thought. Emily was driving, for the first time the whole trip, when the speedometer and tachometer started jumping around like a caffienated cheerleader. Then suddenly the speedometer, tachometer, and car went dead. Emily pulled over and we sat there thinking of what to do. Of course at this point, both kids woke up and started screaming and with no A/C running in the car it was pretty miserable. We decided all to walk back about half a mile to an exit we had just passed (we did get lucky that we broke down so close to an exit). So, we put Jordyn in her wheelchair and Evan stayed in his carseat and we started walking on I-90 (not the safest thing to do but necessary). We got about a quarter of a mile and greatfully a young couple stopped and picked us up and took us the rest of the way. We were extrememly greatful for them. The town we arrived in was Superior, MT... haven't heard of it? Not a surprise, population from what we could tell-8 people and a couple dogs. Well, we called a tow truck (also the only official repair place in town who said they wouldn't be able to get to our car for a week) got the car towed, while doing that the driver said,"Hey let me call so and so he also fixes cars and he could probably get to it tomorrow." (the nice thing about a small town everyone knows eachother and what eachother does...could be a bad thing too) So anyways, got the car to the repair shop, all the while Emily is sitting at the gas station with the kids next to what seemed to be a meth house with a bunch of scary characters going in and out of it. Well, we ended up staying the night in one of the two Motels in town (according to Emily, worse than the Skookum for those of you who know what that is) and luckily got the car fixed by the next morning and headed back home. -long story I know- Positive side- The car just needed a new battery, according to the Superior mechanic, and we got to extend our vacation and actually enjoyed our stay in Superior. Almost all 8 of the people were very nice. The town was rundown a little, but in an awesome location.
4. Not home from vacation yet, and Jordyn has two big seizures to add to our stress. She usually only has big seizures when she has a fever but not in this case. We don't know why she had these, maybe it was too hot in the back seat? Positive side- A lot of the time on vacation Jordyn was very irratable and grumpy, after the seizures she has been happy and calm- they often say that siezures are the body's way of correcting something that is out of synch, and in this case it seemed so.
5. Finally home and back to work we go. Well, my illness that plaugued me throughout vacation decides to get worse for a couple days. I was hating life but still needed to work to pay off our extra expenses accrued in Superior, MT. Positive side- we were home, sleeping in our own bed, eating our own food etc.
6. Evan's cough gets worse and he starts throwing up because he is coughing so hard. We take him to the doctor and they decide to admit him to the hospital. He is there 48 hours which is very stressful because of worry plus staying in a hospital room is the most boring time of one's life. The nurse also decided to give Evan his IV in his right hand which would be fine except that is the side he sucks his thumb on to go to sleep, so he is very upset the whole time. Positive side- A renewed appreciation and love for my family, a realization of how much they all mean to me and how hard Emily works taking care of her three kids (Jordyn, Evan, and me). Also, a plus for Emily, instead of 6 days without her husband (supposed to leave on backpacking trip for scouts July 17-22) she only has to be without me for 3 and a half days.
Note: Evan is home doing good, we just have to give him breathing treatments every 4 hours.
7. Ok, the same day Evan went to the hospital our car decides that it isn't fixed after all. I break down at the store and have someone come and give me a jump. So the car sits at home over the weekend until the shop can get to it Monday. Well, I have a small Toyota truck also but it will not fit the whole family in it, but it didn't have to since Emily and Evan were at the hospital so that was good. Luckily the hospital is within walking distance from our apartment. Well got the car to the shop Monday and $500 dollars later for a new alternator it is "fixed". Positive side- I don't have one for this experience because I'm too ticked about our stupid car. Without the car, this list I just made would have been half as long. I'll continue to look for the postive in everything...everything except my car that is.