Our South Dakota Neighbor

After months of neglect, I thought I would share more of our adventurous trip to and from Omaha, NE. Let me say one thing, when you're driving on I-90 and pass Wall Drug and the hundred plus miles of unique signs posted every other mile in South Dakota, there isn't anything else to see. Period! South Dakota was one of the long parts of our trip, so we decided to make the most of the monotony by meeting new people. Ok, so it wasn't planned at all, but it's something that we will never forget.

When you drive through South Dakota and see a place to stop to pee, you jump on it (ok, not literally). Gas stations happen about every hundred miles or so and bathrooms less often, so we were approaching a rest stop and going to take advantage of indoor and heated bathrooms. When we parked, it was my job to open the back of our wagon and get everybody's coat and put them on as people exited the vehicle and then close the back and run to the bathroom. When we were all done, I took the coats as people peeled them off and jumped back into the wagon, and then I opened the back of the wagon and put the coats in and jumped back into the car. I then backed the wagon out of our spot and started driving away. Did I forget something? Yep!

About 200 yards from our spot, a man started jumping up and down trying to get our attention, so we stopped. "Um, hello," I said, and he replied, "Hey partner, I think you forgot something back there." So I looked back to where we were parked and said, "Hey! The back's open." "There you go partner," he replied. I thanked him for getting our attention and picked up some stuffed that had fallen out when we stopped and closed the back. I looked back to our spot and found a cowboy waving something of ours and trying to get our attention.

I climbed backed in the wagon, put my head down, took a deep breath, and looked in the rearview mirror and started backing up. Allison didn't see the cowboy, so I had to explain why we were backing up more than 200 yards, and then we all started giggling. When we reached the cowboy, Allison rolled down her window, and this is what happened:

"Howdy! You know, I've had bad days before, just like my Washington neighbors have." At this point, Allison and I both thought the cowboy was going to tell us a story about his neighbors that used to live in or now live in or part of the year live in Washington, but no, the cowboy was talking about us. Allison and I just looked at him, waiting for the rest of the story, but there was no story coming. So, we just stared at each other, waiting for the other to start talking. Then he tried to make us feel better by saying, "Hope this will make you laugh later on, my Washington neighbors." Then he lifted the lost item - a flattening iron.

We thanked our South Dakota neighbor for returning our flattening iron, bid him a good day, and drove away. Then we all started laughing! Really, really hard! We were laughing so hard that I had to pull the car over to the side of the road. When our laughing subsided enough to drive again, we realized we were still at the rest stop, only about another 50 yards past where we first stopped to close the back of the wagon. So we started laughing again, but I drove through tear blurred eyes this time just so we could leave the rest stop. The rest of the day, we made jokes about what the heck that cowboy thought the flattening iron must have been from a portable iron for jeans to a travel grilled cheese sandwich maker. It was one of the best days of travel we had, and we still laugh and joke about it.

Two Months Later, and I finally continue the story

Ok, I know it's been more than two months since I first wrote about our roundtrip drive to Omaha, NE, but we've been super crazy and haven't had time to finish what we started writing. The trip to Creighton University has been productive so far, because I am on the waiting list for their pharmacy program. I'm just waiting to hear that somebody had other options and took them leaving me an open space to join the program. Anyway, on with our trip...

So, after getting pulled over by a police office in Bellevue, I drove through the night with Madison waking up off and on talking with me. It was really sweet and memorable to share those quiet times with her at 2 am driving over the Washington mountain passes. I tend to get warm while driving, so I was in shorts and a T-shirt, and we had to stop during the night for gas. It was not only cold (low to mid 40's), the wind chill dropped the temperature well below freezing. So, I had no coat, no socks, wearing flip flops, shorts, and a T-shirt in below freezing temperature with the kids inside the car telling me to hurry so they can go back to sleep, and I can drive another 5 hours so we can eat breakfast in Montana. Anyway, I digress.

So, the drive through eastern Washington and heading into Idaho was great, but the Idaho pass is where we hit our first patch of bad weather. Remember, when we left, it was May and Omaha was in the upper 70's to low 80's (Washington was raining in the 60's - nothing new). But we hit a snow storm (our first of many snow storms) and found nearly white out conditions. Less than 24 hours before, I was sitting in Biochem before heading to 7 hours of work and then more than 8 hours of driving, and now I'm driving through a snow and wind storm. It was one of those snow storms where the snow doesn't fall, it blows sideways. Then we got to the bridge. If any of you have driven I-90 through the Idaho passes, I'm sure you know the bridge that spans a canyon from one mountain to another, and I'm sure it's beautiful when the sun is shinning and the wind is mild. We didn't hit the bridge under such conditions, however, the wind was so high and the road so icy, our car hit the bridge and was turned sideways! The front of the car was pointing over the bridge, and the driver-side door was leading the way across the bridge. I am so thankful that we were the only drivers 'smart enough' to be on the road just before sunrise. Anyway, we made it safely across the bridge, but we all wide awake after that little adventure.

We made it to Montana safely where we got some gas for the car and breakfast for our tummies. We then started driving through the rest of Montana for another several hours before we called it a day.

Our trip through South Dakota was less adventurous and more funny, but that story will come later.

The first 90 miles of our 3,700 mile trip across the country and back

Ok, so I thought that I would blog about our trip to and from Omaha, NE, before now, but my anxiety is a bit too high as we wait to here if I got into the pharmacy program or not. So as we continue to wait, I thought that that I would tell about our first 90 miles. Before I do, however, I need to set up the day. Our day started like a normal day: Allison and I got up around 6:45 and starting getting ready, kids up by 7:00, breakfast, kids to school, Allison to work, me to school, pick up Emma, lunch, Emma to the babysitter, me to work, Allison and the girls getting ready for our trip, girls to bed, and then I get home around 10:00. We finished packing the car, got the girls up from bed, and started driving east around 10:45.

The girls are sleeping before we hit the freeway, and Allison's sleeping before we get out of the county. But, I am driving, so I must stay awake. About 85 miles later, I start yawning. I think yawning is an understatement. My yawn is so violent that the car starts swerving, and I cross over to the lane next to me. About 5 miles later, several more yawns, and more unauthorized lane changes, the inside of our car lit up like a blue and red Christmas light show. I pull over, wait for the police office, and wake up Allison. The police office walks up to the driver's side window and asks if I've been drinking. I start to explain that we're driving to Omaha and wanted to start our trip while the kids were sleeping. Allison (still trying to wake up) starts talking, well, not so much talking as sounding really, really drunk. The police office looks in the car and sees the girls waking up in the back seat (Allison still rambling quietly in her seat), and the officer looks me in the eye and says, "I only have one thing to say to you - Montana is BIG!" Then he said (and no I didn't point out he already said one thing), "Now that I've pulled you over, you're totally awake now, aren't you?"

I said yes and thank you as he turned and walked back to his police cruiser, and as I pulled away, both the girls started asking me why I needed the police officer to help me stay awake and keep me in my lane. Soon, Allison and Emma were sleeping, but Madison stayed awake to talk. She fought sleep for about another 90 minutes getting us to the mountain pass around midnight. With all the crazy weather (snow, rain, hail, high winds, dust storms, etc.) we experienced and the 150 miles of Wall Drug signs, being pulled over by the police officer in the first hour and a half of our more than 55 hour adventure was one of the highlights. I thank God that the girls had lots of fun and had great attitudes throughout the the whole trip.

Gregg

2,700 miles down, 900 to go

So it's 3:00 a.m. Mountain Time (2:00 back home), and we're leaving in 90 minutes to travel the final 900 miles (or about 13 hours of driving time) of our little family trip to and from Omaha, NE. I (Gregg) had an interview on Friday with Creighton University's School of Pharmacy, and I am super excited about their program and approach to health care as a future pharmacist. I won't find out, however, if I got into their program or not for another three weeks, so the following 21 days are going to be absolutely torturous!

During our 50+ hours of driving so far, I have discovered how absolutely amazingly beautiful our country is, and of course, how to drive 90+ mph for the entire states of Wyoming and South Dakota. We also made a point to stop at Mt. Rushmore mainly because I have never been and wanted to go so badly, but we also wanted the kids to experience the absolute awesomeness (yes, that is a word) of the mountain. They loved the presidents' faces carved into the mountain, but they were more interested in the gift shop wondering how to spend the money they have saved. We took lots of pictures while we were there and throughout our entire trip, and they will be uploaded soon after we return home. But, since I am unable to post any pictures now or better organize my thoughts, I will wait until we return home, unpack, get caught back up with work, school, and life in general to post anything more about our trip. It has been amazing so far, and the girls have been even better than I could have possibly dreamed.

Until next time, pray for our safe return and my acceptance into Creighton's pharmacy distant pathway program (that means we get to stay home while I attend school online).

God Bless,

Gregg

Baptism

Well, it has been a long time since anything has been posted on this blog, so I thought that I would give it a whirl. I am Gregg, Allison's husband, and I wanted to tell everybody about the experience I had about a month ago at a Saturday church service. I have been a Christian almost my entire life when I accepted Christ into my heart at the age of seven, and I remember it fondly. I had questions about a Sunday school lesson that the teachers didn't answer, so I was sitting outside the classroom when a man in our church sat next to me. Funny thing is, his name was Greg too (but he spelled it weird), so Greg listened to my questions, answered them, and then prayed with me right then and there.

Like many churches, however, I was not able to be baptized at that time because I was too young. I grew up as a Christian and only had a couple of other opportunities to be baptized, but I didn't feel like it was the correct time for me. Knowing that I wasn't baptized starting weighing on my spirit, and as we started attending Christ the King church the opportunity to be baptized presented itself during a service where the older kids were brought into the sanctuary to watch the baptism. I told Allison that I wanted to be baptized at the next opportunity, and my oldest daughter Madison (8) told us after the service that she wanted to be baptized too. How amazing it is that we decided to be baptized at the same time!

So, one Saturday evening in February 2010, my family (Allison, Madison, and Emma), my dad and step-mom (Dennis and Sayra), my in-laws (John, Pam, and my nephew Jayden), and even some cousins (Adrain, Sasha, JJ, and Ava (who was also going to be baptized)) sat in the front left corner of the sanctuary during the service. When Pastor Grant was done with his sermon, he dismissed all the people being baptized to the back stage area (yeah, there were more than just Madison and me) where we all took off our shoes and any extra clothing we didn't want to get wet. Any children that were getting baptized were supposed to be in the front of the line, but somehow, Madison and I were delayed and as the line was being let out on stage, we had to run to the front of the line. Well, we were second in line, and Ava and Adrain were first in line. As we stood on stage, Pastor Grant talked with the church about the importance of baptism and what it means to a Christian, and then he prayed for us all. When the prayer was finished, Ava and Adrain led the line to the pool on the far right of the stage - our right - but it was the front left corner of the sanctuary where all of our family members were sitting. I remember standing at the edge of the pool holding Madison's hand watching Adrain help baptized his daughter (Ava) and think what an amazing opportunity to not only experience the baptism process with our children but to assist with the procedure. When Ava was baptized, the whole church erupted in cheers and roared with excitement, and the look on Ava's face and Adrain's smile was breathtaking.

Then it was my turn, and my emotions fluctuated from excitement and pure happiness for Ava to a complete void. I remember standing there telling somebody I was being baptized first and then Madison after me, and I felt completely mechanical walking down the steps of the pool. All of my shorts had big holes in them so I wore pants to be more appropriate while my picture was being displayed on the two big screens in the sanctuary. When I tried to walk through the water, however, my pants were dragging me down, and it took so much effort to walk through that pool wearing pants. So a piece of advice, splurge! Buy yourself a new pair of shorts when you get baptized so you don't have to wear pants into the pool. Anyway, I finally made it to the other side of the pool, and all of the emotions that left me feeling void came rushing back to me. Images of when I became a Christian, my wedding day, watching my kids birth (that's a whole other story I'm sure you've all heard), and sitting bedside in the hospital, watching Madison slowly die, praying for a miracle all flooded my mind's eye. I remember that I started crying as they lowered me into the pool, so I don't think anybody noticed. When I was pulled out of the water, I just remember absolute silence. The void I felt before was replaced with the total opposite. I was so full of emotion, I was numb. I'm sure there were cheers, but everything was quiet. And then, Madison was in the pool, and I was standing next to her as words and prayers were said for her. Then I helped lower her into the pool and pull her out again, and the cheers were so loud it hurt my ears. The lights were so bright it hurt my eyes. I just thought what a miracle this girl is and what a special and amazing individual she's becoming and will become. Born at just 1 pound 6 ounces, we experienced most every emotion with her throughout her entire life. Watching special, modified defebrillator paddles get wheeled in to restart her heart, watching her right lung inflate so much that it crushed her heart and other organs to almost non-use, to taking her home and stopping in Everett so my sister Kristina and her family (Gregg (yes, another one), Mackenzie, and Caitlin) could look through the car windows and see her for the first time at 5 months old. Watching Madison walk up those steps and out of the pool, I thanked God for blessing me with her life when it should have been taken away. I just can't wait till her wedding day when I stand there blubbering like an idiot crying my eyes out stammering, "What's my line again?"

Well, this ends my little tale of my baptism and turns out to be much longer than anticipated, and I didn't think I would get so emotional. So, I hope you all enjoyed it and that it makes sense because I couldn't read the screen through all the tears.

God Bless

Gregg