A word on gratitude and the Longest Month Ever

No pictures and a whole lot of blabbing. Kind of a journal entry for me. I don't know why I have been feeling so reluctant to blog lately. Probably because I have to catch up and that is always a deterrent to me. Anyway, I want to tell the story of our return home from AZ after Christmas, because it was a doozy. Sorry, but it's a bit long; On our way up to Provo to stop for the night our wonderful car started having issues. We thought it was because it was so dang cold that night and maybe we had water in the gas which was freezing. Luckily, my sister Kelly was driving caravan style with us and we put the kids and myself in her car while Mitch battled our car. We finally made it and Mitch and Dad changed the fuel filter. It was New Years Day so no mechanic shops were open, but we figured it was ok since she was running great. The next day (Sunday) we left for Spokane and right in the middle of Montana the problems started back up. We stopped at a gas station in Deer Lodge - a tiny town- and she wouldn't budge. Everything was closed (Sunday). We finally found a place that would come pick up our car and haul it back 20 miles to a shop. If it had been anywhere else Mitch could have got some tools and fixed it himself for about a third of the total price, but there wasn't anything in the town for him to get what he needed. We stayed in the little motel and everyone was sick. I don't remember how many times Lottie puked on me. The next day the shop said they could fix it sometime that day. The problem was we didn't know how to go get it! There were no car rental places around. This is were it gets good: Josh's Dad's old business partner (got that?) lived in that small town and Josh gave us him number. He came and rescued us from the motel, took us to his home, right down the street, played with our kids and fed us BLT's. Then he drove with Mitch to get our car and brought it back to us. They were SO wonderful! I was/am so touched by how far they went out of their way to help us. We were strangers to them! Well, in all that craziness my makeup bag was lost. Big deal, you say. NO! I know makeup is a minor thing after all that, but to have everything gone (plus my two favorite earrings) and replace it all at once? Too expensive. Anyway, after we got home I was talking to my sister Wendy and basically whining about it when the next thing I know she is getting things off my list and a gift card to Sephora sent to me ASAP! It wasn't my intention to get her to do that and again I was overwhelmed by her generosity. Basically, people are too nice and I felt so very humbled when I started thinking of how much our families and friends help us all the time! There are too many things to list! I hope I can Pay it Foreword and please know how much I love you guys and and am so very grateful for all you do. Sorry if that was cheesy, but it's true. Now on to more complaining! Jeez, I am lame. So, Mitch has to do a rural rotation for his program and has been in Colville for the month of March. It is only about an hour and a half drive (very beautiful, actually) and we get to see him on the weekends. Well, 1 weekend he came home and the other 2 weekends we have gone up there while he was on call for the weekend. So he was working, but we got to see him part of the time. The hospital rents a little house for the residents to stay in while they are there. The little motel has a pool, so we went swimming which was fun. The problem is that when Mitch is gone, I don't sleep. I know I should be used to it by now, and other people do this kind of thing all the time, but I am a wimp with an overactive imagination. I lay awake all night listening to the imaginary intruders breaking in. Basically, I fall asleep when I reach a certain point of exhaustion on the couch watching T.V. So it's been a rough month and I thought I would have more time to blog and get projects done, but not so. I do have my library books piled high and many a chick flick in our Netflix queue, so that is helping. Only one more week to go!!!