Day 2:
The next day we left our hotel in Page, AZ at about 9AM. We stopped to see Glen Canyon and then we drove for a few hours and finally arrived at our next destination for the day: The Grand Canyon. It was 25 bucks to get into the park, but it was a site worth the money. It looked like it was going to rain, but we arrived at the perfect time. The sun was still peaking out of the overcast skies and the shadows over the canyon was breathtaking. It was warm, but not uncomfortable. As we took a family picture next to a wall straddling the edge of the canyon, Loki jumped up onto the wall and almost fell over it to his death. I guess he really wanted to be in the family picture. After viewing the amazing scenes of the canyon, we got back in our car and drove to the Canyon Village. We stopped a couple of times to see more amazing views and some giant elk that were just sitting on the edge of the forest eating and resting. It began to rain really hard, but we finally made it to the village. We watched some movies about the Grand Canyon and just relaxed. After about an hour or so, we got back into the car and drove to Flagstaff, AZ where we stayed the night. The day had been perfect and it was amazing to see God's creations.
Day 3:
The agenda on this day was just to drive, drive, drive. We drove to Lubbock, TX. The most eventful thing that happened, I suppose, was that we drove through New Mexico and into Texas. I tasted my first taco at Jack in the Box, which was wonderful. I don't think I've ever had such a tasty fast-food taco. We also drove to the Lubbock temple and again felt comforted by the fact that although we were getting further and further away from our family, God was always nearby.
Day 4:
I almost don't want to write about this day because it was so disappointing, but it has a happy ending and so I guess it's worth telling. We started out the day in a timely manner. We were going to drive from Lubbock to Fort Worth where we would meet my Aunt and Uncle, but somewhere between there, our car ran over something metallic and our tire blew. We were forced to pull over on the highway in the middle-of-nowhere and figure out what to do. Jordan was going to change the tire and use the spare, but to our shock and horror the spare was flat. My cell was getting crappy reception (I HATE T-Mobile) and I lost contact with my insurance agent who was getting us a tow. Jordan was on the phone with Pep Boys (we had gotten the tires through them) and was talking to them about getting a tow. They said they would send someone out to where we were and so we waited...and waited...and waited some more. They said it would only be 30-40 minutes until they would arrive, but it had been an hour, and even with the air conditioning on, the car was heating up and so were our tempers and stress levels. It was so hard being packed in a little car in a humid place surrounded by weeds and giant yellow, cricket-like bugs with wings (cicadas) surrounding us. We had been there so long that my poor bladder couldn't take it anymore and I had to courageously get out of the car and pass through that field of bugs so I could find some privacy to relieve myself. It's times like these I wish I was a boy. Jordan called Pep Boys again and it turned out that they were looking for us about 40 miles away from where we were. We all groaned in distress and worry. I was in the car, trying to distract Olivia, and I said a quick prayer out loud, pleading with God to help us. Suddenly Jordan slapped his hand on the window and told me to get out. I looked at the back of the car and a large truck was pulled up behind us. I was surprised to find that it was a police officer, better yet, the chief of police. He didn't look like any police officer I had ever seen. He looked a little like Kurt Russel, but a lot more tan with a cigar hanging out of his mouth that he continued to chew the whole time we were with him. His vehicle was covered inside-out with deer-hunting paraphernalia and two giant guns hanging from the inside of his cab and a pair of handcuffs hanging off his steering wheel. We all piled into his truck without hesitation and he drove us to an air pump where we filled the spare. He then drove us back to our car and we were soon on our way. Olivia was very angry at all of this though and was having a loud meltdown in the back. She wouldn't take food or bottle and the only way I could comfort her was to give her her blanket and stuffed bunny to stroke her cheek. We drove all the way to Fort Worth on that spare tire and then walked in the hot sun to get some McDonald's down the road. On our way back to the car we stopped for snow cones. We didn't have quite enough money for what we ordered and she didn't take credit cards, but the lady simply took some money out of the tip jar and let us go on our way with a smile. Thinking about this experience now brings tears to my eyes at the simple gesture. Perhaps God put her in our path as well to give us a small blessing on a day of disaster. Looking at the whole situation from afar, I can clearly see how blessed we were. We could have been in that car for hours waiting for someone to help us, and yet, a police officer stopped to help, even allowing us to ride with him to make sure we were taken care of. This woman gave some of her hard-earned money to us so that we could enjoy the simple, cool pleasure of a snow cone on a hot day. The tire fiasco had put us hours out of our way and sadly, we were unable to stop at my Aunt and Uncles because it would put us in Houston too late. We drove away feeling sad, but relieved that we were finally back on the road. As we got closer and closer to our new home, my downtrodden attitude disappeared as I started seeing greenery everywhere. Palm trees and rain-forests started popping up everywhere and suddenly we saw buildings! Tall, bright buildings lit up the night sky and my excitement rose. I eagerly watched the road, waiting to see what we had been travelling to see and suddenly we were in Houston. We drove to our friends' place and stayed the night in their apartment (which happened to be in the same complex that we live in now) and the next morning got the keys to our own apartment.
The next week was a lot of shopping for groceries, Shopping for things for our home, and unpacking. In a matter of days we had transformed our apartment into our new home. We love the "Texas-sized closets", the pool and work-out room, the fact that Olivia has her own room and finally a crib, and we feel that it is truly a step-up from our last apartment. We have visited Hermann Park where we saw A Chorus Line for free. We have been swimming, and had some good BBQ, and we have already been making friends. We like our new ward already and it seems there will be a lot of friends for us and for Olivia. It's amazing how everything works out. If there is one thing I have learned in life, it is to trust in God. No matter how the situation may seem, it is never impossible if God is on your side and you ask him for help. I can say that things didn't turn out quite like I thought they would, but we are here in Texas safe and sound and that is really all I wanted. We had a fun, family-strengthening trip and now we are here in Texas moving on with our lives. The freeways still scare me to death and although I have a job already, things are still uncertain in the financial department of our lives, but I know we will make it through. God is with us, so how can we doubt?
