Perspectives, by Jodi
It's been an interesting last couple of weeks. After my feelings of intense frustration and defeat, which I think probably coincided with a certain time of the month, the following week I was back at an all time high. I just felt so in love with this beautiful place and it's people and so grateful for the opportunity to be here, for however long our journey lasts. We've had some amazing weekends at the beach, including seeing a sea turtle coming ashore to lay eggs at Playa Mina's. Unfortunately, we got a little overexcited about seeing it and scared it back into the ocean. But, we all got to touch it. :) I hope it found somewhere better to lay it's eggs.
Last Saturday we hit another new beach called Sugar Beach or Playa Pan de Azucar and had tons of fun. Autumn and I took the paddle board out to find some good snorkeling spots that Kevin had found. He told me later that he actually saw a small shark while he was out exploring before us, but he figured I might not want to know that.
Anyhow, I got a little cocky and decided to explore a little farther than I should have. When we went to turn around to come back, I suddenly realized that the wind had been at my back the whole way out, which was why we'd been cruising so fast. Trying to get back was a joke. I was paddling with every thing I had, and we weren't even moving. With Autumn and I both on the paddle board, we were slightly submerged and it didn't seem like we were ever going to get anywhere.
I guess Kevin was watching this whole thing from the beach and after seeing our little speck out on the horizon not move for a good 5 minutes, he decided to come rescue us. So, he left Jack in charge of the girls on the beach and paddled out in the canoe. It took us a while to all make it back in and I was pretty exhausted and super worried about my babies left on the beach by themselves. But, we all survived and went and found our new favorite pizza place and came home and watched a movie.
Then we got the call last week that Johnson's had been in a bad car accident and Staci was at home with Crosby and could Kevin come pick her up and take her to the scene. All we knew at that point was that Rod was on his way with the older kids to take them to school and had gone off the road, but we had no idea how bad it was. Kevin called after passing the accident on his was to get Staci and called me to tell me he'd seen a paramedic on the scene with a kid on the side of the road. He didn't know if it was one of the Johnson's kids, but he saw their car on it's side, about 10 meters from the road in a field.
I called Troy to let him know what I knew and he immediately jumped in his car and started racing our way. Kevin called me again after he and Staci got there to let me know that everyone but Canon, their 5 year old, looked to be o.k. Canon, however, hadn't been wearing his seat belt and had been thrown from the car. They were taking everyone to the hospital, an hour away, and Kevin and Troy were going to follow them. So, they came by the house, passed Crosby off to me, met up with Pres, who was completely overcome with emotion and worry, and hurried to the hospital.
This is Staci's facebook of the whole thing and all the amazing miracles that happened that day:
Feeling extremely overwhelmed with emotion as I write this post. Never in a million years do you think you'll get the phone call, "Stace, there was an accident. Everyone is ok. The car flipped and rolled twice, and canon was thrown from the car." I'm thinking how can they possibly be ok?? Our sweet friend Kevin came to pick me up and take me to the accident scene. As soon as I saw the car, I lost it. But arriving on the scene there were people helping everywhere. The school principal, the director, the assistant director, the bus driver, all there to help us. The ambulance arrived shortly after and they strapped canon up. We all boarded the ambulance for the long hour ride to the hospital. You feel so helpless to see your baby strapped to a gurney, fear and shock all over his face. But as the kids and rod started to remember the details and tell me what happened, I felt peace. I realized that many miracles had happened, and I knew The Lord would take care of Canon. We all marveled at all the small miracles that took place all around us. Normally I drive the kids to school and my little 18 month old escape artist gets out of his car seat 90% of the time while I'm driving. What a blessing that he was home with me and not in that car where he surely would have gotten out of his seat... Jaylee was buckled in, and she told me the floor mat stayed right in front of her window while the car was rolling, shielding her from the glass. Cruz was also buckled, and scraped his face on the seat, no glass touched him either. The windshield broke and caved in on the passenger side, avoiding Rod altogether. And then there's Canon. He was not buckled. He could have gone through any number of windows, but the back door opened and he fell out from the back, also avoiding much of the glass. He was banged up pretty good, but it could have been so much worse! When we got to the hospital the doctors were all so attentive and thorough. They all said that after an accident like that they expect injuries to be much worse, and even death. They all said over and over what a miracle that everyone was so protected. After a few hours they gave the ok for rod, jaylee, and Cruz, to go home but were still concerned about canon. An orthopedic specialist came in and looked at his knee that had begun to swell. They decided to put a cast on his leg to help the ligaments heal and the swelling go down. All that trauma and a little ol cast was all we left with! Blessings from heaven. Everyone has been so wonderful, the assistant director from the kids' school followed the ambulance and stayed with us at the hospital the whole day keeping all the concerned teachers, students, and parents updated throughout the day. She was a wonderful support. All the kids' friends that made cards and pictures to give to us. And what would we do without our Costa Rica family that means the world to us?? For being with us at the hospital, giving blessings, bringing us food, taking care of Crosby, cooking food, cleaning our house, driving us all around, helping us with legal stuff and insurance in a foreign country, and just being there to give us comfort, hugs, encouragement, and love. This was one of those life changing experiences that will stay with us all forever. To see the hand of the lord in our tiny little lives and know he has an important purpose for each of us is so humbling. Thank you so much for all the prayers and well wishes! We love you all so much!!!
It's been amazing, but so scary and helped us realize how careful we need to be. We've gotten a little lax with seat belts as well, because it feels like you're just driving through the country here with all these dirt roads and not very many other cars. No more, though.
Here are a few pictures Kevin took to help the Johnsons document this incident:
On a separate note, we watched "Pursuit of Happyness" on TV tonight when we couldn't find any Olympic events being aired on any of our channels. It is such an amazing movie that just puts all the blessings we take for granted into perspective. I've had the stomach flu pretty bad this week and have been swapping off sleeping with bathroom time. Our poor kids have been fending for themselves a lot since Kevin's had a pretty busy work week. Then there's the water heater that broke earlier this week and the repair man planned to be back with it the next day and we haven't seen him since. We also haven't seen our oven in a month, which he is also repairing. And yet, our branch president doesn't even turn his water heater on in order to conserve money. And a lot of the members of our branch don't even own an oven.
We had an appointment with the school director on Wednesday that Kevin went to while I was home puking. He went with all our paperwork, but got turned away because the director was too busy because the school is under heavy construction right now and they're trying to get it all done before school starts. Kevin tried giving push back and even just suggested that maybe they could check our documents to make sure we had everything, but they said the director didn't have time and to come back Monday morning. Monday is the first day of school though, so Kevin asked if he should bring the kids, too. They said, "no, maybe Tuesday." We're anxious to find out if registration is going to go at all smoothly or if we're going to have some obscure piece of paperwork that we need that will take a month to get. But, we'll keep working at it and hope that at some point, the kids get their full Tico experience and finally really learn some Spanish.
We went today to buy their school uniforms. We had to drive to Santa Cruz to a store that is supposed to be the cheapest in the area. The store wasn't air conditioned and the shirts felt like cardboard, but we didn't have a lot of options. So, we got one shirt and one pair of shorts each for the kids and hopefully we'll be able to pick up more when someone goes to the States. We had to get notebooks, a pair of scissors and a box of colored pencils, as well as a lunch box for each kid. So, with those school supplies and a pair of black shoes for Sadie and Tessa each, our total bill was $270. It seriously made me feel so frustrated because the stuff was crap, the clothes aren't even cute, and I know how much I could get all of this stuff for in the States. I just have to keep reminding myself at moments like these what Tavi told me before we came about how, if I want it to be just like the U.S., then we're going to hate it. But, if I don't compare, and I see it as a whole new experience, then we'll love it. So... no more comparing.
Last Saturday we hit another new beach called Sugar Beach or Playa Pan de Azucar and had tons of fun. Autumn and I took the paddle board out to find some good snorkeling spots that Kevin had found. He told me later that he actually saw a small shark while he was out exploring before us, but he figured I might not want to know that.
Anyhow, I got a little cocky and decided to explore a little farther than I should have. When we went to turn around to come back, I suddenly realized that the wind had been at my back the whole way out, which was why we'd been cruising so fast. Trying to get back was a joke. I was paddling with every thing I had, and we weren't even moving. With Autumn and I both on the paddle board, we were slightly submerged and it didn't seem like we were ever going to get anywhere.
I guess Kevin was watching this whole thing from the beach and after seeing our little speck out on the horizon not move for a good 5 minutes, he decided to come rescue us. So, he left Jack in charge of the girls on the beach and paddled out in the canoe. It took us a while to all make it back in and I was pretty exhausted and super worried about my babies left on the beach by themselves. But, we all survived and went and found our new favorite pizza place and came home and watched a movie.
Then we got the call last week that Johnson's had been in a bad car accident and Staci was at home with Crosby and could Kevin come pick her up and take her to the scene. All we knew at that point was that Rod was on his way with the older kids to take them to school and had gone off the road, but we had no idea how bad it was. Kevin called after passing the accident on his was to get Staci and called me to tell me he'd seen a paramedic on the scene with a kid on the side of the road. He didn't know if it was one of the Johnson's kids, but he saw their car on it's side, about 10 meters from the road in a field.
I called Troy to let him know what I knew and he immediately jumped in his car and started racing our way. Kevin called me again after he and Staci got there to let me know that everyone but Canon, their 5 year old, looked to be o.k. Canon, however, hadn't been wearing his seat belt and had been thrown from the car. They were taking everyone to the hospital, an hour away, and Kevin and Troy were going to follow them. So, they came by the house, passed Crosby off to me, met up with Pres, who was completely overcome with emotion and worry, and hurried to the hospital.
This is Staci's facebook of the whole thing and all the amazing miracles that happened that day:
Feeling extremely overwhelmed with emotion as I write this post. Never in a million years do you think you'll get the phone call, "Stace, there was an accident. Everyone is ok. The car flipped and rolled twice, and canon was thrown from the car." I'm thinking how can they possibly be ok?? Our sweet friend Kevin came to pick me up and take me to the accident scene. As soon as I saw the car, I lost it. But arriving on the scene there were people helping everywhere. The school principal, the director, the assistant director, the bus driver, all there to help us. The ambulance arrived shortly after and they strapped canon up. We all boarded the ambulance for the long hour ride to the hospital. You feel so helpless to see your baby strapped to a gurney, fear and shock all over his face. But as the kids and rod started to remember the details and tell me what happened, I felt peace. I realized that many miracles had happened, and I knew The Lord would take care of Canon. We all marveled at all the small miracles that took place all around us. Normally I drive the kids to school and my little 18 month old escape artist gets out of his car seat 90% of the time while I'm driving. What a blessing that he was home with me and not in that car where he surely would have gotten out of his seat... Jaylee was buckled in, and she told me the floor mat stayed right in front of her window while the car was rolling, shielding her from the glass. Cruz was also buckled, and scraped his face on the seat, no glass touched him either. The windshield broke and caved in on the passenger side, avoiding Rod altogether. And then there's Canon. He was not buckled. He could have gone through any number of windows, but the back door opened and he fell out from the back, also avoiding much of the glass. He was banged up pretty good, but it could have been so much worse! When we got to the hospital the doctors were all so attentive and thorough. They all said that after an accident like that they expect injuries to be much worse, and even death. They all said over and over what a miracle that everyone was so protected. After a few hours they gave the ok for rod, jaylee, and Cruz, to go home but were still concerned about canon. An orthopedic specialist came in and looked at his knee that had begun to swell. They decided to put a cast on his leg to help the ligaments heal and the swelling go down. All that trauma and a little ol cast was all we left with! Blessings from heaven. Everyone has been so wonderful, the assistant director from the kids' school followed the ambulance and stayed with us at the hospital the whole day keeping all the concerned teachers, students, and parents updated throughout the day. She was a wonderful support. All the kids' friends that made cards and pictures to give to us. And what would we do without our Costa Rica family that means the world to us?? For being with us at the hospital, giving blessings, bringing us food, taking care of Crosby, cooking food, cleaning our house, driving us all around, helping us with legal stuff and insurance in a foreign country, and just being there to give us comfort, hugs, encouragement, and love. This was one of those life changing experiences that will stay with us all forever. To see the hand of the lord in our tiny little lives and know he has an important purpose for each of us is so humbling. Thank you so much for all the prayers and well wishes! We love you all so much!!!
It's been amazing, but so scary and helped us realize how careful we need to be. We've gotten a little lax with seat belts as well, because it feels like you're just driving through the country here with all these dirt roads and not very many other cars. No more, though.
Here are a few pictures Kevin took to help the Johnsons document this incident:
On a separate note, we watched "Pursuit of Happyness" on TV tonight when we couldn't find any Olympic events being aired on any of our channels. It is such an amazing movie that just puts all the blessings we take for granted into perspective. I've had the stomach flu pretty bad this week and have been swapping off sleeping with bathroom time. Our poor kids have been fending for themselves a lot since Kevin's had a pretty busy work week. Then there's the water heater that broke earlier this week and the repair man planned to be back with it the next day and we haven't seen him since. We also haven't seen our oven in a month, which he is also repairing. And yet, our branch president doesn't even turn his water heater on in order to conserve money. And a lot of the members of our branch don't even own an oven.
We had an appointment with the school director on Wednesday that Kevin went to while I was home puking. He went with all our paperwork, but got turned away because the director was too busy because the school is under heavy construction right now and they're trying to get it all done before school starts. Kevin tried giving push back and even just suggested that maybe they could check our documents to make sure we had everything, but they said the director didn't have time and to come back Monday morning. Monday is the first day of school though, so Kevin asked if he should bring the kids, too. They said, "no, maybe Tuesday." We're anxious to find out if registration is going to go at all smoothly or if we're going to have some obscure piece of paperwork that we need that will take a month to get. But, we'll keep working at it and hope that at some point, the kids get their full Tico experience and finally really learn some Spanish.
We went today to buy their school uniforms. We had to drive to Santa Cruz to a store that is supposed to be the cheapest in the area. The store wasn't air conditioned and the shirts felt like cardboard, but we didn't have a lot of options. So, we got one shirt and one pair of shorts each for the kids and hopefully we'll be able to pick up more when someone goes to the States. We had to get notebooks, a pair of scissors and a box of colored pencils, as well as a lunch box for each kid. So, with those school supplies and a pair of black shoes for Sadie and Tessa each, our total bill was $270. It seriously made me feel so frustrated because the stuff was crap, the clothes aren't even cute, and I know how much I could get all of this stuff for in the States. I just have to keep reminding myself at moments like these what Tavi told me before we came about how, if I want it to be just like the U.S., then we're going to hate it. But, if I don't compare, and I see it as a whole new experience, then we'll love it. So... no more comparing.
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