Mt Rushmore Trip Summary

Some times I'm not very good at posting about the really big, significant happenings in life (like Jenny and Scott's wedding, our Allen reunion in Colorado last year, etc). There are so many pictures and so much to say, that I just don't know where to start!

So for now I'll give you a summary of our trip to Mount Rushmore and Martins Cove.That's not our van, but it is my sister Ashley's, that they have owned for just about 2 months now!

My parents decided to head up to Mt Rushmore over fall break. They sent an email out inviting anyone who wanted to come along. All my siblings and their families, except for Jen and Scott came. Our little family headed up a day early. We figured if we were going to drive that far, we better make the most of it... and if we were actually going to go on a vacation (finally!), we better make the most of it! We left Wednesday and the rest of the crew left on Thursday. Ashley and her family were in their new van. While Todd's family, my parents, and Lisa had the adventure of renting a RV!

Ashley's gang was just an hour from being to Mount Rushmore and they hit a deer! Their car was undrivable! Luckily everyone was fine. That picture is a great summary of the trip! No, the trip wasn't ruined (at least not for us), but there was so many lessons I learned and tender mercies experienced because of it.

Here are just a few of them:

1. Heavenly Father knows us and is aware of us. He doesn't prevent all bad things from happening, but He will help lessen the pain.

Ashley was able to call me (ahead of them) and I was able to reach the RV (still enroute). The RV gang was able to come to help. There were people surrounding Ashley to lend aid. There were also many other tender mercies, such as being in seat belts, having a navigation system working, having an important talk about what to do when an animal is in the road... (For more details you can visit Ashley's blog.)

2. Heavenly Father gives us thoughts in our mind that we may not recognize as inspiration at the time.

We usually travel in our Jeep when we go places as a family. But "for some reason" Nic wanted to take the truck (even though the gas mileage is not as good) and "for some reason" I went a long with it. We teetered back and forth for a bit, but in the end we drove the truck. Because we had the truck, we were able to tow Ashley's van back home for them.

I told Nic, "Good job following inspiration." He responded back, "I don't think it was inspiration." "I do." I said, "Although we didn't realize it at the time, Heavenly Father knew what would happen and He gave you a thought in your mind."

3. Family is wonderful. Family is for helping, for serving, for giving, for being patient, and for loving.

It was incredible to watch and associate with my family during this trip. On Friday we didn't leave the hotel until after 1 pm, not ideal for such a short vacation. But everyone was so understanding and patient.

Later my dad took hours and hours out of his vacation to drive to get the trailer, rental car, and pick up the broken van. (I was also so impressed with my own husband who let my dad take his truck for hours and hours to get all those things.)

4. When something bad happens, you can still keep your chin up and have fun. (And help all those around you have fun too!)

Ashley and her husband were fanominal! This was hard on them. But they didn't complain. They remained very upbeat.Even when bad things happen, Heavenly Father is aware of us and helps us along the way. There are so many lessons to be learned in situations like this. And I want to thank my entire family for helping me learn and for strengthening my testimony!