There she goes!

I have been trying to put video's on here from my camcorder but so far it isn't taking. So for now I just tell you the news instead of showing it to you.

SAMANTHA IS WALKING!!!

Last week we were getting some stuff cleaned up before going to bed when Sammi walked her first steps. She came to give me a piece of paper. Then she side stepped back over to her walker. I was in complete shock! Earlier that day I had tried to get her to walk but as soon as I let go she cried and sank onto her bum. I told Les who looked up and said, "I didn't see it so it didn't happen." I knew he was teasing me but I wanted him to see it too. So I gave the paper back to Sammi. Just as I knew she would she looked at it then at me and brought it back to me. This time I made sure Les was watching. We are so happy! We have been worried that she was a bit behind due to her slow start but, she is proving to us each day that she is a fighter who can overcome obsticles. For the next few days I tried to catch her on camera but to no avail. As soon as the camera came out she would sit down to do something else. Finally, it happened! I am upset that I can't get the video on here. I am oh so pleased with her progress. Within days she went from taking a few steps to walking across our living room. She is getting to where she can turn around (somewhat).

In other news for those that don't know our family spent Sunday night stuck on a mountain. We went for a Sunday drive. As we drove up the mountain we went through some snow. Even in 4-wheel drive we slid a bit (there was a drop off on one side of the road. We kept going and made it through. We stopped to decide if we wanted to continue or turn back. We looked at our map and thought we were close to Randolph, UT. So Les thought we should continue on and maybe we could go see Carolyn and her family in Kemmerer. When we tried to move forward we didn't. So we tried to move back and couldn't. Les and I got out to assess our position. We dug out around our tires. I found some woodand we put that behind our tires. It didn't work. So Les got a bunch of smaller rocks and put them behind the tires. That didn't work either. Thinking we were close to Randolph Les decided to walk out for help. I fed the kids, wrapped them in blankets, and put them down to sleep. Emma wanted to be in my lap and so did Sammi. I finally got them to sleep. I sat for a long time watching the curve in the road around which Les disappeared. Sammi woke up several times and I would sooth her and put her back to sleep. I must have dozed off because I woke up to see Les standing outside the car. I unlocked the car ans he climbed in. It was almost 2 am. he was cold, tired, sore, and hungry. While he ate he explained what he had gone through. We were a lot farther from Randolph then we thought. Les got to a lake that was about 15 miles from Randolph. The snow on the road was 3 feet deep. He turned around when he realized that no one from Randolph would be able to get through to us.
We tried to sleep the rest of the night but the kids seemed to wake up as we were falling asleep. Around 7 am I decided I was going to walk out the direction we had come in. I was going to suggest that we all go but realized the kids kids wouldn't be able to walk that far and neither could Les. His legs were cramping from the wlking he had already done. So I started out armed with a few cereal bars, Les' cell phone, a map, and a walking stick. With images of my kids and Les in my head I pushed through without stopping to a place called Hardware Ranch (wildlife management area). As the buildings came in to view (2 1/2 hours after I started) tears flowed from my eyes and I screamed for help. I was still to far away for anyone to hear me. So I kept walking. I made it to within a hundred yards of the buildings before anyone realized I was yelling for help. A group of men were working on the roof of the nearest building. They climbed down ran to their truck and drove to me. They picked me up and drove me back up to Les and the girls. They attached tow ropes to the Yukon and pulled it out. We made it home by 10:30. We bathed the kids, fed them, and put them down for a nap. Then we showered and took a nap as well. We are still tired and oh so sore but we are home and safe.