No way...are you serious??

Last Saturday while I was traveling home, I came around a corner in North SLC and came to a quick stop as traffic had stopped. I knew there was construction and that we had to get into 2 lanes from 4 or 5. I was at a complete stand still and thought..no...this can't be happening! We slowly moved through the traffic to find out that in the construction area, there was a 4 car accident that looked nasty. Although I didn't want to rubberneck too much, I could see kids involved and was pretty concerned. I thought, when I get home, I'll get on the computer and see if everyone was ok. I was pretty tired before I got home so the searching on the computer waited until Sunday early evening. I went to ksl.com and started going through the headlines. "Woman found shot to death in Cedar City," "Two shot, One killed in Taylorsville," Police searching for suspects following car chase, Dedicatory services for Oquirrah Mountain temple wrap up, 5 Bicyclist crash; 3 sent to the hospital, etc. etc. etc. When I read all of the headlines trying to find the car accident, I went on to the next page when all of a sudden I had a feeling to go back to that article involving the bicyclist. I started reading....

UTAH COUNTY -- Five bicyclists were injured
during a race when the driver of an SUV in front of them slammed on the brakes
to avoid another vehicle.
The accident happened around 9:30 a.m. Saturday on
State Road 92 near Timpanogos Cave in American Fork Canyon during the annual
1,000 Warriors charity bike race.
Three riders were sent to the hospital.
One, Dave Collins, was in very critical condition. As of late Saturday night,
friends tell us Collins had been through two surgeries and was doing a little
better. He was cut from his jugular to his sternum and lost a lot of blood at
the scene.
"It was a very traumatic scene for those who went by." - John
Beck
The other two injured bikers, Steve Beck and Mike Skousen, are expected
to be OK. Friends say Skousen has been released from the hospital and Beck
should be released Sunday. Two others received only minor injuries.
The five riders had been looking forward to Saturday's race. They're all part of Red
Mountain Brumby's, a cycling club based in Mesa, Ariz. Forty five of them made
the trip to Utah, including Collins.
"He's strong and he leads the pack often. He's cycled thousands of miles," said a friend, John Beck, whose son was
injured in the race.
Collins took the brunt of the impact in the crash.
According to the Utah Highway Patrol, the driver of an SUV slammed on its brakes
to avoid hitting a vehicle pulling a trailer in the opposite lane. Collins and
Steven Beck had no time to slow down and crashed into the SUV. Three other
riders wrecked while trying to avoid the vehicle.
Trooper Nathan Powell said, "Coming down the hill in this type of event they can reach speeds of
anywhere from 35 to 55 miles per hour."
Collins went through the back window
of the SUV, cutting his jugular, breaking his jaw and damaging a nerve in his
shoulder. Friends credit several first responders, including two EMT-trained
racers, and a former military nurse for keeping him alive at the scene.
John Beck said, "It's going to be a long haul for Dave, and we're praying for him to
pull through."

Witnesses expressed concern that the canyon wasn't closed for the race and that there wasn't signage warning drivers.
Race organizer Rick Bennett says they tried to do just that.
"We asked UDOT to close the canyon and they declined," he said.
The Utah Department of Transportation confirms that, adding race officials approached them only days
ago and with conflicting dates for the race.
UDOT's Scott Thompson said, "We did not want to take away the activity for all the recreational users trying to
get through the canyon."
The 1,000 Warriors bike ride is an annual event that raises money for scholarships for wounded war
veterans and the children of veterans killed in action. It is held in conjunction with but is not related to the Tour of Utah.
Participants began Saturday's event at 6 a.m. in Park City. The race was briefly stopped to allow a
medical helicopter to land. It resumed with riders crossing the finish line at Snowbird.
An investigation is ongoing and UHP doesn't know if any charges will be filed.

I could not believe my eyes. I know a John Beck..he's my dads best friend from growing up and his son's name is Steve. Plus, Steve lives in Mesa right now. It all seemed to real and I started feeling sick to my stomach. I ran downstairs, read the article to my mom and she called Lucy and Richard Beck (John and Richard are brothers.) to see if it was really them. They hadn't heard anything, but said they'd call and find out. A while later, they called and confirmed it was him. NOOO way. How could it be? Steve punctured his lungs and had terrible road rash and bruises as he also slammed into the back of the SUV along with Dave Collins at 45 mph. The Beck's thanked me for being intune with the Spirit and going back to read that article and letting them know. I had already passed the article and though..man, that sucks. I still don't know why I went back to that article because I really wasn't interested in it, except the Spirit prompted me to do it. I hope all 3 of these riders have speedy recoveries. Steven has been quite instrumental in our family in recent years as well as his father John. We love this family A LOT and hate to see things like this happen to good people.

This is another article that came out later about the incident.

AMERICAN FORK -- The biker who slammed into the back of an SUV during a charity ride down American Fork Canyon was still in surgery Sunday night; he's expected to be out of surgery around midnight.
Dave Collins, a rider from Mesa, Ariz., cut his jugular, broke his jaw and damaged a nerve in his shoulder when he hit the SUV. He's being treated at University Hospital.
He has been in a medically induced coma since the wreck Saturday morning.

Collins is tough. You'd have to be to survive hitting the back windshield of a Ford Explorer, going 45 miles an hour, face first. Friends tell us the tri-athlete is already showing signs of improving.
Sterling Baer, with Red Mountain Brumby's, Collins' team, told KSL, "Virtually every bone in his face broken--eye socket, cheekbone, nose, his jaw bone."

There's good news, too, though. Baer says Collins suffered no brain damage and no vertebrae damage.
Collins and the four other riders hurt were riding in the annual 1,000 Warriors charity bike race when an SUV in front of them slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting another vehicle. Riders in the race complained there were no signs warning drivers to watch for bikers and they were upset the canyon was not closed.
Scott Thompson, with UDOT, said, "We didn't feel it was necessary to close the road for the race."
UDOT didn't want to restrict other recreationists from using the canyon that day.
But Thompson does have one suggestion for race organizers to learn from organizers of the Tour of Utah.

"I can tell you with the professional bike race going on, they contacted the Highway Patrol and had what we call a rolling closure in place," he said. "It might have kept everyone a little safer."
And it might have kept Collins out of the hospital.
But don't expect this wreck to keep Collins off his bike. "Knowing Dave, he will ride again, yeah, for sure," Bauer said.
Bauer says the family would love to meet and thank all the racers who jumped into action to save Collins immediately after the wreck. They are working with race organizers to get the names of those who helped.
Doctors plan to start brining Collins out of the coma on Tuesday.
An interesting note, Collins has strong Utah ties. Though he currently calls Mesa, Ariz. Home, Utah is where he's from. He grew up in Provo and attended BYU.

Sending Sarah off to Kindergarten!!

The first day of Kindergarten has finally arrived for Sarah and she could not be a happier little girl! We walk to school everyday since we live so close. The first day, she skipped to school in pure excitement. She met her teacher for the first time on Monday before school since we were not in town for open house night. She absolutely loves Mrs. Forrest. We were very lucky to get her as a teacher and I feel so blessed to have her. She is exactly what Sarah needs right now. After I dropped her off, I was walking down the hall and ran into Pennie Ellsworth. She asked me if it was hard to leave Sarah. I told her not really (trying to be a tough mom and convince myself that it wasn't). Then I saw Colleen Mitchell and she asked if I was ok? I said..sure! Once I got out of the double door at the school, one single tear ran down my cheek and by the time I got to the cross walk, I was boobin'. Shelly Gilman was there waiting to cross and I said..man, I can't believe I'm boobin like this. She said, I'm not, I'm celebrating!! Then she asked if Sarah was in Kindergarten and I said, Yeah...then she says..Ok..it's ok for you to cry then! We walked the rest of the way home together to her house and I had only a block left alone. I got home and flopped on the couch in tears again. Sabrina came and gave me a big hug and told me not to cry. We ended up going to Ontario soon after that to get things off my mind. It ended up being a great day. It was fun to hear Sarah talk the whole way home about her first day and her love for school. Another thing that is funny - Sarah is a very picky eater. This whole week, she has eaten everything at school and said she actually kind of likes it. You know how many times I have tried to get her to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich...or a taco...or a burrito...or tuna sandwiches...ALOT. She would take one bite, spit it out and run. At school she has eaten everything. (except the tuna..she only ate 1/2 sandwich, but that is still good). Yeah for school!!


Sarah ready to run out the door!!




Sabrina crying that her sister is leaving for school. They are very close and I knew this would be hard on Sabrina. So far, she has been doing well with the transition although it is not easy for her. Everyday around 10:00 she is ready to go pick Sarah up from school. She thinks that 2 hours is plenty of time for Sarah to be at school!



First day finally!!

A fun week in Utah

Last week, we spent our last few days of vacation in Utah together as a family. We did the regular things we always like to do there - Kangaroo Zoo, Chuck E Cheeses, Quilted Bear, walk the mall a few times, bowling at BYU, lots of wii playing, cousin playing and of course the best BBQ ever at my brother, Luke's house. Also while we were there, it was LaNae and Jake's anniversary so I watched their kids all day long. It was actually quite fun. I was a little nervous about 4 kids alone, but we had a great time. Her kids nap well so it was mainly my kids for several hours. A couple days later, Naldo and I went on a date. We went to Braza-grill (brazilian resturant in SLC), did a little shopping, and played miniture golf. We are old so we got home pretty early! It was nice though to spend time together without the kids and know they were being taken care! We came home Saturday and had Sunday to rest up before school on Monday.

The Busy Summer is Coming to an End!!

School is just around the corner and I am still wanting to squeeze in another trip to Utah!! You'd think that after going to Brazil (2 1/2 weeks), Utah (1 week - Lagoon, Temple dedication, Hogle Zoo), Camping (4 days) and Oregon Coast (4 days) we'd be vacationed out. We aren't though!! It has been a fun summer!! I think I am denial about school starting because Sarah is starting Kindergarten. She missed the deadline last year by 1 day and that was a little upsetting, but now that it is really here, I have mixed feelings! I know, I am a crazy mom!! I just can't believe I have an almost 6 year old child. I feel like I just graduated high school. It's been almost 10 years though...wow...crazy how time passes by so quickly.