How I am Still Alive: A Christmas Miracle

We are back from Utah and lucky to be alive, no thanks to my really bad idea.
It all started with my idea to drive to Utah for a few days before Christmas.  In true Spjute fashion, I preferred to drive the boys, saving us a couple thousand dollars on airfare so Randy could fly down and miss the least amount of work possible.  Gone are the days of paid vacation, people.  It's a sad thing.  Everyone thought I was crazy but honestly, driving by myself means I put in my ear buds and listen to music while the boys watch movie after movie.  Occasionally they need some food so I toss something over my shoulder and drive merrily on my way.  This was NOT how things played out.
A huge storm came through Snoqualmie Pass, the first mountain pass I have to go through about thirty miles from my house.  I scrambled to pack everything, raced to get the boys out of school a day early, and we were off, hoping to beat the storm.  I didn't beat the storm.  I was barely in the canyon when I saw the sign with blinking yellow lights that said chains were required.  The wind was howling, the pelting rain felt like ice, and after struggling to get chains on my tires for nearly forty minutes, I slowly pulled forward, heading into the storm.  I'd barely gone ten feet when my chains fell off! I was soaking and shivering and defeated.  Plus it was starting to get dark so we drove back home.
Our second attempt was to leave the next morning as originally planned.  I looked at the weather online and the worst was supposed to be over and chains were no longer required.  I brought the chains anyway, and grabbed all my winter gear so I could suit up and stay dry.  I practiced putting the chains on and figured out how to do it the right way so they actually stayed on.  I was optimistic and ready for adventure so we were off!

I passed the same sign I'd seen yesterday but now it said the pass was closed.  Closed?!  I freaked out.  I pulled over on the shoulder and asked a policeman what was going on.  He said the pass was closed temporarily and I should wait it out.  I kept on driving, passing a long line of semi trucks parked along the shoulder as the drivers put on chains.  I finally got to the end of the line of cars that were waiting for the pass to open, and pulled over in the heavy, slushy snow, suited up in my ski gear, and put on the chains.

my chains

My chains are fancy, and putting them on involves swinging them around the base of the tire, pulling them up and around the tire, then pulling some more until the clasps fit together.  No simple draping, driving forward, then hooking them on.  It's hard and it's messy.  But I did it and they stayed on!  I even turned a trucker down who offered to help me.  We inched slowly along in the line of cars and eventually came to a complete stop.  We sat there for almost 2 hours.  I was still trying to be optimistic so Ethan and I built a snowman in the wide median.  It was a beautiful snow storm and soon people were getting out of their cars, walking their dogs, taking pictures, and building their own snowman.  We made several friends as we chatted about our predicament.  It was a great way to pass the time.

That's a lot of chains!

passing the time

Bean's snowman

We finally started to move again and about five minutes later we stopped again.  We weren't in a safe place for the kids to play but I got out and made friends with the guy behind me who kept me updated with the pass conditions.  We finally started moving again and the roads were awful!  Eight inches of brown, slushy snow that looked untouched by a plow.  But chains are amazing!  I was moving right along and holding my own.  We got out of the canyon, I took off the chains, and away we went.  Long story slightly shorter, it took us 6 hours to drive what normally takes 90 minutes.
Just when I thought I'd survived the worst we were headed over the Blue Mountains in Oregon.  Our previous delay meant the temperature had dropped considerably and what was once a rain storm in the pass had become a blizzard. I passed another blinking sign saying chains were required.  I panicked and called my dad (Randy was on his flight, lucky guy).  He calmed me down and told me to get "Mad Dog Mad".  I did.  I got the chains on, in the dark, but with a lot of struggle.  I have some pretty sweet purple and green bruises on my arms and knees from this episode.  We headed on with me smiling all the way down the mountain.  Driving with chains is awesome!
By this point it was getting late.  We arrived in Boise after 13 hours of being on the road.  It usually takes us 6 1/2 hours to get to Boise and 13 hours to get to Utah.  Thankfully my Aunt Karen and Uncle Scott put us up for the night.  They were so kind to wait up for us and even had cookies and hot chocolate.  We chatted a bit and then the doorbell rang.  It was Santa!  I couldn't believe it.  My boys were thrilled and even shy Parker jumped right up on his lap.  He gave each of the boys a bag of treats and then we sang a few Christmas carols.  I would've cried but I knew if I started I'd lose it completely so I held in my emotions as I witnessed one of the most thoughtful, kind things anyone has ever done for me.

A Christmas miracle

 We arrived in Utah the next afternoon, just in time for the Christmas Bus.  It. Was. Awesome.  We sang carols at the top of our lungs as we drove to a homeless shelter.  We put on a little program with music, songs, and stories, then drove to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights.  The kids loved riding on the bus, especially my boys who have always had to ride the bus to school.  They loved that their were no rules.  Ethan ran up and down the aisle in one long spanking machine, and Marcus pulled the windows down and yelled Merry Christmas to pedestrians.  It was great!  After looking at the lights we drove home drinking delicious hot chocolate, eating cookies, and listening to The Polar Express.  It was a magical night and worth the effort to get there.

the whole family with Bingham's and Spjute's

hot chocolate and cookies

But my story doesn't end here.  I'll skip over all the fun we had with family and tell you about the return trip.  I left a day early as the forecast was predicting storm after storm.  My plan was to drive only during the day when the temps were higher to avoid the snow.  Randy offered to drive back with me but I told him I'd be fine and according to the forecast, I should've been.  We made it through the Blue Mountains, an 8 hour drive, only stopping for gas so I could beat the pending storm.  And I did!  We spent the night in a hotel that had a swimming pool and free food so things were good.  An hour from Snoqualmie Pass and 90 minutes from home I found out the pass was closed.  Ahhhhhh!   Turns out they closed it for avalanche control.  It seriously hadn't stopped snowing at that pass for the past five days.  I gassed up the van, and treated the boys to ice cream and then drove forward, hoping the pass would be open by the time we got to it.  This time I got my chains on in 6 minutes flat.  It was the best feeling and I even offered to help another woman with her chains.  We drove slowly along, surrounded by lots of semis and SUV's {for the record, there were lots of car accidents and spin-outs and every single one of them involved an SUV so don't tell me I I'd be better off with one.  You're wrong.}  We got stopped for about 20 minutes because a tree had fallen into the road but other than that, we made it through the pass unscathed.  Or so I thought.

driving through the pass (Ethan took the picture)

I unhooked the chains in the wettest four inches of slush imaginable.  The slush was making it hard to get the chains completely off but I figured if the chains could fall off when I thought I had them on then surely they'd do it again.  I was wrong.  I drove forward and as I did the chains got wrapped around the axle{?} in a twisted knot.  I got under the van and tugged and yanked and started to cry when I realized it was bad.  Really bad.  I asked a trucker to help me and he didn't hesitate to lay down in the slush to free the chains.  He was just wearing jeans and was soaking in a matter of seconds.  We finally got one chain off but the other wasn't coming.  He even tried cutting them with wire cutters but it didn't work.  He finally pulled and yanked as I slowly rolled the van backwards and the chains unwound.  It was a miracle!  Truly a miracle.  I thanked him profusely and tried to give him some cash but he wouldn't take it.  He shook his hands and walked away saying, "Don't worry about it.  You've got kids.  Just go home."  That's when I finally had a good cry and bawled like a baby all the way home.   We pulled into the garage and before anyone got out of the van we bowed our heads in prayer, thankful for the kind trucker, and caring Aunt and Uncle and Santa, the prayers of family members, and the unseen angels who got us through the storms safely.
My boys are the best traveling companions I could ever ask for and this will go down in history as the Worst Idea I Have Ever Had.  Because of this ordeal we will NEVER be driving to Utah again so I better figure out a way to start earning some sky miles.
In the meantime, we are happy to be home, celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who suffered more than we will ever suffer, and is the only true source of lasting peace and comfort.  May you see the loving hand of God in your life, as we have seen in ours.
Merry Christmas!