Oh what a night!

Last night was quite an eventful one. First of all we had family pictures with my side of the family and trying to get a good picture with 12 little kids running around isn't the easiest (although it is easier than trying to get a good picture with 24 little kids running around like in Ben's family).

Isak, Ady, and Alli practicing their smiles.

Landon, Emma, Ady & Alli gathering berries for the winter:)

This was about the only picture that Emma smiled in. Most of the night she wanted to be held by her grandma and the rest of the time she was asking for gum.

Ady showing off her great smile....argh!

These are the other cute nieces in my family - Alli

Kalli

& Whitnee

The three big girls!

The little girls with grandma (Ady fits in the category of big girl and little girl). You can see how they all have a really long attention span.

All the boys in the family
I just snapped some of these pictures. We had a photographer and I am hoping that we were able to get some good shots. We haven't had a picture since before Ady was a few months old.

After the pictures we decided to go and get ice cream cones and watch the end of the Lakers vs. Celtics game. As soon as the game got over (around 10:00) we headed home. As we were driving down the street there was an accident up ahead of us and the road was narrowed down to one lane going our direction. The traffic light was red so we stopped behind the line of cars. We had been stopped for several seconds when out of no where the car behind us slammed into the back of our car. It scared us pretty bad because we didn't see it coming. My girls let out screams as it happened and we were all shaken up but luckily nobody was hurt. I was just in shock and hadn't really realized what had happened. The car behind us had slammed into us at full speed and then pushed us into the car in front of us. I think that the guy behind us was hurt pretty badly because he jumped out of his car and started rolling on the ground. The police were already there (since they were just finishing up with the previous accident) and saw the whole thing. The guy in front of us was very nice and came back right away to make sure that we were all okay. When he saw the we had kids he went and found some candy canes he had and gave them to them. The fire fighters also came and gave the girls some Junior Firefighter stickers for being so brave. They really were great. Besides screaming when we first felt the hit they didn't cry again. Ady kept asking what was happening and I tried my best to explain it to her and to let her know that everything was going to be okay.
We got out and check out our car and we were surprised that it didn't look all that bad. The car that hit us was completely smashed and his bumper was stuck underneath our back bumper. The car in front of us had his back bumper smashed in pretty good. We were thinking that we had gotten off pretty well when I tried to open my car door and couldn't get it to open. I finally got it open but the passenger side of our car was buckled a little bit. We also looked under the car and saw fluid pouring out of the car. We realized that we were going to have to have it towed. I called my parents and they came to pick us up and bring us a car that we could borrow. As they loaded our car up Ady kept asking why they were taking it away. Once again I had to explain that it was going to have to be fixed. She was really sad. I was actually really sad also. We have had our car for almost exactly 6 years. We got it just before our 1st anniversary and we have LOVED our car. I get really attached to things...I still have the first car that I bought when I was in High School and Ben still has his first truck that he bought in High School as well. We gave Ben's truck to his dad and Ben still drives my car. When they were towing our car away I almost started crying. Hopefully everything will be alright and we will have it back soon.

This is a picture of our car. You can see that there wasn't much damage to the rear end of our car which is amazing considering how hard we were hit. The bumper on the ground is the front bumper of the guy who hit us. It was stuck under our car! You can see my parents holding my girls on the sides.

This is our car being towed away:( I really thought that we were going to be able to drive away.

I am so glad that we live so close to family who could help us out. The other day I was at the doctor's office and they were asking the lady in front of me who her emergency contact was and she said that they didn't have anybody. It made me realize how glad I am that I have soooo many family members and friends close by who are always willing to help.

This was also a huge reminder to me of how important it is to wear your seatbelt.I have always been big on wearing seat belts and this was a reminder to me once again why they are so important. It could have been really bad if we weren't wearing our seat belts.
Remember to BUCKLE UP!