As soon as we returned home from Alabama at the end of June, we knew that we had one weekend before our lives would pick up quickly with church callings, out-of-town visitors, and my commitments to teach swim lessons for the next 6 weeks ahead.
So we jumped on the opportunity to take our boys camping that Friday night (6/24). This would be Taylor's third time camping in his lifetime and Russell's first.
Andrew did his homework; learning that we could camp for free in national forests, so we drove to an area northwest of us in Arapaho Forest to find our "spot."
But I always under-estimate time. That was no exception on this special Friday, where we left home later than planned, it took longer to find a camp site than planned (talk about poorly marked, badly maintained dirt roads!), and it took a while to set-up our gear, etc.
By the time we were finally settled, it was nearly dark and the little boys were starving! Andrew and I fed them dinner--campfire hot dogs and buns, grapes, and water--and put them to bed.
Then Andrew sat down and began to fall asleep in his camping chair. It was slightly dissapointing to my vision of s'mores and a romantic evening in the wood, but I recommended that he just go to sleep with the kids while I cleaned up our dinners. He didn't hesitate at my suggestion.
What happened after that, I can only describe as the longest, hottest (surprisingly), most uncomfortable night I have had in a long time. The tent felt too small for 2 adults, 2 children + a pack n' play (for Russell). We were sleeping upon each other, struggling through high altitude headaches, kicking aside blankets because of the heat, occasionally waking baby Russell up, and having to tiptoe through a mini-maze to get outside if we had to pee.
I didn't remember camping being such a pain!
Well, my night seemed like the most difficult to endure, because when Andrew and the little guys woke up the following morning they were mostly rested, happy, and eager to enjoy the day.
Taylor especially remembered the trip for it's great opportunities for exploring, collecting "rock treasures" and sticks, and helping his dad make fire. :)
We hurried home late that morning so Andrew could help a new family in our ward move in. I think it goes without saying that between taking care of our boys, unpacking from our trip, and Andrew hurrying to get out the door, our house was a little crazy when we arrived at home.
In the midst of the chaos, I placed my new iPad 2--what had been our temporary road map during the trip--on the roof of our Volvo wagon. When Andrew drove away to help move, I didn't even think about the iPad sitting in such a dangerous spot.
That night as I got ready for bed, I searched for my iPad to charge it. Then it dawned on me-- and I knew exactly what had happened.
It made me sick to think of my iPad falling off the car roof! But the especially sickening thoughts were the possibilities of it landing in the middle of the road somewhere, or being smashed to smithereens from cars driving over it, or it being picked up by a "lucky" bystander, etc.
It was another sleepless night for me.
The following day was a typical Sunday for us, involving late afternoon church from 12:30-3:30, putting the kids down for late naps, and then an early dinner for me and Andrew.
Right as the day was slowing down and Andrew and I had finished eating, Andrew noticed that he had a voicemail on his cellphone that had been left for him while we were away at church. It was from a young guy named Kevin, who said he had found my iPad. I almost couldn't believe it!
Kevin's side of the story is nothing short of a miracle: he said he had been driving at the intersection of Coal Mine and Kipling, not far from our house, on Saturday, 6/25 and noticed what he thought was a purse in the middle of the road . He stopped and picked it up and was surprised to find an iPad 2 inside!
Being the honest person that he was, he first listed the iPad on Craigslist under a "Lost and Found" ad (above). When he didn't hear from anyone that Saturday, he cleverly thought to call the Apple Store and give them the serial number of my iPad. The Apple Store was then able to trace the it back to Andrew, who had registered the iPad when he bought it for me a few months ago.
I was floored when Andrew played Kevin's message for me. We immediately got our boys up from their naps and drove over to his house (only 2-3 minutes away from us). When we got there, so was the iPad.
As if the miraculous return of my iPad wasn't surprising enough, Kevin himself was a little bit too--he was very young, probably between 16 and 22 years old, and wearing what I can only think to describe as "punk/cool" type of attire. Not my personal vision of a hero--I now know that heroes come in many different forms!
And here she is--the iPad, that is. There wasn't a scratch on the iPad itself, thanks to the homemade case that Andrew gave to me. There are now a few battle scars on the corners of the case, and that's the extent of it!
It might be funny to some of you reading this, but this experience was a significantly spiritual experience for me. I felt then, and still feel now, that I have a Father in Heaven who really cares about me--really cares. What kind of God would bless me with the return of a material possession, especially when it was lost due to my carelessness? A loving one. I know that it's me who He loves, and not materials.
What a whirlwind of a weekend that was! One that I will always remember and always be grateful for.
3 comments:
I told my husband about this, who works for apple doing the same thing the guy on the phone did who gave your hero the name and address, that he was not supposed to do that! lol. You are more lucky than you know. Nathan says it's not allowed because that information is confidential and he's had people call up like that before.
What a miracle, really! Wow. I think you are simply brave to take your kids camping! We did it once when Drew was a baby. When I was up at 4 am walking the trails with him to keep from waking everyone else up, I decided we're not going again until we don't have babies :)
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