Other People's Spring Breaks!

Maryjane, Sarah, Emily and Anne

The four oldest Koski girls were together in AZ for their spring break 

(actually, it was Emily's and Anne's but Maryjane and I played along) 

March 22-26

Olivia, May, Lucy, Claire, and Katie

The cousins watching Spiderman on Saturday morning after the most delicious buttermilk pancakes I have ever eaten!! Thanks Shea!

Clark and Kenny with Rich and Peter in the back

Grandma, Luke and Shane

Spiderman is Grandma's favorite movie! Seriously, I think she has a crush on Peter Parker (Toby Mcguire) No wonder she named her first daughter, Maryjane!

Chloe and May

These two cousins were born just a few months apart and were happy to spend time together again. They swam, shopped, watched movies and were crafty.

Shane, Jake and Katie

The Harringtons (Emily's family) were staying at the Kierland Resort in Scottsdale because Mark was at a medical conference and we had fun at their pool (small waterpark) with the Robisons and Wilsons too! I hung out with them on Thurs. while my kids were at school!! Then we all went there on Saturday morning. It was so nice just cruising around the lazy river and having some great girl talk.

Grandma, Katie, Anne, Shea (in background)

We visited Liza on Wed. before we went to the biggest candy store in the United States, Sweeties!

May and Olivia joined in the fun of cleaning her headstone, writing messages on a lacrosse ball for her and putting together a new flower arrangement Mom and sisters made.

One of my favorite messages on the ball was from 9 year-old Shane

"I might play Lacrosse"

Anne, Emily, Mom and Dad picked out some beautiful blackberries, wildflowers, other red berries and greenery for a more permanent arrangement for Liza. We thought this looked like something she might have grabbed along an Oregon trail while working in the mountains. Miss you Liza!

Grandpa, Anne, Chloe, Grandma and Camille

I always feel like the weather is just perfect when I visit Liza's place. There is such a sweet and peaceful spirit there. Even though it is sad, it is somehow more beautiful than just about any place in AZ.

We really had fun getting to know Liza's neighbors. One very close to her is Justin B. Johnson who we researched on the internet. He was 28 when he died on New Years Day 2008, in a car accident on his way to work in Tennessee. I wonder if he and Liza are friends. 

Sisters are a wonderful thing!!! Love you girls forever!!!

Jeremy's Miracle!

You know when you see those white crosses on the side of a road or highway marking the spot where some poor family lost a loved one in an accident? Well, Kami Tilby, Jeremy's mother (read post below) made this sign to memorialize the miracle that their family was blessed with! 

Jeremy LIVES!!!

I love the stuffed squirrel and fake flowers at the base, just like a real memorial!

The front of the toasted Volvo. Doesn't look too bad yet? Keep going!

The view from the driver's seat- nice windsheild.  Getting worse...

The back seat! Can you see the toasted head rests from the front seats. Click on these pictures to see them larger. 

The right side of the car- Really toasted!!! From where we were standing we could see the huge flames shooting up through the windows. They did a lot of damage! Glad it was EMPTY!!!

Jeremy's backpack that was on the back seat. Toasty! His ipod inside it was unharmed. PHEW! At least he only has to buy a new car and not a new ipod too! If anyone has a car for sale - leave a comment!

Glad you are doing much better than your car Jeremy. 

Somebody LOVES you!

Saving a life!

Rustin and I were blessed to be at the right place at the right time to help save an unconscious man from a burning car on Saturday (March 26, 2011) evening at 5:00 pm. Rustin was driving (just got his permit) and we were headed to a lacrosse friends house. As soon as we turned from our street to the main street that runs through our neighborhood (Juniper) we saw a white car parked on the side of the road with a lot of white smoke coming from the hood and pouring over the car. 

This is him, Jeremy Tilby 3 years later with his wife, Stephanie

Another person (Michael Harrison, whose family I know well) had already stopped and had discovered that there was a person in the car who was unconsious. Rustin immediately pulled over and ran to help Michael pull the man out of the burning car. He did have to show me how to dial 911 on his phone really quick first! The call would not go through because all the lines were busy and so I ran to help Rustin and Michael who had the guy out of the car, but he was still laying on the street by the door. He was a very heavy (220 lbs) and floppy man and was extremely hard to move. Rustin said later that he was really glad he'd been in weightlifting class at school. 

NO KIDDING!!! 

 Look how much bigger Jeremy (220 lbs) is than Rustin who is 5'10" and 150 lbs. The other rescuer was taller than Rustin but much skinnier and was happy to have Rustin's muscles there to help!

We moved him  to the side of the road behind the car, but didn't stay there long as we were getting covered with smoke that was increasing in volume rapidly and had turned black as the car started to really catch fire. We hefted poor Jeremy (who was still totally out) and carried him to the other side of the road in the bike lane. We layed him there and rested a bit. His eyes were a little bit open but he couldn't move or speak and looked really sick. I had no idea what was wrong with him, if he had inhaled enough smoke to pass out or had passed out before the car caught fire or what but I was very concerned and just rubbed his head and told him everything was going to be okay and prayed and prayed and prayed that it would be. After a bit, we decided to move him because the fire department was still not there and the fire was getting really big and hot and I could hear things exploding and popping inside the car and I thought it might blow up.

Fortunately, the car never blew up but it left a lot of ashes and debri behind after they towed it!

When Rustin and Mike and I and a few others moved him further down the road, he was starting to wake up and was actually moving his feet a little for us. As he started becoming more aware, he became anxious and tried to walk away from us, though he couldn't really walk. There was no way we were going to let this potentially very sick individual wander off before the ambulance go there so we tried to wrestle him to the ground. It didn't work. As you can see from the picture, he is a very big and VERY strong guy. Randy Harrenberg, my husband, Russ- who Rustin had run and gotten, and others, tried to calm him down and keep him around while we waited for the fire trucks to arrive. They finally got there and... No, it wasn't MY firemen, the Gilbert firetrucks were all out on calls and this was Mesa fire to the rescue. 

Unfortunately, they had only heard that there was a car fire but not a victim in the car, so at first they just worked on getting the car fire out until finally a paramedic noticed my dad and I frantically waving at them to come help Jeremy. We told them what was going on and they soon found out how strong Jeremy was. It took several police officers and firemen to finally tackle Jeremy into the bushes and get some handcuffs on him to keep him down. Poor guy!!!! He kept asking for someone to help him and saying "Ow!" I felt so bad and just stayed close to try and offer any comfort I could. 

After a while they got him some tranquilizers to sedate him a little and then got him onto a stretcher. As he calmed down, he was more responsive and told them his name was Jeremy and that he suffered from seizures. They figured that the medicine on the front seat (that he had just picked up from Target) was his anti-seizure medication. 

Rustin and I stayed and gave a statement to the police and gave them my number and asked them to call and let me know how Jeremy was doing and if they ever figure out just what had happened. They said they would try, but might not know themselves. 

After Jeremy was safely on his way to the hospital, I took Rustin to his friend's house and then zoomed home for a quick shower and some clothes (By the way- all of this was happening as I was wearing only a swimsuit and a sweatshirt! Put on clothes before you leave the house! You never know what might happen!!!) then I took off for the dinner and Young Women's general broadcast I was missing. 

About 45 min. after I got there, Russ texted me the most amazing text 

"The kid whose car burned was Kami Tilby's son!" 

I can't explain the emotion to know that poor Jeremy, who I had been praying over, was the son of one of my most favorite friends in the entire world (and she also happens to be my relief society president and close neighbor!) She has helped me in so many ways through every step of the last few insane and very difficult months of my life, starting before my sister Liza died, but especially since then. To have been able to help save her son's life and bless hers forever in a very real way is such an honor. I am so grateful that Rustin and I were there to help him and her and her precious family!

So on Sunday night Rustin and I got to meet our Jeremy!!!!

It turns out that Jeremy does indeed suffer from seizures and takes medication to control them. He had missed two days of medication and had just refilled his perscription and then visited his parents who live just a few houses from me. As he rounded the corner to Juniper, he felt the aura of a seizure coming on and knew he had to pull over and put the car into park. It took his body about 100 yards to be able to do that and he stopped about 20 yards before the main intersection at Val Vista! Phew!!!

Then he had a seizure and it is believed that he must have accidentally pushed down on the pedal and reved the engine so high that it overheated and caught fire. Sometime after that we arrived on scene.

He doesn't remember being pulled from the car or being carried around but does vaguely remember the struggle on the ground with the police, and asking for help. He says it is foggy like a dream. Then he "woke up" in the hospital, not really sure why he was there and why he had grass (which was actually straw from one of the bushes) all over him.

He was so sweet when he met Rustin and I, reaching out for big bear hugs and saying "Thank you, Thank you!" 

You are so welcome Jeremy!!! 

So glad we could feel what it feels like to be an angel and be part of a miracle. That same day, Saturday, was the two month anniversary of Liza's death and I had cried quite a few tears just a few hours before this happened. It was so nice to have things turn around and get to be part of such a happy ending for such a great person and family

Maybe Liza was there helping too! 

Maybe we were both angels that day?!

In Memory of Liza

Chloe edited some pictures from Liza's computer in honor of her. I thought I'd share...

We miss you sooooo much Liza and LOVE you even more!!

Sunday Evening Photo Shoot

After our fun and crazy Sunday drive (below) we just had to take and edit more pictures so we did! 

First the girls took some of each other...

Then I took some of them together and apart

Chloe hiding from Liv after splashing her with pool water

There are some days that are so wonderful and perfect you wish you could just somehow video record the feelings in your heart so you could replay it later when your kids are grown, this was one of those days. 

Thanks girls!

Sunday Drive

In sacrament meeting yesterday our speaker, Brother Jarmin, talked about how his family went on a car ride where they flipped a coin at every intersection to decide whether they turned left or right. The point was to prove that you couldn't end up at the temple by chance, that we must plan our lives to bring us to the temple by keeping the commandments etc. Well, after 26 minutes, they ended up driving right by the new Gilbert temple construction site and had a good laugh that their object lesson didn't really work!

Chloe and Olivia and I just had to try it yesterday after church and after 25 mintues, we ended up on Sossoman and Warner at a dead end because of a detour. It worked! Then we decided to drive by the temple site anyways because we hadn't been by there since they had broken ground and wanted to document the progress. Here goes...

Chloe and Olivia love using the website Picnik to play around with their photos. You will see a lot of creativity in the coming pictures that they took and edited.

There is this green fence around the whole site so it is hard to see the construction so the girls stood on top of our Suburban to snap these and then I took some of them while they were up there!

Then they just got very random with the pictures they took and edited!!!

This one wasn't from our drive but it cracked me up so I thought I'd share it

Beautiful job girls!!! 

I love you soooooo much!

Angels in Blue

In order for this story to make sense and have full impact, you must first have read three posts, about our New Year's Fire, Russ's 911 emergency and Losing Precious Liza.

On Thurs. January 27, I was at Safeway doing my grocery shopping and I was just finishing up unloading my grocery cart onto the conveyer belt, when I got the phone call that my baby sister, Liza, had died. It was extremely traumatic and I just ran out of the store, bawling loudly as I ran past the surprised checkers and other shoppers. In the coming days, I vowed never to shop at Safeway again because I never wanted to relive that worst experience of my life, in anyway.

Tues. Feb 1st, my little Olivia was home sick from school with a fever. I spent the morning caring for her and crying my eyes out as I found new video I had taken of Liza when she arrived at the Phoenix airport, this Christmas Eve. (there were more hugs given and besides a video of mom hugging her, these were the only hugs I captured). 

That same day, Russ also found a bunch of pictures of her with our family when she visited us in Dec. of 2004. They are priceless! 

I was filled with so much gratitude for finding these treasures and for knowing and loving Liza, and so much grief that she was gone. It was an intense morning to say the least.

My sick little Olivia  requested "jo-jo potatoes" and chicken strips for lunch (from the Safeway deli) and for some reason I felt like indulging her. I had other errands to run near Safeway and I figured I had to go back sometime. I kept procrastinating however, and finding important things to do, emails to send etc. before I finally left around noon.

I pulled into the parking lot and wiped my eyes, took a deep breath and even before I got out of my Suburban, I noticed a man in a blue uniform. I wondered what the police were doing there and then wished that it were the firemen and not the police because those guys were my buddies. As I got out of my car, I looked to my left and I saw a big, blue and white Gilbert fire truck. It WAS the firemen after all. Not only was it the firemen, it was MY FIREMEN! Yes, Alex Ramos, Adam Hellmann and two others who had been at my house fire, Russ's fall and who Olivia and I had brought cookies to just a week after those incidents. We were all happily surprised to see each other and met in the middle of the parking lot to catch up.

They said, "Mrs. Crawford! How is your family? How was the rest of your January? I hope it got better!" Poor guys had no idea what they were in for! I told them that things had in fact gotten worse, much worse, and that my little sister had died. They asked all about her and what happened, and I showed them pictures on my phone of my gorgeous Liza. They were so sorry and so sad that this had happened. After talking a while, we remembered how last time I saw them (at the fire station while delivering cookies) I had said that I hoped to see them again soon, but NOT at my house for an emergency, but around town, "like at the grocery store." It was very comforting talking to them and it definitely cheered me up.

As we finished up our conversation, we all headed toward's the dreaded store together. I had two firemen on my left, and two on my right. I was flanked by blue uniforms, and as I felt the cool breeze on my face and warm sun on my back the thought hit me, which I immediately said aloud, "You guys were supposed to be here today. You are my angels, my angels in blue!" They smiled and we went into the store where we parted with hugs and kind words.

I have often wondered why those two crazy accidents happened to our family early in January and what I was supposed to learn. Maybe it was just so Heavenly Father could give me a big blue hug during the most difficult trial of my life. I am so grateful for His love and tenderness to each of His children and for Him reminding me, once again, that He is aware of me, and loves me perfectly.