A Memorable Memorial Day 2011

We had the best time camping with some dear friends!  We went to White Horse Lake it was beautiful!  We decided to head out on Monday morning to get some stuff done at home.  I had Brittany, and the little boys with me in the truck and Dave had the rest of the kids and a couple of our friends kids with him in the van.  They decided to stop and fish just one more time.  My boys were tired so I decided to keep on going!  I had 2 kayaks and one canoe with me which ended up being a huge blessing!  I was so worried about the boats moving that I kept looking in my mirror every few seconds.  I looked back to see flames coming up!  I slammed on my breaks and yelled for Brittany to get

 

Luke out!  I was trying to get JD out but I couldn't get the seat belt off.  I saw flames in back of the truck and I was a little more than panicked!  I finally got him out and we ran about 30 - 40 feet when the first explosion happened!  Ok now I will plug - EVERYONE needs to get a seat belt cutter and keep in on your key chain!  The fireman told me the reason I couldn't get JD out was because when your body is in "fight or flight" you loose your fine motor skills!  I am still SHOCKED at how quickly everything went down.  It was probably about 2 - 3 minutes from the time I saw the flames to the time the first explosion happened. 
We ran away and I called 911.  We just watched the truck burn for about 35 minutes until the first rescue people arrived.  I got a hold of Dave (FINALLY) I was so worried he would drive up to the truck and not know we were ok and try to run up to it.  The fireman came and put the fire out and told me it was an electrical fire - which is interesting because our truck has never worked right.  The fuel gage would go from empty to full to anything inbetween - the cd player would over heat after a few minutes of listening to a cd and not play anymore - the ac on the passinger side NEVER worked - it would blow HOT air only!  And the console always felt hot - we always found these things to be annoying!  But had NO idea how dangerous it was.  The ironic thing is that yesterday 2 days after the fire I received a letter from GMC telling me there is a recall because of the ac possibly overheating! 
I really feel so blessed if things would have been slightly different we wouldn't be here.  Dave and I are Ma's and Pa's for the pioneer trek when we were set apart I received a blessing that I would be watched over - protected and healthy and well. 
If I wouldn't have had Brittany with me I wouldn't have had time to get both boys out, if I didn't have the boats I wouldn't have looked back so frequently, if it would have been Sat or Sun the wind was blowing at 45 - 65 mph all day and we would have caught the forest on fire, if we would have been on the freeway - it would have been disasterous - really everything that happened was a miracle - I am so grateful that I was able to get my family out safely!  Brittany you are a HERO!