The day that almost changed our lives forever

One day in May, it was a Friday around noon, Stuart was home (a rare day off) and we decided to go out. He was inside and I ushered the kids outside to get them in the car. Alana went up to play on the porch (we live in the basement of a house) while Charlotte climbed in and played in the backseat of our minivan while I was strapping Esther in. I put Esther in her carseat and thought about waiting to strap her in until I got Alana, but decided to just strap her in. Suddenly, I heard a crashing noise, and looked up just in time to see two cars collide right at our intersection. Helplessly, I watched one car flip on it's side and careen toward me. The car slammed into the big willow tree in our yard and then crashed into our neighbor's minivan parked in the driveway next to ours. "please stop, please stop, please stop" was all I could think. I was terrified. As soon as the car stopped I grabbed my phone, dialed 911, and, knowing that my own children were all safe, ran over to check on the drivers. The other car had veered the other way, still landing in our yard. I yelled for Annie, my neighbor, though I'm not sure why. I was totally in shock! It took a few hours to get things cleaned up, and we gave the police our information. We have been thanking Heavenly Father ever since, especially because of some of the factors involved. First, the night before I had parked a little differently than normal, and that necessitated our neighbors parking where they had parked. Normally they park on the other side of us. Had they parked where they normally park, our van, with myself and two children, would have been hit. Who knows what would have happened. Also, our children are ALWAYS playing on the hill by the willow tree. Seriously. They are ALWAYS out there (well, not anymore, it's off-limits now). We ARE SO BLESSED that nobody was hurt. Scariest experience of my life to date. I still freak out when cars bottom out or I hear noises that sound like cars crashing!