phone

Thursday was the day we decided to head to Pocatello for some 4th of July fun. We planned on taking off when Ben got home from work...around 5:30.

It was a big day of packing,  a stress test for the baby, cleaning, running errands, and just the usual.

I was just finishing up loading all of our luggage into the car, and waiting for Ben to pull in any minute, when Ben called me from a random phone number.

He had been mountain biking, and had lost his phone somewhere on the trail.  He was headed back to the trail to look for it.  I could either wait several hours for him to come home, or I could drive to Poky with the kids, and he would come later. 

Both scenarios weren't exactly great.

We decided that I would drive to Poky with the kids, and Ben would come later.

As I loaded the kids into the car, I realized the significance of Ben's phone being lost.  His contacts, phone numbers, and so on were replaceable.  His phone was insured.  Those things weren't a big deal, just an inconvenience for a few days

The part that made my heart drop was remembering the videos Ben has on his phone. 

He has numerous videos of William telling stories, Luke seeing his first vacuum, and several other absolutely priceless moments, that we all love to watch all the time.  Knowing these were lost was extremely sad for all of us.  They are abnormally precious videos.

The kids and I said a prayer that somehow Ben's phone would be found, and headed out the door.

I decided to just drive up to where Ben was, bring him a packed suitcase, and have him get in our car to come to Poky with us.  I had no way to get ahold of him to tell him that, so I just had to hope the timing worked out.

The problem was, I wasn't exactly sure where he was.  I drove to 2 different ski resorts and drove all around looking for his car.  The kids were a wreck by this point, and starving, so I got them dinner and tried to figure out what to do.

I drove around a little more, and Ben called from another phone.  He was in the place where we were!  He didn't find his phone.  We were all pretty sad.  Luckily though, the timing worked out, and we were able to pick up Ben, leave his car at another resort, put his bike on our car, get a second dinner for Ben and the kids that were supposedly still hungry, and finally get on the road.

Needless to say, we got to Pocatello extremely late.

Ben was sure his phone was long gone.  Probably in the bushes or trees along a trail that is miles long.  The chances of someone just happening to see it were slim to none.

We prayed anyway.

A couple days later, I got a call on my phone, and it was from Ben's phone!  Ben answered it, but just as he did, his phone died, and he was not able to talk to anyone.

It did give us hope that someone had found it though! 

The kids and I had another prayer that whoever found his phone would be honest and turn it in, or find a way to charge it and call again.

We waited and waited.  Nothing happened.

Then, on our way to go boating, and less than an hour before losing reception, I got a voicemail from the lost and found at the Canyon's, where Ben lost his phone.  They had Ben's phone! Someone had turned it in!

Ben had to track down the person that actually had it, and told them to put it somewhere where he could get it on our way home.

It was a HUGE blessing, and a big answer to our prayers.  I was so thankful that our kids were able to experience such a miracle and answer to prayers.

Later, we learned that one of Ben's clients had called Ben, and some person answered it and told Ben's client that they had Ben's phone.  Ben's client then sent Ben a message on Facebook that his phone had been found.

Ben had not seen the message yet, but it was pretty cool that there had been more than one avenue created for Ben to be able to recover his phone.

It was also the 4th of July weekend, and the Canyon's was having a HUGE gathering of some sort.  People were everywhere during the time his phone was gone, and anyone could have stolen it, stepped on it, or accidentally kicked it aside and lost it even more.  We are so grateful that whoever found it was honest.

We really wish we knew who it was and where it was found.  We would love to know the story.  The odds just seemed so slim.

On our way home from Pocatello on Sunday, we stopped at the Canyon's, and Ben was able to get his phone.  No damage, scratches, water marks, or anything.  Just one giant picture of Williams adorable laughing baby face right on the front screen.

What a miracle.

I plan on downloading all of those videos onto our computer tomorrow.  We are all very grateful for a second chance to have those back!