Ceran credits his children's "mature" perspective on death to having dealt with it previously but, more importantly, to their strong faith. Members of the family belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Gary Ceran used to work for the church.

"We always assumed these trials would come in ebbs and flows, followed by a series of peace," he said. "Each one prepared us for bigger adversity. Each one we have handled with increasing composure."

But that doesn't mean it has been easy on the family. Gary Ceran's eyes fill with tears as he recalls in detail the accident that claimed his wife and two of his children on Christmas Eve.

On that early morning, no one in the family was sitting in the car in his or her usual spots. Cheryl was driving and Gary, who didn't want to wake up Ian in the front seat, climbed in back. When the other vehicle smashed into the Cerans' car, "the whole car ended up in a crescent shape," Gary Ceran said.

"By all rights, I should have been where Ian was," he said. "If we had all been where we normally are, the three younger ones would be left by themselves."

Despite a leg injury, Gary managed to have each member of his family assess his or her condition. His eyes welled with tears as he recalled placing Ian's head in his lap and stroking his head as blood spilled from his face.

"I checked him for a pulse ... I wasn't able to find one," he said.

Cheryl's head also rested on Ian.

"I couldn't find any evidence of life in her," he recalled.

Gary found Caleb, held his face and did his best to calm him.

"I said, 'We're going to be all right, buddy.' And he said, 'I love you, Dad' about five times. He asked what happened; I said we've been in a really bad accident ... I don't think Ian and your mom are going to make it," he said.

But when Gary talked to his son later at the hospital, Caleb told him he only remembered his father's comforting words that "everything is going to be all right."

A woman who witnessed the accident approached the family wanting to help but was extremely upset. He asked her to sit next to Caleb and hug him while he checked on his other family members. It worked wonders, he said. He is extremely thankful to the woman, even though he never learned her name.

Despite his extreme grief, it's Ceran's faith that he says gives him incredible strength. He calls it part of God's plan, pointing out how his family members were God's children before they were his. He believes everything happens for a reason.

In this case, he said, Cheryl and Julianna were extremely close. It would have been hard for Julianna to lose her mother, he said.