Eventful Summer Part I

I have really struggled with writing about my summer this year. It has been very eventful. Some of my most fun and painful memories all in such a short time. We have done lots of camping, which we love, with friends and family. Chad & I also took a no kids trip to Havasupai. We had a group of about 25 that went down together; some old friends and some new ones.

Part of the Crew

Havasupai holds a lot of mixed feelings for me now in light of all that happened during that trip. We hiked down on a Friday morning and had lots of hiking, playing and relaxing on our "To Do List" for the weekend. We stayed in a lodge down there as opposed to camping. Friday was a pretty lazy day, after we hiked down of course. Some went to check out the falls, others like me, took an uninterrupted nap. Friday night was a blast. We all congregated in one room and laughed until we were so exhausted we couldn't stay awake any longer! Saturday a group of about 10 of us decided we would hike down to Beaver Falls. That's about 8 miles from the village. The trail that leads there is not well marked. One must pass across the river twice, climb ridiculously made ladders, and scale rock walls to stay on the right path. After we reached the falls we spread out to try to find the best way down the rocks to the water when my sister in law, Alisa, slipped and fell about 12 ft.

Our guitar playing hero, Patrick

She actually fell on a man, Patrick, who was sitting on a ledge below playing his guitar (I know, seriously) who grabbed her leg to keep her from tumbling into the water. So much happened so fast from this point that it's hard to put it all here. Some hiked all the way back to get help and have a helicopter dispatched, others went back 6 miles to the campground for more water, and others knelt down where they were to offer prayer, not knowing what else they could do.

Jason (Alisa's husband), Me, Steve, Patrick & Rueben giving the thumbs up.

I was fortunate enough to be down on the ledge with Alisa. She had hit her head and was bleeding, she was most definitely in shock and had a severely broken ankle. Those of us with her kept her awake and talking. That was no easy feat.

It was amazing to watch the helicopter pilot maneuver down into the canyon. He
had no more than the propeller blades width on either side of him as he
descended. Seriously amazing!

About 6 hours later a helicopter that was given wrong information about where we were and was flying around trying to find us FINALLY appeared. We all gave a HUGE sigh of relief. Soon Alisa would be flown out of the canyon to the hospital, given lots of pain meds and everything would be fine... The helicopter medic repelled down, strapped Alisa to the backboard, zipped her up in a bag, hooked her up the the helicopter when the pilot decided he didn't have enough fuel to fly Alisa out of the canyon and with night coming on, didn't have enough light to safely rescue her.

Preparing for the rescue.

It still makes my heart sick to think of her spending the night out on that ledge. Let alone doing it with nothing but Motrin for pain! Since there was nothing else we could do we left Alisa for the night with the medic and her husband, Jason for the long 8 mile hike back to the village, in the dark. As soon as I walked away from her the emotions of the day started seeping in. I knew I had 8 miles to go and didn't have the energy for crying...yet. By the time we made it back to the lodge it was well after midnight. We were met by the rest of our group who had waited up to make sure we got back alright. Everyone was exhausted.

The following morning we learned that Alisa was flown out and taken to Las Vegas were she was taken straight into surgery. She suffered a concussion and shattered her ankle.

Alisa after her initial surgery before her trip home from her Las Vegas.

This is by far not the end of the story, but I think it will do for now. Heavenly Father's blessings were poured out upon us during this trip and are undeniable. About an hour after Alisa's fall, we were happened upon by two fire fighters that were able to assess Alisa's condition and they stayed with us the entire time. They even stayed the night up on the ledge above to offer assistance if needed. The man on the ledge, Patrick, that kept Alisa from falling in the water turned out to be a tour guide. Without him there is no way the rest of us would have been able to find our way back in the dark. Alisa has shared many times how the prayers of those back at the lodge sustained her through that awful night. There is no other explanation than the intervention of our Father in Heaven. I am so grateful for the gospel and the knowledge I have that even when things seem really bad and we don't know what to do, we can always turn to Him.