Parker's Surgery

Parker had surgery on September 3rd to repair a communicating hydrocele. The condition is fairly common and the procedure went smoothly. We had to be down at the surgery center by 8:30am. Parker could have no food or water which was devastating because Parker loves breakfast. As most of you know, Parker is not an "easy going" child. He wants what he wants, period. So, that being said, he was not a happy camper in the waiting room. We were only there 10 minutes when one of the office staff pulled me aside and said there were complaints that he was being too loud and that I needed to "please take him out in the lobby." Ok, whatever, I took him out in the lobby...until he found the drinking fountain. I went back inside, pretty frustrated by now, and asked them what I was supposed to do. I can't wait in the waiting room because we're being too loud. We can't wait in the lobby because Parker can't drink before surgery. So, they stuck us in a room in the back and shut the door on us. Needless to say, I was NOT impressed with our treatment. Have they never had an upset child come in before? Maybe one that is scared, hungry and in an unfamiliar place? Once they took him back for the procedure, which was after 10am, things were fine. He was only gone for about 45 minutes. When I went back to recovery to see him he was sucking on an otter pop ready to go home. Usually the kids will have some after affects from the anesthesia; they'll be really tired and sleep for several hours... not Parker. He was trying to run around and be crazy right off the bat. He slept for maybe an hour and a half and other than that, you'd never known he had surgery. -That boy makes me tired :-)

This was taken about an hour after we got home. I love how his leg is propped up on the couch.

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.