A little late

This won't be news to any family that also reads my sister's, sister-in-law's, or my mom's blog... but it's been a rough week, and this is the first time I've been on my computer in 7 days. So, here's my version of the story.

We went on our annual (we went last year, and another year about a decade ago, that makes it annual, right?) snowmobiling trip with the Hardcastles. My parents rent a super nice cabin, and snowmobiles for a day of riding. There is always too much food, a few games (at my mom's request or demand, whatever way you look at it) and some fun in the snow. This year my mom's sister and husband as well as brother, Paul, came with us too. We had a full house!

The evening before the snowmobiles we all arrived and had dinner. Trevor showed off his pj's... and we all went to bed.



The next morning was a quick breakfast, and getting dressed up warm. Everyone was going out in the morning expect for me and my kids. Hyrum got dressed up and played out in the snow for almost an hour. Kate and I went out for the first few minutes, but came back in pretty quick. I guess Hyrum just loved it and played with his aunts while everyone learned how to use the machines. He was pretty bummed to be stuck inside with his boring mom and sister once everyone else left for the morning.




Sitting by the fire, which is what we did all day.
Then the fun started! Here's my version of the story (for the record, everyone told slightly different stories, so this is what I got from it).

I was trying (in vain) to get Hyrum down for a nap and was downstairs when my aunt Karen came in to tell me there had been an accident. My mom crashed her sled into Justin's. She flew over her machine, into and past Justin, and landed on the ground. Somehow Justin's ankle was hit by something (couldn't have been the snowmobile, so I don't know how it got hurt) but he was fine.

My mom, on the other hand, broke her arm. Gordon was sent back to get help, even before he knew what was going on and who was even hurt. The lodge sent people (I think some were employee's and some were volunteers that work or live in the area, I'm not sure) to the accident site on snowmobiles. My mom's glasses cut into her face, so there was a lot of blood, but those were pretty superficial wounds. Once the paramedics got there they were certain that she had broken her wrist (using words like 'deformed' and 'shattered'). She had to ride in a sled being towed by a machine to meet the ambulance, who took her to the hospital about 25 miles away.

Once she got to the hospital (but not after a paramedic accidentally dropped a stool on her arm in the bus), they took close to a million x-rays and c-scans. We got information via email's from my dad, and they couldn't seem to decide what to do. Once they did, my dad realized that he needed to 'settle up' with the lodge -for the rentals and the damages. And the gas. And the employees who came to help. And the gas for THEIR machines. And the time down for the all-but-totaled snowmobiles. You get the idea.

To get my mom to Ogden and surgery faster, Kate and I packed up and headed to the hospital in Evanston. I passed my dad on the way, but got to my mom quicker than he would have been able to. We drove down to the hospital and got her into surgery pretty quickly. My dad showed up about 15 minutes after she went to surgery.

The surgeon put a plate in her arm with some bone graft (cadaver bone). It was a pretty messy break and besides being bruised from head to foot, she also broke a couple of ribs. She can't drive for at least another few weeks, and is only free of pain when she's asleep. It's pretty impressive how quick things moved and hopefully how quick my mom will be on the mend. But for now... I think she's wishing she took us to Disneyland!