Never a Dull Moment

Visiting the Farm

We have cousins that live near Branson and decided to make a side trip to check out their farm. Tony and Cheryl were such gracious hosts - especially considering we called the day before and basically invited ourselves over.

My city kids go to see so many amazing things! The vineyard was beautiful - they thought it was pretty cool to see how grapes grow.

Between the sheep, and the dogs, and the chickens, they couldn't decide what was the best part.

Seeing eggs in the chicken coop was pretty crazy for Jack!

Dogwood Canyon

We spent a beautiful afternoon touring the Dogwood Canyon nature reserve. It was absolutely beautiful!

We boarded the tram for our guided tour around the grounds. There were tons of little waterfalls that ran over the road. The boys got a huge kick out of driving over them.

There were a couple tram stops for us to get out and explore a bit. This stop was a favorite - they got to feed the fish!

Our little longhorn with a longhorn :)

It was such a nice day to get away from everything in such a beautiful place.

Big Cedar Lodge

We had a trip booked to northern GA that we had to cancel after the accident. We were so glad that right before we were scheduled for Big Cedar William's doctors gave him the all clear to resume some activities - like riding in a car.

We have stayed here once before and loved it. There are so many fun things for the kids to do. We took full advantage. From the arcade, to the paint your own pottery studio, to the high ropes course, to the bingo games complete with drinks and childcare!

Taller Than Aunt Anna

Max has hit one heck of a growth spurt since the beginning of Covid. Aunt Anna came over with Scott to drop off some ice cream with all the fixings. We were all surprised that Max wasn't just taller than her, he towered over her!

For the record as of today, I still have him beat by a hair.

The Float Trip

I think this is the post that has kept me from blogging. I needed time to process and come to terms with what happened. It still very hard for me to look at these pictures - I relive all of the feelings of that day. I'm hoping as time passes I can look back and remember the good things that came from it - How incredibly strong all three of my boys are, how many people love and care of us, how much prayer can bring me peace, and just how lucky we are to be alive.

We booked at float trip with friends to enjoy some socially distanced fun. Things started out great! It was a gorgeous day and we had amazing company. The boys weren't so sure beforehand, but as soon as they jumped in the river and splashed around the water with freinds they were sold. They all thought it was the best time ever - and for a few hours it was.

Shortly after this picture was taken things changed. We heard a fishing boat coming from behind us at full speed. I thought for sure he would turn, but he didn't. He hit our raft - more specifically, he hit William. William, Max and Brian were thrown from the raft. William took the brunt of the impact. He was unconscious when we got him into the raft. I honestly thought he was gone. He came to and after what felt like forever help arrived and he was airlifted to Children's Hospital.

My mom met William at the hospital - neither one of us could go with him. They allowed both Brian and I in once he got to the ICU. We learned that our sweet baby had an open compound fracture of his humerus, a broken rib, a lung contusion, and a very severe laceration to his spleen. Once his spleen bleed was stable they operated and place a plate and six screws to stabilize his arm.

It wasn't until he cameo out of surgery that I felt like I could breath. My sweet baby was alive. We moved to a general surgery floor where we spent the next four days.

The nurses, therapists and doctors were nothing short of amazing.

The smile he gave when the doctors asked if he wanted to go home was priceless. We were all so thrilled with how William bounced back. Kids are crazy resilient! It felt so good to come home and sleep under our own roof - even with all of his crazy restrictions.

Max was also injured in the accident. He was hit on the back of his left shoulder and suffered an A/C separation. Even with his injury he tried with all his might to help get William back into the raft. They facetimed when William was in the hospital and it was adorable.

Max: How was the chopper ride?

William: Choppy

The bright spot of this horrific ordeal was how many people reached out to our family. From the friends with us that day that helped us get William into the raft, called 911, took names of witnesses, and worked out the logistics of our raft and our van, to the people that prayed unceasingly for William's recovery, to the people that donated money, meals, and gifts to keep William busy as he recovered. The love of each of these people carried me through the darkest days of my life.

In the end we are here and healthy and that is what matters.