Well, we had an adventurous Sunday (to say the least!) Lee and I decided to take the boys up to Swiss Valley to practice snowboarding & skiing on the bunny hill. Sam and Beth wanted to come along to watch the boys attempt this big feat. We loaded up the car on Sunday morning and we were off on our 1 1/2 hour drive to Jones, Michigan.
Right before we passed the Angola exit, we came across a lady standing outside of her car talking on her cell phone. Her car looked like it had broken down. Lee pulled over to see if she needed help. She told him she was driving up from Florida (she only had flip flops on) to Michigan and everything she owned was in the car... including her 7 year old son and puppy! The car died on them and they had been sitting there for at least an hour in 2 degree temperature. She said we were the first ones to pull over to help. Can you believe that? Anyway, we loaded them up in our car and took them to a gas station off of the Angola exit. Lee called a towing service for them and I gave the lady a pair of my socks (I had them layered for the cold weather) and Lee gave her a pair of his shoes he had with him. They called some family from Michigan to pick them up.
Once again, we were on our way.
Krue was really excited to go snowboarding. He has been practicing on a hill in Auburn but wanted to try a bigger hill. Lee bought him a helmet and he wore it the entire way up to Michigan :)
Riding up to Swiss Valley.
Getting ready to put on their snow gear, boots, snowboard (
Krue) and Skies (
Kiefer).
Sam and Beth were such a BIG help!
At the bottom I have video of the boys going down the bunny hill. Here are several other pictures...
Krue and Lee getting a ride from the rope (
Krue loved this and studied how it worked).
Kiefer taking a break from skiing.
Krue getting ready to go down the hill.
Lunchtime...
Kiefer was ready for some food! We packed a picnic lunch and had fun eating in the lodge. Papa Sam bought us all some yummy hot cocoa.
Getting ready to go back out with full bellies.
Kiefer having fun!
Okay, this is where our day took a turn for the worse. The boys did several runs down the hill after lunch. They were doing really good! Kiefer insisted on skiing down the hill by himself. He would get very mad if we tryed touching him when he was skiing. He also insisted on starting at the top. Krue has such good balance on the snowboard and really enjoys it! About 20 minutes in, Krue headed down the hill for a run and about halfway got turned around backwards. The backside of his board caught and he fell hard straight back (the video is at the bottom). Lee was right there to get him. Krue immediately started crying and Lee got him to his feet and back up the hill. I just thought he got the wind knocked out of him. I cuddled with him at the top of the hill... and after about 2 minutes I knew something was wrong. He looked really pale and said his head hurt bad. His eyes were wanting to shut and said he thought he might throw up. I called Lee over and told him that something was wrong and that we had to get him into the lodge. Sam and Beth took the skis and snowboards and put them away while Lee and I carried the boys to the lodge.
Once we were inside Lee laid him on a bench. Krue looked like he was going to go unconscious any minute. He kept saying "Hurry Daddy!" and "My Head!". I ran to find help. I located the Ski Patrol office and grabbed the first person I saw. I told him the situation and he ran back to the lodge with me. We didn't see Lee, Krue, or Kiefer when we got back there... so I knew Krue must be in the restroom getting sick. I sent the ski patrol guy in to check on Krue. The next thing I knew the guy was running out of the bathroom calling for backup and an ambulance. He said Krue's left eye was not responding and that he was collapsing to his knees. There were about 10 ski patrol people swarming Krue in seconds... giving him oxygen, putting a neck brace on, putting him on a backboard. They were trying to keep him awake by having him count to 100 (his favorite thing to do right now.) Lee stayed right by his side... I couldn't take it! I had to grab Kiefer and walk down the hall or I was going to lose it. I don't know how many times I prayed.
They got Krue situated (the oxygen helped wake him up a little). Sam and Beth went to get our car and pull it up outside of the lodge. The ambulance got there and they loaded Krue up. They would only allow one person to stay with Krue in the ambulance, so Lee stayed and I followed with Sam, Beth, and Kiefer (remember, I was about to lose it anyway). The ambulance had the siren and lights on so it was able to get far ahead of us. We about panicked when we came across the ambulance pulled over on the side of the road with two other ambulances around it. We thought it had wrecked... or Krue was really getting bad. We pulled over and I ran back to the ambulance. I threw opened the door and asked, "is Krue in here?". They said yes and told me to have a seat on the passenger side. They then explained to me that Krue had vomited 3 times during the ride and seemed like he was going to go unconscious (going unconscious is dangerous in a concussion situation because it could kick the person into a coma). They were also afraid Krue would go unconscious, vomit, and inhale his vomit. They were not equipt for this situation... so they called for a backup ambulance. Krue was given an IV and anti-nausea medication to keep him from getting sick. I was allowed to stay with Krue from this point on because he had been calling for me.
For the remainder of the ride to hospital we did everything to keep him awake. We talked about Disney World, telling his classmates that he got to ride in an ambulance, wondering what Baba and Papa Joe were doing.... in between talking he would scream because his head hurt so bad. The IV freaked him out, too. Pretty soon Krue told us that talking made his head hurt and he wanted to just lay there. We continued to talk to him but didn't ask for responses.
At the hospital they had about 12 ER staff waiting for us. A doctor came in right away to assess him and do some neurological tests. Thank goodness everything tested fine! He said both eyes were responding, which is good. They let Krue sleep from this point on and took him to get a CAT scan. Krue woke up in the middle of the scan and freaked out because he didn't know where he was and he was still strapped down to the backboard and had a neck brace on and IV in. How scary for a 4 year old! We had to wait about a half an hour to get the CT results. Krue was going crazy, screaming, crying, and saying, "Will you take this off? I just want to go home. I just want you to hold me." This was killing me as a mom.
We were SO happy to hear that everything looked fine. No bleeds, no breaks, no swelling. Just a bruised brain. Imagine what could have happened if he didn't have a helmet on!
We were able to check out of the hospital and be on our way. Do you know how grateful and appreciative I felt when were doing this? I don't know how many parents go through a situation like this praying for everything to be fine and to go back to normal... but sometimes that doesn't always happen. We were truly blessed in this situation. Krue had his guardian angel with him... and God was with us for sure. It just makes you stop and realize how PRECIOUS our kids are and how quickly something can happen to them. Such a reality check.
On our way home we stopped at Hardees (yes, Hardees) and got the kids cheeseburgers with buns, sprites, and cookies :)
Krue is acting fine today. He slept in our bed last night and did fine... just really thirsty all night long. He went to school and they said he acted normal. He is taking a good nap now.
We were worried that this accident would scare Krue away from ever wanting to ski or snowboard again. However, on the car ride home he said to me, "Mom, I think I just need a little more practice. Daddy needs to teach me how to stay facing forward. Can we go back to Michigan next weekend?" I can believe he is ready to try it again. I don't think he will be going anytime soon... but we will let him try it again. Helmet and all!
What a day it turned out to be!
Krue in the hospital.
Kiefer Skiing!
Krue Snowboarding!
Krue and Lee riding the rope back up the hill.
Sideways, but cute.
The wipe out that sent Krue to the hospital.
Kiefer, The Sweet Elf
Adam (He would be Max, not The Grinch)
Amos the Reindeer
Ali, The Funky Christmas Elf (Ali couldn't get anymore time off of work in 2008 because of all the weddings she came home for during the summer and fall. She ended up flying home on Christmas Eve around midnight and then heading back to to Houston around 3:30pm on Christmas day! She was happy about doing this because she was with her family for the "heart" of Christmas. It was SO good seeing her!)
Erin, The Sparkly Santa
The Bell Girls
Ali got an engagement ring from Dustin for Christmas! (He didn't get to come to Bluffton with her because he had family come down to Houston for Christmas.)
The Orange Juice Team (Pawpaw's famous orange juice,that is!) 
The Sausage Team (Gigi) and Toast Team (Megan and her boyfriend, Will)
The Scrambled Egg Team (Mamaw)
Team Turnover (Me, Ali, David, and Maralee)
The Taste Testers (Adam and Lee)
Riding up to Swiss Valley.
Getting ready to put on their snow gear, boots, snowboard (Krue) and Skies (Kiefer).
