Roller Coaster

This past week can only be described as a roller coaster. Amazing highs with fun thrilling twists and turns, and sadly, those turns suddenly drop leaving you breathless and crying. 

Labor Day started out blustery with some wind, but that didn't stop EAT from sending a food drop on Lake Clark Air!

Since the holiday was chilly we had a day mostly indoors. 

Spencer made some cool stuff out of paper and cardboard. 

And when the wind died down we drove the island.

The clouds were beautifully ominous. We did not see any wildlife, 

but the clouds always seem to make up for what may be lacking.

They were just as beautiful across the harbor. I loved the way they provided a backdrop for the anchor.

The anchor that later in the week became symbolic of Christ holding me in place 

as the waves tossed me to and fro.

There was a BBQ at the beach at the end of the runway. The food was great, the gnats were thick, 

as were the fish in the stream. Hanna was catching them with her hands.

The fish in the streams are nasty. They are spawning, swimming up stream, and the meat is tasteless mush.

Trust me, I learned that the hard way. You catch them and throw them back. 

The good fish are in the ocean. 

I didn't get a good picture of all the children sitting at the waters edge watching Bruce (the shark) swim very, very close. It looked too shallow for him to be swimming where he was. It was a little eery. As usual he evaded as I tried to snap a picture.

I have started taking pictures of my island family. I want to remember them in years to come.

Asher is adorable. He is Hanna and Hazel's little brother. 

This was his first time eating corn on the cob without help. He loved it!

One of many fish Hanna's fast hands caught!

This is Ruger. My district reading specialist prepares some virtual language arts help for me.

She used his name in a sentence, and that face! He was so excited!

This is Annabelle. Ruger just had her listen to the sentence. It had her name in it too!

(She doesn't need audio help with reading. So she didn't have audio examples).

Friday we went for a drive and found a party at the beach at the end of the runway. We joined.

Shane fixed Spencer's fishing line. Spencer tried and tried, but couldn't reel in the fish he was hooking.

We saw a bear as we were leaving on the side-by-side. He was watching us from the distance. He was huge! I couldn't get a picture because he was too far away. But when the bears are that far away and you can see them towering over the grass intently watching, you know you have to pay attention. We also saw three sea lions. They were swimming and waving. Well, they looked like they were waving as they put their flipper up out of the water. Every time I grabbed the camera, the flipper disappeared. They were cool though, long, long whiskers.

The girls wanted to party in the side-by-side, so I took them. We turned the music up and rocked out! Good thing the V.P.S.O. isn't around right now. We were a little rowdy!

Carleen is my friend riding shot gun. Her daughter, Ellie is the one sitting in the middle. Misty is behind Carleen and Lacey is behind me.

This rainbow appeared to be shooting out over Ruger's house the morning of his 8th birthday!

Right to left: Shane (Ruger's dad) Nikki (Hazel & Hanna's mom)

Charlie, Asher, Ruger, and Spencer.

We celebrated Ruger's 8th birthday at the Community Center on Saturday.

The food was amazing as usual.

This is how you play pin the tail on the donkey. 

Throw a coat over the children's heads, and give them a spin!

After the party my world tilted. The roller coaster unexpectedly dropped, and I was left gasping for air.

It was about 9:30 p.m., and I was binge watching Cobra Kai with Bradyn. He was over 2,000

miles away and 4 episodes ahead. But I was trying to catch up when my phone rang. I looked at the screen only to see Thomas Munro in big letters. My heart stopped beating. That's Lexi's boyfriend. 

I know it is 11:30 p.m. in Utah. 

There is no reason at all that my daughter's boyfriend would be calling me at

11:30 p.m. other than to tell me that my daughter has been in an accident. I thought about not answering, because somewhere in my brain trying to make sense of what was to come it made sense. If I don't answer, nothing bad is happening. I answered and immediately hear her screaming in the background it hurts, it hurts so bad. And there's so much noise, and so many people talking. Thomas is trying to tell me that there's been a terrible accident. He's ok, the car is totaled. Lexi is not ok. My brain is trying to make sense of the chaos. Lexi's alive, I can hear her. What hurts? Make her pain stop! How am I going to get off this island? Lake Clark doesn't fly out here on Sunday. There's a space of dead air and it hangs there. Finally I find words. "Thomas, is she going to be ok?" He replies, "Yes, the ambulance is coming." I tell him, "Just take care of her." I hang up and cry. I feel helpless stuck on an island. My brain starts thinking. It's $10K to charter a plane. Will a day make a difference? Brady will know, he can fix this. He always fixes it when things go wrong. I call him. I hope he hasn't turned his phone off to sleep. We said goodnight over an hour ago. He answers. I lose it. I demand he get to his daughter. He gently reminds me that he too is on an island with limited flights. He talks me off of the cliff. I start to think clearly. She needs someone with her. What if Thomas doesn't want her now that she's injured. She needs family. My sister, I have to get my sister there. I call her. It's midnight by this time. She doesn't hesitate. She's going. She's going to take Dave and they will go. She will fix it. She is a very calm fixer. She is logical. She sees what's really happening.

She will tell me the truth about how my daughter is. She will give her a hug, but not hurt her injuries.

She will make her feel loved. Dave will give her a blessing. They will take care of her until I can get there.

Now the waiting, lots of waiting. It takes about 45 minutes to drive to Cedar, but I am sure they weren't dressed. They have to get Drew and Bradyn home and organized. She has to not freak Bradyn out. He'll be freaked out anyway. I can't call him. I can't stop crying. I text him. Brady called Wyatt. I need to talk to Thomas again. Is he going to the hospital? I text him to call me when he can. He tells me he is trying to go. It's his car that was totaled. He's arguing with his mom. Why are they arguing? I should talk to Brady again. We are trying to stay patient and calm. The clock is ticking so slowly. Why is time dragging? Is she at the hospital yet? Is anyone with her? Did she have to ride in the ambulance alone? Her anxiety is probably through the roof. Where is her phone? Am I going to be able to talk to her? Is anyone with her? I pray. I cry. I pray. I need a distraction. Cobra Kai, I was watching Cobra Kai. That's a good distraction.

I turn it back on. Tisha finally calls. They are there and waiting to go back. Lexi was just taken for X-rays. She will call me back. I watch more Cobra Kai. Such a good distraction. Brady calls, we chat for a minute.

He is going to call Thomas. He's worried we might be mad at him. Tisha calls. She is in the room with Lexi. Lexi is ok. She has a bad split lip. She is missing probably four front teeth, but it's hard to tell. She has a C collar on, but that's standard until they know her Xray and CT scans are normal. She's going to be ok. Tish is going to call when she has test results. I call Brady. My sister calls again.

Xrays and CT are clear. Lexi is going to be fine. She's just in a lot of pain. Tisha holds the phone up for Lexi and we talk for a minute. I am trying really hard not to cry. I need to be strong for her. She sounds drugged, but good. Tisha takes the phone back. She will keep me posted.

Ok, I can't sleep. I watch more Cobra Kai. I answer texts as they come in. They leave the hospital. They go get her things from her apartment. Then my daughter texts me and all is right with the world. She has her phone. We can communicate! She is terrified to be riding in the car. We text the whole drive to Tisha's. It is so good to be chatting. She sounds ok. She is struggling, but she's so strong. She arrives safely at my sisters. Now I can sleep.

Before her 8 stitches

8 stitches later. This picture breaks my heart into pieces. She really has no teeth.

The cause of it all. I started out really angry wanting to strangle him. I have moved to just really wanting him to never drive drunk again. His life must be very sad. I want him to care that he impacted ours so negatively, and I want him to be a better person and find happiness.

The breakfast Annabelle and her dad brought over Sunday morning.

It was so yummy and so appreciated. I probably wouldn't have made breakfast, or even eaten anything.

It definitely gave me energy to get my day going. Thank you, Jeff!

Sunday afternoon at my brother's. Lexi and Thomas are on the couch. She doesn't look terrible, but I can tell she's hurting. The cousins providing the entertainment. Families are forever.

A cool cloud picture at the end of the day Sunday reminding me that His light always shines, 

even when life is dreary. There are a lot of little miracles that began happening immediately through this traumatic experience with Lexi. First, she IS going to be ok. They caught the guy and he is in jail without bail for now. My sister and her husband standing in for Brady and I when we couldn't be there. Lexi had security the entire time at the hospital, and they escorted her to her apartment. They all made it to Tisha's safely and Sunday was as good as it could be for them. Lake Clark having a full plane Monday, but 15 minutes later she calls me back and magically has two empty seats for Spencer and I. The Superintendent and everyone else I work with being so supportive. They are sending in someone from King Cove to sub and would you believe I know her. She is my closest branch member. She teaches Spencer in primary. Supportive friends sending me thoughtful texts all day.