New Year's Day: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly

Brandon and Melanie hit the trails on New Year's Day with Uncle Bart, Grandpa Smithson, and a few cousins. (Noelle was sick with a mild flu and so we stayed home). So this story is all second hand!

It was a cold and beautiful day.

Melanie had a lot of fun driving around with Brandon.

They stopped and played in the snow. Melanie really liked the snow. She even "tinkled in the winter and made it turn yellow" (She was pretty proud of that).

According to Melanie, they found a bear's cave and snuck inside. She says that the bear was hiding though, and they couldn't find it. (I must say, I was pretty happy that they didn't find it!)

Well, at 2:20 pm, I received a phone call, from Brandon. "Camille, I need you to meet me at the hospital" (Not something a mom wants to hear when her husband and 3 year old have been 4-wheeling). He quickly added "I need you to pick up Melanie".

So what happened? From what I understand, it went like this. Uncle Bart's vehicle had some problems, so he and Brisbane were riding with Brandon and Melanie. Adle and MerriLynn were riding with Grandpa Smithson, following Brandon down the trail. Apparently Grandpa had veered to the side a little and his back tire had slide, resulting in him rolling the Samurai 2 times down the side of the mountain. He was dumped out after the first roll, and both of the girls were still in the vehicle when it stopped (fortunately upright, on all 4 tires). The girls were, for the most part alright. MerriLynn had a cut on her leg and needed 3 stitches, but that was the extent of their injuries. Grandpa, on the other hand, was in serious pain.

Brandon got him into his Samurai and drove him over the bumpy terrain, back to the truck. I met them at Banner Gateway. They admitted him and then airvac'ed him to the Good Samaritan Hospital. He has 5 broken ribs on one side, 1 broken rib on the other, and compressed 2 vertebrae. He has not been released from the hospital yet. They are fitting him for a turtle shell that he will need to wear for a while.

On a positive note, we have been blessed that nothing more serious happened to anyone. The girls are fine and Grandpa is still alive. 2011 can only get better from that.