Brig's Biggest Ouch Yet!

We were so excited to head to family reunion at Uncle Demar's house!  I absolutely love hanging out with our Guymon people and this one meant I could walk my kids around the town I grew up in too.  We arrived a little flat bottomed, but super excited.  We got lunch and the kids headed off to play while I sat down to have a great 2-day catch-up and within minutes we heard screaming.  I'm a down-player so I of course told one of the other kids to go get him and bring him to me.  Brig is always hurting himself and I knew it was serious by the scream, but I figured he'd find me and we'd fix it. Well, he never came.  Beginning to worry a little I  set off to find him and find him I did.  I scooped him up (a job since he's a rather large boy) and watched with horror as the bump on his head JUST. KEPT. GROWING.

I got in the van and told Tyler he needed a blessing right then.  He said, "We need to get him to the hospital now!" and I said, "blessing first."  He grabbed one of the others (what a blessing to have so many worthy priesthood holders in our family) and they gave him a blessing and I gave a nod to Jeri who stepped in to be Mom to the rest while Tyler and I rushed him to the hospital in Price.

I tried to keep him awake while we drove and I held him on my lap.  He was a little loopy but coherant.  He cried quietly and I just kept watching his head grow.  I didn't think a head could swell that much and worried what was happening inside if it looked this bad on the outside. 

We got to the hospital and after what felt like an eternity of a wait, they got him back for a CT scan and the Dr. came in to check him out.  No fracture.  No internal swelling.  No damage to his skull or his brain.  We can go.  

Apparently he had climbed a tree and gotten on a very tall zip line - then a bigger kid was helping him by pulling the rope attached and he let go, right over a large cement pad.  After comparing stories and cross-referencing testimony of eye-witnesses we guess he fell about 15 feet onto the cement with his head.  What a miracle that he is ok.  

He was so tough and brave and tried to comfort and encourage me.  I just sat and held him the whole time we were in the hospital.  I think when life is threatened, when we're ripped from the grip of daily monotony and thrown into the reality of our mortal frailty - the temporary-ness of our situation sinks in and we're able to focus on what is truly important.  

He had a lot of bruising and swelling and still isn't healed - he'll probably always have a bump on his head.  It's a good reminder to be thankful for every second with these little people.