Mitch's Accident

Yesterday Mitch took his 11 year old scouts on their summer over nighter. Little did we know that we would actually be spending it in the Emergency Room. Just to warn you the pictures are pretty graphic so if you have a weak stomach beware. The whole story is so random that everyone who was a part of the fiasco just shakes their head and say's "that was so crazy".

The group consisting of 3 adults and 4 boys (at the time) left Layton at about 3:30 on Friday afternoon. Around 5:45 they started setting up tents. In the process of setting up Mitch and another leader were trying to hang a tarp over the eating area when Mitch stepped in a hole and hurt his ankle. He then hobbled over to the nearby picnic table and sat down. In the meantime a microburst of wind picked up causing the tents to start blowing away. Then there was a big snap and Brother Slaughter yelled, "look out!'. Mitch doesn't remember that, in fact he doesn't remember any of it. The wind had broke the top part of a cottonwood tree off and it fell directly on top of him. It pinned his head between his legs knocking him unconscious. Brother Ellison and Brother Slaughter rushed over and (quite miraculously) lifted the tree off of Mitch.
Once the tree was off, Mitch toppled to the ground and was laying in a pool of his own blood. Brother Ellison who is a firefighter went into work mode and tried to stop the blood coming from Mitch's head. All the while Mitch was coming in and out of consciousness. The 2 leaders then hoisted Mitch into the back of the suburban and drove him down to Huntsville where he was met by an ambulance. He was then taken to Mckay Dee Hospital.

Meanwhile, back at home: Friday afternoon was really strange for me and Ellie. We had plans to go to Park City to stay the night with my sister Trish and her family. Around 4:30 Ellie started running a fever and I decided to put her in pajamas (something I usually do at 8). Then around 5 I called my sister and we decided, with Ellie not feeling so hot we better just stay at home. For the next hour, I honestly could not think of anything to do that night. A friend stopped by and we visited for a while, but in my mind I had a very long and boring night ahead of me.

Until I got that terrible phone call. It was something like this, "Hi, is this Stacie?" I responded "yes" then the man on the phone said, "this is Jessie with Ogden fire and rescue" and i replied "Jessie why are you calling me..." he then said, "Your husband was in an accident and we are in and ambulance headed to Mckay Dee, can you meet us there?" That is a bad call to get. I then called my mom who just 'happened' to be less then 2 miles away from my house and she babysat Ellie while Larry, Sherrill ,my dad and I all rushed to the hospital.

Meanwhile back at camp: Obviously everyone was a little shaken up. When the tree fell it released a beehive from it's inner trunk. They were a bit ticked off and began stinging everyone including the 4 boy scouts. Brother Slaughter received 6 or 7 stings as one flew in his shirt.
The boys were told to get into one particular tent (it was the tent with the least amount of bee's (1)) and stay there. Once brother Ellison had left with Mitch, brother Slaughter returned to find the 4 boy scouts in a circle. They were taking turns praying for Mitch and telling things they liked about "Brother Dorius" to help them stay positive. When Mitch and I heard this (after the fact), we couldn't help but cry, we are so thankful for innocent prayers.

They then packed up the camp and came home. Brother Ellison and the emt's cleaned the blood out of the suburban and brought it home for us. Val, Matt and Kiera (Dorius) came and unpacked all of the food and gear.

The Hospital: When I got to the hospital the first picture is how I found Mitch. He was still in and out of it but was slowly beginning to come to. His whole body was shaking as he was strapped to the board. You might be thinking 'you heartless woman, why were you taking pictures of him at a time like this!' well, I didn't take them until after he had calmed down a bit and he had received a blessing and I knew he was going to be okay. He was very stiff at this point because he had been on a backboard for over an hour and a half. They were afraid of moving him as he had severe pain in his head, neck, and back. Amazingly enough, all of the test's came back just fine.

This is how I found Mitch. He wasn't smiling much at this point. It was really quite terrible to see him like this. His clothes had blood all over them.

This is the gash in the top of his head. The piece on the right is his scalp that was pulled back with the hair follicles below. The dark red middle part is the deepest part of the cut. He had to receive 4 staples to get his head back together. Amazingly enough, he came away with a minor concussion.

The staples in his head. They had to numb it by giving him several shots in the top of his head. Even that part made me a little squeamish.

When he got hit he bit his tongue on top and bottom. This picture does not do justice to what it really looks like.

He has cuts down the back of the head and onto his back. The rest of him is badly bruised. His arm is also very itchy from those darn bees s stinging him! We got home from the hospital at midnight.

Today we drove back to the campsite to look for Mitch's glasses (we will have enough medical expenses). Everything was just as they left it. Mitch was sitting on the far left side of the picnic table while Landon Slaughter (one of his scouts) was sitting on the right. The rest of his scouts were sitting beside Mitch until their tent started to blow away just before the tree fell. Landon's shirt was torn and he also had a few scratches. The table itself was most likely what saved his life as it took most of the blow. The metal table was bent (see pictures on top right).

We are so blessed and so fortunate to have Mitch with us today. It has been amazing to see how our Heavenly Father prepared, watched over and blessed us during this crazy accident, he really is aware of us and creates a perfect plan for our lives. We are so grateful for the calls, texts, and prayers that were given in our behalf. We truly were and are watched over...and yes we found the glasses.

East Canyon w/the Dorius Clan

We spent last weekend with the Dorius clan at the annual East Canyon reunion. The week was full of water skiing (see side pics), swimming, shuffleboard, and good memories. Here are a few fun pics!

Ellie loves being tossed into the air. Unfortunately Mitch is the only one strong enough to throw her high! I love her rolls in this picture!
(Above) We all had a great time in the pool with a gaggle of the Dorius Grandkids. (Below) We love family pictures in this group!

So this is what they were talking about!

Let's see if I can post this without sounding too sappy. Actually, the more I think about it, the more impossible it seems...So for those of you who can't stand a bit of sap...simply look away or just bare with me.

The other night I was sitting up in Ellie's room rocking her to sleep. The lights were off but the door to her bedroom was open leaving the room dimly lit. As I was rocking El to sleep Mitch was walking passed the door every few minutes attempting to pick up, fold, or put away some of the random chaos from the day. As I sat there a thought came to my mind, 'I've arrived'. Really, that was it, profound i know. But at that moment, at that time, i felt that I had arrived.
Let me explain. From the time you awkwardly stumble into young women's your leaders start drilling the recipe for success into your head. Be clean, be kind, be worthy, don't date til your 16, date in groups, stay in school, get an education, go to institute, read, pray, ask, date a worthy man, go through the temple, get married in the temple, have kids...etc. etc. etc. So the other night when I was sitting in my rocker, with my little girl asleep on my chest, and my adorable husband walking back and forth, I couldn't help but think, "I've finally arrived". It was as if hundreds of YW lessons, seminary lessons, church talks, firesides, and conferences finally came together and made a whole lot of sense. This was the feeling they were talking about for all those years! They actually knew what they were talking about! It was one of those moments that I just could have sat and enjoyed for hours on end. It was for just a second, perfect.
I suppose some day in the far future I'm going sit down and write it all out again though. When grandchildren are all around, and things are hanging lower than they should, and I have to help my husband put in his fake teeth, I suppose one day I'll have that split second moment when I'll again sigh and say, "I've arrived, this is what they were talking about". Then again when I die and I'm sitting in heaven and everything is once again a little more perkie perhaps then I'll say to Mitch again, "so this is what they were talking about."

Family Reunion 2010!

We spent the last weekend at the Murray family reunion at the Heber Valley girls camp. We had a great time eating gourmet food, and enjoying some friendly competition. Enjoy! During the ropes coarse Ellie got tuckered out. She, as always, spent most of the time smiling away!

This ridiculous game naturally got out of hand as the cousins, siblings etc began spinning the ball above their head to knock over their water bottles. Eventually, it turned into everyone trying to hit each other with the nylon ball!

Before going to the zip line we played this team building game. We had to work together and race to the finish line. Naturally, it turned into each team trying to push the other off of the boards. In the end you can see that our team won first (but Robb might have a different story, but this isn't his blog!)

Ellie loved canoeing, this picture makes her look so big! I thought for sure she was going to rock the boat over! Luckily Captain Mitchell kept us dry!