snow, wilkins creek & a chainsaw. (with details)

and the winner is...

well... one of the 4 "winners" we found!

It was a beautiful day spent with the 3 boys I love most!!

and now... at 10:23 p.m ... after 3 long hours at the local ER and 3 stitches later... we're exhausted.

... and no, it wasn't Mason.

Details tomorrow

so... it's 4:43 a.m. and I just made 7 of the greatest phone calls of the day - which isn't much... considering that there are still a lot of hours left in today- but hey... Today is a SNOW day!!!

and now... because I'm wide awake... I'll fill you in with the details of our evening:

So we get back to the Dick Ranch - the great place our cows call home... the wonderful ranch where 100 of our mama cows will give birth to their babies this winter... the ranch located 26.5 minutes from our house. A great place... just wished we lived there.
Anyway... back to the story.
I drive home with the boys (with a short stop at Angela's), slide through two stop signs, literally slide into Short Stop to fuel up, have a great chat with the gas station attendant, which is something that I find intriguing at most gas stations... anyway... I drive home, unpack what I can, fill my arms with coats & boots & hats, go back for load # 2 and am met by my sweet, tall, tough, never-gets-hurt, handsome husband dripping with blood. He removes the towel from his face and says: "I think I better go to the emergency room."
First of all, I'm stunned. The blood is everywhere and it's not from my oldest, most accident prone son. You can revist his accidents here, and here, and here.
Second of all, the words I hear coming from my husband's mouth seem to catch me off guard... "Mr. it will be fine" was hurt & hurt bad enough that we needed (not necessarily wanted) to go to the local ER when we knew most likely it would be BUSY! He had been trying to do something on the semi-truck (in the dark) and the bar strap nailed him right in the face. Stupid bars anyway.

So...

We load back up, drive 15-20 mph into town on terrible roads, slide into a parking place, walk inside with the other 15 people needing to be seen, visit with a nurse, fill out paperwork, and wait. And wait. And wait. Thankfully, my friend Susan rescued the boys and I about 45 minutes into the visit and took us to her house which is just a few blocks away from the hospital for dinner and a warm, cozy, kid-friendly place to wait. And poor, hurt, "it's really not that bad" Ian continued to wait.

3 hours later, 3 stitches, 1 tetanus shot, a big, fat lip/mouth, 2 tired boys, no pain medication, and another 15-20 mph drive back home. The day was finally coming to an end.

There you have it. The details. The moments in my life where I'm so very thankful that it wasn't worse, that we're still alive, and that another chapter in our book of adventures has been written. Day over. God's mercy & grace surrounded us yet again.

My comment as we're driving home: "Well, at least we have accident insurance!"
The response: "Seriously." with 2 rolled eyes.