Logan's Story

I am interrupting the previously scheduled blog post to bring you this bit of news. Logan has a concussion....=( The short version is that he will probably be just fine, but if you're up for the longer version you can read the rest of this post!

Yesterday the kids and I went for a walk down to one of their favorite local places....the railroad tracks. I took my camera, as usual, and we braved the chilly but sunny weather. Zach loaded the youngest two kids into the wagon and hooked them to Boomers collar - that's one picture I should have taken but didn't! He pulls them with absolutely no problem!

We noticed the horses in one of the distant pastures as soon as we got there but thankfully Boomer didn't pay them much attention at the time since I let him off the leash. The kids climbed around on the trees and played while I took turns taking pictures of the girls.... and of the boys....
I had fun doing that - that is until we wanted to do some pictures up in a big tree and the three younger kids all were on the verge of a panic attack while the older two and I tried to get them situated. But the results were worth it I think!
And now for where the story gets interesting....Once the pictures were over Monica and Alana wanted to walk down the tracks a bit further to where the horses were. Zach and Logan headed the other direction back to the bridge since they enjoy playing around under the tracks. Jesse decided he wanted to see the horses too, so we slowly began to make our way over but the girls were way ahead of us. Right about this time Monica and I both noticed that Boomer seemed to spot the horses and he took off! The herd of horses, 8 or 10 of them, began to literally gallop away up a cliff in the distance as Boomer chased them. Of course, by this time, Monica and I are both hollering and calling and hollering and calling....he would NOT listen. Then suddenly when he was just about to disappear from our sight up over the top of the cliff he turned, looked at us, and decided to come home. (*Can I just say for a moment that I hate, I HATE when a dog doesn't come when called....the only thing more useless is a kid that won't come when called! I have no patience for either one) Needless to say, when he finally returned he realized just how much of a pet peeve that is for me!!!!

As I am dragging the unwilling 120 pound dog down the tracks I am hollering for Zach to bring me the leash. Well, by the time he finally hears me I was back to the tracks. I asked Zach if he hadn't heard me hollering, and he said no, that Logan had fallen and he was crying. At this time I also realized that Jesse was crying since I had left him alone to go get ding bat. I hooked the leash on the dog, gave Zach strict instructions not to let him go, and went to see Logan. He was still crying and just looked quite shaken up, he had fallen on the ice and hit his head hard. All I knew at the time was that I wanted to get us all back to the house and be done with this excursion that so quickly had gone from good to rotten.

This time Zach pulled Logan and Jesse in the wagon while I walked the dog and made him heel every step of the way home. By the time we got back Logan was still feeling terrible, his head was pounding. I had him lay on the couch and looked him over for everything I could think of, a bruise, his pupils, was he dizzy, did he feel sick to his stomach, etc. In the middle of all this he asked me how he hit his head....he couldn't remember. I gave him some Tylenol and watched him really closely for the next couple hours. By evening time he was his normal self and seemed fine. However, when it was time to go to bed he complained again of his head.

Around 3am he came to my room, once again in tears. His head was pounding and he felt sick to his stomach. I sat with him, told him to be still and keep his eyes closed, and prayed. Shortly after that he threw up....Around 4am I called my mom, in the dark of night when you are a parent alone things can look pretty bleak! She wasn't there - silly parents of mine were out walking since it was 6am their time. And, of course, the person I most wanted is in Wyoming....

We each managed to get a bit more sleep and this morning I took him in to see the doctor. He was feeling much better by that time but I just needed some one else to look at him. They determined that we would keep a close eye on him for the next few days. If we lived far away from the hospital they would have gone ahead with a CT scan, but she told me just to take him into the ER myself if I had any doubts or if something wasn't right over the next little while.

Right now he is laying on the floor with Alana listening to a story on tape. He isn't quite himself and just asked if he could have something for his head which is still hurting. The big no-no right now would be a second bump, the doctor said then he really could be in trouble. So....that's the story in a not so small nutshell=) Thank you for those of you who will pray! Matthew has been offered a bit more work in WY so he is staying another week, I have 8 more days to go!!!