New Mexico "Vacation"

Well, you are about to find out what happens when Mom (that's me) tries to get away for awhile. Disclaimer: Even though it may seem at times that I am complaining, I am not. I was very happy to be able to be of assistance. Ever since S1 was very young, I have not been able to help out a lot at family functions because of having to take care of S1, and I often have been the recipient of help. So, it was nice to have the chance to help out.

My cousins who live in New Mexico, Jenn and Aaron, have adopted a baby boy. The adoption was supposed to be finalized before April so that they could bless him and take him to the temple to be sealed to their family (we're LDS for anyone who doesn't know). The same Sunday, Easter Sunday, that they were planning on blessing him, my cousin, also her sister, Becky and her husband Drew, who live near Jenn, were planning on blessing their baby girl.

Since Dave gets to go out of town frequently and I am left home with the kids, I thought it would be a great chance for me to get a break and leave him with the little darlings. In fact, earlier this year he had been to New York for a conference for five days. He'll even admit that it was a lot more play than work. So, since he had spring break over the Easter holiday, I booked my flight. Well, the adoption wasn't finalized by the time of my trip so Jenn wouldn't be blessing the baby or having him sealed to them yet. I decided to go anyway since I had the tickets, Dave had the time off work and I needed a break.

I flew down to New Mexico on a Saturday evening. I had a layover in Phoenix and my Uncle Richard and Aunt Barbara and some of my cousins came to visit with me. It would good to see them all, I can't believe how much my little cousins have grown up! Saturday night we went to the Becky's and talked until it was time for bed. Sunday was Easter and the blessing of Becky's baby. We had a great ham dinner, even if it wasn't the Martha Stewart event Jenn had hoped for. We played a cool card game, that I can't even remember the name of. But everyone wears funny hats and you rotate around the table according to the order that your hand goes out, if that makes sense. My cousin Rachelle had come over from Arizona with her family and it was fun to see and play with them. Anyway, Jenn and I stayed up late talking after everyone had left. The next morning my Aunt Wrae and Uncle Ron left to drive home. Once Jenn and I got up and going we went to run errands.

When we got back we found out that Wrae and Ron had rolled their car! They were both sent to the hospital, albeit different ones. It ended up that Wrae had a spiral fracture in her upper arm and Ron had cracked two ribs in three places, plus a ton of bruising. So after an afternoon on the phone talking to different doctors, hospitals, tow trucks, relatives, etc. it was finally decided that the next morning Jen and I would leave, with her two kids in tow, and pick up her parents in their respective hospitals and take them home to Utah.

First we drove to Monticello to pick up Wrae. She needed her Lortab prescription filled but the pharmacy in Monticello doesn't open until 3 pm on Tuesdays! Instead of waiting around we drove up to Moab to pick it up since it was on our way. I spent a lot of time on the cell phone with Wrae's insurance trying to find an orthopedic surgeon who she could see once we got her home because the ER people in Monticello thought she'd need surgery. That was a run around and a half.

A word to the wise, don't ever get hurt in southeastern Utah. They can't treat you for anything unless you are giving birth! They didn't have anyone who could do anything for my aunt's arm other than put it in the sling/brace. Also, my uncle had to be flown to Grand Junction, CO because one, the MRI wasn't big enough to fit him in Monticello and second because they thought he had internal bleeding and they are not capable of treating that if it requires surgery in Monticello. Just know that if you get a serious injury in Moab, they'll take you to Colorado. He was actually flown there by helicopter-talk about expensive!

Anyway, after picking up Wrae we headed over to the tow truck place to retrieve what belongings we could, like the rest of their luggage, from the car. I'll post a picture in the photos section. Note: The car roof was not smashed down from the roll over. They had to cut it off to get my uncle out. He is not a petite man and he was driving a Kia Spectra. So, once they cut it off and got him out, they just laid the roof back on the car for towing. So, it looks worse than it was, although it was pretty bad. After we got their belongings and her drugs in Moab, we headed over to Grand Junction to hopefully get my uncle. However, he was not able to be released that night so, thanks to my grandpa, we were able to get two good hotel rooms. One for Jenn and the kids and one for Wrae and I.

We ordered curbside to go from Applebee's for dinner and I went to pick it up. After Jenn ate she went to visit her dad in the hospital and I took care of the kids. I also got to give my first sponge bath to an adult! Wrae still had sand and dirt in her ears and hair from the accident. So we got her cleaned up so she could rest comfortably. I joked around that maybe Paul should have been there since he did this kind of thing as a job in high school. Seriously though, I was glad to be able to do it. Wrae is always helping me out and I am still indebted to her.

Although Wrae was doing well when we picked her up, she is diabetic. By that evening when we were getting settled in she was pretty wiped out and had thrown up a few times, throwing her blood sugar all out of whack. We all thought it a good idea for me to sleep in the room with her so I could help her out during the night. The kids would be in the other room just to ensure Wrae the best nights sleep possible. The next morning we enjoyed our complimentary breakfast, got packed up and went to retrieve Ron from the hospital. It was pretty uneventful the rest of the way home. I drove a good chunk of the way that day.

Once back home we stopped by a KFC to pick up some dinner and go to my house. There we all ate and the rest of the party headed home. Due to the fact that Wrae and Ron had several doctor's appointments over the next couple of days, I volunteered to take my cousin's kids off of her hands so she wouldn't have to drag them along. She agreed so they spent the next night at our home. The next day I was going to return them but then Wrae had to go to the emergency room because she was so dehydrated and couldn't keep anything down so her blood sugar was all catywhompus, compounded by her severe injury. She ended up spending the next few days in the hospital. So Jenn's two kids (6 years and six months) spent another night with us. S2 had a blast with his older cousin and S2 and S3 absolutely adored the baby. We all had a good time.

Wrae's arm has healed but she missed six weeks of work for it to do so. But luckily she didn't need surgery. Ron also missed work, about four weeks, and apart from the broken ribs, was bruised pretty bad. I did go up and help out one Saturday, after Jenn left (she was here for about two weeks), with dishes and laundry. I even drove them to the lot where they purchased another car. They are both doing well now and even drove down to New Mexico and back this month to witness the sealing and blessing of Jenn and Aaron's baby, since the adoption was finalized in May. They even managed to do it without rolling their car.

So, in a nutshell, that's why I don't go on vacation. Out of the five days I was going to be gone, I was gone only two and a half. Of the time I was gone, only one day was actually a "vacation". I even became an instant mother of five for two days (thank goodness S1 was in school!) I would go on another trip, but I am afraid of what will happen!