We just got back from a week in Colorado. We arrived at our cabin a week ago Saturday after the long drive. Sunday morning we headed to town for Mass and to check out the 4th of July weekend festivities. Later that evening as the women prepared dinner, the men worked on the work project for the year...installing two 250 gallon water tanks in the the new shed we had built last year. 
One was filled making it weigh over 2000 lbs. It was on my uncle's truck and my uncle, brother, and dad were trying to get it so that it could be emptied via a hose into the empty tank in the shed. At one point it started to slide off the truck and my dad instinctively reached for it. Somehow it fractured his forearm and put a long cut in his forehead. With a rush of adrenalin, my brother pulled the heavy tank off of my dad and rushed into the cabin to get help. My sister, mom, and aunt rushed him down to the main road where the ambulance picked him up and he (with my mom) were rushed to the hospital an hour+ away. There they determined he should be air-flighted to a hospital in Denver. After x-rays and a full scan of his body and a middle-of-the-night surgery, he was stabilized. The wound on his head had not done any damage to his skull or brain and his arm was cleaned of much rock, dirt, and grass, then the many pieces of bone were held together by "soft plates." After making sure the wound did not have any infection, they did major surgery on Wednesday which put two steel plates and 17 screws in his arm.
Back at the cabin, Daniel and I and the kids and who ever was not at the hospital, continued our vacation with Mass on July 4th morning followed by the local Independence parade.
Then we spent the evening at the cabin. Tuesday, we headed to the mountains for a day hike that included fishing. 
Daniel and I stopped at the meadow with the three little ones while Fr. Brian, Kevin and Melanie took Juan Pablo and Emmanuel on up to the lakes for fishing... I haven't got those pictures from my sister yet. Their hike was a total of 10 miles! 
Wednesday we packed up and cleaned up the cabin and headed to Denver to check on the patient. 
We got there late that evening after he had been out of surgery for a while and was in good spirits.
He had another surgery scheduled for the next day to fix up his head. All went well and he had great care. 
We did some sight-seeing on Thursday: the Cathedral and the Denver Natural Science Museum. Both were great!
This side door to the Cathedral is in memory of Pope John Paul II's visit to Denver for World Youth Day in 1993. My brothers and I attended it...it's hard to believe that was 18 years ago.
On Friday we packed up at the apartment we were able to use (friends of my cousin's who were out of town and had kids which meant my kids were in heaven playing with someone else's toys) and then headed to the hospital for one last visit and Mass (it was a Catholic hospital with a beautiful chapel). My dad was released just after we left, less than a week after the accident. Praise God. We arrived home Saturday afternoon and my parents arrived home Sunday afternoon at which time we had Mass filled with much prayers of thanksgiving for God's goodness and mercy and for the many prayers and love which were showered upon my dad and family at this time.
The readings were quite fitting as my brother pointed out in his homily. The first reading talked about how in God's kingdom all with be provided for in abundance using the illustration of bountiful rains and harvests. Right now when much of our land is in severe drought, we are longing for those rains and rich harvest. This should remind us how we need to be always longing for God's kingdom and life ever-lasting with Him. May our longing be lived out in our daily lives.
The second reading from St. Paul to the Romans talked about how our present suffering is nothing compared to the glory of God. So our sufferings resulting from drought, accidents, death of a loved one...the list goes on...we are groaning as we wait for redemption, for the glory God will reveal to us. "We have a hope in Jesus that all things will be well in the Lord." (song by Kelly Johnston)
And the Gospel parable of the Sower and the seed reminds us to prepare our soil so that it may be rich and produce a bountiful harvest...don't wait until tomorrow. We never know when we will breath our last...or what may happen to us today, as an accident like my dad's reminds us.
One was filled making it weigh over 2000 lbs. It was on my uncle's truck and my uncle, brother, and dad were trying to get it so that it could be emptied via a hose into the empty tank in the shed. At one point it started to slide off the truck and my dad instinctively reached for it. Somehow it fractured his forearm and put a long cut in his forehead. With a rush of adrenalin, my brother pulled the heavy tank off of my dad and rushed into the cabin to get help. My sister, mom, and aunt rushed him down to the main road where the ambulance picked him up and he (with my mom) were rushed to the hospital an hour+ away. There they determined he should be air-flighted to a hospital in Denver. After x-rays and a full scan of his body and a middle-of-the-night surgery, he was stabilized. The wound on his head had not done any damage to his skull or brain and his arm was cleaned of much rock, dirt, and grass, then the many pieces of bone were held together by "soft plates." After making sure the wound did not have any infection, they did major surgery on Wednesday which put two steel plates and 17 screws in his arm.Back at the cabin, Daniel and I and the kids and who ever was not at the hospital, continued our vacation with Mass on July 4th morning followed by the local Independence parade.
Then we spent the evening at the cabin. Tuesday, we headed to the mountains for a day hike that included fishing. 
Daniel and I stopped at the meadow with the three little ones while Fr. Brian, Kevin and Melanie took Juan Pablo and Emmanuel on up to the lakes for fishing... I haven't got those pictures from my sister yet. Their hike was a total of 10 miles! 
Wednesday we packed up and cleaned up the cabin and headed to Denver to check on the patient. 
We got there late that evening after he had been out of surgery for a while and was in good spirits.
He had another surgery scheduled for the next day to fix up his head. All went well and he had great care. 
We did some sight-seeing on Thursday: the Cathedral and the Denver Natural Science Museum. Both were great!
This side door to the Cathedral is in memory of Pope John Paul II's visit to Denver for World Youth Day in 1993. My brothers and I attended it...it's hard to believe that was 18 years ago.
On Friday we packed up at the apartment we were able to use (friends of my cousin's who were out of town and had kids which meant my kids were in heaven playing with someone else's toys) and then headed to the hospital for one last visit and Mass (it was a Catholic hospital with a beautiful chapel). My dad was released just after we left, less than a week after the accident. Praise God. We arrived home Saturday afternoon and my parents arrived home Sunday afternoon at which time we had Mass filled with much prayers of thanksgiving for God's goodness and mercy and for the many prayers and love which were showered upon my dad and family at this time. The readings were quite fitting as my brother pointed out in his homily. The first reading talked about how in God's kingdom all with be provided for in abundance using the illustration of bountiful rains and harvests. Right now when much of our land is in severe drought, we are longing for those rains and rich harvest. This should remind us how we need to be always longing for God's kingdom and life ever-lasting with Him. May our longing be lived out in our daily lives.
The second reading from St. Paul to the Romans talked about how our present suffering is nothing compared to the glory of God. So our sufferings resulting from drought, accidents, death of a loved one...the list goes on...we are groaning as we wait for redemption, for the glory God will reveal to us. "We have a hope in Jesus that all things will be well in the Lord." (song by Kelly Johnston)
And the Gospel parable of the Sower and the seed reminds us to prepare our soil so that it may be rich and produce a bountiful harvest...don't wait until tomorrow. We never know when we will breath our last...or what may happen to us today, as an accident like my dad's reminds us.
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