family pic

family pic

Saturday, March 15, 2014

A "Little" Bit of Excitement

I have told the story in bits and pieces on FB, have had people text and ask questions so I figured I would blog about it and you can get the "rest of the story".. So without further ado here we go:

It all began as a pretty much normal day, I walked to the store with the kids where we had ice cream bars for a snack. Tyrel and Laban biked so on the way home Tyrel took a different road and headed to Trent's house.. Later when I had supper going I text Danica to see if Tyrel was still there and to let him know supper would be done soon. She replied that they were still down at the river so I figured he probably wouldn't make it home to eat. Being down at the river was a common thing for the boys, they explored and did whatever teenage boys do so I wasn't concerned, just figured he would show up after awhile. I was eating supper with the kids (Tim was working late) when my phone rang. It was a strange number so I was curious. The caller was a man and he asked me (the conversation is kind of foggy so I am ad libbing a little, but this is the gist of it!!) if I had a kid who would be stuck out on the island... Oh boy, um ya that would probably be my kid. "They are on the second island and were holllering for help and gave me this number to call"... I told him I would call Gloria and see if Floyd was there so he could go down to the river and find out what was going on. (Remember Tim wasn't home yet) I called her and then after quickly cleaning up supper I headed to their house. Meanwhile Floyd had gone down to the river to see if he could help them, but there was no way he could without some type of boat. I suggested calling the Fire Department right away, but they were worried about being charged tons of money and it sounded like somebody we know had a canoe. So Floyd got a hold of Wade to bring a canoe out there. At that time Tim was on his way home so he headed there too. It was getting darker and I didn't like the idea of them attempting to rescue them if the water was that rough.. Gloria and I watched out their window as it looks down on the river and you can see where the guys and our other kids were standing.. All of a sudden we see flashing lights go by, fire trucks and ambulances!! I thought they must have decided to call 911 since it was dark, but nope they hadn't. We aren't even sure WHO called, but I just said God did as it would have probably been dangerous for the guys.. They ended up calling in the Dive Rescue team as it was too far to get to them. So they launched a boat from upriver and plucked them off the island at about 8:30 PM. The girls said the rescue boat was going sideways in the current so I am very thankful that the guys didn't attempt it!!  They checked the boys out in the ambulance and they were fine. Temperature was good which was the one thing I was worried about and then they were released to their dad's care!! The marine sheriff told Tim and Floyd that we were lucky not to be planning funerals as that river's currents are dangerous and they have a couple drownings a year!!  

The boys side of the story: They were down at the river and have wanted to check out the second, bigger island for some time now, so what do they do? They get the crazy idea to swim out to it. The started upriver and headed across. I guess about halfway there they started having second thoughts and the closer they got to the island the rougher the current. Trent made it to land and Tyrel had a few panicky moments, but was able to get to shore. Once there they didn't know how they were going to get back. (Probably should have thought of that a little sooner, hey?) They attempted a raft that actually did float, but there was no way to control it to get back across, so that idea was abandoned. They did get back in the cold (40something degrees) water twice to try swim, but thankfully gave up on that idea. They talked about building a shelter to sleep in if they had to. Then a guy was walking his dogs and they hollered, got his attention, and that is where we come in!!

I see God's hand in protecting them, from Tyrel making it to the island in his moment of panic, (also the fire chief did not believe they swam as it is to hard), their decision to not swim back, the guy walking his dog as he had actually come back to get the leashes that he dropped, and the neighbor (we don't know who for sure) who called 911 as I think of what could have happened if the guys took a canoe out there. I told Gloria that God is not finished with these boys yet, He has a plan for them!!!

And there was even an article in the paper about the rescue, with a few things wrong, but ya know how that goes!!: Article

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

A family Getaway!!

I knew the 9th of March would be a hard day and I didn't want to spend it doing "normal" things.. So one Sunday when Chad and Anya were visiting I told them we should take off for the night with the kids and take them to a cat zoo we had read about. That's exactly what we did!!! Saturday morning we met at their house then headed north to Spokane. After a quick lunch we visited Cat Tales Zoological Park. They have all kinds of wild cats and even a bear. We then headed to our hotel where the kids enjoyed swimming for awhile. After a supper of pizza we went back to the hotel and relaxed. Sunday morning we checked out and went to Cabela's just over the Idaho border (didn't get any pictures on my camera from there tho!!) We had lunch at Red Robin and then headed home. It was a much needed mini vacation for all! And now for a few pictures!! :)
Lion.. still a baby, only 2 years old!!


Looking at the lion


Tigers


Leopard.. I found it funny that this leopard is the same age as Tyrel (aprox) and the huge lion is the same age as Konner!!

Checking out the cats..


Strolling..


Cougar!!


Brandt


One of his favorite things there!! LOL


Some Goofy Boys!! :)

Momma and Konner Lee


Bubbles!!


Littles enjoying swimming!!