Thankful - updated with pictures

My dad and brother preparing to cut.

It's funny how quickly an unexpected incident can put your life in perspective.

The kids and I came to Utah for a quick visit with the family and to attend our adoption agency's annual picnic. We always look forward to time with friends and family, even though there's usually a little family drama in one way or another.

This time the drama took a very different and scary turn. On Saturday, we were in Kamas, Utah, helping my brother get a load of wood to heat his home this winter when a tree that we cut down hit my dad from behind.

My dad, niece and nephew pulling down the tree.

At first we thought it had hit one of the kids, and then when we realized it was my dad, we feared he had been crushed by the tree. There was a lot of blood and a gash had been opened in the back of his head, later requiring 14 staples (without anesthetic). When we got a closer look, we realized he was just inches from a sharp quakie (quaking aspen) stick that could easily have impaled him.

My brother holding my dad's head and bloody rags.

My dad getting in the truck with a diaper as a bandage.

Bloody branches.

He was taken to the emergency room in Park City where they discovered he had bruised his heart. This was even more serious than the head injury because he has an aneurysm in his aorta and has had trouble with his heart recently. He spent all day long in the emergency room and was later transferred by ambulance to the trauma unit of the hospital in Provo, about an hour away.

 Staples in his head - still bloody

 Staples in his head - washed up

My dad is home and doing pretty good. My mom and I had to laugh when we asked how he was doing and he said, "I do have a bit of a headache." He's tired and sore, but I'm so grateful that he's still with us and that in about three weeks he should be back to normal.

So many things could have happened. And so today, I am just thankful - for many things.