Saturday we had a great day skiing at Vogel.  Em, Caroline, James and I went with my tried and true ski partner, Maliha and her 11 year old son Shaun.  Usually her 15 year old Aidan comes along too.  It's actually works out well for the both of us because we both love to ski, but we both have incapacitated husbands this season. Tom has had hip issues the past several months, and of course, Ben is still healing from his ankle surgery--he won't be hitting the slopes anytime soon.  So, most Saturdays Maliha and I head out with the kids.  She talked me into getting a season pass for all the Slovenian resorts (very affordable!), so that has kept us going back!  

The great thing about Emily's getup is I can ALWAYS find her on the slopes

The view from the observation deck... that's beatuiful Lake Bohinj

Most outings involve some crazy mishap with our kids that is document worthy, and Saturday was no exception. 

The skies were sunny and blue, slopes were great with a fresh skiff of snow, and the resort was quite crowded as it was a weekend.  By 3:00, as we were finishing the day I thought to myself, "Wow, we haven't had any misadventures like we usually do."  Such innocence. Little did I know, my thoughts were premature.

 One of the downsides of Vogel is that a lot of the lifts are T-bars. I don't know if T-bars are really a thing back in the states, I certainly don't recall ever having to deal with them, but this is what they look like: 

And this is how you're SUPPOSED to sit on them:

As you can see, they're not exactly a secure apparatus.  It really takes some dexterity to master the T-bar.  Admittedly, last year, I was a hot mess trying to get on that thing.  Lots of embarrassing fails as I tried to catch it, tame it, and mount it. How I cursed the T-bar! On Saturday, though, I was quite impressed with the kids and how smoothly they mounted the t-bars with no major incidents.  Maliha in her nice and helpful way, teamed up with James.  Shaun and Caroline were partners, and Emily rode with me.  We had no serious issues, until literally the last T-bar lift of the day.  

Caroline and Shaun were a ways up in front of the lift line, with Maliha and James behind them.  Following them was a random couple, then a single person, and then finally Emily and me.  Em and I are always last in line because Miss Em likes to very gingerly and carefully glide down the mountain.  Shaun and Caroline, on the other hand, are always first in the lift line because they like to recklessly barrel down the mountain.  As I stood a ways behind them in the line and watched them head up the slope, I noticed they had not mounted the t-bar correctly, neither of them were sitting on it but were both clinging to the vertical rod with their arms, holding on for dear life.  I cringed watching them, they were past the point of no return going up that steep slope.  If they let go, the would certainly wreck. I didn't have much time to react though because soon it was Emily's and my turn to get on.  I grabbed the vertical pole as it whipped around and sat on the bar, but Em had a hard time mounting and missed it.  She kind of panicked so I turned around as I was going up the hill telling her not to worry, she could grab the next one. Not seeing what was in front of me, I was suddenly ripped from the t-bar. Miss Caroline, careening down the slope, had taken me out.  I was down on the ground, dazed and confused as I watched Caroline slide further on down the hill, backwards on her stomach, no skis, one glove, and take out Emily who was on the t-bar behind me.  I looked up in front of me to see several people, poles, and skis splayed across the slope.  It was like a mass casualty event.  Caroline kept sliding down, kind of whimpering, obviously scared.  Shaun wasn't far behind her, he was sliding on his butt, turning around and out of control, whizzing past me.  FINALLY the lift operator turned off the lift.  I don't know why he waited so long, maybe he was just enjoying the show.  Caroline and Shaun in their impossible position on the t-bar, had fallen off and taken out James, Maliha, three strangers, myself, and Emily as they slid uncontrollably down the mountain in the path of oncoming t-bar riders.  I didn't even see them coming since I was turned around trying to coach Emily onto the lift.  As I laid there and saw it all before me, I thought, "Well, there's our jacked up story of the day!  We can't seem to go home without one!"  

We were all a mess trying to gather our equipment.  Maliha and James were at the top gathering gloves, skis and poles.  The other people who had been wiped out were able to get up and make their way down.  In the meantime, there was a long line of people at the bottom just watching the whole spectacle and waiting for us to get out of the way so lift operations could resume.  The operator made his way up to help us, he actually seemed genuinely concerned about our well being, which was a nice change from the usual annoyed and grumpy operators we encounter.  He carried my skis down and even called for back-up, another resort employee with a neon vest came on site to help clean up the mess that we all were.  Talk about embarrassing.  We finally made our way down, with our tails between our legs, past the line of people who had all seen our downfall and who were patiently waiting for us to recover ourselves so they could continue on with what little was left of their ski day.  Finally the lift was turned back on.   Shaun and Caroline, didn't seem too fazed by the whole thing, Caroline's gloveless hand was icy cold, and her elbow was scratched up, but other than that, they were smiling and laughing.  I don't know how they don't get embarrassed, but I suppose I was embarrassed enough for the both of them.  It's always something crazy with those two!  

Slemenova Špica

Slemenova Špica is hands down my favorite hike I've done in Slovenia.  I went on a beautiful September day with friends Maliha, Lauren, and all the kiddos. It was the British school's fall break, so they all had it off.  My kids did not, so I let them play hookie.  Such a good mom. 

What makes this hike so great is that you start at the summit of the Julian Alps known as Vršič Pass, elevation 1611 meters or 5,285 feet.  That's almost exactly a mile! (For reference, the highest peak in Slovenia is Mt. Triglav, at 9,396 feet.) It's a long windy road to the top, guaranteed to get the kids carsick. But it's great to start hiking on top of the mountains as opposed to the bottom! The path does have some inclines, but the pictures make it look like you've been climbing for days! It's only five kms roundtrip and takes about 3-4 hours to complete...very doable with kids.  Tough kids, that is. 

First we stopped at the Russian Orthodox Chapel on the way up to the summit.  This was built to commemorate the Russian POWs from WWI who perished in an avalanche while building the road up to the pass.  

And then it was time to hit the trail

 

Taking a break, admiring the views

After a gradual and somewhat challenging incline, we reached the saddle, which was about the half way point 

The trail leveled out and was lovely on the other side

Views into Austria

And then we came to the last challenging climb to the top

Look at those mountains!  😍😍😍 And those tough kids!!

And here we are at the top!

Proud little mountaineers.  I think her cousin's camp t-shirt gave her super powers.

Again, views into Austria.  I think I spy the Von Trapp family 

This is the direction we came from.  You can see the saddle we passed through.  Those are the magnificent Julian Alps in the background

Then we descended a bit to a clearing where we picnicked.  

Emily is so sophisticated eating her chickpea salad

These cute little locals were there to greet us at the parking lot. 

Medical Adventures in Europe Part II

 *Please read Part I before proceeding*

 Following our return from our failed medical trip to Vienna, Ben went about his daily life with his heavy uncomfortable, plastered cast.  He went to work, embassy events, school events, church, etc. all while in a lot of pain.  In the meantime, he emailed his x-rays to his cousin Jimmy, who was previously stationed at Landstuhl, Germany as an orthopedic surgeon for the Army, to get a second opinion. Upon reviewing his x-rays, Jimmy recommended he go to Landstuhl to get it treated where he could get more aggressive treatment like surgery that would help his ankle heal more correctly and quickly. 

               

When Ben first proposed a doctor's visit to Landstuhl I thought he was out of his mind.  How would he even get there?  He couldn't drive the nine hours. He'd have to fly. And how would that even be possible given how immobile he was?  But Ben pursued this course undeterred.  He coordinated with the medical center in Landstuhl and made arrangements to stay with his brother who is stationed there.  He bought a ticket for early Monday morning, the Monday before Christmas.  Knowing there was a good chance he would be getting surgery and with his ability to be home in time for Christmas in question, I was feeling quite overwhelmed by the whole ordeal, but these feelings were mitigated by the assurance that he was going to finally get proper medical care. We got up at 4:30 Monday morning and I drove him to the airport.  We were met by a medical attendant at check-in who put him in a wheel chair, and I was able to accompany him as far as security.  Then it was adios, amigo!  

Going through security with his "medical attendant"

On the drive home on that dark December morning I was able to call Ben's parents as well as my mom.  They had all shown so much concern since the whole ordeal started, so it was nice to receive a much needed moral boost from them.  

The silver lining to this whole experience was that his brother Joe and wife Bethany were able to be there  from start to finish while he was in Germany.  After landing in Frankfurt, he took a 1.5 hour shuttle to Landstuhl Medical Center, where he was greeted by Bethany.  She helped him navigate the huge facility thanks to her firsthand knowledge of its layout.  Her son Ryan had several visits to the orthopedist for a broken arm, so she definitely knew where to go!  His appointment was at 9:00 and they did a CT scan on his ankle and leg.  The results revealed a much more complicated injury than initially thought.  First off, he had three different breaks in his ankle, all concentrated in the same area.  He also had a piece of loose bone floating around.  Then the real kicker was that he had a break in both his tibia and fibula in his leg!  The Slovenian doctors did not catch this at all.  They didn't even bother to x-ray his leg.  No wonder he was in so much pain! And how you get such an injury from slipping on ice is beyond me!

Plaster cast comes off, yay!

It was decided he would have surgery first thing Tuesday morning.  He was able to go home with Joe and Bethany and spend the night with their family.  They only live about ten minutes from Landstuhl!  What a huge blessing this was.  I can't imagine how this would have all worked out otherwise.  

I anxiously waited the next morning to hear the results of the surgery and was relieved to hear it was a success later in the afternoon! He got four screws and a plate inserted.  I was able to talk to him before and after the surgery.

Pre-surgery.  He looks totally normal, right?

  On the phone he sounded quite loopy with all the medication and everything.  He was discharged late in the day and was able to go home with Joe and Bethany to recuperate.

He was so happy with his new flexi cast... His leg could breathe. 
And don't you just love his t-shirt??

His surgery took place on Tuesday the 21st, and they would have preferred for him to stick around for another week to make sure there was no infection or complication. But the doctor felt confident enough to let him go on Thursday the 23rd so he could be home in time for Christmas.  What a relief!  

Frankfurt airport, humming "I'll be Home for Christmas."

Two days post-surgery, waiting to board his flight.  

Christmas was great.  Here's a few pics:

 

We even had company both Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  Don't ask me how we pulled that off.  Christmas Eve Phaedra, her mother, and her four year old daughter Marielle came.  We had our traditional simple meal of bread, cheese, hot chocolate, fruit, and nuts. Then we performed the nativity.  The Gywn family seemed to really like it.  Phaedra said it reminded her of sweet memories when her dad used to read to them from the Bible.  And Marielle LOVED being cast as Mary.  We also sang and played carols on the piano, violin, and guitar.  Phaedra loves the violin so it was fun to listen to all the great music.

Unfortunately this was the only photo we took, but isn't it precious??

Christmas Day we had four elders over and Alejandra, a new sister in our branch who is from Dominican Republic and is training for the paralympics!  She has a brittle bone disorder and competes in swimming.  She's a ray of sunshine! I'm lame and don't have any photos from our Christmas meal, which was crock-pot carnitas.  Had to keep it simple, no turkey this year!  We did have pumpkin pie, though, my first stab at making it.  It turned out amazing!

The plan for Ben's post-op care was that he would go to the airbase at Aviano, Italy and be seen by the Orthopedic PA to get stitches removed and transition into a fiberglass cast. Aviano is only a two hour drive as opposed to the nine hour drive to Landstuhl.  But, ironically the orthopedic PA was TDY to Landstuhl for medical training during two weeks following Christmas!  

We tried to figure out if we could get him in before she left, or if there was someone else who could see him, but it became increasingly clear that this wasn't going to be possible.  It was so frustrating!  Friday, New Year's Eve day, I woke up and said, "Well, I guess let's just drive up to Landstuhl with the whole family, make a holiday weekend out of it with Joe and Bethany, and get you seen first thing Monday morning."  We didn't really have other options.  So, that's exactly what we did!  
 
I called Bethany and of course she said, "Sure!  Come on up!"  We spent the morning scrambling and packing and left by 1:45. The kids were sooo excited! The trip was smooth sailing, I was driving and getting us there REALLY fast... at the border of Austria in 50 minutes and at the German border in three hours. We were scheduled to get there around 10:00 but then we hit a snag about two-thirds of the way there when we came upon a really bad accident.  We were at a standstill for over an hour.  

A helicopter even flew right over our van and landed in front of us on the freeway.  Both directions were completely shut down.  It looked like someone careened off the freeway going one direction, flipped their car and landed upside down going in the other direction.  The chances for survival did not look good, which really puts your problems into perspective. 

We finally arrived at 11:30 pm, just in time to ring in the new year.  J&B's kids were all totally surprised because they hadn't told them we were coming.  The kids ran down the street to join neighbors in setting off fireworks.  

We had a wonderful weekend with their family.  The kids just played and played in their gargantuan house.  They even had some rare sunshine and I enjoyed a walk in the fields with Bethany and baby Evan behind their house.  We went to the PX and did some shopping and bowling. I even bought a Persian rug on a whim!  We attended church with them on Sunday. Bethany fed us well through the whole weekend. Then Monday morning Ben had his appointment to get his stitches removed and his new cast put on!

And I got to meet the orthopedist who performed the surgery. 

We had to drive home that day to get the kids back in time for school on Tuesday.  They had already missed Monday!  

J&B's kids pushing off on our car as we say good-bye.  Ryan chased us all the way down the street!

    I'm so glad my kids got to spend the weekend with them.  You just need family during the holidays. We've spent way too many holidays without them so this was a special treat this year!

 This whole thing was such an ordeal.  Ben did eventually get to Aviano to get his cast removed and transitioned to a boot.  And he's currently doing physical therapy here in Slovenia.  So, all told, he's had a trip to the ER in Slovenia, two trips to Germany, a trip to Italy with another pending, and PT here in Slovenia.  It's been a wild ride and we both agree we can't wait to get back to the states to get more accessible healthcare!  It's been a grueling process for this injury.  Let's just hope we all stay healthy and safe the next 18 months until we're out of here!  You can't tell I'm excited, can you??