Ezra gets hurt again...

We went from Bangkok to Chiang Mai to Udon where we took the bus to Nong Khai so that we could cross the border into Laos. Here is a picture of when everything was still fine. Ezra and David were sitting together, I sat next to Caroline, Seth and Thomas sat together and Eli sat with the monks in back.

Things went downhill when we got to the border station. We were filling out departure cards at the tall counters while the boys ran around. I heard and felt a loud "thunk" and saw Ezra on the ground, and knew immediately that he had run head-first into the corner of the marble countertop. Before even moving towards Ezra I glanced at the corner and knew it was going to be bad. David picked him up and ran over to me kind of frantically. I took one look at Ezra's forehead and started crying. It was much deeper than I expected and I could see his bone and I kind of freaked out. I stood there crying while Seth ran over to check it out. Fortunately for us, Seth took an intensive first-aid wilderness course for a job a few years ago and has a lot more skills and knowledge than we do. So he and David left with Ezra while Caroline watched the boys with (for) me and gave me small jobs to keep my mind off things.

They returned about 15 minutes later with bandages, alcohol and cotton. Seth had done a cursory cleaning and put a temporary bandage on his head. The plan was to cross the border and see if we could find materials to tape it shut and if not, take him to a clinic to get it stitched up. In these pictures, you can see that he bled through the bandage and so it needed to be changed.

[Ezra trying to negotiate a way out of having to get his bandaid changed]

[Seth getting things ready]

[Putting the new one on]

[This picture was taken today - I didn't want to end on a sad note]

Our driver was really kind and took us around Vientiane to find the supplies. I'm also grateful to my friend Diana who was able to point me to the best pharmacy and gave me the emergency number to the French clinic. When we got to the hotel, David gave Ezra a blessing and then Seth cleaned it out and used superglue and medical tape to close it.

So far it looks good and Ezra says it doesn't hurt at all (and we've asked him many times throughout the day). We're just keeping an eye out for infection.

I want to say thank you to a Heavenly Father who constantly watches over us and blesses us with tender mercies, to loving family members who offer prayers of faith on our behalf, to Seth for his skills and his calm demeanor, to Caroline for helping me to not totally lose it and watching two young kids at a border station while 7 months pregnant, to our driver who stayed with us the whole time and carried our bags and took us around Vientiane for no extra charge, to friends like Diana who have the right information at just the right time, and especially to David, Ezra and Eli who are at the core of my happiness in life.