A Fun Sibling Memory: By Grace Helland (Day 6 Of New Years Blog Week)

  A few weeks ago, we had snow. Not a lot of snow, but enough to go sledding! We had ordered our sleds a short while ago, so we were ready and raring to try them out! To be honest, I don’t believe any of us had ever done it before, so we were all super excited!

The first person to test out our new device was Daniel (18). He went sliding down at a faster rate than I thought was possible. Suddenly, he accidently summersaulted off of the sled and fell unceremoniously into the snow! Mom was laughing hysterically, and the rest of us couldn’t help but join in as Daniel came back up the hill with the sled and a big grin in tow.

The next person who tested out a sled was Jacob (12). I don’t know how he did it so well, but he slid down like a pro. When he came back, he was smiling from ear to ear.

The rest of us were eager to join in! Even Isaac (18), who was home from college on Christmas break, hopped on a sled and skidded down the hayfield.

We definitely did have some accidents though. Once, Jacob went zooming into a clump of trees (we’ve dubbed the area ‘middle earth’) and came out with his neck scraped up from the branches. But he really didn’t mind; he went ahead directly after the event and continued sledding. Also, once when I went down, I accidently dragged my thumb in the ground for about 2-3 yards and got a good sprain. However, I didn’t really care and proceeded with the sledding fun with a hand brace.

The most intense, frightening, and suspenseful accident of the day was when Abigail (14) went down with Elijah (3). There was a thick ground-rod in the hayfield that had to be about a yard deep at least. We had tried everything to get that big, annoying metal stick out, but nothing had worked thus far and we were afraid we would have to resort to renting machinery to remove the obstinate pole. However, we found out that such resources would not be needed...

Abigail went sliding down with Eli, the extra weight propelling the sled at a rate that would have gotten them to Pluto in two seconds flat. Everyone watched in suspense, the same thought rushing through the minds of the young and the old: don’t hit the ground rod. DO NOT HIT THE GROUND ROD!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately, the thought didn’t count and they hit the post dead on and the two riders were flung unceremoniously and violently into the snow. With one accord, everyone went rushing to the area where Abigail and Eli were. Fortunately, they were both okay, and were more than ready to continue with the fun. However, to our surprise, the ground rod was bent very badly and came up with no resistance whatsoever. See, sledding can be useful!

All in all, however, we all had a blast. Not everything was an accident. We were able to do it several times before the snow disappeared. It’s definitely something I’m looking forward to doing next time we have enough snow!

Grace Helland is a 16-year-old daughter of King Jesus living with her parents and ten siblings who loves singing, playing various instruments, Southern Gospel music, working and playing outside, spending time with friends and family, making new friends, and writing poems and songs.