Family finds hope in personal tragedy

Scroll through the posts on Stephanie Nielson's blog and you'll see a life full of love, hope and joy.

The mother of four, known online as "Nie Nie," seemed to have a gift for living in the moment and enjoying the present.

But on August 16, 2008, the unthinkable happened. Nielson and her husband, Christian, were in an airplane crash in eastern Arizona. She was burned over 80 percent of her body and he was burned over 30 percent.

The following day, a note from Stephanie's sister, Courtney Kendrick, appeared on her blog: "…as some of you might have heard, Stephanie (Nie) and Christian were in a private airplane crash…"

It continued: "On behalf of Nie's and Christian's family, we'd request your prayers."

Five months later, prayers are still being requested. The Nielsons have progressed from the door of death to life, but Stephanie still has both "physical and emotional recovery" ahead of her, said Kendrick, of Provo.

Christian continues to heal from a back injury and is doing physical therapy to strengthen his muscles.

For Kendrick, the accident has been a lesson in hope, faith and trust in her God. Even in the immediate aftermath of the accident, she said she felt comforted as result of her belief in life after death. Also, Kendrick said she knew her sister would have a great support system if she lived.

"I just knew that both scenarios would be OK," Kendrick said. "That comes from having faith in a plan."

She has big hopes for her sister, including hope she will be reunited with her children and hope she can resume some of her favorite activities. Just this Friday, Nie resumed posting on her blog, nieniedialogues.blogspot.com.

She announced her return with this note: "As result of your prayers and well-wishing, this adored blog will be updated regularly on January 16th. Please mark your calendars, or whatever you do. Buy a pi?ta, make frozen lemonade, this is a celebration."

One of the remarkable side-stories to Christian and Stephanie's accident is the outpouring of support they've received from around the world. Readership of Stephanie's blog grew from thousands daily to tens of thousands.

Complete strangers, who only knew of Nie Nie through the Internet, donated to her recovery or tagged their own blogs with links to support her.