The mother had planned a Sunday picnic with her family. She waited at an airstrip near Rimrock Lake about 15 miles east of White Pass for her husband, Justin, to land his rented 974 Cessna-172 Skyhawk. Her daughter, Julie, and stepson, Perrin, were on board.

"We saw that he was trying to land and saw that he couldn't, but didn't hear anything," Natisha Reed said.

Then came the sirens.

Natisha Reed drove toward the wreckage. Justin Reed and his 13-year-old son didn't survive.

"Just hard for everybody right now," said Julie Reed's aunt, Zandra Keller.

Natisha Reed credits a stranger's OnStar GPS system for getting medics to the scene fast enough to save her 5 year old.

"Just concentrating on Julie, 'cause it's a miracle she survived," she said.

Julie Reed fractured both of her legs as well as her facial bones in the crash. She is improving, and her recovery is helping the family cope.

"We've got that little girl keeping us strong," said Keller. "We asked yesterday if she wanted to see what she looked like and she said, 'Why, am I ugly?' And I said, 'No, baby you're the beautifulest thing I've ever seen."'

Family members then asked Julie Reed if she remembered.

"She doesn't remember, but I wanted her to know why her dad wasn't here. So we told her he died in a plane crash with Perrin," said Natisha Reed. "She understands that he's never coming back."

When Julie Reed is released from Harborview Medical Center, she'll be relying on a wheelchair to get around. Friends have already begun building a ramp at the Reeds' home.

Langevin-Mussetter Funeral Home in Yakima has volunteered to help with the family's overwhelming funeral expenses.

But there are still bills and burial expenses that Natisha Reed doesn't have the money to cover.

Anyone who'd like to make a contribution to the Reed family can donate online to the Problem Solvers Fund.