Our True Identity

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this message!!! What a sweet reminder of who we truly are...sons and daughters of a loving Heavenly Father. What peace this brings me to know that I am personally known by my Father in Heaven. Enjoy.

Surgery

Well everyone I made it through surgery!!! Yippee that means I am 2/3 done with my treatments. I can hardly wait to be finished. Surgery went really well and it appears that the chemo did amazing things, since the original tumor could not be found!!!! According to the pathology report there was "extensive tumor kill with only minimal residual tumor identified." That was great news! I am slowly healing and trying to get back to normal (really is there such a thing as normal???) I am eternally grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who I know is personally aware of me and this trial that I have been going though. I know that He has carried me when I didn't think I could keep pushing forward. I am grateful for the miracles that I have seen in the last 6 months, they are so many and I feel so blessed.

Good Things to Come

Just had to share this sweet message from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. It gives me courage to face the road ahead.

Made It!

I always have the best of intentions of keeping this lovely blog up to date better but it just never seems to work out. Today I am happy to report that I have finished up chemo! Yippee!!! Hopefully this means a few less sick days in my future! I am grateful to a loving Heavenly Father who has truly made the last few months so much easier that I could have wished for. There have been hard days but I have always felt the arms of the Savior carrying me along when I didn't know if I could go anymore...I am so blessed.

So Sweet

Tonight at dinner Caden and Abby were being so good eating their dinner (and a little playing between bits), then out of the blue Caden leaned over and gave Abby a hug and said. "I love you so much Abby." The boy was melting my heart...I must be such a sap because I have to admit it brought tears to my eyes. As their mother I hope and pray everyday that they will be friends as they grow up.

Happy

These two kids sure do make me laugh. Caden has so much personality, he cracks me up. He happens to own some blue rain boots that he loves and thinks are perfect for playing in the water. I mean they do keep his feet dry, that's what he tells me. He reminds me of Christopher Robin from Winnie the Pooh.

So the other day I go upstairs and this is what I find happening in the bathroom. Gotta love my two little ones. They bring me sooo much joy, each and every day.

Drum Roll Please...Here is the finished project on Abby's hair.

Cute Random Pictures of the Kids

Just a few random pictures of whats been going on with us.

This picture totally cracks me up. This morning I told Caden that he could play on his little Leapfrog computer...but the batteries weren't working. So I told Caden that when I went to the store today I would buy some for him, then I said I would right it down on a piece of paper so I wouldn't forget. Caden said, "no Mom I will write it." This is funny since he isn't writing words yet. Anywho when he got done he said, "here Mom I wrote it down now you won't forget the batteries. So needless to say even though there words aren't there I didn't forget the batteries.

Abby's hair is finally gotten long enough to fit into pigtails. I am making her let me do here hair since I can't do my own right now. I have learned there's no such thing as a bad hair day...only bad wig days. Ha Ha.

Caden colored this picture and was so proud of it that he asked me to take a picture of him. I think he did a really good job getting the whole picture colored in. He is getting so creative when he colors.

Funny story...a few days ago I got the kids some snacks and they wondered out of the kitchen...not that uncommon around here. All you Mom's will understand the fear I felt when I realized how quiet the house was. When I went looking for them I found them sitting in their bathtub eating their snacks. Don't worry I had just finished cleaning the bathroom.

Happy Mother's Day

Hope that everyone had a really nice Mother's Day. I started the day out nice and early making frosting for cupcakes. My sister Amy was having her homecoming talk about her mission, so we headed up to Logan for that. She did a really great job. She talked about miracles and how they are all over the scriptures and can inspire us. It is so true that miracles continue to happen today. I have seen them happen time and time again over the last few months...what a wonderful blessing the Gospel of Jesus Christ brings to us. I truly gives me the strength to carry on when I don't think I can go any farther.

Anywho...it was fun to see my family and some extended family as well an eat lots and lots of yummy food. Caden, Abby and Eli got me the best Mother's Day gift. First was the card that they recorded their voices on, so sweet made me cry then there was the super fancy new blender. It's awesome it breaks ice just like at Jamba Juice...the old one that broke never did that!

Good Things

Last week I had some new friends in our neighborhood invite me to go be in the audience for the local TV program, Good Things Utah. One of the ladies that is a host lives in my neighborhood. She asked my friends since she was going to be participating in the Race for the Cure on Saturday, if I would be alright with it, if she ran with my name. I was so honored that she would ask.
Anywho I found myself sitting in the studio audience on Friday morning at the Grand America, and when they did the opening of the show where the girls are just chatting I found that when the conversation about the Race came up. Marti mentioned briefly my story and that she was running for me...even though most of the tears I have lately really are from allergies, these ones weren't. I was really touched. We have a great time at the show and all the audience members ended up getting a free nights stay at the Grand America in Salt Lake. I told Eli I am not sure I own an clothes that I should be seen in at the Grand America...it is very nice. Maybe I will have to go shopping!

Infinite Power of Hope

I came across this tonight and wanted to share. What a sweet message from one of my favorite's. I mean what's not to completely love about Pres. Uchtdorf???

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Wow, it has been such a long time since I have updated the good old blog. I, however have a really good reason for neglecting the blog, but it starts with a story of Eli and I and what happens ever time we move. So lets just start by saying that I have clearly established a pattern of medical emergencies each time we move, good thing we haven't moved much. Let me explain...so when we were first married and I was pregnant with Caden, the doctor found that I had an ovarian cyst and it was decided that it would be best to remove it as soon as possible. So I had surgery when I was about 17 weeks pregnant. That was emergency #1. Then we moved at the end of that summer and what happened....you guessed it, 2 weeks after we moved in, Caden was born 3 months premature. That was emergency #2. So that brings us to our new house, and if you guessed we are having another medical emergency then you guessed right. A few weeks after we moved into the house I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Needless to say it's a good thing we really like our house because I have no intends of moving again...ever! :o)
So right now I have just finished my second round of chemo and am doing really well. The doctor was really surprised at how well I was handling things when I went in last week. I am sure that that has been due to the many prayers that have been said for us, which I am eternally grateful for. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful people that have gone above and beyond to help us in anyway we have needed. We have had meals brought in, Cub Scouts pulling weeds, Young Men mowing lawns, friends taking the kids, a Ward Fast, a party thrown and so much more. Let me just say that we know GREAT people!
So now that I have been able to actually publish this post (it took a few weeks), I thought it would be a good way for all our extended family and friends to keep up on my progress. So we will do our best to keep everyone updated. We love you all so much and feel so grateful to know each one of you.

New House

So we finally did it, we bought our first house! Yippee!!! The house was a short sale and we have been waiting since July! There were so many times that we were ready to give up and find another house, but honestly we just loved this house!!! I am so glad we waited it out. I would post lots of lovely pictures of the inside of the house, but honestly there are still to many boxes to be unpacked, things to organize and pictures to hang.
Also a Big Thank You to all of our family, friends and ward members who helped us move! You are all so amazing! We couldn't have done it without your help! THANKS!