{happy day}

Today is the day we get to celebrate my mom and her birthday!  I remember my grandpa always telling the story of the day she was born and how there was a big snow storm.  She was their little “Christmas” baby, and maybe that is why she was given the beautiful name of Kristine!  This year it’s not so snowy, but I have always liked celebrating her birthday near Christmas.  My mom is one of the most amazing people I know, and her love and knowledge of the Savior just radiates from her.  She is an example of so much to me . . . . I’m still trying to be a mom like her, but this last year I have really come to admire her strength and attitude.  This is a woman who truly knows what she wants and what is best.  She is able to trust herself and her Heavenly Father and makes wise choices based on that.  I know the last year has been a lot harder on her than she lets on, but has continued to be positive and strong.  If there were one person I would never wish such a terrible disease on, it is my mom.  She has so much to give, so much to share, and so much to offer.  However, I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to focus just on her.  Sometimes as a mom it is easy to get taken for granted, so I’m glad we have been able to be more and do more for her during this time.  She truly deserves it and she deserves to have the very best birthday!

{new favorite}

One of our favorite places to go as a family is Discovery Gateway (the children’s museum).  But it is a little spendy and usually quite crowded.  I heard about another museum that sounded similar and had planned on taking the kidlets there over Christmas break to check it out.  While G&G were here, we wanted to do something all together on Saturday, so we headed to said place:  The Treehouse Museum.  And what a fun time we had.  It wasn’t crowded (even for a Saturday), and the price is much more reasonable.  My children were thoroughly entertained and didn’t want to ever leave…..it was the adult’s growling stomachs that pulled us out of there.  I am definitely going back over the break and am grateful to have found such a fun place to visit.

A few of the fun things we did, included:

Milked the cow!

Read some books!

Rode the horses!

Ride ‘em cowboy!

Made lots and lots of music!

Became President for a minute!

Played a rousing game of chess!

Learned oragami!

Climbed aboard the train!

We had such a great few days off, especially since we were able to spend it with family!  It’s nice to be able to relax and also get out and have fun experiences together.  Once the weekend was over, it was back to reality ….. school, work, Christmas decorating – ’tis the season!

{moving on}

Now that it is December and Thanksgiving is over, it is only natural to move onto the most exciting holiday of the year!  And we certainly didn’t waste anytime.  Dave and his parents were up bright & early (only it wasn’t bright when they were up) to join in on the Black Friday fun!  We are not crazy Black Friday people; Dave has only gone a few times just to see if he can happen to get what we’re after.  But it’s no biggie if he doesn’t!  This year they scored big!  They were able to get everything they were after and without even a hint of a problem.  Apparently at some of the places they went, they were handing out tickets so you could get exactly what you wanted until a certain time!

This year it was worth it to Dave to go, because he picked up his “Christmas present.”  I should have put my foot down and made him keep it tucked away until Christmas, but I knew it would be a long month for him and me; and I didn’t want him spending all day on Christmas engulfed in the operation of his new toy, rather than enjoying the day with us!  His purchase:  A fancy digital SLR camera…..he knows the details!  He claims he can now take our family pictures.  I like to remind him that he is part of our family and therefore should actually be in the photos !  Either way, he has spent the last week loving his present and we have the pictures to prove it!

The rest of the day was spent catching up on sleep, enjoying a Christmas flick, devouring all the leftovers, and taking LOTS & LOTS of pictures.  There may have been a few rounds of Skip-Bo and the train game played as well!  Love long weekends!  Here are some of the first moments captured on the new camera:

{giving of thanks}

You know that feeling of being so far behind that it doesn’t seem worth it to start catching up?  That’s how I feel about blogging  . . . so much to report, but where to start?  Thanksgiving, that’s where.   And I don’t think it is bah-humbug one bit to mention this holiday even in December.  I believe my feelings about Thanksgiving have been made known in the past, but basically it certainly does not get the time, attention, or credit it deserves.  I am so ANTI decorating for Christmas before Thanksgiving.  I won’t listen to Christmas music, and I won’t even let Dave plug the Christmas house lights in until, at the earliest, Thanksgiving night.  Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays – I mean what it is not great about sitting around with family all day and eating the best food?  Not to mention having the opportunity to reflect on all there is to be grateful for!!  It’s just the best!!!

So this year I was able to host the holiday.  We typically spend Thanksgiving in St. George with Dave’s family, but with the circumstances of this year both Dave and I felt it was prudent we stay home and celebrate with my family.  However, we were lucky/blessed/pleased/honored to have G&G Mac come all the way to our home and celebrate with us!  It was a marvelous weekend.

Dave and I spent all day Wednesday cooking and cleaning.  Dave is the official pie maker, so he got to work on the crusts and fillings of many pies.  He also had the opportunity to clean-up around here and learned how frustrating it is when 5 minutes later your hard work is foiled by a 2 year old!!  I think he may appreciate my efforts a bit more.  G&G arrived that night and we immediately enjoyed a birthday celebration for Grandpa, complete with cake, candles, and ice cream.

Thursday was awesome!  Most of the morning was spent in the kitchen, of course.  But I was lucky enough to have a fantastic su chef – my mom-in-law!  We whipped up turkey, stuffing, yams, cranberry sauce, a relish tray, gravy, and snacks.  While we awaited the arrival of the mashed potatoes, corn casserole, green beans, green salad, rolls, and a second turkey . . .  oh and of course the family that brought it all!

The food was amazing!
The company pleasant and crazy!
The leftovers, a plenty!

And in the midst of it all, we were able to celebrate the goodness that the last few weeks have brought to my family!  My mom was especially thankful.  But it was such a blessing to be surrounded by those who mean the most to us!

See, Thanksgiving is worth remembering and celebrating!

All the deliciousness lined up and ready to go!

The lovely large table!

The kids at the bar!

Thankful thoughts (and gifts) by mom!

Some of the family enjoying a wonderful video!

Pie time!

{looking back?}

I’ve been considering doing an update on my mom for a while, but now feel it is necessary!

About 2 weeks ago (before her 5th chemo) she had a CAT scan and it showed a large mass in her abdomen area.  The doctors were obviously concerned about it and didn’t know what it was, so they decided it was time to do a PET scan.  PET scans light up any fast growing cells.   Cancerous cells are fast growing, so this scan would show if this mass was indeed cancerous as well as the progress on the rest of her body.    Needless to say, it was a very LONG two weeks as we waited for the scan and didn’t know what we were dealing with.  If this mass was in fact cancerous, it would mean that the chemo wasn’t working and they would have to start all over with a different type of chemo.  The scan was last Thursday and we were all on pins and needles waiting for the results.  There were countless prayers being offered that this mass would not be a problem.

My mom called me friday and was bawling, but she said that the mass was gone!  It was just completely gone!!  I couldn’t figure out why she was crying if the news was good.  I guess all of her worries and stress just came pouring out and she could finally relax.  It really is a miracle and an answer to MANY prayers.  Not only was the mass gone, but her lungs looked really good.  There were just a few small spots on her left lung, but they think that could be tissue from her biopsy incision.

Today marks her 6th and FINAL chemo treatment.  I think we are all having a hard time believing we are at this point, but I definitely feel like we’ve been given a great gift from Heavenly Father.  All of us, especially my mom, get to continue on in life.  We get to celebrate these upcoming babies together and not have the stress that we have had.  Of course, my mom will continue to be monitored and it will be a long while before her hair returns and she puts on some weight, but the world just feels lighter.  Dave commented on just that after Sunday dinner.  You could feel the relief and lightness as a family.

I remember months ago when this all started saying to Dave that I couldn’t wait to look back on this time.  Because when you are looking back it means that the trial is over!!  This trial may not be completely over, but it feels like the hardest part has passed and now we can look back on it and realize how blessed we were and are!

{done}

This is how I feel, because I did it.  It is done.  I finished making my book from my blog.  It certainly didn’t go as smoothly as I would have liked, but I’m beginning to learn that nothing involving technology ever does.  All 104 pages will be here, in printed formed, shortly.  Can’t wait to see it, and have this record of my family for years to come!  I was more excited to get it done when I got an email from Blurb saying it was 20% OFF until November 24th.  I can’t resist a sale, so it spurred me to jump on it and get it done.  And done it is….have I mentioned what a relief it is?

{too quiet}

Logan and I had been downstairs doing morning stuff.  Dave was at home working in the basement.  I told Logan I was going upstairs — I had stuff to do on the computer and thought he would follow to play in the playroom.  He didn’t.  I could hear that he was still down in the family room, but he was being awfully quiet, for an awfully long time.  Let’s be honest, as a parent don’t we relish in the quiet moments?  I knew I should check on him, but was enjoying the quiet time and how much I was getting done.  He doesn’t usually stay away that long, so I was sorta impressed with his ability to play alone.  Guess what?  I should have followed my instinct and checked on him.

Eventually he made his way up the stairs; I turned to see he was eating something and his hand was full of something else.  Not a good sign.  I pried his hand open and found MANY gum wrappers.  I pried his mouth open and found a small amount of disintegrating gum.  Yip, he had entertained himself {quietly} with my purse.  Which included eating (chewing and swallowing) 8 pieces of gum!!

Silence is never good and just can’t be trusted!

{Sunday nap}

What is better than a Sunday nap?  Well, our current church time is 11:30-2:30 so it makes napping tricky.  I believe this church time is awesome for adults with no children, but it is not my favorite.  We miss lunch and nearly miss nap time.  It’s just tricky, but luckily it’s only for a few more months.

Last Sunday, Conner was bored.  It was getting to be time to head to Sunday dinner at 5:00.  He laid down on the couch and in a very whiny voice (love the whiny Sunday voice) asked what he could do and told me he was starving.  5 minutes later, he was sound asleep.  When we woke him up, he did not believe that he had been asleep —thank goodness Dave captured these pictures.  And thank goodness, for once, his brother woke up happy and helped to wake him up.

{treat night}

So, we survived another Halloween!!  Conner was so excited, and we thought Logan was also……but we learned otherwise, until he changed his mind .  Conner was able to celebrate with a class party on Thursday, then a costume party at Karate that night.  The next day was a schedule free day with NO SCHOOL.  That night he and Dave went to the Jazz game with his Junior Jazz team —- he loved it!!  That left only Halloween day to carve and decorate pumpkins, and of course necessitated a visit to Grandpa & Grandma’s.  This is when Logan’s disdain of his costume roared (or should I say “buzzed”) it’s ugly head!

Over a month ago, when Logan’s costume arrived, he loved it!  That first night he wore it around for hours (wish we would have taken pictures then).  Ever since, he has talked about being a bee and telling us what a bee says.  Yesterday when the costume was brought out, a tantrum ensued —- “no bee, no bee!!”  He refused to put it on!!!  Once trick-or-treating time came around, I managed to bribe/distract him into putting it on.  From then on he didn’t miss a beat.  He LOVED, let me repeat, LOVED dragging his little pumpkin bag up the driveway to the house to get more candy.  At the first few houses, he tried to give a piece of candy back to get a new piece……didn’t take him long to catch on.

I took the boys out this year because it was a “warm” year!  I had a lot of fun with them!!  They had fun showing daddy their loot and spreading it all over the floor. The first thing Logan asked for this morning was a treat – he’s a Halloween fanatic.  And even though my camera happy husband took hundreds of pictures, he managed to NOT get even one of Conner dressed up in his recycled Yoda costume —- he looked just as cute as last year!

{dribble}

Basketball season has begun!  This is Conner’s first year playing and he loves it!  Dave and I know we don’t have the “star player” on the team, but who cares when he is having so much fun and learning!  Conner loves dribbling, and we love his other hand’s position (check it out)!  Logan loves watching all the balls in action, so bring on the entertainment that only youth sports can bring.