Recap of April and May

Pic of Cody at the Grand Junction Tournament

My oncologist, Dr. Nibley

My parents with me at my last Chemo infusion. I rang the "Finished Bell" when I was all done!

My family just before we rang the "Bell!"

Ok I'm back to continue my recap. I think I will be better about posting more often, it's a pain to try and remember back all the things I want to say. I did also forget to mention that on the last day of my chemo G gave me a pink sapphire necklace and ring. That got me all emotional but the best thing he gave me was a poem.

He wrote this poem himself, and I have always said that he has a way with words. I think he is eloquent when he speaks but I never knew he could write something as beautiful as this. He has made this journey bearable for me and I couldn't have imagined going through this cancer ride without him by my side. I know I would never want something like this to happen to anyone, but it has made our love and commitment to each other so much stronger. He has seen me at my very worst moments and he still loves and takes care of me. I think that it is harder on him than it is on me. I know there are days when he feels so helpless but little does he know that he has been my rock and foundation and it has never budged an inch! His poem reads:

What seemed like bliss just months ago

Had changed in twinkling eye.

Happy times and coasting by

Gave way to fear and woe.

We're to endure the highs and lows

With our eyes fixed on the prize,

And prove ourselves a worthy heir

And with the just arise.

And yet it never fails

Or ceases to amaze,

To witness one who faces fears

And marches through that maze!

As outsiders we watch and wonder

How a person perseveres,

When facing tough experiences

displaying courage through her fears.

She may not yet realize

The lessons she has taught

To all of us who witness

The way that she has fought.

We realize firsthand

What courage really is,

And thank the Man upstairs

For the power that is His.

For us to understand

This lesson taught us by our King,

We need only look right next to me,

To the one who wears my ring.

Can you say wow?! I know...I sure did marry the right guy!

We went to St. George for Easter with all of my family. We try and go down every year and celebrate the Savior's life with all the cousins. It is such a fun time of year and I was so glad to be a couple of weeks out from my last chemo infusion. I felt great as long as I had a daily nap. I am still not 100%, I'm like a little baby, I get really grumpy if I don't get my afternoon siesta. We went swimming, played at the park and on the golf course behind my parents house.

Me with my beautiful mother. We both have what my dad calls lamb turds in milk eyes. I love having the dark brown eyes inherited from her.

This year each of us girls brought some kind of craft or activity so at night we could do something with just the girls. So we made flower clips for hair, Easter buckets for the kids, thank you cards, and got pedicures. Nights were fun to just hang out and chill with my mom, sisters and sis-in-laws.

Sunday was my favorite day that weekend. We always go to the 11:00 church right next to the St. George Temple. When sacrament is over we cross the street and take pictures on the temple grounds. It is a time to think and reflect on the Savior's life with our children on these sacred grounds. After we go back home and enjoy the delicious talents from my mom and dad.

They are both incredibly good cooks and they made the best Easter Sunday dinner. So of course we all needed to take afternoon naps and then we went to the park and had an Easter egg hunt for the kids. We were there for a couple of hours playing, flying kites and eating lots of candy.

I don't take any of these special family moments for granted anymore. All the memories we make now mean so much more to me. It was especially fun to see my 16 yr old out run his Uncle Todd who was a track star back in his high school days. They had to race several times until Cody was all tuckered out and his Uncle could finally beat him.

Our cute little family at the St. George Temple

My sweet little niece is the most thoughtful girl ever! She talked to her mom about wanting to do something special for me before we all went to St. George. Her mom, my sister, Angie told her that she could do anything she wanted and to think about what she thought would make me happy. So she decided to give me this darling pink doggie from Build a Bear.

Now this doggie is very very special to Tana, my niece. You see she went to Build a Bear for her birthday and this doggie is what she made. As you can imagine it was designed especially for Tana and made just the way she wanted it to be. Her birthday came way before I was ever diagnosed with cancer. She told her mom that she wanted to give it to me and she thought that it would be great. So she brought it with her to St. George and on Easter morning she snuck into my room and left it on my bed with a little note. In the note she wrote I love you and I hope you love "Pinky Poo" the poodle like I do.

How do you react to something so sweet and compassionate? And from a 10 year old little girl! She thought of this all on her own. I was, of course, totally bawling when I walked out of my room and everyone in the house knew about her little surprise so they were waiting to see my reaction. It made lots of the girls cry as well. We love to cry our happy tears and celebrate the special moments like this!

My mom with her sister, who flew into town to visit for a few days and their mom...GG! It was such a nice visit to catch up with my aunt, she took tons of awesome pics!

Matt turned 6 in April!

Cody turned 16, they get to choose anything they want for dinner on their birthday and what did Cody choose? Yeah Wendy's nice dinner!

Dusty turned 10 and all he ever wants is sports stuff...clothes, jersey's, sports gear etc! He is truly my sports junkie. He is the one who never watches cartoons, just ESPN and the NFL channel.

Brett turned 14 and of course we had to celebrate the Steelers Superbowl win with T-shirts for the boys!

On Sunday afternoon we hiked up to the waterfall behind our house. It was so much fun, we haven't gone up there as a family for a few years. The boys enjoyed getting wet and playing out in the wild!

My mom is the Activity Day's leader in our ward. For a service project she had the girls come over to my house and help me plant the flowers in the big flower wall. They had the whole thing planted in 40 minutes, which usually takes me a couple of hours. They were so sweet to come and help me out. I think they had more fun swinging on the tree swing when they were done working. Thanks Girls!