Results

The good Doc. only made us wait a few hours and called with good news! We likey.

He doesn't think there is any change in his kidney, ribs, and liver-and thinks there is a slight decrease to the mets in his lungs.

I'm feeling much better! Yeah for Travis!

Thanks for prayers.

Now if we could only do something about that ingrown toenail....

Sundaes on Sunday

This is wordy, and mostly for my journaling-so if you don't want to read a cheesy-long post. Feel free to skip it.



Today was lovely (aside from this freaking headache I've had all day long!). The kids slept in, meaning I slept in. They woke up happy and ready for church. They were quiet during sacrament meeting, a huge deal for us, and I heard a few beautiful messages. My heart strings were being tugged on all day long, and my tears were close the the surface.

Eileen taught the lesson today and it was about praying in Faith. The message seemed to be made just for me, and in true Eileen fashion it was beautiful. I have to admit that through all of this there are moments where I feel like I am praying in Faith, and moments where I feel like I spend to much time thinking about what if? and preparing myself for the worst. I have moments where I totally forget the comfort I have been given through prayer and through Priesthood blessings. I forget how much love I have felt through the hard times because I tend to focus on the negative-(when did I become a pessimist?). After the seriously inspired lesson I have decided to focus more on Praying in Faith, and less on wondering what if. I know that through Faithful Prayers I will be prepared for whatever comes our way, and have the comfort we need to get through any challenges we have.

After the meeting and on our way out the church doors I ran into a friend and neighbor (Christina-if you are reading this, I'm talking about your mom. Have I mentioned she is totally amazing?). Her husband has gone through cancer and if anyone knows what we are going through, it is her. She hugged me and just let me know she is thinking of us and I was once again reminded of how many people are on our side.

We invited the whole family over today to break our Fast and for Larry to give Travis a blessing. It is loads of fun for our families to get together. The moms get together and discuss their latest school adventures. They both are pretty passionate about their jobs and their shared grand kids-so they get along just fine. My dad gets teased an awful lot-and sometimes even the Kidman kids join in the tease. Larry pretends he feels bad for my dad, but I'm thinking he is just thankful that my dad takes up most of the teasing. They bond over golfing and whatever else they talk about. Those 2 are just like the same person, except Larry doesn't heart Dancing with the stars. And my dad does, but that's for a whole different post. The kids all play together, and my girls love having cousins everywhere. The house gets messy. We eat too much. And then Travis gets a blessing.

For that few minutes all is quite (except for the rock n roll chant....:) and we sit and somehow through the craziness of the day, the house is filled with the spirit. And my mind feels at ease, and my heart is full of love.

I will never be to the point where I am thankful for Cancer. I know myself well enough to admit this. But I am so very thankful that our families can come together and fill our home with peace and love. And I am very thankful that at such a young age my kids can witness the power of the Priesthood and feel in their hearts the warmth that it can bring.

We have discussed with Adyson a little bit about cancer, but obvs she doesn't really understand the extent of what Travis has, and I think she knows just enough for a 4 year old to know. But he does have a seriously gross ingrown toenail-and she can see that. So tonight after everyone went home and we were getting ready for bed, she said the family prayer. Just before I told her to pray for daddy. So in her prayer she asked Heavenly Father to bless Daddy's Toenail. It made us laugh, and I think she thought his blessing was a result of an ingrown toenail....We sure love those kids of ours!

Now I don't want to pretend that our families are perfect. We cuss some, fight some, and drive each other nuts sometimes, but when push comes to shove-we are all there for one another in a very big way. So thank you guys so much for being here today and for everything. We felt very blessed today. And Heather and Jody, I wish more than anything that you guys could have been here. You would have made the day perfect. We missed you a whole lot, and love you a whole lot! And feel better too. And hug your kids from me because I miss them a lot.

For dessert we had hot fudge sundaes. The kids had a blast making their own, and seriously dug eating their creations. And the adults enjoyed them too.

A video, A weekend update, and A bit about T

Dear Travis,

Please don't be too angry that I posted this totally stellar video of you on my blog for my blogging Bff's to see. I personally think you look sexy with pink hair, and your dance moves are totally groovy. And seriously....you are a pretty awesome father.

Love, me.

Dear Blogging Bff's,

Please excuse my terribly ugly laugh throughout this whole video. Please.

Love, me.

Now that you have lol'd, I'll get to the rest of my post.

Thursday I got to go to lunch with a few of my highschool friends, which we don't do very often. I post this picture so those of you who didn't come and read my blog see what you missed out on! Just kidding girls, we missed you though!

We've had a pretty laid back weekend. Travis was able to get some golfing in, I was able to get some shopping in, and the kids got a whole lot of playing in-so I guess we are all happy! On Friday I took the girls to Willow Park to see the animals. We had a great time walking around in the not quite as hot weather, and the animals put on quite a show for us. (Though if you ask Sienna which animal was her favorite she will tell you, every time, that it was the lion-and the parrots. They have no lion, but whatevs she's 2, right). Then Friday night we went to the "family reunion" at my Grandma's retirement community. I have to be honest when I say that it was just hot and sticky and crowded, but my Grandma loves nothing more than showing off her great grand kids and they love her a whole lot too, and they had a good ol' time. I love this picture I snapped of the three of them. Isn't my grandma such a beauty?

So this week is the big week. The scan is set for Tuesday, and we are praying and fasting for good news. I'm not gonna lie, I'm a bit of a wreck and totally ready for the next few days to be over and for our "normal" life to come back. Our families are both fasting with us tomorrow and we are getting together for a family dinner and Travis will get a blessing, and I find that a blessing always calms our nerves a bit and feels our home with warmth. I wish I could express how thankful I am for that, but whenever I try to type it it just doesn't come out right. But you get the gist, right?

Results should be back any time from Tuesday-Thursday. I'm really hoping for Tuesday because waiting is no fun at all. None. I will post the results when I can-so keep checking back for the good news *having faith*.

And if you want to, go ahead and say a prayer for my man.

Hugs to all!

Ashley the Grasshopper

I mentioned in my last post that Adyson went to Grandma Lorraine's for a sleepover last night. (Thanks again Grandma-she had a fabulous time!) She came home utterly exhausted, and with a pet. It seems Rheagen and Adyson decided to catch a grasshopper, and grandma put it in a nice little Tupperware-and even poked a few holes in the top. We wouldn't want it to suffocate...right? Right....

Proudly showing off her sweet Ashley



She decided Ashley, oh yes she named it Ashley, needed a friend or two to play with and asked me to help her catch some more. Those of you who know me at all, know that I am terrified at anything that falls under the creepy crawly category. So I quickly said no.



When Travis came home she hit him up. He also said no. Just by looking at the poor thing you could tell it wasn't gonna last much longer in its new Tupperware home. We explained that Sweet "beautiful" Ashley would die if we didn't let her go. She needed to live with her friends (and unfortunately she has many) in the bushes in the front of our house. She needs some room to hop, some sunlight and fresh air.

Trying desperatly to stop the tears from coming. Can you see her sweet little broken heart?

I could tell she understood, but her poor little heart was broken. She really thought this was going to be her friendly pet she could keep for a very long time. So after many very real and very grown up tears, we let little Ashley go. She is fine now, and thinks that Ashley is very happily living in the front yard. I'm hoping she found a way to tell all the other grasshoppers what mean people we are and they will all escape to somewhere else, but that's just me.


Trying so hard to ge the lid off. (I'm as far away as possible praying she can do this by herself. I really don't like grasshoppers!)She did it! It took Ashley a while to get up, I was worried she didn't make it, but she finally hopped away.


Amanda, does this sound familiar to you? And Ashley, don't be offended by her choice of name. I'm certain you have no grasshopper qualities.



Thanks again Grandma for taking her. She had such a great time and told us all about it today, and right now she is peacefully catching up on her sleep!


And now she is back to her normal happy self.

Please tell me

that she doesn't get her fashion sense from me....

This is the outfit Adyson dressed up in the other day. I think the sunglasses really add something extra. I wonder often if she will ever learn that less is more?

She is off having a sleepover with Grandma Lorraine and Rheagen today, and I miss her! Sienna is napping, the house is clean, the workout is done....and I am bored. It's a strange feeling for me considering Adyson usually keeps me hopping!

I'm constantly amazed at the joy these 2 beauties bring into our lives! I love their smiles!

Some updates

A few people have asked why I never posted pictures of the new paint job in the house, and the only answer I have is that I totally forgot. But for those of you who care-here are a few pics. It took forever to get it all done, but we are both pretty happy with how it turned out, and the house feels so much cleaner now...

The chocolate brown wall is our vaulted wall so it goes from the front room to the kitchen area.

Jamie-notice my cute "luggage boxes" on the top? Thanks for those!

The rest of the walls are mostly this color, Stoney Creek from Bennets. In some light it looks grey, some light green, and some just a deep earthy tan. We have loved this color!

I haven't had much to blog about lately because not much has been going on-we are still working on getting Sienna potty trained, and I am ready to just give up and try again later. I don't know if it is that she isn't quite ready, or I'm not quite committed...but we will see. She is getting smarter by the day and it is fairly clear that I have 2 little girls on my hands-and she is no longer a baby! She just wants to do whatever Adyson does, and follows her everywhere, (sorry to my neighbors who have to let her play there when Adyson comes over...)

This seems to be the only time the kid holds still! Don't you love her curly locks?Adyson has been doing really great lately too. She is finally not afraid of going to people's houses, and I can't seem to keep her here ever. I'm starting to wonder why I used to be so worried about her and wanting her to play all the time. I miss her! She is totally excited for pre-school to start, and has already started talking about her favorite school outfits, is she my kid or what? What a lovely outfit she has on!Travis is doing pretty good to. Next Wednesday is his last treatment before his next scan-and then he gets a week or two off-thank goodness! It's always amazing the difference in him when he has a little break.

Scan time for us always brings what we are facing a little closer to home. It seems like we get used to our crazy life and push the cancer clear to the back of our minds, and then scan time comes along and we have to face it all again. I'll be honest when I say that I dread that whole week. I get myself all riled up and ready to face the worst, while I am constantly praying and hoping for the best. (I need more faith!) It is terrifying to wait for the results! That being said, Trav has been feeling a bit better lately and we know we have a lot of people praying for us, and we know that helps! Thanks once again, and I will post more about the scan when the time comes in a few weeks.

As for me, I'm ready for school to start and for a schedule to resume. I'm such a schedule person! Though I know I'm gonna miss her the whole time she is at school, it is just so good for her. I can't wait for all things fall-I'm ready for pumpkin cookies, soup, crunchy leaves, cold air, and Halloween!

Oh and this picture is for Heather, we finally got our new car last night, and I am a bit in love with it! I feel spoiled! Pretty huh?

Note:this is not my actual car, but it looks just like this one. I'm feeling too lazy to go out in the blazing heat and take a picture myself!

GNO

This weekend my Mom, Amy, Heather, and I went to a movie at midnight. How young and cool of us, huh. We really wanted to see Mamma Mia with Heather, who is the ultimate AbbA fan. Yes, I'm dead serious. She loves them.

It started out purely delightful, from the excitement of going somewhere late at night (us mom's have usually been home for quite a while by this time), to us giggling in the car on the way there. By the time we purchased our tickets we were slap happy.

The movie, for those of you who haven't seen it, is just sooooo funny. Especially at midnight. I haven't seen Amy laugh so hard since we watched Napoleon Dynamite in the theater. The theater was full of girls (with a few exceptions...) and it was so fun to hear all of our laughs echoing each others.

And now I too am a fan of AbbA. You were right all along Heather. And if you've seen her playlist you know that she is rarely right when it comes to her music choices.... (I'm teasing you Heather, sort of.)

So now all of you, find some girlfriends and make your way to Mamma Mia. And afterwards stop at Wal-mart to buy some plaster. Even if it is 2 a.m.

What FuNKy is all about

Adyson was invited to a Birthday Party today. The theme was a Spooky Halloween party in August. And of course, she wanted to be Hannah Montana. Who else?

So we bought the wig, but I kind of struggled with what she should wear. She decided she wanted to wear something "funky." (her words)

So we found some sparkly leggings, a cute little skirt, her old pink boots, a tank top, and a home made belt made out of the tackiest sparkles I could find. She loved it-and wanted to layer on necklace after necklace. Then she decided she needed a flower in her hair-and when I told her it didn't really match, she declared-"Mom, that's what funky is all about!"

Okay then. Who knew she had so much style?

Here she is all ready to go. I put some sparkle lotion all over her before I did the blush, which was a huge mistake. That is why she looks a little splotchy...but she'll never know. And she was all too excited that she had pink eye shadow on. She made me take a picture of her with her eyes closed. Again, I'm terrified for her teenage years.

Her she is folks. Miss Hannah Montana in the flesh.

The City by the Bay. I miss it already.

I wish I could explain to you just how much freakin' fun our trip to San Francisco was. The weather was perfect, our Hotel was lovely, our flight was easy...it was really just perfect. It was a great escape from regular life, and I don't think either one of us thought of cancer once. A much needed break! We tried to squeeze as much action as we could into our short little trip. We did the wharf, Union Square, Golden Gate Park, Haight/Ashbury, North Beach, China town, Little Italy, Lombard Street, the Aquarium, and yes, we rode the trolleys. Now forgive me for the many pictures to follow. I want to document the trip so next time I want to go, I can remind Travis of how much fun we had...

And forgive me for all the really ugly pics of us. We used the old stick you arm out in front of you to take most of these, and that method never really works to well. ;0

Here we are in Union Square. It was just a few blocks from our awesome Hotel. My mouth was watering at all the amazing stores there. They have everything from Chanel (where you can window shop only) to H&M (where I spent some b-day money.) I was missing my mom and sisters.... some day we must take a shopping trip there.

Our first Trolley trip was to China town. I thought I would love a trolley ride, turns out it's just really crowded and really annoying. But it was an easy way to get around. Notice I'm wearing a jacket? The weather was sooo much cooler than the dry 100 degree crap we have around here. I welcomed it!This is right on Grant Street in China town. I loved the fire escapes with the painting and the little Chinese woman hanging her laundry out to dry. After browsing through China town we walked through North Beach and found the best restaurant ever in Little Italy. I don't think I've ever seen Travis quite so full. He couldn't stop eating the hand made pasta. Can you tell we are full? And let's not talk about what a terrible picture of me that is....

I was all excited to pass by the famed City Lights Bookstore. It was full of book lovers and plenty of people were outside taking pics. This was one of my favorite things we did on the trip. Sat on a bench and watched the sun set over the bridge. It was beautiful, and totally peaceful.

Giaradelli Square. I thought this place was actually pretty lame, but the ice-cream was delicious.

Alcatraz.

The Aquarium. We had a great time here. The under water tunnels were awesome. We saw all sorts of fish, and they had a tunnel full of sharks.

Golden Gate Park. It was beautiful here, but huge. It would have taken us all day to walk through everything. We saw the carousal, the Japanese Tea Gardens, and the flower conservatory. All was beautiful. We exited the park On Haight Street, and saw all the hippies trying to relive 69'. Young and old. It was a bit pathetic if you ask me.... Below is me at the corner of Haight/Ashbury. Don't I look like such a hippie. Peace people!

Here we are on the only really nice Trolley ride we went on. We had nice seats and it was really pretty seeing the lights from the high streets.

Lombard Street. The crooked Street. We almost didn't stop here, but we were so glad we did. The Hydrangeas planted at the sides of the street were amazing, as were the houses right on the street. Beautiful.

The carousel of Pier 39. They have amazing carousels all through the city. Don't worry, I will only show you this one picture...I really am trying to limit myself, but I just can't.

Dr. Pepper. Did you know that in San Francisco it is hard to find! Poor Travis was more than happy when we found a 7-11 and he got that first pruny swig.

The Sea Lions at the end of the pier. They are loud and put on quite a show!

The View from Yerba Beuna Gardens. What a beautiful City! This is right after I got my hands on Breaking Dawn. (And yes I'm finished-let's discuss!)

Just chillin' in the city.

The girls in their new dresses we bought for them in China Town. Cuties huh! Thanks again mom for keeping them safe while we were gone! She's amazing!

Here are just a few more. The architecture in the city is amazing, the houses are beautiful, the hilly streets are amazing, with beautiful views of the bay. I hope one day we will go back because we both really loved this city!