oh what a difference a year makes...

Yesterday, July 12, we celebrated! Brian has been in remission for 1 year! We are so excited, relieved and grateful to have made it to this point!!!!
This picture was taken approx. 1 year ago and it gets me choked up and my heart hurt to look at it.

This picture was taken recently and I have to say HE'S HOT! : )...I also have to say that he is an amazing, wonderful man and I have never loved him more.

I also have to say this:
-Our worst year-2010- has taught us the best lessons...lessons I hope we don't have to learn again!
-There are so many angels among us-we are working on being angels to others right now, however, we will never be able to repay what was done for us.
-The word "cancer" is such an AWFUL word and my heart sinks when I hear it.
-We learned/are still learning what really matters in the long run. I have to repeat that to myself frequently and remind myself of what we have gone through- and the fact that I don't want to have gone through that for nothing!
Those are my ramblings for today....: )

Moving right along...

Brian received another "all clear" from his oncologist today, for those of you that are keeping up with his monthly adventures. His doctor can't believe how well he is doing- we are so grateful! The rest of our lives are moving right along.... 

 Spiderman playing soccer for the first time.He thought it was fun, but I think he liked the treats that came after the best.

 Spiderman absolutely loves Buddy. I have never seen him be mean or unkind to him. According to him, "Buddy is the best bother he could ever ask for!" I hope that lasts....
He was NOT happy about being done with school and came home in tears on his last day. He asked me if I could find his teacher's address so we could go visit.

 Skeeter LOVES dresses and I have to put a child lock on her closet door to keep her from ruining her church dresses. She throws  fits every Sunday after church when we take her dress off.
We hear her singing "I see the light" from Tangled quite frequently.

 This little boy is so stinkin' cute! He loves to be held, but hates to be cuddled or hugged...too bad we do it anyway!

 He is now eating cereal and a few fruits and vegetables...let me rephrase that... He is now gagging on cereal and spitting out fruits and vegetables. The only thing he likes is bananas in his little baby feeder. (Where was this with the first 2 kids-seriously-they are GREAT!)

 Our neighbors had a robin's nest on their house that kept the kids quite entertained.  Spiderman thought he was being quite helpful to dig up worms for them.

 Jasmine loves being a big sister...most of the time.

 Jasmine LOVES to cook with me- she recently made cookies and made an extra special one for her dad. That little flag says #1 Dad.

Busy times..

In a 12 day span we celebrated Valentine's Day, Jasmine's birthday, Spiderman's birthday, Jasmine was baptized and Buddy was blessed! We are very proud of Jasmine for her choice to be baptized and it was a wonderful experience to have Brian bless Buddy after Jasmine was confirmed a member of our church.
When Brian was diagnosed with cancer there were so many days and events that I was hoping he would be able to participate in and the blessing and baptism were some of those events. I am SOOOOO very grateful that he was able to do to baptize Jasmine and bless Buddy- a HUGE blessing in and of itself! Thank you so much to the wonderful friends and family who helped and participated in those special days with us!

Aunt Leni and Uncle Carson weren't able to make it but they sent Jasmine a beautiful bouquet! It arrived right before we left for the baptism and she was thrilled! Thanks Leni and Carson!

With her Grandpas and Grandmas

Aunt Jenny sure loves Buddy!

Pictures..

I don't love using my kid's first names on this blog so for those of you that know us, you can figure out that my children aren't named Jasmine, Spiderman, Skeeter or Buddy.(Although I'm sure that the older 2 would gladly take those names...)

I used to be one of them...

I used to complain about how boring my life was, how monotonous it was. How dreary to do dishes, laundry, and make dinner over and over and OVER again! And although I can still find myself slipping back into that habit, I have also learned a lesson (lots actually...).

I remember talking with a good friend when we were right in the middle of Brian's chemotherapy. So much sickness, so much work, so much worry. I remember telling her that I would do anything to have my 'boring" life back. It seemed so ridiculous to me the things that I used to complain about. So even though I have to remind myself frequently about this lesson that I have learned, I am glad to have a different perspective.

BORING IS A PRIVILEGE!  BORING IS A BLESSING!

bits of my extremely ordinary, BLESSED life from the past few weeks

 Couldn't resist taking a picture of the last bite of brussels sprout sitting in ketchup left on my daughter's plate. We have a rule at our house that you have to take at least a few bites of something new to give it a chance. Brian HATES brussels sprouts-too many great memories from his mission. However, he helped prove a point to our kids and ate them too. (Only after squirting a POOL of ketchup on his plate and our daughter's plate and whispering to eat them with a lot of ketchup and she might not be able to taste them.) So funny to watch him eat them just to be fair! (Thanks Bountiful Baskets, but we won't be eating sprouts again any time in the near future!)

 #2 loves to cook with me-I want to remember how proud he was to crack his first egg- no shells!

 Such a proud big brother!

 Such a pretty sight out our front door!

 Brian and I both have a strong addiction to chocolate chip cookies and cookie dough-too bad we're both trying to drop a few pounds.... too bad we don't have a lot of will power either! 

 Favorite parts of a Sunday afternoon- naps with my little buddy!

Tea parties are common at our house- I'm not sure if it's the fun of the tea party or the treats that they like the most!

Four more weeks...

It has been a great year so far. The kids have been healthy, (keep our fingers crossed) Krew is a joy to have, Melanie is feeling well and I have been given another 4 weeks of good health. I had a CT scan of my chest, abdomen, and pelvis a week or so ago, and the results from my doctors visit were that just about everything looks great. There is still a lymph node in my abdomen that isn't quite back to it's "normal" size and we will be watching it closely for the next three months. Until then I still get the monthly chest x-rays, and blood work. We will repeat the CT scan in three months and see if that lymph node has decreased or increased in size. I still feel very blessed to have had such great response to the treatments, and I will try to live each day as if it were my last. In a way I feel like I am on borrowed time and would hate to waste it.

What would your word be?

This was one of the highlights of our holiday this year. We decided to put our neighbor gift money to better use this year. We bought some Jamba Juice gift cards and went to the same treatment center where Brian received his chemotherapy. (Most people are really sick, or have mouth sores, but they can usually enjoy a smoothie. It lets them have something normal for a change.) We let our kids give each patient there a gift card and tell them Merry Christmas.  Being back in the chemo suite and seeing other people go through what Brian just went through was a shock to both of us. We thought it would be good for our kids to see what other people were going through and help them to remember the true spirit of Christmas. However, I think it ended up helping Brian and I a lot more. I have learned through the year of 2010 was a great deal of PERSPECTIVE. No matter how hard my days at home with my children are, it could always be worse. I could be having a hard day at home with my kids, while my husband is sick and receiving chemo, or worse. So although 2010 was a difficult year for us- it was a year of great PERSPECTIVE.  What would your word be for 2010? What would you like to gain through 2011? That's what I'm thinking about right now.... (I hope I've had enough perspective and I don't need any more for awhile!)
For those of you that are wondering, we find out results from Brian's bloodwork, xrays and recent cat scan on Tuesday. Wish us luck!

December 2010

Throwing a newborn into the mix of a crazy holiday season made for a very busy December. It was definitely a blur!

 Instead of doing every Christmas craft, treat, meal, activity, etc. I had each person just choose their absolute favorite things. Sugar cookies were a must.

 Brian also decided that gingerbread houses HAD to be fit in.This was his "house" this year. It took hours- really- hours! But some of you may think it looks a little bit familiar.

 The older 2 love to play in the snow and #1 is getting pretty good on her snowboard!

 #3 is sure that #4 is going to steal her barbies, movies, etc. Then she has a change of heart and entertains him by making barbie do some beautiful dancing right in front of his face. I'm sure he enjoys the culture he's already having a chance to experience.

 "The top of his head-DONT touch his face!"

 Watching Polar express with hot chocolate and cookies.

 Christmas Day
#1 is getting a little too grown up- she wanted scrapbook supplies, jewelry stuff and books. #2 was THRILLED with his iron man toy. #3 wanted more presents- ANy presents- and by the way they were apparently ALL hers!

 All of the grandkids on Brian's side.

 Making homemade wrapping paper.

 #2 and #3 coloring happily together- admit it- you'd take a picture of such peace too!

 We read the Christmas story from the scriptures by candlelight every year.