Medical Mysteries and Marvels

So I feel like the family has run the Gauntlet and has come through victorious!!!! No breast cancer, in fact I didn't even need a biopsy. Just 3 ultrasounds and a mammogram. Then We went on to takle the bump in my cheek. We decided that I needed Surgery so that happened at the beginning of January. The doctor did a face lift incision but was unable to get to the mass so he had to pull back the major muscle in my cheek then he had to cut the inside of my cheek from ththe top of my gums, all the way dow along the back of my jaw to the bottom of my gums. It was a scary experience for me but over all it turned out well. I was really swollen and bruised but luckily my mom came and stayed with us for 2 weeks. Yeah for Moms!!! Luckily there was no cancer, again thank heavens!
Then we get a call from Chris's mom that his dad has been rushed to the hospital (and she is still in Switzerland) and it doesn't look good. He had blood clots in his lungs that eventually led to him having 4 heart attacks in the space of hours. So off Chris goes to be with his dad and mom to help him make his miraculous recovery. He is slowly getting better and has just had a pacemaker put in. Thank God for modern medicine!!!!
We have been so blessed to come through these medical nightmares so well.

just some pics

So I realized that our east coast family members haven't seen pics of the kids in a while so here you go..... and they are even bigger now!

they are growing way to fast for me!!

Little Moments

So we were at the Back to School carnival last night and the kids were going bezerk. "MOM, I NEED TICKETS!!!!," their faces scrunched up in hopeful expectation. How did I get designated the ticket holder instead of escaping with Lizzy to the slides?? And then they run off with friends up the enormous inflatable toy to either slide down, run around in, or just hide from friends.
So I'm inevitably standing at the end of the ride watching expectantly for my kids to emerge holding a pair of sneakers and flip flops and it hits me that this was a moment. One of those moments that you are bored out of your mind, yet are so important to the core of what you are as a mom. Protecting, and watching, and waiting for your young. Hoping that everythig is okay while they're out of your sight, and saying silent prayers until you see them again. It was just a silly carnival but I couldn't stop from misting up thinking, "what if I wasn't able to say prayers for lizzie as she goes down her first big kid carnival ride?"
It seems like I can go for hours at a time without thinking about it and then BAM it hits me and I just lose it.
I know that I am experiencing these 2 weeks for a reason. Even if I don't have Breast Cancer. Now I know to some degree what thousands of women experience every day. Maybe its so I can gain empathy for those women, as well as giving me an opportunity to grow closer to the Lord.

My prayers are with all women struggling with this disease, may you fight the good fight, and come out victorious, whether it be on this side of the veil or the other.

thoughts of mortality

As my mother says, "it's probably nothing"

But what if it's not.



So I went in to the Dr. for a check-up and long story short more procedures are needed just to eliminate the possibility of the big "C".



Wow, to hear that conversation happening not only in front of you, but to you ... It was almost surreal. I am glad Chris was with me just to remember all that was said.



I guess I never contemplated the end of my mortality on a literal level until now. What a humbling experience it is to hold my kids, or to look upon my husband.
I'm sure it's nothing, but the waiting to know is what's killing me!

Ali's Baptism

What a great day we had. Ali looked as beautiful as the princess that she is. (She loves hearing that she is a Queen in training) She almost glowed. We were able to have a great experience with Chris' parents and mine in attendance, as well as the Lloyd's and the Yuens. Jamie's family couldn't make it, yet we felt their loving presence from afar.

Ali was a little nervous to go into the water but what girl could resist the comforting hand of her proud and confidant father out stretched to her. And so she bravely descended into the water. The Spirit in the room was tangible and easily felt as she took upon herself the baptisimal covenants. We are so proud of the strong and valiant girl she is becoming. What a blessing it is to be able to raise her with Chris.

The dream realized

So we finally decided to start small and so the Enchanted Learning preschool is up and running in our downstairs. I am up to 10 kids in 2 classes. Hopefully those numbers will get better as the year goes on.
I am sitting here listening to the planes go by on their way to the air force base and I just realized this is the quietest it has been in a looooong time. I am fortunate to have all this noise in my life. It's funny how the Lord's plan for our lives unfolds when and how it does. I am blessed to have my life.

Gold at the end of a very long rainbow

So I never realized how exhausting chasing your dream can be. Pursuing what I hope will be a very positive life change for our family is wearing me out. It seems like the closer we get to turning in the loan application, the more things just go really, really, wrong!! (The dishwasher and the garage door quit working, our sprinker system is configured all wrong, Lizzie is teething all 4 molars at once and not sleeping....)I am trying to stay positive though and keep looking towards the end result. I am really greatful to have Chris being so supportive of me and the whole process. I don't know what I would do without him. Through all of these mishaps I am beginning to see how our marriage is transitioning from flowers and butterflies into stone and mortar. I feel like we are building a really strong foundation that will support us for the rest of our lives together, both good and bad.
I will keep everyone posted and fill you in on what we're doing as soon as the financing comes through.