Other Fun Photos..

Kaylie and I enjoyed attending Time Out for Women and girls with my sister on Friday night and Saturday. Kaylie had a great time at Time Out for Girls! It was a wonderful opportunity to be uplifted and rejuvenated!

Cameron has been swimming on team for a year now and we decided it was time to bite the bullet and get him a Speedo swimming backpack. He has been using a mesh bag that has a hard time fitting all his gear in it. Most of the kids on his team have Speedo packs and they are really nice. Cameron's pack is just huge though....its bigger than him almost but he is so excited about it!!

Another highlight of the week was having the Wangsgard family visit with us for a few hours. It's never long enough but we sure love seeing them when they come to town.

Here's the kids all together again. Cam and Brad are now braces buddies. We are so grateful for our great friends!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It was great to be healthy enough to host Thanksgiving at my house again this year. We had a wonderful meal and enjoyed time with each other. My brother Jason and his wife were out of town, but otherwise the rest of my family was together, even my parents came out from Utah and it was great! Here are some of our group photos...

We celebrated Austin's birthday and he got a great new pair of dress shoes which he was in desperate need of...holes letting water in his old shoes!

Mom's brother Mel and his family came by to visit..it was great to chat with them for a bit too.

Kyler enjoying the Turkey headband! =)

Thanksgiving

I just had a get a photo with my sweet Hayley girl on Thanksgiving.

She had just given me a snuggle love right before we snapped this photo! It was so precious!

I had fun reading books with Abby girl too!

The cousins played together and had a great time...including lots of fun with puzzles.

Grandma spending time with the grandkids too!

Happy Birthday Hayley and Austin

Hayley and Austin's birthdays are a day apart and Hayley turned one on Thanksgiving this year so we had to celebrate with a cake in addition to the holiday pies. Hayley loves Spot so Amy put Spot on her cake..well it was really Austin's cake..this is his favorite dessert from Costco! Yummy!

Here Hayley is opening her peek a boo card from Grandma and Grandpa, she was just loving that card!

She got some darling clothes!!

Here she is playing peek a boo with the card! So very fun to see how much she has grown! I can't believe she is one already! Seems like just yesterday we were visiting her at the hospital!

I gave her spot books, as you can see she may be more interested in ripping the tissue! =)

Ok, well maybe I am interested in the flaps in this book after all Auntie!

Abby is really excited about the "Spot" dog from Auntie....what does Hayley think of it?

It's ok, but this tissue is really a lot more fun!! =) Happy Birthday to my precious niece!

Laura's Baby Shower

This was a busy week with a baby shower and Thanksgiving all in one week! Phew! We had some fun times though! Kaylie helped me decorate for the shower. We threw a shower for Laura just about 2 years ago when she was expecting Tyler. So this time it was fun to throw her a shower for her little girl, expected in a few weeks!

Here are some photos of Laura enjoying her time with her friends and family!

Darling outfits and a handmade blanket from Grandma Black!

Lots of cute shoes from her aunts and cousins....

Christmas clothes for next year from Aunt Heidi! =)

Group Photos

Here are some more photos from the shower. It was great to have so many family members come to support Laura!

Here is a generation photo...Amy with her three girls, me with my one girl, my Mom, with her two girls, and my grandma with her oldest daughter (my mom). So we just had to take a generation photo which was super fun!

Another generation photo but this time with Laura and her "baby girl" expected in a few weeks!

Lots of people who love Laura!

Some of her new neighbors came too...it was great to have them here with us too!

Cousin Fun

Amy's girls were here for Laura's baby shower the other night and I got some photos of the girls enjoying time at our home. They love to come visit and it is so fun to have them visit. Here is Cameron playing ball with Abby.

Cameron and Abby playing piano together! Look at that darling smile!

Bella and Abby both enjoying the piano at Auntie's house. =)

Tumor Update Mid November

Well yesterday I met with 3 different doctors, I've added a new specialist to my team, he is a Neuro-Oncologist and he was brought in to help figure out what to do for me. Basically, after hours of meeting with doctors they still aren't sure what to do with me.

The reason being is that my brain tumor has continued to grow over the past 4 months. It is now to the point that I'm back on steroids because it is causing symptoms that interfere with my ability to drive, see, read, walk, etc. The only solution at present is for me to go back on the High Dose, intense oral chemotherapy that I was on in the spring when we saw the reduction in the size of the tumor.

The reason we changed my dosage after those amazing results was due to my quality of life. Although my tumor was responding, the treatment was killing me! I was so very sick and spent a lot of time in bed, sick with nausea or any number of issues. We have tried to avoid putting me back on such a regimen but my doctors decided, unanimously, that this is the only option that has a chance of helping control the growth at this time.

And so, I go back down the same road again....more drugs, naps, steroids (getting fat, not sleeping, being grumpy, etc), sore feet, upset stomach, cracked hands and palms, old lady digestive challenges and more.

If there is a sun in the cloud it is that I am still alive and trying to make the most that I can with each day with my children and husband. I truly am challenged beyond my capacity at times but I am also greatly blessed.

That's all for today....

Kyler Carving Pumpkins

Kyler just HAD to have a BYU pumpkin..it was very cute! He is quite the fan!