Awareness

This week my mom finished her radiation for her breast cancer. It's still strange to me to say my mom had cancer!

She went in for her annual exam and mammogram and they found an abnormality. She had to go back and have another mammogram, then it was a biopsy, and then the results came back. Ductal Carcinoma. But, her's was in the very very early stages, it hadn't even spread- it was still contained in her milk duct.

She made her appointment with the Oncologist, the same Oncologist my Dad had. He asked if he knew her, and she explained who she was. He vaguely remembered her- but remembered my Dad passing away. It just seems so wrong to have parents who both have a type of cancer!

The oncologist told her it was in it's really early stages, and that she would need surgery to remove the duct, and then radiation- no chemo.

What a relief for everyone!

She has been a trooper through this! I am not one to show a lot of emotion, I call myself a

 "closet cry-er." I don't know why I am this way, my mom certainly isn't- she can't say a prayer with out crying.:) But when we found out she had breast cancer I had emotions all over the place. I cried for days, I hated the thought of her having to deal with this on top of everything else she has to worry about. My fear was that she wouldn't want to treat it. If you know my Mom and Dad, you know they LOVED each other. They were each others best friends. They met, dated, and were married in a few short months, and then 11 children later were still in love.

When Dad passed away I cried because I missed him, but I cried more for my Mom. I knew how much she would miss him, I knew how much she loved him. She has said on many occasions she wishes he would come down from heaven and take her back with him. I know it sounds suicidal- but it's not, she's not- she just really misses her best friend!

She did at one point tell me that she always said if she had cancer she wouldn't fight it, so when the results came back as cancer I was sad for my mom again. I wanted her to fight it, I want my mom- I need my mom. But if it was an aggressive breast cancer then I didn't want her to suffer and prolong the inevitable.

When Mom found out about the cancer she did indeed want to fight it, and especially when she found out how early it was caught. Through the surgery and radiation she has been through some painful things, but she's kept a positive attitude and been such an example to me.

Not only do I struggle showing emotion, I struggle showing affection- but seeing my mom, seeing she really was doing ok, seeing that even though she was in pain- she was still doing well. Those feelings of peace that I had been longing for after finding out about the cancer, they finally came. I slept so well that night at my mom's house!

 

Fast forward a bit and here we are today. I'm so thankful that my mom is doing well, that so far all is well, and as far as we know the surgery, and radiation, along with some medications- my mom is now cancer free!

Look at all these people who love her!!

 



This has brought many new awareness-es to me. It's made me aware that I need to appreciate more. I need to not be afraid to show emotion or affection. I need to tell people how much I love them. I need to not take so many things for granted. Good health is a blessing- a HUGE blessing! And it's made me more aware of all that I've been blessed with. The Gospel, it's my foundation. It gives me purpose and strength to handle all the many obstacles that life brings. 

A New Blog

I decided to start a new blog. I was trying to pay what ever fee it was telling me to pay so I could add more pictures to my other blog but it won't give me the option to pay, so I've started a new blog and here it is. Hopefully I can get all the kinks figured out on my header and all that fun stuff.

I have really not liked being able to blog. We've had so many fun things going on, but I feel like I need to back track- so many of these will be from the end of 2012.

Beginning 2013

We celebrated our New Year with Darrell's mom, brother and his family- the other Wiser's. The kids had fun playing hard, they were exhausted! There were some melt downs, two hour time difference and a strong willed 3 year old are not usually the best combination.

We taught the older kids how to play Phase 10, one of my favorite games- even though I generally lose at it.

 

We loved spending the evening with Grandma Wiser, it's so hard to live across the country from the Grandma's!

 

We took a few pictures, the kids banged pots and pans and did a really LOUD celebration outside for a few minutes.

 

The day before we left Las Vegas we were able to spend the evening with the Scow's. We LOVE the Scow's- and if I'm being honest, we miss them just as much as we miss our family!:)

Ashlee and Megan were inseparable from 2-6 (when we moved to AR) and Jenny (Megan's mom) and I were just as inseparable!

Our kids are now old enough to leave them, so Rich Jenny Darrell and I went to Cheesecake Factory.

 Ashlee, Megan, and Lexi

 Emily and Carly (Carly is six months OLDER then Emily, Em is a little taller then her though.)

 Sweet friends!

 Baylee and Anna. We didn't realize how sick Baylee was when we went over- she basically slept for 18 hours. I loved Anna's make shift potty!:)

Ben wouldn't let me get pictures with him, but I snuck this one. We didn't get one with Will and baby Nate.

 

When it was time to come back home, we were ready to get back to routine, but we sure miss all our family and friends. We've been blessed to come from great families, and blessed to have lived in some amazing Wards to make so many great friends!

8 Is Great- Carly's Baptism

Carly was able to be baptized while we were in Las Vegas. We were so happy that so many of our family members could make it. Carly was definitely a little nervous, I think every child is- but she was also incredibly excited.

She asked her Grandma's to speak, Grandma Wiser on Baptism and Grandma Taylor on the Holy Ghost. She also asked a few of her older cousins to share their testimony on baptism. The spirit was very strong and we were so happy that Carly made the choice to be baptized.

 

Carly and her friend Ellie. Ellie and her family just moved from Las Vegas to Bentonville and they also went to LV for Christmas. We were so happy to have a Bentonville friend at her baptism!

 

Ben and Audrey hosted a luncheon for the family. They kids ran and played while the adults chatted- we love being able to spend time with both sides of the family!

It was a very special day for a very special girl. We love you Carly Savannah and are so happy with the choices and decisions you have made!



Chrsitmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Las Vegas..

 Because we were flying to Las Vegas December 24, we celebrated out Christmas Eve on the 23. Our new traditional dinner is finger foods, no one complains! Each year since we moved here we have hosted Christmas dinner with friends, an we decided to share our Christmas Eve with friends since we would miss it this year.

After everyone left we continued with our traditions and read from the scriptures and shared our testimonies. The girls then were able to unwrap their pajamas and books they get each year. Everyone was excited with what they were given, although it took Lexi a little while to realize why she was given used books. She has been asking to read the Twilight books for years- seriously years! She has seen the movies with me skipping a few scenes, but I didn't feel the books were something she needed to read, because there was way to much detail in some of the scenes in the 3 and 4th book. I bought her used books and scribbled out the parts I didn't feel were appropriate for a 12 year old. I also tore out many pages as well- because she doesn't need to read about the Honeymoon. She was really excited and read them very quickly.

 Good morning girls!

 Carly was so excited to get the American Girl doll McKenna. Here she is with her stash of gifts behind her.

 Lexi and her gifts.

 Ashlee and her gifts.

Baylee and her gifts.

 

We opened presents, ate breakfast, opened more presents, and then had the tree undecorated and out on the curb by 10:00 am. We love having a real tree but we couldn't leave it sitting for the 10 days we'd be gone. Darrell took the girls to see a movie while I finished packing and cleaning.

When it was finally time to leave for the airport we were all very excited! While waiting in line we noticed a news crew there. They asked if they could interview us, the kids thought that was awesome! We never were able to watch ourselves on TV, but were told my many friends that they saw us.

We stayed with Grandma Taylor and aunt Robyn, and we were able to share their Christmas morning. Our girls each had one more gift to open as well.

 Later that day we spent time and dinner with Grandma Wiser. It was a busy but fun day!

 

We decided we wanted to take the kids on the Strip. They're old enough to walk and deal with crowds and they kept hearing about it but didn't really know what it was. We went with lots of cousins and started at the Bellagio. The water show wasn't going to start for a while so we decided to walk to the M&M factory. B the time we got there and watched the movie/show everyone was tired and ready to get out of the crowds of people. My girls told me they don't want to go on the Strip again- they were grossed out by many of the people and signs they saw, and we are now officially small town type people so the crowds of people was a big turn off to them as well.

It was fun to spend the day with cousins. We miss all of them so much. Carly was 2 when we moved to Arkansas and Baylee was born in Arkansas so they haven't grown up with cousins and Aunts and Uncles close. I love to watch my older girls reconnect with their cousins and watch my younger girls get to know them. Baylee is still very confused at why I have so many brothers and sisters- too many aunts and uncles to remember!

 



Carly's Spa Birthday Party

 Each of the girls got matching pajamas and ran to change to be ready for the spa.

 Facials made out of yogurt, honey, and oatmeal- with cucumbers.

 My friend came and polished their toes with Hello Kitty.

 Baylee chose pink and purple toes since she had Lala Loopsy pajamas.

 The girls were divided in groups of 4 to get their facials, toes polished, and fingers polished.

 Lexi and Ashlee asked a couple friends to help them at the party. They were a HUGE help!

Carly had so much fun and was very spoiled by all her friends and family.

We love you Carly!!

Lexi's Winter Band Concert

Lexi has done really well playing the clarinet, but has decided this will be her last year playing. She has done really well playing it but enjoys choir and piano more and will focus more on those.