Another one done

On Friday I finished my 4th round of chemotherapy. Today is what is commonly known around our house as a "crash day." Basically I just sit on the couch or sleep all day. Sounds fun, huh? It is for about the first 30 minutes and then I have had enough. Thankfully David is awesome on my crash days and I just come and go from the living room as I can.

Guess I should explain a little about crash day. While I am getting the chemo drugs the doctors give me steroids. They give me energy and help me keep up with life. On day 5 of each round of chemo (today) the steroids are stopped and I crash. I get really weak and tired. Standing in the shower, kitchen or even walking down the hall require all my energy. To make dinner I sit on the kitchen chairs, I have a stool in the shower, and I sit down to rest A LOT.

My point in sharing is for journaling - not for sympathy. While there are many yucky things about this cancer, it has made me stop and appreciate the little things. I cuddle with my kids more than I did before. I talk to them more. I am not constantly on the go. It is nice to slow down and take a deep breath and enjoy life. Life seems to constantly being moving and I am glad that I have been forced to take it slower -- not necessarily the way that I have been forced, but I am grateful for the lesson, nonetheless.

This past week has been slow, not much to report. Next week we are pretty busy with back to school stuff. The kids start school in a week. I can't believe that summer is almost over. I know they have mixed feelings, and so do I. Sending them to another year of school means that they are another year older. Faith is starting 5th grade, Hyrum is starting 4th grade, Vilate is starting 2nd grade and my Helaman is starting Kindergarten. CRAZY!!! They are all excited to see their friends and meet their teachers - we won't know who they have until Wednesday.

So, there you have it. We are just hanging in there and enjoying this last week of summer fun. Hope you are all enjoying your end of summer. Thank you all for your thoughts, prayers, love and generosity. We truly are blessed!

Dillon's Beach

My radiology oncologist gave me an day off of radiation on Friday - so we got to head to the beach house in Dillon's Beach a day early. We got there around dinner time and right after we ate, Grandpa took the kids down to the beach to walk around. We spent the next 2 days on the beach. It was really fun.

Here's my Nephi having a blast with his wheelbarrow in the sand. It was a little chilly on the beach - but Saturday was much better than Friday.

Here's Gloria making sand angels. She loved just playing in the sand and really would have been okay without any water! It was too cold for her - but she did brave the elements on Saturday and went all the way in the ocean. She immediately came to me and said, "I'm all done. Where are my dry clothes." They were at the beach house and she was more than willing to be done for the day if it meant warm, dry clothes!

The kids had a great time jumping the surf. They were trying to body surf, but it was more like scooting. They had a blast and right after this picture I took Nephi with me and Gloria back to the house and the kids had a great time in the water with their Dad. It was a great trip!!

Uncle Jarrod and Aunt Jennifer brought their fire pit (an drum that they pulled out of their old washing machine) and we roasted marshmallows and ate s'mores. The kids LOVED it. It was the best way to spend our last evening there.

The best part for me was just being together. We had almost everyone in the family there. 19 kids, 11 years old down to 6 months old and 10 adults made for a full house. But we missed having Dan, Traci and their newest little one Morgan who is only a little over a month old. I'm sure we could have found somewhere for them to fit!

I really enjoyed staying up late (much too late) and playing cards with the adults. We had a good time and it was nice to visit with everyone. It was a great vacation!!

**If you want to see more pictures, look on Facebook**

A busy week

I am trying to catch up the blog from the last week or so. We have been busy! We started last week by deciding to move. Wow!! Big decision!! We are really excited and I must say that I am a little overwhelmed by the timeline that we have...but I am sure that it will all work out! We took the kids swimming last week at my parents and we also got to go to the zoo. My little sister came into town for the week and we had a great time at the zoo, seeing all the sleeping animals! Why is it that they are never awake when I am there? I need to get there earlier I guess! Oh well, the kids had fun and we even got a great family picture!I would say that for the picture alone, the trip to the zoo was more than worth it!!