Airplanes

Today we got to go to a local airport and see an ultralight plane up close. It was a blast. Brother Bardin (a friend from church) brought his plane for the Cub Scouts to come and see it. Siblings were invited to attend, so we packed up the crew and headed to McClellan. The kids got to sit in the plane. They all thought it was pretty cool. The kids got to watch Bro. Bardin take-off and then he flew by and touched down then went up again. It was cool because as he was leaving to return to Lodi, where he is a flight instructor, to return his plane, he waved with the plane at us. The kids, and parents, all thought that was pretty neat. Thanks Bro. Bardin for showing us your plane!

P.S. Thanks

To all out here who read my blog (or notes on Facebook) and then leave comments, Thanks! Your words of encouragement and love are such a blessing for me. Keep the comments coming.

Easter with the Morgans

I know these posts are out of order, but I want to get them on here.

We had a great time last Friday night at my parents' house. We went for dinner with the family that lives nearby and then had an egg hunt for the kids. Th

e kids loved the candy and dinner was fantastic!! It was raining outside so we had to hold the hunt inside and we used the entire downstairs. I am pretty sure they found all the candy - with 17 kids looking I don't think they could have missed one!!!

After the egg hunt the kids nestled in with Grandma and Grandpa to watch "The Princess and The Frog." I sat on the stairs and got this picture -

I think I was able to get everyone except Abram. He's only 15 months and kept wondering in and out of the movie. We are also missing Natahlie, Skylar and Morgan - they all live out of state and weren't able to make it - we missed you guys!!

It was a great night. Thanks Dad and Nancy for hosting!!

Locks of Love

For a year Vilate and I have had a battle over her hair. It is long and gorgeous - if she would just brush it!! She hates spending the time on it and refuses to wear it in a ponytail, braid or anything that might look even slightly girlie. So, after spending over 30 minutes trying to brush it out on a Sunday morning, I laid down the law and told her she was getting it cut and donating it because I was done dealing with it. She was mad at first and cried, but then came around - especially when I told her that I would take her out after to get an ice cream cone!

So, here is her haircut/photo shoot:

Before:

During (please notice the smile):

Here's the after (She wanted to hold her hair in the picture):

Enjoying the spoils! Oh it was so hard to sit there and not eat any ice cream - especially when I had to walk up there with Vilate to pick out her's and I saw the Chocolate with Peanut Butter!! But I exercised total self-restraint and didn't have any!! Yay me!!

I think that she looks great. I think overall she likes it. She has no problem brushing it and I am so glad that I don't have to spend so much time and hurt her to brush her hair out.

Oops, I forgot!

I promised someone that I would blog what happened to us. The week before we were headed to Disneyland we were out at Deseret Industries - actually we were meeting with a counselor at LDS Family Services, in the same parking lot, with whom we were discussing how to tell the children the severity of my cancer. After our session, at about 6:15pm we headed out to the car in the rain and found our front window broken. Some really lame people (or as Gloria and Nephi refer to them: the bad guys) broke into our car and stole our DVD player, radio faceplate, some CDs and the remotes to both the radio and DVD player. And it was RAINING!!!!! David and the LDS Family Services security went out in the rain and cleaned up the glass and taped up the window with packing tape until we could get it replaced the next morning.

Talk about lame timing!! The next morning David took the car and got the window repaired and then I started looking on Ebay to replace the faceplate - we were leaving for Disneyland in just over a week - can you imagine a ride in the car with 6 kids and no radio?!?!? I'm sure many people have done it - I know as a kid we did things like that - but it just sounded like a nightmare to me!! I also researched DVD players online and ended up at Best Buy and got a really nice new one.

So, what did we learn from this experience? Don't leave things out in plain sight, remove the faceplate EVERYTIME you exit the vehicle - besides isn't that why we bought that model?, and that what was taken are all just things that can be replaced. We were grateful that they didn't take the whole car - man that would've been a nightmare! I am grateful we were in a safe place and that the people there were so helpful.

Spring Break & Emotions

We have had a pretty low-key Spring Break. We went to 4 baseball games and just hung out here at home. I was pretty wiped out from last week's chemo. This time they up-ed my dose to 70% (the last two rounds I had a 50% dose). It has been a difficult one.

The worst was Sunday when my body hurt to touch. Slowly over the past week things have been improving. But I must admit this has probably been the hardest week of this whole experience. A few weeks ago we informed the kids of how serious my cancer is. We had shielded them prior to that. I could tell that they were concerned and the doctor said that we should prepare them for anything that might happen. He suggested that with my blood levels being so low, I could go in to the hospital for a fever or infection and not make it out. He said that most cancer patients die from a fever or infection, not the cancer itself. So, we told the kids. Man that was a hard few weeks. The first conversation was about resurrection and that Jesus Christ was resurrected and that we will be also one day.

The next week at Family Home Evening we asked what they knew about my cancer and Hyrum said, "All I know is that Mom has cancer, but she will be fine." We decided in that moment to jump on that. We told Hyrum and all the other kids that that was true, but not in the way they were thinking. We proceeded to tell them a little more about my cancer, that it was a bad one that might take my life sooner than we would like. We told them about me getting sick and that that could take my life sooner that we would like. There were a lot of tears, but amid those tears David and I were able to bear our testimonies and share the love of the Lord with these wonderful children. We were able to tell them that no matter what happens Heavenly Father knows what is happening and that He will take care of all of us. We, of course, told the kids to ask any questions that they had or will have in the future - that we would love to talk with them and help them.

I m so grateful for this precious children that were sent to my home. This past week has been emotionally difficult for me - I don't want to leave these children or my husband! I am their mother and I want to continue in that role until I'm around 80 or so - even longer if I can. My doctor has prescribed a new diet and I started last Monday with no sugar or dairy in my diet. I also do not eat red meat (including pork). I can have very limited chicken (like maybe once a week) and I am allowed fish daily. I am a HUGE fan of dark chocolate and ice cream. What a major adjustment this has been for me. I am doing well and exercising extreme self-control, especially as today is Easter and the kids got buckets full (literally) of candy! I also have to exercise daily, so we have invested in an exercise bike - gotta love Craigslist!!

I have had the "it's not fair" thoughts and feelings - that is until today. Last night it all kind of came out at poor Dave. I just lost it and couldn't stop crying. He held me for hours and asked me to not give up hope, but to exercise my faith - he said I had a lot of faith. Today was the second day of General Conference (GC is a satellite broadcast from Salt Lake - our church headquarters. During GC the leaders of our church: the prophet, apostles and other leaders - known as General Authorities, speak to us and teach us what we should be doing, where our focus should be.) It was a great day where I got to listen to many General Authorities bear their testimonies of the Savior. It reminded me of my testimony and buoyed up my faith and encouraged my hope. I have a renewed sense of who I am - a daughter of a loving Heavenly Father who wants nothing more than my success. Whether my success be here on this earth or on the "other side" I know that He will care for my family through whatever may come.

So there you go, I am caught up, I think! I love the Lord. I love my family. I love my friends. I am a blessed lady who couldn't ask for much more. Thank you for including me, and my family, in your prayers. We feel the power that comes from those prayers and truly appreciate your love. May you all have a happy Easter and enjoy the times that you have with your loved ones - I know I will!!

Still playin' catch-up

This past month has been filled with lots of stuff! We got a new couch - I love it. We set leprechaun traps and when the leprechauns came they left green snickerdoodles and green stamps on the kids faces and arms. It was a great "leprechaun's day" at our house. That week the girls were in a school play. It was a play that Faith was in over the summer last year called "Multiplication Nation." Vilate was type cast as a lackey that got into a fight - more than one parent commented that it was a part right up her alley!! On 2 of the 4 nights Faith played "Nova," the lovely assistant at the circus and as such had to sing a pretty difficult solo. The other 2 nights she played smaller parts and Vilate had other parts as well. It was a great play - really fun to watch, but I am super glad it's over as they were practicing between 3 and 6 days a week for the past 2 months!

The Saturday after the play performances was Opening Day at the baseball fields. We love Opening Day, but it sure was a long one this year. We got there at 7:30, after dropping the little ones off at a friend's house (thanks Sarah). Started with a pancake breakfast, headed over for one team's pictures then waited for the opening ceremony to begin. I got a great seat in the front and was able to see all the teams parade in and then hear Helaman say the Little League Pledge for the entire league. It was great. He memorized it and said it with feeling! After opening ceremonies we went on to the other team's picture and then off the first game. We picked up the little kids to go with us to the final game of the day and we were FINALLY done around 5:15. Long, but awesome day at the park. I love watching the kids play baseball!!!

Following that weekend I had another round of chemo and just spent the week going to games. We have up to 4 games per week and the older kids play 2 hour games while the younger ones play 1 hour games. It gets a little busy, but this is the kind of busy that I like.