Every 9 weeks my dad goes in to get a CT scan to monitor/evaluate his cancer. (He was diagnosed with stage VI lung cancer almost a year ago.) He had his most recent scan just this last Friday. The results came in on Monday and it seems that the cancer is still not spreading. It's not growing and the tumor that is there seems to be slightly shrinking. I know cancer is a nasty thing, but for now it's such a miracle and blessing that he is doing so well. He cut back on the dosage awhile ago (which has lessened his side effects) and it seems to still be working! I love my dad and just can't imagine a world without him. So thank goodness for clinical studies, time and miracles!!!
{I planned a girl's getaway for some of my friends. There were 8 of us that went and spent the night at my parents house in Woodland Hills. We had so much fun. We sat in the hot tub (yes, 8 of us and we lost a bit of water over the edge because of it) and mostly just stayed up and talked. Half of us made it 'til 4 a.m. while the rest were done by 1 or 2. There is something about spending time away from spouse and kids that re-energizes you. I got home the next day and I was so excited to play with the kids and get things done. I felt like a better person having spent time away from them. I appreciated them more and had more patience. And I love having girlfriends. They relate to you and understand you and support you. **Ahhhhh** It was a win win for both Pat and I. He took the kids to his mom's house and spent the night there. I can't wait to do it again. My parents were so cute about letting us come there. They have the nicest house with such an incredible view, it feels like you're at a ski resort. So, here's to a new year and great friends. Ya Ya!}
Lukas has been wanting to do karate for months now. I finally signed him up and he's been going for several weeks now. He loves it and I can see him just glow when he's doing it. He loves his teachers and there are lots of boys his age to get all that excess energy out with. I even ran into my old missionary companion and her son is in it, too. So fun!! My only sadness is that Max is too little to sign up. He wants so much to do what Lukas does and karate is no different. Look at these cute boys...
My sister came to visit from Alaska with her 3 cute kids. They were here for 3 weeks (never long enough) and we had some quality time together. Of course, I was so busy having fun that I forgot to take pictures of what we did. I seriously love hanging out with her when she comes or talking to her on the phone when we're far apart.
Thank goodness for late nights and getting kids to sleep. We stayed up 'til 4 a.m. one night, watching a movie, coloring my hair, talking about EVERYTHING, drinking a giant mug of hot chocolate. Ahhhh, sister time!
Thanks to Pat, we got a couple of hours just to ourselves. What did we do? A pedicure, Starbucks for hot chocolate and Target!!
We went swimming one day at the Murray Rec. Center.
Even though my mom lives here, she came to stay with me for a couple of nights. Hooray!
She watched my kids while I had a Dr.'s appointment, I watched her kids while she had a hair appointment...just how sisters should be. Swapping kids and helping each other out.
My kids are still talking about how the miss "Aunt Mindy". She's the best!!
We had a late Christmas party with the whole Marshall side and exchanged gifts with each other on New Years day. It was so fun to have all the cousins together and make memories. I cherish these times. We also got together for Jaden's b-day (good party Jar and Reb) and the cousins got to have more play time together (sleep over, Jumpin' Jacks and an interesting visit to the Hare Krishna temple). Yay for the Hymas family for coming all the way from Alaska to help us make these memories!
This will be the second annual MenLanSon New Year we have celebrated! {Long story short, we met in our first married student ward...the Mendoza's, Lantz's and Nelsons}. We love our friends!!! Thanks Steve and Julie for hosting. We had yummy food, good company and felt so blessed to ring in the new year with great friends. Our get-togethers always consist of catching up, eating food, playing with our kids, and some kind of competition between the guys to throw the ball in the cup or dive through the ring or catch the ball from far away. Well, this was no different. Clayton brought a torture game that actually shocked you if you lost and a cup stacking game that kept the boys up 'til about 3 a.m. Not to mention a little ceiling leak thanks to the boys (little ones) flushing the toilet and it overflowing! SORRY Steve!!! We had so much fun. Happy 2010!
Every 9 weeks my dad goes in to get a CT scan to monitor/evaluate his cancer. (He was diagnosed with stage VI lung cancer almost a year ago.) He had his most recent scan just this last Friday. The results came in on Monday and it seems that the cancer is still not spreading. It's not growing and the tumor that is there seems to be slightly shrinking. I know cancer is a nasty thing, but for now it's such a miracle and blessing that he is doing so well. He cut back on the dosage awhile ago (which has lessened his side effects) and it seems to still be working! I love my dad and just can't imagine a world without him. So thank goodness for clinical studies, time and miracles!!!
