Sunday Dinner at Talbots

Morrie gives Holly a playful squeeze.

Holly is my first (which makes her my eldest) niece. There is just something special about that "first born." I have always adored her. She is a beautiful, talented and wonderful woman!

Becca and Aubryn love to listen to music together.

Aubryn played her violin for Becca.

Nick and Braedon love to play games. You can get a peek of Nick's braces in this shot.

Here is Carson. He is one of my most favorite little guys. He is "Mr. Sunshine." He always has a very happy, cherubic, and cheerful countenance. He radiates joy and excitement for life. Just look at that sweet face!

Sunday we drove to Gilbert to see Holly and family. I was at Becca's chorus concert Thursday night, waiting for it to begin, when Holly accidentally called my number. It was quite funny because she was actually talking to Morrie and her phone rang but said she was calling me! Anyway, we had a good laugh and she said we should get together. We had a great Sunday dinner, roast with all the trimmings and wonderful strawberry shortcake for dessert. Becca and Nick always enjoy getting together with their cousins, so we got no argument from them about driving down. It is fun to have some family near enough for occasional visits!

Lake Pleasant

A pretty lake, with a desert shoreline.

A couple of Saturdays ago, we went to Lake Pleasant with our dear friends, Sam and Trudy. Sam and Rod wanted to check out the area for an overnighter for the scouts. We enjoyed a beautiful drive. The lake is only about 40 minutes from our house, which surprised me. We traveled along a few of the roads around the lake and they picked out the perfect camping area for the boys.

Rod and Sam are checking out the map of the area for GPS headings. It is hard to get Trudy to behave for the camera, so here is a typical shot!

Good News v.s. Bad News v.s. Waiting for News

I got really good news about my biopsy - just another benign fibro adenoma. I was so relieved and thankful. However, this weekend I got some really bad news about a dear friend. I was assigned to visit teach Martine last year when our ward boundaries changed. I have grown to really love this wonderful and beautiful woman. She has been fighting cancer for many years - she had inflammatory breast cancer 10 years ago and more recently has lung cancer. In her battle, she signed up to be in a study of a new drug. In order to do so, she had to have a CAT scan. When she went to her Dr. last Friday, she was in a lot of pain and they discovered fluid in her lung. He put her in the hospital immediately so they could drain the fluid. While there, she got the results from the scan and it showed cancer in her brain. I was absolutely devastated. I went to the hospital to see her on Sunday. She was released late Sunday night, and I went to visit her on Monday. Her one hope was to be accepted for the study. When I asked her what plan B was, she replied "there is no plan B." I took some dinner to her on Tuesday and she was beaming all over - she did get accepted for the study. Our ward is having a special fast for her on Sunday. I also have a friend at work who had radiation treatment for breast cancer last year. She just had another lump removed this week, and is waiting for results. She is a little nervous, and I totally relate to that having just experienced that. They are just hoping it is some calcification. This is how I feel:

Cruel and ugly disease

A medical perplexity

Not a respecter of persons

Cannot be cured

Ever a threat and cause of fear

Robs us of life

Super Bowl Sunday

The Birthday Boy on the exercise ball.

I like to call James tall, dark, and handsome. Let me emphasize the tall - I swear he is 7 feet.

Becca really was into the game - can you tell?

We had such a great day! In addition to the super bowl, it was Rod's birthday. We had our dear friends, Sam and Trudy, over to share the day. Allen also had a friend from work, James, come over. We had so much food it was almost sinful. Supper nachos, queso, salsa, sweet corn salsa, Trudy's cream cheese tortilla roll ups, and pigs in a blanket. I had made 48 (yes, that's 4 dozen) of those little suckers and the kids ate them all in about 3 minutes. I couldn't believe it! But it was all really good food and we enjoyed everything about the day... it was so much fun. (Of course, this was ALL after church!)

Just Random Stuff

Well, yesterday I had an "incisional lumpectomy." I will not have pathology reports for a few days. the MRI indicated that it was a benign fibroadenoma, but recommended biopsy. The surgery went well and I was home by noon, minus a 1.7 mm mass in my right breast. Rod took the day off to take care of me. It was nice to have the day together, even if I was rather home bound by drugs and slept most of the time. Today I am off work and staying home also. It is nice to just convalesce. Rod was home this morning as it is his late day at work, so we ventured off to Costco for an hour. We got a membership card. We decided to switch from Sam's Club to Costo this year and see which one we like best. We were kind of ticked off that they don't accept debit cards at the snack counter, though, and had to come home for a tuna sandwich instead of a polish dog with sauerkraut. Oh well . . . During this down time I have been doing a lot of thinking about my family. I just hope they all know how important they are to me and that I let them know regularly. Sometimes we get so carried away in the small stuff that we forget what is really important. Sunday I had an experience that was very upsetting. I will try to explain. Becca has been taking guitar lessons and it has been so great for her. On Sunday, her teacher told me that he could not teach her anymore because there was another family that needed his time more. I was okay at first, and then I thought about it. I had searched for a year to find her a teacher. These guitar lessons have been so good for her, and her guitar playing is part of her identity. She has only been taking lessons since August. I love hearing her play and it is one thing I have been able to do for her that she sees as positive. (You know, she is 13 and mothers are embarrassing and intrusive and can't do ANYTHING right at that age.) And then I thought "how could the needs of any other family be more important than the needs of my own" - especially with what I have been through with Becca the past few years? I started crying because I was so upset. We were having company for dinner, so I was in the kitchen cooking and crying and feeling very hurt for most of the afternoon. I don't want to make more of this situation than it is, but my feelings were very real that day, and I took it very personally. I will let some time pass and try to find her a new teacher. I will not let this affect my feelings for her teacher, either. He is a really great guy and very busy with his business. I think it would have been easier for me if that had been the reason rather than someone else was more important that Becca. There is no one more important to me than her and my other children, my grandchildren, and my husband. I would fight to the death for all of them. Also on Sunday, I taught Relief Society. The lesson was taken from Elder Bednar's talk from October 2006 Conference entitled "Nothing Shall Offend Them." So of course, I had a very hard time because I was letting myself be offended by the incident earlier in the day. (However, I did not get offended until after I gave my lesson!) It is a choice we have - and I had tried so hard not to be hurt, but the more I thought about it, the more I did hurt. Perhaps I need to make this a matter of prayer and allow the Savior to heal my hurt before it gets out of hand. I really don't want to waller in it!