McKenna, Sisters, Mom, Grandma and Papa go to the Pumpkin Patch

A fun day with McKenna's preschool class at the Pumpkin Patch


The first thing we learned was what the veggies were, and then we got to pick them



A fun ride with Hailee in the lady bug barrels.!



Nena's little friends in preschool



I love the look on McKenna's face. "The animals will do WHAT??"



Grandpa, Mommy, and Hailee finding their little pumpkins in the patch



Nena found two perfect pumpkins. A great day.!

Pictures are Worth a Thousands Words.....

They say that pictures are worth a thousand words, so that will save me a LOT of typing. I've been a very bad blogger. So over the next few days I will just post recent (and maybe not so recent...) pictures, and write captions underneath. Then maybe, just maybe, I might try to be a better blogger. No promises though....

The "C" word......

When my kids were little, I told them they couldn’t say the word “hate”- they had to use the word “dislike”. Well, let me tell you…I HATE the word cancer. That word is life changing.
Within 24 hours we found out that my mom has breast cancer (ductal carcinoma) and my oldest daughter Janelle has thyroid cancer. If you look at my March 11 and March 22 blog post, that will catch you up to speed about Janelle. For months we thought she didn’t have cancer. So Janelle not wanting to have surgery, put it off. She had her reasons for not wanting to do it, and that was her personal decision. Recently Joel and Janelle talked about going back to Utah so Joel could go to school. Jim and I had been putting our little two cents in here and there about how we felt about having it removed since it was discovered. After all, her endocrinologist told her she wouldn’t know for sure if there was cancer in there unless it was removed. Since they probably wouldn’t have insurance while he was in school, she decided to go ahead and have it removed. Last Tuesday (October 6) she took the plunge. While on the operating table, the piece of thyroid (right side) and nodules were sent to the pathologist to look at it. If cancer was found they would go ahead and remove the entire thyroid. No cancer was found-in the nodules- the only thing that was looked at by the pathologist. (Not sure why) The first thing Janelle said to me when she came out of anesthesia was “See, I didn’t need this surgery”. I was still relieved it was done.
Now, let’s move to my mom. My mom had found a lump on her breast and got right in for a mammogram. She’s always been good about getting her yearly mammograms because she’s already had three biopsies. (which had all turned out negative) This time they took additional views plus an ultrasound. Having worked in an X-ray department for 6 years I know when the radiologist comes in and says that the mammogram and ultrasound doesn’t look good-he/she’s pretty positive that it’s cancer. But hey-Janelle got a clean bill of health, so we were hoping the goodness would spread. The office said they would know in 3-5 business days. Two days later they called with the news. Ductal carcinoma. Shocking. Unexpected. She meets with the surgeon tomorrow, so a surgery date will be set. Hopefully soon.
That was Thursday night. Friday morning Janelle was feeling good enough to take her two older girls (we had Jerricka) to the mall and have a little fun. She got a call from the surgeons office asking her to come in right away. That’s never good. She had a strong feeling what they were going to tell her. She called us. We’ve now gone from relief-to sadness about my mom-to overwhelmed about our family situation. They confirmed what she thought. Cancer. It wasn’t in the nodules that they had done the biopsy on, it was actually in the thyroid. Back to the O.R. Yesterday they removed her entire thyroid. She was able to go home last night, but this time the surgery was a little more difficult. The pain is more intense, and I think just the sheer knowledge of what’s to come doesn’t help. She’s on Tums daily for a week since her calcium was down. It’s easier to google the word thyroid so you can see what it’s functions are, then for me (who really doesn’t know exactly myself) what it’s functions are. I just know you really need one, but you can live without one-on medication.
So her future now is - she has a follow up appointment with the surgeon in two weeks to go over the new pathology report on this past surgery. Then an appointment with her endocrinologist to discuss treatment, (she’ll most likely have radiation and won’t be able to see her family for a week) diet (she’s on a low iodine diet right now), a PET scan, and what she can expect in the future. She’s been told she can expect to feel basically like crap the next few months until the treatment is over, and the medications have been regulated.
People say “thyroid cancer, it’s one of the most treatable cancers there is”. It’s true. As the person who has it, it’s still the “C” word. As a mom, it’s totally devastating to hear that your child-no matter the age- has it. I completely understand when parents say “I would rather go through it myself than see my child suffer”. I would do it in a heartbeat.
I’ve done my bawling, I’ve felt sorry for myself (even though it’s not about me.!), and I’m ready to do whatever it is my mom and daughter need me to do. Thank you SO much for the prayers, emails, love and concern. We’ll keep you updated.! xoxo xoxo

Women's Conference

What's more fun than hanging out with a bunch of women at BYU? Hanging out with a bunch of women, staying up late in a dorm room, and EATING.! Four of us flew up to Utah at the end of April and had three days of solid fun getting spiritually fed (yes, we fit that in too) and just getting away from it all. We went to uplifting classes, ate, walked miles on end, ate, shopped at Robert's Craft, ate, cut Amy's hair in our Jack and Jill dorm bathroom, ate, stayed up late, ate, yelled at annoying chirping birds at 4:30am, ate....well...you get the idea.
Since we left on Jim's birthday, I dragged him with me. He got to experience the bachelor life with Landon for a few days. We then headed down to Nephi and stayed with Kathy and Steve until the following Tuesday. All in all...a SUPER trip.!


The group...Me, Kim, Lisa's sister (she lives in Utah and met us up there) Lisa, and Amy

I shouldn't be trusted with scissors and hair..ask Landon

I didn't trust myself! So I handed the scissors off to Kim. We did a pretty good job.!

These two pictures should give you an idea of what our night was like at Brick Oven...



Our poor waiter who was a good sport with a smile on his face. He had the loudest, craziest table in the jam packed restaurant. No worries, he got a good tip.!

We behaved ourselves long enough to take a 'normal' picture

Landon with his official BSA Eagle Scout card


BYE BYE Utah.! Until next year.....

Easter (Say what?? How long ago was that??)

I know, I know. Easter was three months ago and we're now moving on to the brutal summer. But a blog is also a journal, so I'll remember what happened, whether it was three months ago, or yesterday. Either way, it'll be forgotten if I don't write it down.
All of the kids came and spent the night. Our church starts at the bumcrack of dawn (IE: 8:00 am) so we were all up very early and out the door. The kids all looked adorable in their matching yellow dresses. After church we came home and ate, colored eggs, had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard, and while we were outside the Easter Bunny made a visit inside. My favorite part was coloring eggs. I've always loved to color eggs, and it's fun to watch the grandkids now do their own. After the excitement, we all settled down to a spiritual Easter story. What a funfilled weekend.

West Family

Bentley Family

Maxwell Family

The babies

The hunt is on!


Bags are looking pretty full, time to go in and see what surprises the Easter Bunny has brought

Looks like Ainsley approves!

You could give Jer a box of rocks and she'd be content

Another satisfied customer...

Everyone is happy...it was a good day

As promised, a more uplifting, fun blog post. We went to California in mid March to see Nana, and to help ease mom's daily travels to work-home-hospital-etc. It was a good trip (hard to see Nana as she was), and I'm glad we went. We were able to get together with my brother and his girlfriend Leah. They are going to make us an aunt and uncle sometime in early July. That blog post to come at a later time....
On our way home we met Janelle, Joel and the girls at Janelle's endocrinologist appointment. And as promised, definitely an uplifting, happy moment. Our daughter is cancer FREE.! That was a HUGE relief for all of us, especially Janelle. After her appointment, we all went out for a celebratory dinner-Carls Jr. There were only a few other people there, besides ourselves, so the girls pretty much had free reign of the place-as you can see by the pictures. It was a happy, freeing time.
And to not leave granddaughter #3 out...two cute pictures of her below.


Mom, Dad, Stevie, Leah, Jim and I at dinner


McKenna and Hailee running the place....


Jerricka is getting to be a big girl


Ainsley before the lemon....


Ainsley after the lemon...gotta love that face

If Our Plate Wasn't Full, We'd Be Hungry.!

Hello Everyone.!
It's been a while since I've updated our blog, and even though this is just all 'informational', I promise the next one will be much lighter, and include pictures.!
Janelle had her biopsy yesterday and for the most part, it went well. They were only able to get to the larger mass on her neck. They took three separate samples from that mass. Her doctor said they contained fluid and tissue, which she (her doctor) didn't like the looks of. She has a return appointment next Friday (the 20th) for the results. We'll keep you posted.
On a lighter, and much fun note, Janelle and Darci are meeting up with a lot of their friends in Las Vegas this weekend. They are both really excited for the trip, especially since there won't be any kids with them.! Yep, Jim and I will have Hailee and Jerricka on Friday and Saturday, then Joel and McKenna will join us later Saturday and spend the night that night, and go to church with us on Sunday. It should be an exciting weekend for everyone
On Sunday March 1st, I got a call at about midnight letting me know that my sweet 95 year old Nana, fell and broke her femur. It was a pretty bad break that required surgery. She is still in the hospital, but should be released to an after-care place soon. She does have pneumonia, but it does seem to be clearing up.
A few weeks ago I got a call that Landon was in the E.R. He was in dire pain, and from what it sounded like on the phone-I thought what he had was a kidney stone. The only problem is, he was in the wrong E.R. He was at Utah Valley in Provo, and our insurance covers better at Timp in Orem. Luckily they had only done a urinalysis, so I had him go to Timp, where they did a C.T. to verify that indeed it was a kidney stone (welcome to your dad's world.!) On a good note, he's doing very well at school. He loves the college life.
McKenna had an appointment at a second Pediatric Nephrologist office. She took a lot of time asking Janelle questions, and also did a UA. This time there was no protein found in her urine. This doctor practices out of Phoenix Children's Hospital. Such a sad place to be, because you know there are so many sick children, but at the same time such a child friendly place. I've never seen so much color in my life. Also so many fun things for kids to do. So as of right now, McKenna seems to be doing well. Something I did learn-even though the other kids' ultrasounds look good now, they can still develop PKD later in life, so they will continue to have ultrasounds for years to come.
I got into an accident on January 26th (Happy Birthday Landon.!). No one was hurt, except for the Golden Burrito (AKA the mini-van). The rear driver's side slider door is crunched in. The very next week, the transmission went out. It's now back at home with a new transmission and an ugly looking door.
Last, but certainly not least, is my poor mom. The hospital that Nana is in is close to my parents house, so my mom sees Nana at least twice a day. Mom has been sick with a cold, and probably in a hurry yesterday-and hadn't eaten anything for breakfast...so she goes to Nana before she goes to work and starts to feel faint, so she leaves Nana's hospital room. I can't remember where she was at, but the next thing she remembered was waking up-on the floor. She had passed out and face-planted it on the floor. At least she was at the right place.! (laughing WITH you Mom) She spent a few hours in the E.R. getting stitches in her bottom lip, a C.T. of the head, TONS of blood work (she had a heart attack a few years ago), then off to the dentist to get one of her front teeth fixed. (It was knocked back during the fall). Poor mom
There are also major changes happening with us-more to come on that later.
Sooooooo-I finally said to Jim "Can we fit anymore on our plate??" and he replied..."If we didn't have a full plate, we'd be hungry". Nice.
We're not looking for sympathy here, just a few prayers our way sure would be nice.! We know we're not the only ones with a full plate. There are many, many others-in much worse situations than ours. We keep you in our prayers too.
On a much more FUN note, I have started a job.! It won't last too much longer (end of April), but the pay is great, and it really is lots of fun. My friend Kim who is a dental hygienist, found out about a survey that the state of Arizona was doing. They were putting teams of three together that consisted of a dental hygienist, an R.N. (our friend Angie), and a recorder (me.!). The state's Department of Oral Health had randomly chosen 100 schools throughout Arizona and the teams were to go into elementary schools and measure, weigh, and do a scaled back dental exam on 3rd graders. There is TONS of paperwork (you'd expect anything less from the government??), and lots of travel, but we get to spend the night at fun places (OK, Lake Havasu was fun...Kingman was dirty.!), and we talk, talk, talk the entire time. We've definitely got to know each other really well.
And that's about it here. We'll keep you updated on Janelle's results next week. We love you all, and miss you lots.!
xoxo
Jim and Lisa