Thankful...

   Yes, I know Thanksgiving 2010 has passed, and that I'm six months (yikes!) behind on my blog, but I just have to thank God today.  When I started on my brain tumor journey, I promised Him that if I survived, I would give all the glory to Him, and I need to keep my promise.
   Yesterday was my two year check up at Swedish.  First I had an echocardiogram and saw Dr. Dewhurst.  What a kind man he is, and he had only good news for us.  My heart continues to function at low-normal, and I don't need another echo for two years.  I just need to go see him next year, which is a pleasure!
   Next was my MRI and visit with our angel, Dr. Sarah Jost.  Again, it was all good.  No sign of any regrowth of the tumor.  Have I mentioned we love Dr. Sarah?  She is the rare neurosurgeon who has both extreme surgical skill and genuine compassion and caring.  She loves to hear about our family, see pictures of the grandbabies, and she even brought up the crystal angel I gave her for her Christmas tree.  She said she still has the note I wrote her with the angel, and she can't wait to hang it on her tree.  She always gives me a hug when we leave.  I am so thankful God sent us to her!  She wasn't the surgeon we wanted, but God knew she was the one we needed, and as soon as we met her, we knew He was right.

The people I love most! August 2010

   So today I am thankful for my health and my life.  I can truly say that I LOVE my life.  I am so blessed to have a husband I love more with each passing year, children I love and am so proud of, and the cutest grandsons there could ever be.  I still have my parents to love and support me, as well as my Father in Heaven, who tenderly cares for my every need.  And I am SO thankful.....

June

   The big event in June was Jenna's graduation!  She got to walk with her class at the White River Amphitheater on June 8th, although she will go back for two more years to do the Transition Program.
We had a party for her on June 12th, and Megan came home with Casey.  We had a great BBQ and Open House!

On June 17th, we took the RV and headed to Lake Chelan, to join Kirk's mom and Julius, Kris and Donie, Kevin and Tonya and their friends for the weekend.  All our kids then joined us, with Matt and Megan and their families staying in a condo, and Shauna and her family in a tent on our site.  Our first camping trip with ALL the kids and grandkids!  And we got to celebrate our birthdays and Father's Day there.  Fun!

Keegan

Caleb and Keegan

Boy, did we have to bring a lot of baby equipment!  Highchairs, pack-n-plays, toys, baby food, you-name-it, we took it!  Our site looked like a daycare, lol. 

On Sunday, Father's Day, the girls cooked a wonderful breakfast at the condo for the fathers, with fresh fruit, French Toast and donuts, sausage and juice.  What a treat for Kirk to not be the cook! Then they all went swimming in the condo pool, except for Matt, who had a headache (maybe from the chaos?) and me, the photographer.

Casey had so much fun, that he fell asleep.

Keegan loved the water right away, and had a great time in his crabby float!

Cooper was not fond of the water at first, but once he got used to it, he was a wild child and had a ball!

Caleb was unsure at first, too, but then had a great time!

Our crazy clan on Father's Day! (minus Jenna and Dustin, who were in the hot tub by then!)

Where to Start? May

   So far behind again!  Dang, why do I do that?!  So I am gonna have to just hit the highlights of the last FOUR months.  Where does the time go?
   May 13 through 16th, Kirk and I got to go on the Sysco trip to Las Vegas, yay!  We love those fun Sysco trips, esecially since they are FREE!  We got to stay at the gorgeous Bellagio, and we thoroughly enjoyed the sunshine at the pool and seeing the sights, as well as the fun nights.

For Memorial Day weekend, we took our fifth wheel and headed to Tri-Cities to see Megan and Ryan's new house, and our darling grandson, of course!  We hiked Badger Mountain together, swam and just enjoyed spending some time together.  Dustin and I stayed at the house with Casey one night, so Megan and Ryan could go celebrate their second wedding anniversary.  Their house is wonderful and so is Casey!

Prom Night

   Jenna's Senior Prom was last Saturday night, April 24, 2010.  The boys went out of town fishing, so Jenna and I had a girls' day, starting with me giving her a pedicure (not an easy task when you're working with a moving target!).  At noon she had a hair appointment, then we rushed to a manicure appointment.  When we got home, Kelly came over with her bags of makeup and gave her a great makeover.  After dinner, we helped her into her dress and jewelry, and she looked beautiful!  I just got a new Canon Rebel XSi digital camera, so it was time for me to try it out! 

I was very pleased with how well the pictures turned out, and so was Jenna.  She liked them so much that she wants to pick one to send out with her graduation announcements, instead of the senior pictures she had taken last spring.  I think she felt like a princess!  She had a fun time at the prom, and will also be going to the Companionship Prom tomorrow night, but this time with a little less fanfare (no hair appt or professional manicure).

The Grandbunnies!

Are those some cute little bunnies?  Yes, indeed!  That's Keegan, Casey and Caleb, my new crop of grandbunnies!  Megan brought Casey over the mountains and through the snow (yes, snow!) to Gramma's house to spend his First Easter with his cousins.  And they were quite interested in him this time!

It is so cute to see the babies getting so curious about each other!

We had a great weekend, that included an Easter Egg Hunt at our neighbor Paul's house (the 5 acres behind us), 

and one in our front yard, just for Cooper.

  The only photos I got of Cooper are action shots because, like a typical two, he is always in action!  He would not pose with the other cousins, so we couldn't get a shot of all four.  He did have a great time at both egg hunts, and got lots of eggs filled with goodies.  In fact, he ate so much candy, he then threw it all up!  TMI?  But it is one of those memories we will want to laugh about someday.  Actually, we laughed about it this year!  That's what I love about our family.  We love to laugh!  We seem to be able to find humor in just about any situation, and it's great!  We played a game that Shauna and Noah brought over on Friday night and we all laughed until we were in tears.  It was so much fun! 

  On Saturday night, after all the egg hunting, we had a fiesta!  Dad made his famous chicken enchiladas (Yummo!) and carne asada and guacamole.  Delicious!

    On Sunday morning, Kirk, Jenna and I went to church, then joined the rest of the family at the Quarter Chute for brunch.  There were some cute little bunnies there!

My Little Irish Sweethearts

   Yes, they are about as cute as they come!  Caleb is definitely a McCutie!  I was lucky enough to get to have him all day on his First St. Patrick's Day!

And the next day I had this little cutie!  Keegan Jameson is quite an Irish name!  I had Cooper too, but he is not big on photos now that he is two.  And he is often VERY two these days!

Valentine's Day!

I know I am very slow to post this, but better late than never, right? On this, the Babies' First Valentine's Day, I didn't get to see Casey (although his mom texted me a sweet picture of him in a red sweater vest!), but I did get to be with Caleb and Keegan, and Cooper too. We met my parents, the Heberts, and Matt, Kelly and Caleb at the Quarterchute for a Valentine's breakfast. 

The babies are always very interested in each other!

     Cooper enjoyed his presents and his strawberry waffle (yum!)

He also loved the racehorses!

He even got to pet one!

Caleb really liked the horses too.

Keegan liked sleeping in Gramma's arms (which was okay with me!)

And, of course, I also loved spending the day with my first Valentine!  These are the beautiful roses he sent me!  Am I lucky, or what?

I have got so many men in my life to love:  the best husband on earth, two wonderful sons, two great son-in-laws, and now four grandsons!  Wow, how did I get so blessed?