Halloween Party

Before I get into the Halloween Party, I wanted to post pictures of our yard. I really like Halloween and love decorating the yard. I was a bit slow getting decorations out considering everything that has been going on lately. We did another cemetery this year. The front yard is perfect for a cemetery. Here it is:Last night we had a family Halloween Party. Linda and Dave had gone to St. George Friday nigh to pack up Shelley and the kids since they are moving into their basement. They ended up getting back Saturday night at like 7 pm. The Halloween party started at 6 pm... so they were a bit late but everyone else was as well.

I ended up going to Linda's house in the early afternoon so we could get things setup. We had a fun little ingredient search with different activities for the kids. It turned out good. We also had lots of Yummy food like Creamy Potato Soup, 7 layer Dip, Cheese ball, Cake and Cookies. The cake was for Jenny. We did a little birthday deal for her since here birthday was on Wednesday (I think).

It was rather chaotic. We had 17 kids there running around. It was fun to see every ones costumes. I went as a witch this year. I also had made a cow costume for Max and two witch costumes for Molly and Mimi. I think the party went pretty well. I ended up disassembling my whole cemetery scene in my front yard and hauling it to Linda's for one of the activities... but it was fun.

Anyways here are some pictures from the party. The group photo we took and text to my mom so she could see everyone in their costumes.

Lizzy went as a ghost. Mimi is a witch. She has a matching cape like Molly's.
I couldn't get a good picture of Max's cow costume. I was really proud of it though. I made it for Molly but it ended up being too small... so it ended up on Max.


We also took Saleen and Dallas. I didn't end up getting a picture of Dallas in his costume.

Today I spent most of the morning out raking the front yard. We always end up with so many leaves its crazy! As much as I hate raking... I still wouldn't give up the trees. I love having the trees that we do. It makes our house feel more secluded and shadier in the summer.

Update on my mom: she is doing really well. I guess her white blood count is finally normal. I am glad to know we are no longer dealing with an infection. It will be nice when she is fully healed. My grandma just got there today so that's good. I think it will help to have her there.

Another Surgery

It has been awhile since I last posted. I haven't been so good at it lately. Life has been crazy. It is crazy how life can be so great and so normal one minute and then one little thing can just turn your world upside down... or your world can come crashing down on you.

My mom had another surgery on Tuesday night. Her white blood count was back up and there was more fluid. The Dr went in and cleaned her out. As he was getting ready to close he found where bile was leaking out. He fixed that. We are hoping that was where all the fluid was coming from and that she wont have that problem anymore.

She ended up being in ICU for a few days. That was scary. She is doing better now and is in a normal room. I called and talked to her tonight. It made me cry. She doesn't sound good. They pump her full of tons of fluids and it makes her have a hard time breathing. It is hard talking to her on the phone because she has to catch her breath after every word she says. It makes me sad hearing her like that. I guess they also had a problem with a PICC line they had in her neck and now her neck is all swollen.

It is hard to be back at square one. Now she has to heal from yet another surgery. She is doing well in the recovery but she still has so far to go. She was in the hospital for two weeks after the first surgery so she will be in there for awhile yet. I feel bad because I know she hates it there. Its just hard.

Tomorrow we are doing a family Halloween party. It will be good to get together and just enjoy each other and be with family. I think it will help take our minds off of things. I am excited for it. I think it will be a ton of fun. I am also sad because my guest room will be empty. My parents were planning on coming and were going to stay in my guest room... but now they wont be here.

It is sad that it takes a crisis like this to make you realize what you had. I miss my mom. I miss her the way she was. She was always so bubbly and so fun to talk to and joke with. I just miss that. I want her to be back to normal. I want to be able to have those fun, light hearted conversations with her. I also want to be able to call her when I need help cooking something, and be able to vent to her when I am in my emotionally psychotic mode from the Clomid. I NEED my mom. I am so grateful that she is still here and that we still have time with her. I only hope her recovery will be speedy and we can get back to where we were.

How quickly things can change...

So I am going to be having some downer posts for awhile. Mikes Marathons are over for the year so there wont be any of those fun posts. Right now I am dealing with a lot of stuff. I wrote last post about my mom having emergency surgery. Well turns out the tumor they removed from her stomach was cancerous. I can't even tell you how hard it is to find out your mom has cancer. My family has spent a good amount of crying this last week.

It is crazy how fast everything can change. A week and a half ago my mom was fine. Or so we thought. Then she gets sick one day... goes to the hospital the next and within a couple of days we got the biopsy report. I was shocked to hear it was cancerous. the fact that there was a tumor scared me... but the surgeon was so sure it didn't appear to be cancerous so I thought we would be ok. It is still hard to think that it was cancerous. I have a hard time believing all of this is really happening.

Anyways I went to St. George this weekend to be with my family. Kelly came with Delia... and Linda and Dave brought me along with their children. I am so glad we were all able to be there. We spent countless hours in the hospital laughing and teasing each other (And no Kelly... I don't have gray hair, they are blonde streaks!). It was fun being with everyone again and being able to joke around. I think it really helped my mom as well to have us all there to chat and joke with. I am glad I went.

My mom is supposed to be released from the hospital today. They want to run a few more tests before they let her go. We are hoping she can leave today. She is going nuts in the hospital. She wants out and wants to be home. They are trying to get her healed from her surgery before they start running tests to see if the cancer spread and how far. So right now we don't know much about it. I hate just waiting around... waiting to find out what is happening. They don't even know the exact type or stage of the cancer yet. I am anxious to know that.

Anyways... I am hoping everything works out and that this is just a minor road bump for our family. I guess we will just have to wait and see. For now its just going to be touch and go and lots of crying.

I spent the weekend in St. George while Mike spent it here at home... sick. He has had a bad headache all weekend and was running a fever when I got home last night. Poor guy. I had no idea he was sick until I got home. I missed him so much while I was gone. I am so lucky to have him. I can honestly say I married my best friend. He has been incredible this past week with being so supportive. He has held me while I cried who knows how many times. I don't think I could handle this without his support and Love. I hope he gets feeling better. I told him all I need is to find out he has a brain tumor or something! I am thinking his headache is probably a sinus headache. I guess we will see how things play out with him as well.

Boston, here we come!!

Mike ran the St. George marathon this morning. He finished in 3:06:13 which means he qualified for Boston! Its a good thing he qualified since we already have our hotel reservations. I am very proud of him and am so excited that he was able to reach that goal.

Today was one of the most stressful days of my life. Not only was I worried about Mike doing well on the marathon... but my mom ended up going in for emergency surgery today also. My emotions are already out of whack from Clomid...but add emergency surgery and Mike qualifying... it was not pretty.

Yesterday my mom was not doing so well. She couldn't keep down any food or water. She kept throwing it back up and was in pain. Well this morning Mike left at about 4 am to catch the bus for the Marathon. about 10 minutes later my dad decided he was taking my mom to the ER because she was in severe pain. I was a bit freaked out!

Anyways I suddenly found I didn't have a ride to the finish line to be able to watch Mike finish. Luckily my cousin saved me (thanks soooooooo much Cassie!!!! You were a huge help this weekend!!). She picked me up and drove me to the finish line. Anyways I watched Mike finish the race and was very excited he qualified. I ran over and gave him a huge hug (which I usually don't do since he is always so sweaty after a race). I even teared up. Mikes first words he said to me was asking how I was doing. I should have been asking how he was doing but he was concerned for me since I called him shortly after 4 when my mom left for the ER just in tears. anyways I couldn't believe that he had just qualified for Boston but was more concerned about me.

A short time later I got a call from my Dad about my mom. They were going to do emergency surgery. I ended up crying on the phone with my dad. Once again... Mike was there to hold me. I was nervous for her and wanted everything to be ok since they didn't know what was wrong. They were going to cut into her and hope they found something.

I ended up going to Breakfast with Mike and his parents, and then being dropped off at the Hospital. I waited with my dad so he wouldn't be alone. She was in surgery for 4 hours! They found the problem and got her all sewed up. She seems to be doing much better. Mike eventually joined us at the hospital after he got all showered and cleaned up. He was a good sport sitting at the hospital for 5 hours.

We then went out to dinner with some old friends from high school. It was a blast seeing everyone again. It is crazy to see Kristin with Kids... and to hear about Sarah and all that she has done. It was really a ton of fun. I am glad I got to do that.

Either way... it was a very stressful day. I am just glad I survived!

P.S. I had a shirt made for Mike which I gave him at the finish line.

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