Scalpel please.

Feb. 2, 2010 - Smooches...precious moments






Feb. 4, 2010
Started the morning out just right. We sent everyone off to school, and headed for the hospital. 3 1/2 hour delay, of course. Good thing my sweet sister Tami Brewer came by to keep me company. She tended and played with Lyvie. My mother in law stayed with Freddy in pre-op. I was able to sneak in to steal a peak at my love. After Tami left, I headed to grab my rascals from school.
The next couple of hours were complete chaos! I received a call to set an appointment for Freddy with an Oncologist. My poor mother in law was beside herself. I had calls coming in left and right...Then it was time to face my love, and ask him what the doctor had said. I reasoned in my mind, "The doctor would've said something to us!" We felt the bottom fall out for a split second. Then the spirit kicked in....NO WORRIES! There was some miscommunication, it was the same as the doctor had explained beforehand. No changes. Thank goodness.

And there we were again.....left to feel the sweet peace, comfort and solace and calm assurance KEEP MOVING FORWARD! Did I mention that we have an amazing Bishop. He dropped in on his way home from a long flight in from Japan!!!

Oh, Ok?!

Intro-1/28/10 Freddy. Urgent care. Sonogram. Inflammation & pain meds.

February 1, 2010 - Walmart. Scrapping isle. Noonish. Phone call. Freddy.

~KEEP MOVING FORWARD~

There I am, shopping for Olyvias 1st birthday bash. Excited about our upcoming trip to El Paso. I answer the call. Clear out of left field, Fred says they found a mass and he's headed to a urologist in Temecula. He's in Anaheim. They want to see him ASAP, it can't wait. They want him there faster than he can get there. OK. My heart is saying "Should I skip a beat...stop...or keep going?" Hang on...let me think. Oh...yep, keep going. I call my mom. I gingerly put everything in the cart back on the shelves. I continue on and zombie shop for another hour.

Praying, praying, praying. "I'll accept thy will!" "Please help my babies accept thy will." I love Fred more than life itself. He's my eternal companion. That gives me peace, comfort, and solace.

My Eternal Companion!

Fred gets home and we stare at each other. Reality check. Surgery scheduled for 2/4/10...in 3 days? Complete removal. Okay...we can deal with this.

Lets CELEBRATE! Things could be worse. And right now....they aren't!


Call Harvey....glad he's our home teacher.


Lets go to chili's. We order our regular 3 triple dippers. Waters all around. We're cost conscious. Life is short...this is true. The bank could care less ;)



Regular dinner chatter with a few upgrades. Feelings? Questions? Concerns?

NOPE! REALLY?

Ok, great. We're all ok? Honestly OK? Answered prayers...It's a good feeling.

Everything's Peachy!

Saturday, January 30th

Headed out for another hiking adventure. The recent rains gave this trip a few detours. The entire plateau was closed. They had all their elderly volunteers guarding every single entrance. We could've roughed em up but...we thought, "Nah, not today." So, we kept on driving. On to the land of, oh wo is me...I want a house like that! Just when we thought the jealousy would overcome us, we found our way out. Phew..good thing too. The views were, like my Tia Andy always says...TO DIE FOR!!!

So...no hiking for today. This was supposed to count as our February hike. No go. Where to go? Pizza Hut...table for 4 1/2...we're suckers for those insane 2fer deals. Hook, line, and sinker...and it was NASTY! Quality time....it was worth it. The kids have little to no interest in engaging in family chatter, they'd rather watch a brain zapping show on TV. Gone are the days of 1-2 slices per kid...more like 1-2 pizzas per kid. Fill our tummies and drain the bank account. Meet the Robinsons is playing. Cute movie. The boys mention that they're glad the story has a happy ending. I love the movie motto- KEEP MOVING FORWARD...I often sing it in a silly opera voice when my kids are dragging and don't wanna do what they're told. The 1/2. I still look at her and pinch myself. Not because she's a girl. Because we worked so hard for #4. All we had to do was stop trying...who knew...6 years later. Babies are FUN!

Olyvia was nice enough to lick the dried pizza sauce off the side of the table. I'm guessing she wanted to help the bus girl do her job. She's already such a good helper. Fred and I stare at each other thinking - This isn't quite how we imagined this afternoon...we need to make a list of conversation, uh restarters?

On this outing we saw the one thing I wished for the most for my daughters sweet 16 (good thing I had one, otherwise I'd have to find some other insane reason to put this to use) I know our families will be quite disappointed that we won't be having a quincenera for Olyvia...Oh well...a sweet 16 it is. After all, that's when she'll be allowed to go on her first date :)

Why do kids grow up so fast?

This New Year we've vowed to go on a nice hike at least once a month. We started our little challenge/pledge on 1/1/10. We hiked 2 trails totaling, eh I'd say, 2 miles. As usual, the boys wanted to go on the longest most dangerous hike possible. I suppose the possibility of finding a mountain lions den was quite intriguing to them. Nicky had a complete escape plan, including a decoy to allow the others to escape. Pretty clever, except I was the decoy. I tried taking as many pictures as possible to chronicle our New Year. The boys have learned to bear with me and my faulty camera battery. Sister Crismon had a 365 photo challenge, but that was a bit overwhelming. So I pondered a 52 photo challenge...and I settled on a 12 photo challenge. I'll still chronicle everything else as usual. The hikes will be our main focus for this year.

I couldn't help but hold back the tears. I'd lag behind on purpose. I was simply in awe. Watching my beautiful family enjoy nature, is bliss. The love of nature was instilled in me. I was taught to recognize and realize that the beauty around us wasn't just happenstance. Now I do as my mother did on our morning drives, I voice my gratitude to my Heavenly Father for the majesty I see in the clear blue skies and on the rolling hills. I rejoice when my testimony grows when I feel the morning breeze, when I hear the birds sing, when I smell the wild herbs growing outdoors, and when I taste the salt in the air when we go to the beach. Sometimes I fear that the growth of a testimony is hindered if we don't use our senses. Because of that I'm grateful that we came to a consensus as a family, in regards to testimony growth and family unity, and take action! So as January comes to an end, it's time to plan another hike, and buy another camera battery.