Jackie and her amazing boys

Addison and I took a short road trip to Spokane to visit my wonderful friend, Jackie and her three amazing boys, Owen (4), Ethan (2 1/2), and Baby Liam (7 months). Scott was out of town so it was a mommy and kid weekend. We had a blast. Addison LOVES "her boys" as she calls them! They play so well together. We were able to go the Jump and Bounce and they bounced some of their energy away! That Sunday was Father's Day so we went to Michael's and bought crafts for the kids to make for their daddy's! It was a little stressful with 6 little, excited hands, a bunch of paint, glue and stickers! But their Daddy's loved what they made!

I am going to be honest, some people's kids drive me crazy! But Jackie's boys are so pleasant, polite and genuinely kind. They are a joy to be around. It is so amazing watching Jackie with her kids. The patience that women has! She is an inspiration. She is a wonderful mother and her beautiful boys reflect how amazing she and Scott are! Three wild and crazy boys under 5 in one house could be complete chaos, but Jackie's chaos is good chaos and it is fun to watch! I am so thankful for my dear friend Jackie and her amazing boys.

Addi still asks to go to "Essin and Owen's House!"

Mom Update

Well, more news. Unfortunately, more news with mom's cancer these days brings more invasive procedures and unknown outcomes. Last I updated they had removed more masses under her chin and lymph nodes. These came back cancer positive and they have decided to proceed with radiation. She will have to have a feeding tube inserted through her belly in order to eat through the radiation. They also found some sort of mass or something in her lungs or chest. She goes in today and they are going to biopsy it.

Mom's attitude with all of this is so frustrating. She tries to hide or minimize information that she receives and is so positive that is makes me so angry. I know she is trying to put up a "its not a big deal" front so people don't worry about her but in order for her to get through this I feel that she needs to accept what is happening and confront it realistically. So, the information that I receive is vague at best. She won't allow me to go to doctor's appointments with her or pick her up from procedures.

She is supposed to start radiation in 5 weeks or so. One of her doctor also feels maybe she never had RA, maybe it was the cancer attacking her joints all along. I truly feel it is a lot more serious than she realizes and is letting on. I sure hope her doctors aren't minimizing the situation for her either. I am the type of person who needs ALL the information. I don't want it sugar coated. It is up to me to handle the information the way I choose. I wish I could talk mom into just allowing me in to cry with her or scream with her or just know with her. No one should have to protect everyone from any situation and go through this walk all alone.

Oh, Addison

I was getting dressed for work today and Addison says to me, "What are you doing?" I said, "Getting dressed." Addi - "Why" Me - "I have to go to work." Addi - "You can't leave me here all by myself." Me - "I know, you are going to go to Grandma Deaette's." Addi - "Well, you have to drive me there." Me - "Yes, honey I know that"

This girl just cracks me up daily! What pure joy she brings to me.

Ellie and Addison

Sara and Ellie came up for Jake's graduation. Addison and Ellie are so adorable and so grown up. They truly amaze me how smart they are. The are constantly out smarting us! It melts my heart when Ellie says, actually when she screams, "Auuuunnnnnnnnntttttiiiiieeeee, Love you!!" She also says, "Watch this." And then does something hilarious! Matching jammies are a tradition with the girls. This time Ra-Ra picked out jammies with way cool head bands and slippers! Addison just adores Auntie Ra-Ra. We catch her calling her Sara sometimes but she will correct herself and say Ra-Ra! Addison bawled for 20 minutes after taking them back to the airport. She understands time now and realizes that we don't get to see them for a long time. She said, "But I don't want Ellie to go to Colorado!" Poor girl.

Lake Como

Pictures from our late May camp trip to Lake Como.

Rock climbing

We went to Lolo Hot Springs overnight and stayed in one of the cabins. We drove around in the woods and found some big boulders to climb on. Addison loved rock climbing. She said, "Look at me mamma, I'm a mountain goat."

Jake's Graduation

My little brother, Jake, graduated from high school this weekend! We are very proud of him! He is planning on taking the year off and try to figure out what he wants to do with his life, besides backpacking!!

Mom Update

On Tuesday Mom went back in for another surgery. They found two more masses under her chin and wanted to remove them. Her surgery went fine but she has another long incision from her other scar to the other side of her neck. Along with removing the 2 masses they took out several more lymph nodes. Because she has RA (rheumatoid arthritis) she is not able to receive radiation. Apparently receiving radiation with dramatically reduce her quality of life because the radiation will attack her already weak joints. But her doctor said that if the masses and lymph nodes come back cancer positive they will have no choice but to do radiation. She is doing ok. Her face is really swollen but she isn't in as much pain as she was with the first surgery.