Arizona Vacay

We planned this trip forever, and we couldn't wait for school to get out and hit the road.  Jolynne was making her way to Pheonix from Texas and we picked up a day early and drove down.  These cousins had so much fun together!

I think Luke got a shock because he's never had that many kids and chaos in his life!  Cohen loved on Luke.  He is super good with babies and loves to make them laugh.

Days of fun meant making lots of yummy treats to eat.  Mason helped out by licking the spoons.

Simon Says and many other games were played!

We headed up to Nana's house to play with Bailey who Mason loves to death!  And of course, we hit the pool.  Livvy even got Mason off the steps and into the pool.  --We are still working on Coy.

Nana, Great Nana, and Great Grandpa Bissett

Great Nana sang to the kiddos.

It was hot!! So Popsicles and pools were a must!  Benita's pool had been out of order for most of the week but it was finally ready for kids!  We were all relieved.

We hit up the movie theater twice.  We LOVE movie time and mostly just the popcorn!  We saw How to Train a Dragon 2 and Rio 2.

We may have bribed the kids if they were good all week that we would go to the Disney and Lego store and let them pick something out.  Cohen and Coy had been saving their money.  Mason just couldn't decide what he wanted!  He settled on Sulley.  Oh my goodness, Mason was so cute.  He was soo excited to see this store.  He has never really been to a mall.  I had to strap that boy in to keep him from going too wild.  Cohen couldn't even believe there were movie theaters that played more than one movie in them!  (Oh man!)  We are becoming more hick than I ever could imagine.

One day, we decided o go to Chuck E Cheese's! We had sooo much fun.  McCoy, after seeing a commercial about Chuck E Cheese's was skeptical the place existed.  He asked me if it was real.  So of course, I had to take him here.  We were so glad we did!  The kids had soooo much fun.  It wasn't so busy and the kids roamed with happy smiles on their faces!

Miss Lola is the cutest!  She has a smile that can light up any room but you have to earn it.  She doesn't just give it away!  I loved playing with her sooo much!

I miss my sisters very much.  I love them and their kids and wish we could all live by each other again.  Someday, and I don't mean HEAVEN, it will happen.

Horse Show

Livvy lives for horse shows.  She did pretty well in this one on her Grandma's pony Chaquita.  One of the judges mentioned to her that she was getting a little big to ride Quita, but what does she know anyway?!?!

Baby Alexis is born!

 My newest niece was born and I had to go take a look-see!  She is such a beautiful baby!  Colt and Mason got to test the waters of friendship out!  They don't know it yet, but it's the beginning of a beautiful friendship!  We were happy it was starting to warm up and get out for Spring!

What did you say? Cancer?

 I debated about doing this post.  So many times, a blog shows all the fun things and not the hardships.  My kids pull out my books of blogging all the time and read and look at pictures and I want it to be real to them.  Things happen, good and bad.  We don't have control over what happens so much as how we act when we are faced with a challenge.

One evening as a busy, busy day came to an end, Jeremy and I were joking around.  I can't even remember now what it was about, but then he handed me a diagnosis sheet. I wasn't really sure what it was at first.  Just a lot of medical words I wasn't familiar with.  At the bottom it said the diagnosis was Testicular Cancer.  I think I felt the blood rush to my face.  I was super shocked and didn't know what to say.  So I just responded with a half chuckle, "What is this?"  He nodded towards the paper and the room grew very quiet.  So quiet that you could hear the sound of silence if you know what I mean.

As we started speaking, he told me that he had found a lump and went to the Dr., who then sent him to another Dr. in Utah County to have an Ultrasound, and then met with another Dr.  When the final diagnosis finally came Jeremy decided that surgery was the best option to remove it.  It was scheduled the following week.

That was it.  So we would cut out this lump and be done.  No more.  I felt OK about this.  But Dr's aren't usually definite when speaking about a prognosis.  They add things like "I hope" or "probably" or even "the outlook looks good."  But never "You're done."

 So we went to Huntsman Cancer Institute and met with the Dr. Dechet.  It was an out patient surgery and would be done in a few hours.  We were to stay close for a few days in case any complications occurred.  Jeremy was so great about it.  In fact, he wasn't even going to tell me about the diagnosis until after he had his surgery!  (I would have been sooooo MAD!!)  We went out for the yummiest sushi dinner the night before and hung out all night!  The roll above is my FAVORITE!  It is crab wrapped in cucumber.  

 I didn't want to tell anyone about what was going on with us.  I don't know why, but I felt like if I didn't act like something was wrong, nothing was.  We told our family members and that's about it.  Jeremy's Dad gave him a blessing.  It was awesome and the spirit was strong.  Jeremy didn't appreciate all the pictures I kept snapping away!  HAHA!  A few hours later, it was done!  They were done a lot faster than we had thought and I wasn't there.  I was running around trying to find a bank!  My GPS was not reliable that day and I was in tears racing back to him.  He was more annoyed that he didn't have his phone to check the messages from work!  LOL!  That's my J!  He was doing so well and wouldn't be kept down.  He started walking around immediately.  Now the only thing we had left of this ordeal was to wait for the pathology to come back with nothing to worry about.

Thursdays = Chiquita Day!

Once Aunt Kristi mentioned that Thursday would be a good day to come and ride and play with Chiquita, Livvy had it set in stone on her calendar.  She often invited Averie and off they would go to Grandma's house.  They have this pony trained!  In the beginning it was hard to catch her.  Now she comes to them and Livvy will pretty much jump on her back without a saddle.  It is sooo fun to watch.

Coy Graduates Preschool!

 McCoy is super smart.  He is going to be just like his Dad in the silent way that brilliance will show itself.  It was a fabulous year of pre-school.  He loved his teacher Mrs. Melissa and it was obvious that she loved those kids back!  Mason was not so impressed by the ceremony. He just really wanted several cupcakes.

Cottonwood Wash

Little did I know that bringing home these little tadpoles from Cottonwood would be a summer-long experience. It sure was a nice warm day in the Spring with signs of summer. We love this secret spot of happiness and friends to share it with!

Mother's Day

I love Mother's Day!  Mostly because I get loved on! These notes that Cohen gave me were so funny!  It is always a very real wake up call to what your kids think when they answer questions about you!  Happy Mother's Day!

Lori Graduates!!!

At the last minute I decided to go to Lori's Graduation Ceremony in Flagstaff for the day!  It was a long day but completely worth it to celebrate Lori.  She has worked so hard to complete her BA.  I am so proud of her.  She is a single mom of two and has worked hard for this day.  YAY!!!!!

 Livvy was perfect company for me all day.  We got there a little early and had time to get our nails done.  The lady who did Olivia's was a little mean and she kept looking at me so nervous.  HAHA!  We had so much fun!

Mason Helping Grandma

 There is no doubt where this little guy wants to be!  From the moment he wakes up, he wants to go to Grandma's.  Especially if Grandpa is there.  When he gets hurt or wants something he only wants Grandpa to comfort him.  We are so grateful that we live so close to Grandma and Grandpa.  I honestly don't know what I would do without them.

Pushing Cows

Olivia was so excited when her cousin called up one morning and asked if she wanted to help ride and move cows.  This is her favorite thing to do.  It makes me happy to know she wants to be out there doing it.  She is a tender-hearted tough cowgirl that's for sure!

McCoy's Home Preschool

Since January, we joined with some moms to do a home preschool for McCoy.  It was such a good group of kids!  In this picture we went on a field trip to Grandma Lyman's backyard to see all the animals.  They all got to ride a pony.

McCoy's T-Ball

 McCoy's T-Ball pretty much just shows his personality.  He didn't have very much interest in playing the game, more just being social.  HAHA!  I really wonder what these two were talking about?!

Machine Pitch - Cohen

 This was Cohen's first year for machine pitch. He wasn't impressed that it was harder to hit the ball, but he did his best.  Sports have been a struggle for us.  Cohen doesn't love them and I feel like it's pulling teeth to get him to go.  Because of his allergies, it also makes it worse for him to be out there in the grass during spring.  One day after a really hard flag football game, I called my Grandma Bates, pretty much in tears.  So many moms have told me that if my kids do not play sports they will be left out and have a hard time in school.  She really helped me refocus.  I love her for the rock she has been in my life.  Sports is sports and I will love my kids if they play them or not. And more importantly, they are going to be just fine!!!

Fun times with Cam

This is Cam.  She is my beautiful niece.  I love her tons and I was excited to go around with her to do a donut fundraiser for cheer.  This post doesn't have too much to do with anything except I hope Livvy turns out just like her!