April Happenings

I think the medical community is ganging up on us to try to suck us dry this year. Hopefully we'll meet our deductible soon. Ellie had her tonsils out, I had mouth surgery from an infection in my maxilla (from a bad root canal), Two root canals, I had a cononoscopy and found out all my tummy issues came from being Lactose in Tolerant, I just found out that I have gallstones (OUCH) and surgery will be within a week or two. Someone said "Man, you guys have had it all in the past few months." I don't think so. I just feel like everyone has their 'go' with life. And honestly a few doctors visit's are not too bad comparably speaking. We are just glad to have a few doctors to help us out!
       Last week Max had surgery on his eyes. Every morning the poor guy wakes up with his eyes gooped shut. At first we thought it was prolonged pink eye, but eventually we were referred to Primary Children's in which we found out that his Lacrimal ducts (eye drainage hole), were shut off or partially closed causing the eye trouble. So last week we went in and had a simple surgery to open those up. The pictures look like we abuse the little guy, luckily we love him way too much for that!

Can Primary Children's be any better at what they do? Our service was excellent. They whisked Max back to the operating room in a little car and he was having so much fun that he didn't even realize I was gone!

It just happened to be 'Take your kid to work day" at Fusion IO so Dad and Ellie spent the day together. Most kids left after an hour or so but Ellie stayed all day with dad. She brought a little DVD player and ate popcorn while dad worked. Mitch said she talked really loud when she had her head phones on. This was funny because Mitch works in a cubicle environment. One of Mitch's co-workers gave Ellie a bouncy ball and Ellie exclaimed, "When my Mom see's this she will say, 'What My Heck!'" We Love Ellie.

 Here is Max the next day. The poor little thing was bleeding out his eyes and nose. His eyes were also swollen shut. He was happy as a lark though and now he continues to do great!

 Max continues to grow up and get a little more silly (and naughty) each day. He Loves putting hats, pots, or anything on his head. If he see's me coming to pick him up he thinks it's funny to run away, this is especially fun at the grocery store. The cute little stinker.

Here are the two best buds. Ellie is always trying to carry Max around. If you didn't notice Max is a bit of a tank so she usually falls over and lands on top of him. Then they both lay on the ground giggling or crying. :) They are such good friends. One day He will be big enough to swat back at his big sister. I'll be sure to write about that!

Spring Break Sleepover

Last week it was spring break for the schools here in Utah. Ellie has been dying to have a sleep over with her cousins. So we decided to invite ALL the cousins over for a sleepover (on the Lifferth side). Not everyone  could make it but we did end up with 8 kiddos at our house for one fun party. I think we should make it a tradition.

 We started the night off by having Great grandma, Grandma, and Grandpa come and make some milk shakes.

 Now what would a sleep over be if we didn't go toilet papering! Unfortunately for uncle Robb, his house was the target. The kids LOVED it, and secretly, so did we.

 They were a little excited. :)

 Before going to Uncle Robb and Aunt Carlie's, we 'heart attacked' my parents house. This was done in secrecy. But between you and me, Grandma just sat in the front room and smiled as each kid peered their little eyes through the window to see if anyone was there. We hid across the street after Zach, Taylor and Olivia knocked on the door and ran. When Grandma came out she exclaimed, "Oh my, who could have done this!?" :). Then from across the street you heard a little voice yell out, "it was us Grandma, we are right here!!!!". This was so fun.

 Toilet papering was a success, however, we did get caught and the kids were tickle tortured by Uncle Robb.

We finished the night off by watching a movie. Ethan was the only one who made it through more than ten minutes of it. We had such a great night, we love Cousins!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! I'm impartial but I sure think they are the two most wonderful and adorable kids in the whole darn world! Hope you had a great day celebrating the blessings brought to us by our Savior.

 At least one half decent pictures at least!

Chemo Therapy

Today was my week to go on a 'Chemo Date' with dad. Dad has Chemo on Wednesdays all day then he carries a fanny pack for two more days. On Friday he finishes it up with a fresh IV back at the hospital. Dad has been doing okay with Chemo. He is very tired most of the time. At family dinners he usually eats then goes and sleeps for the rest of the time. He is too weak and dehydrated to excercise (unless he does it at the hospital, they have a little doctor monitored gym. Even them it's nothing strenuous), however he does usually get a half a day of work in at the office.
          For the week after his chemo he is generally naucious, and the most tired, then he starts to perk up just before his next chemo treatment (every 2 weeks). His chemo is not like your traditional treatment. He has not lost his hair however it is much more thin. It also has changed the texture of it. When he would wake up his hair was pretty much already done in his traditional 'dad do' (he's had the same hair cut his whole life, luckily it's handsome :) ). Now he wakes up and he looks like some teenager with his hair sticking up every which way. It's actually a little funny to see him. It also has taken on a baby soft texture. It's very fine and whispy. The chemo also changed the color of his skin. Along with seeing many more skin spots and freckles, he really does look a little grayish, greenish in color. This is more prominant the first day or two after chemo. Cold water hurts him to swallow and drink, so he usually drinks warm. Chemo therapy makes you very cold, and very sensitive to cold. He also has increased sensitivity to touch. A serious negative side effect has been the swelling in his hands. His hands were bright red after his fifth treatment and swollen up like sausages. at the tips they were literally beginning to split because of how swollen they were. They also were so sensitive that he could not touch the steering wheel of the car because it hurt so badly. When the oncologist saw this he told dad he had to stop chemo until his hands were better. Dad did not like the set back as he simply wants it all to be over. The doctor cut the chemo dosage in half and told us that this should be just as effective as a full dose. We were told that he has not seen anyone have as many negative side effects from this type of chemo. Poor dad.
       When you go in for chemo. You find 8 lay-z-boy type chairs lined up with a normal chair next to it. In the recliner you find the patient and usually a friend/family member along side of them. Some of them look like they are on deaths door, some look pretty good (as perhaps this is their beginning treatment), some are bald, some have hair. Some are old, some are young. Admittedly, it's a little disheartening to see people so sick. When I went with dad he was frustrated because he didn't feel like he could think as clearly while he was on chemo and it was affecting his work. He sat in the chair and the nurse came and hooked a line up to the embedded port in his chest. He quickly fell asleep as the chemo dripped into his body. Two hours later he woke up and he and I walked down to get some lunch at the Mckay Dee cafeteria (still hooked up). This consisted of warm soup an iceless cherry coke (for some reason that settles his stomach). While in chemo, you sit and talk with the other patients. Most of the people on the day I was there were going on their second round of cancer. The ones sitting next to us had colon, which years later metastasized to some other type of cancer. This was a little dis heartening to listen to so I stopped talking to them. In fact one man said, "Just because that happened to me, does not mean it will happen to you (referring to my dad)." I self talked to myself and reminded myself that his complete cure rate is 78%, and that there is a special work for him to do here on this earth. He will be just fine. The only reason we are surrounded by the second round of cancer group was because we were sitting in a hospital and all the healthy people are out enjoying their clean bill of health. We finally received our fanny pack at 3:30 and were on our way. As I left I thought, 'with chemo they  bring you to your death bed by killing the good and the bad cells, then when you've about had it, they bring you back to life.' That is so tough. My heart goes out to all those patients out there, or family affected by this terrible disease.
        Before leaving I asked the oncologist if there was one thing I could do for my family to help us so we don't get cancer what would it be. He told me to eat a low fat diet and incorporate antioxidants into your diet (i.e. broccoli, blue berries). Then he said, but unfortunately for your family breast cancer and colon cancer are genetic so get checked regularly. Thanks doc, I feel much better. I actually did do the colonoscopy thing because I have tummy issues. Lucky for me, I don't have cancer but I am Lactose Intolerant so that has been helpful!

Note: I just want to say that I don't blog this stuff to get a 'poor me' card. I simply blog it so I can remember the times in our life that are hard so we can see when the Lord carried us through.

 Dad and I at chemo. He is wearing his cute fanny pack. So fashionable!

 This is dad's nurse. I think her name is Annbeth. I think she is so brave and wonderful. To come and help all of these very sick people. She has a strong heart.

Sleepy Dad. Chemo is a tough thing and it's making his body tired. We look forward to having dad back on a bike with us in the fall. Love you dad.

A Loving Father In Heaven

This week I was reminded about how much our father in heaven looks out for us and our children. I was going about my morning chores on Thursday morning and I found my self on my knees thanking my Heavenly Father for sparing my little Max. I was going through my house opening all my blinds. I had opened the Family room blinds and I usually wrap them up and hang them at the top so the kids don't reach them. All except the ones behind the couch, those usually just get tucked behind the couch. Max and Ellie were sitting on the couch watching cartoons when I moved into the back rooms and into my room to open the blinds. As I was finishing the last one I had the prompting to 'Go get Max'. The prompting was so strong that I nearly ran into the front room. It was there that I found Max with the cord from behind the couch pulled taut around his neck. He was standing and balancing next to the couch trying to get it unraveled. He was not hanging but he is so unbalanced in his walking that he only needed to lose his balance to be in serious danger. I ran up to him and quickly unraveled it.
        I was so thankful to Heavenly Father for keeping an eye on my child when I could not see him. I am so grateful for the gift of the holy ghost to prompt me in times that I need it. In church today I was teaching the ten year olds and we were talking about what The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has that is similar to Christ's church in His days. I told the story of Max and the Holy Ghost. What an amazing opportunity we have, to have such divine guidance in our life. As well as an amazing prophet who receives guidance directly from our Lord and Savior. Incredible, simply a life saver.
   

Big Max Turned 1!

 Seriously how cute is this little guy. He is just full of happiness and is constantly getting covered in hugs and kisses. He is such a sweetheart. He is in the 70th percentile for height and weight and 92nd for head circumference  All the smarter my friends, all the smarter. :) The week of his birthday he took his first 2 steps. Max loves practicing walking, and he just giggles until the outreached arms snatch him up! This year  we had some cake after Sunday dinner at my parents, then had a party on his birthday with the Dorius group. Enjoy some of the pics!

This little smile just melts our heart. 6 teeth already and boy does it hurt when he bites you!

 Mitch came home early from work to make a bear cake with Ellie. It was maddening to watch him and El (I guess in some ways I'm a perfectionist). It turned out adorable, okay, a little messy but adorable. Ellie thought it was so special. What a great dad!

 Ellie kept on licking the cake. Hopefully our guests didn't see it. :)

 I Love this picture! It's as if Max is saying, "what have I got myself into?"

 Chaos and cousins. Need I say more?

Oh, Grandma Sherrill. Max loves her. They are the best of buddies. Happy Birthday Maxwell, you little chunky monkey!

Boys and their Toys.

 I decided I needed to do a post on Mitch's hobbies so that you all know that it is not just me having all the fun around here. Mitch LOVES snowmobiling. Me, I think it's fun but not my favorite thing. Therefore his snowmobiling buddy is usually his brother Matt. They went snowmobiling the day after we got  a foot and a half at our house in Farmington, so in the mountains there was much, much more. Have a look!

 Here is Mitch stuck in the snow. Yes, he is standing up, that is how much snow there was!

 Here is Matt stuck in the snow. Does this seem exhausting to anyone else? However, the 'thumbs up' suggests that they are still having fun!

 Oh, and they are stuck again.  When Mitch came home he showed me these pictures. I was skeptical that this was fun to them and he assured me that they had a riot of a time. If he could go everyday with his brothers i'm sure he would!  After this trip Mitch will be getting an Avalanche beacon for sure!

 Behind our house there is a field that we have enjoyed playing in. Uncle Robb brought Ethan and Olivia over for some sleigh riding fun. We love living close to cousins!

Here is Ellie and I enjoying the snow as dad pulls us behind Grandpa Larry's 4-wheeler. Max enjoys the warm house with Grandma Sherrill to snuggle up to. El is a good sport in the snow until she gets the least bit of snow on her!