Our Trip to Canada was a pretty busy one, we wanted to see everyone and it seemed like everyone wanted to see us! We were gone for 13 days, which means it could take me a few blogs to catch you up but we have a busy week coming up so I am going to try and get it done A.S.A.P. Wish me luck!!!
Sunday March 22nd
we spent the day in Stirling relaxing with my parents and catching AJ up on his sleep. It was nice to spend time together with nothing to do, since not everyone has 13 days off work this was the only full day we got to spend with them. AJ was right at home with Grandpa, they went for a drive, played with Zoe, watched some tractor on youtube, and played in the cool new Airplane tent for the Grand kids. Of course I was to ridiculous to get out my camera and snap any pictures so you will just have to imagine it, sorry Dad!
After Church we went for dinner at Grandma Nelsons house. Brant & Camile where married on March 20th so everyone was in town including Auntie Marla from Texas. It was really nice to see everyone and catch up. There aren't a lot of times the whole family is together but everything just worked out in our favor.
Another great photo opportunity presented itself, which I again did not take advantage of and am kicking myself for now! My Aunt Lana and I are bother pregnant and happen to have the exact same due date! Can you believe that I am going to have a cosine the same age as my second child!?! Not only that but we both love the same two names for a boy and a girl! Guess it's going to be a race to the finish line. We never go a picture together at Christmas since we were both only 3 months and still just looking chubby not pregnant but now we are both showing and I missed it. I know that I won't see her again until both babies are here and I'm sad that I missed the chance to take our picture. Oh well. They tried to find out what they were having but the baby wasn't showing so June should be full of surprises, can't wait to hear what they have!
Monday March 23rd 2009
We tried to fill our days seeing everyone who doesn't work so we could spend our evenings with our parents. We knew we would be busy and we wanted to make sure that Age got as much face time with the Grandparents as possible. Monday morning our first stop was Great Grandpa Dicks. It seems like everyday he is doind better and better! No one thought he would live to old age but here he is alive and kicking.
Sunday March 22nd
we spent the day in Stirling relaxing with my parents and catching AJ up on his sleep. It was nice to spend time together with nothing to do, since not everyone has 13 days off work this was the only full day we got to spend with them. AJ was right at home with Grandpa, they went for a drive, played with Zoe, watched some tractor on youtube, and played in the cool new Airplane tent for the Grand kids. Of course I was to ridiculous to get out my camera and snap any pictures so you will just have to imagine it, sorry Dad!
After Church we went for dinner at Grandma Nelsons house. Brant & Camile where married on March 20th so everyone was in town including Auntie Marla from Texas. It was really nice to see everyone and catch up. There aren't a lot of times the whole family is together but everything just worked out in our favor.
Another great photo opportunity presented itself, which I again did not take advantage of and am kicking myself for now! My Aunt Lana and I are bother pregnant and happen to have the exact same due date! Can you believe that I am going to have a cosine the same age as my second child!?! Not only that but we both love the same two names for a boy and a girl! Guess it's going to be a race to the finish line. We never go a picture together at Christmas since we were both only 3 months and still just looking chubby not pregnant but now we are both showing and I missed it. I know that I won't see her again until both babies are here and I'm sad that I missed the chance to take our picture. Oh well. They tried to find out what they were having but the baby wasn't showing so June should be full of surprises, can't wait to hear what they have!
Monday March 23rd 2009
We tried to fill our days seeing everyone who doesn't work so we could spend our evenings with our parents. We knew we would be busy and we wanted to make sure that Age got as much face time with the Grandparents as possible. Monday morning our first stop was Great Grandpa Dicks. It seems like everyday he is doind better and better! No one thought he would live to old age but here he is alive and kicking.
Grandpa has been walking over to church, making himself all kinds of dental and eye appointments, walking to 7/11 for treats, and even calling cab's to take him to wal-mart for new sox or pants. He's such a character I love to hear all his hilarious stories. When we got there Grandpa was M.I.A., I wasn't sure if he had taken off in a taxi, but son we found him in he computer room. He was looking at the blogs and working on e-mails, boy was he surprise to see us! We went back to the room to eat doughnuts and visit until lunch.
AJ loved hanging out at Great Grandpas. He remembered all the toys that Great Grandma use to let him play with and had a ball playing in Grandpas remote control chair. This was one of the first times I have been out to visit Grandpa since Grandma passed away, I even had a little melt down on the way to Taber. I really miss her, I guess it's easy to pretend that she's still with us when I live so far away. Anyways it was great to see Grandpa and to know that he is doing so well.
Today was also my Dixie day, one of the days I have been most excited about! I have not yet blogged about my aunt Dixie and her amazing story since every time I start I get way to emotional and chicken out!
6 months ago, while my grandma was in the hospital waiting to pass away my aunt Dixie was diagnosed with Brest Cancer. Perfect timing by the way. Somehow she was able to get through the next week of sharing the news with her family, saying good-bye to her Mom, and finding out just what having cancer was going to mean for her. Dixie found out that she was going to need chemo therapy every three weeks until her mastectomy in early January. Not only are these treatments painful but they side effects are fairly unpredictable. For Dixie they usually seemed to make her feel like a 9 month pregnant 80 year old women who had been recently hit by a freight train.
We would talk every week, sometimes longer than others, depending our her health but we always had our chats. I love visiting with her and would wait to put AJ down so I would have a few hours of uninterrupted time just for her. I have always know that aunt Dixie was a strong women, she doesn't often show when things get to her as she prefers to weather her storms alone. Like always she kept a lot of her feelings between her and Uncle Rick but she was always willing to share her experiences and open up with her family. After her mastectomy the Doctors brought her in for the results and told her that they wanted to take her tests to the board because her results were so miraculous.
Dixie was cancer free! Not only did they get the Cancer in her Brest but everything that was in her Lynphnodes was gone! The doctors said that these types of results only occurred in 3-4% of patience, what a great day. I told her that we needed to celebrate the minute I got there and that is just what we did.
After visiting for a but Aaron and AJ went home for a nap and I spent the afternoon with my Cancer Free Aunt. It was great with did nothing but snack and visit and it was perfect. At 4:30 we left with Lexi, Milly, and Inga to meet up with my mom for a white chocolate Brownie. (and dinner too, but most important was the Brownie!)
One of the other things I was most looking forward to was seeing my mom. Mom is my best friend, I can't remember the last time a day past without talking to her. Not only do we talk everyday but we have the best time when we are together. No need for planning any big event, just being together is enough for us. This trip I was especially excited to see her because 6 months ago she had Gastric Bypass and has now lost 100 pounds!! It has been a long hard road but she has done so well and I couldn't be prouder of her. Saying good-bye to all your favorite foods and limiting your intake so drastically can't be easy but Mom has worked hard to make healthy choices and learn better eating habits. We too have been working hard to eat better and teach AJ healthy eating habits as well.
Aren't these sisters amazing!?!? I sure have a lot to live up to but all I really have to do is follow their examples of strength and faith and I know I'll be fine.
2 comments:
first of all - holy stink...your mom looks great! second of all, good work on catching up on a few days of your crazy trip :) can't wait to hear more about your canadian adventures!
seriously. before i even read the gastric bypass thing, i sneaked a look at the pics and thought, "wow, aunt mona looks amazing!" the trip sounds wonderful, I can't wait to hear more.
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