Peabody Rooftop Party

Tuesday night we went to a Rooftop Party in Downtown Memphis at the Peabody Hotel. It is put on by VSP each year. It was really fun! Our nice nice friends the Sloans watched our kids for us while we went. They also had our friends the Watts kids. Thank you so much Sloans! They had a meat carving station with rolls. They also had lots of appetizers and desserts! It all tasted so good. We each got two drink tickets and after that you had to pay for your own. It was nice that they limited the free alcohol! We were the weird ones with bottled water! Two bottles was enough, if we would have wanted more it was $6 a bottle! It was fun to mingle and talk with his classmates and our friends! It was such a nice night as well and it was fun to watch the sunset over the Mississippi River!

 Between Ashley, Elise, and I we ate ate least 10 desserts each, not the greatest for any diet but they were so good and they kept bringing out new trays that had new desserts we hadn't tried on them!

 They had a guy playing the saxophone and keyboard and then a lady that sang for a few songs! Not dancing music which was a bummer, but I guess it was supposed to be classy, ha ha! Ashley and I just wanted one more dance party!

 The other 3 couples that were there had left before we could get a picture!

Park Day

We always put a park day together every year when everyone came back for graduation! It is so fun to see everyone and a lot of them it had been a year since we had seen each other! There were lots of hugs! Most everyone in this picture with the exception of I think two people are all students! There used to be more but the numbers of LDS students have dwindled since our year, but they say there is going to be a lot again coming this year. Having our mother's group really made such a difference to our time in the south. I really have missed so many of these girls and it was so fun to see them and spend a week with them! Most of us in our class doubled our family size while in school! I truly miss my friends and it is so nice to be able to stay in touch with most of them thanks to facebook, blogs, and phones! I look forward to seeing them sometime in the future, who knows when that will be but someday we will get together!

 Ashley and I! I missed Ashley so much over the last year, she is such a great friend! They are going to be living in Colorado!

 Laura and I! She was my visiting teacher last fall and was so awesome to always stop by with yummy warm bread! It was nice to have her around still since most everyone else moved! They are going to be living in North Dakota!

Airports

We left on Monday the 13th to head back to Memphis for Graduation. Andrew had to be there for the three days before graduation for a few days more of classes and what not. We had a mid afternoon flight. We got there checked in and got right on the plane after about a 20 min wait. We got the kids some cheeseburgers from McDonald's and they ate them while we waited to leave. We took off right on time and Easton fell asleep right away and slept the whole flight! It paid off to go during nap time! Ella entertained herself with the Nook for the whole time with movies! We had a 3 hr layover in Dallas where we ate dinner and they have these awesome playgrounds in each terminal! It really helped to get some energy out and have the kids have something to do! The second flight to Little Rock was perfect as well and a short 50 min! We got in late and got our car and drove the 2 hrs to Memphis. We checked into our hotel at 2 am and Andrew left for school at 8 the next morning!

Andrew's Last Day of School!

Andrew's last day of Optometry school was Wednesday May 8th! It was supposed to be Thursday but lucky him the office he interned at is closed Thursdays so he got done a day early! He was really excited for his last day! It was a little bittersweet he has put so much time into school but was happy that it was his last day of working without pay! I have had a few people ask me what he is doing now. We just spent 10 days in Memphis for Graduation and now we are playing the waiting game. He got his license paperwork and fees paid before we went to graduation and so he just had to wait on his transcripts and board scores to be sent in. They told us it usually takes a few weeks and once they get them it takes about 10 days to issue it. Well he called them last Friday, one week after graduation and bugged them and by 3:30 that afternoon he had an email saying his license was approved and giving him his number! He honestly never thought it would go so fast! Now he is waiting to get on insurance panels and then he can work! He worked really hard to find a job and we honestly thought we would not end up in Utah. He talked to probably over 50 optometrists here from Logan to Provo and put his ad up on the Utah optometry website. He really was started to get worried and had a lot of "call me in the summer I'll know then if I am ready to hire" and it was getting frustrating. We finally decided to look elsewhere so he set up the two interviews the end of March in Las Vegas. He did those on a Friday and by Monday morning he had two interviews in Utah for that week! My dad had given him a blessing saying he would know if something was right and Vegas really didn't feel right almost immediately. He basically was offered both jobs right away and accepted. He is going to be at a private practice 2-3 days a week in Ogden, which is about 40 min from where we live and then 2 days a week here in Sandy about 3 minutes from our house, he will be working for an opthamologist! He is really excited for both opportunities and they both have potential in a year or so to be more full time so he is excited to see which he prefers. He might also do some fill in work at Costco for the summer. He is so excited to get started and start paying off our debt! I am so proud of him and really so amazed that he was able to go to school and still be such a great husband! We always say when we moved to Memphis we were kid less and now we have two toddlers! It is amazing all that has happened in our lives since he started school! I am so proud of him and love him so much for all he does for us!

Mother's Day

I had such a great Mother's Day! I really love being a mom and love my two little ones. I am grateful for my mom and all she has taught me. I am also thankful to my grandma, mother-in-law, and all the mothers in my law and for all they do for me and teach me! This year it was fun to be with family for mother's day! I woke up and Andrew made us some yummy breakfast and gave me a new skirt! He really gave me a day off and it was lovely! We went to church and Ella sang in Sacrament meeting, seriously I cried it was so sweet and it is so weird I have a child in primary! After church we headed right over to Andrew's moms and spent a few hours with her. Ella and Easton had made her a cute little card and were really excited to give it to her with some licorice bites! We then went to my mom's to skype my little brother on his mission. It was so fun to see him and he was in shock at how big the grand kids were! He is doing so well and his mission is going by so fast! We then went to Bountiful to my aunts house for dinner and finally got around to eating at 8! We were all starved but grateful we could all get together! It was such a nice night! We didn't stay to long because we had to get home to get packed for our trip to Memphis. It was such a great day and I feel so honored to be a mother! It really has changed my life and it is hard a lot but I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Ella's Masterpieces!

Ella loves to draw lately, she draws some interesting people figures! This is our family,  I'm not sure who the extra thing is she says it was a tree! She is becoming quite creative though and really loves to draw. Her other favorite thing is writing her name. I have been trying to help her with her first name and then showed her the last name once. I found her magna doodle one night while cleaning up and she had wrote her whole name! She is growing up to fast!

Park

Last week before we headed to Memphis we made a picnic and went to a park along the Jordan River Parkway for dinner! The kids ate and then played for a little bit! It was just what we all needed, it was nice to get out of the house for a few hours!

Let's Go Fly A Kite!!!

This was a few weeks ago. After Andrew got off work one Saturday it was really nice so we headed to Costco and then went and flew our kite. The kids had so much fun doing it. It was right after my surgery so I just sat on the ground and watched them and snapped pictures with my phone. Ella loved it and did really well, Easton let go after Andrew handed it to him and it took off, it was pretty funny to watch Andrew chasing it all over the field! They have been begging to go again since then!

Popcorn

A few weeks ago we had Sunday dinner with Andrew's Family. His sister made us some yummy popcorn in their oil popper! It was so good! The kids really enjoyed it and had more than seconds!

Surgery

April certainly turned out to be such a crazy month! We started off in El Paso the first week and it has been a whirlwird since we got home! I am happy it is May and a new month, a month full of promises and new beginnings in lots of ways! Anyways on to the point, the 25th of March I went into the Dermatologist to get a spot on my arm checked and one on my head. The doctor said he was really concerned about the one on my head and not to concerned with the one on my arm. So he cookie cut the one out on my head and scraped the one on my arm off. They told me if there was a problem they would call and if they didn't they gave me a number to call to check. Well while in Texas I got a number I didn't know and I don't usually answer if I don't know but I remembered that I needed to. It was the doctor and he said that the one on my head had come back as basal cell. He said he was really concerned mostly because the one on my arm had come back as melanoma. He said he had done all he could and was referring me to the Huntsman Cancer Hospital to handle the rest. I was a little worried at that point. Well the guy called me later that day and set up my appointment with me at Huntsman and said it was just for a consult and to schedule the surgery. I was a little taken back at the whole surgery thing I didn't even know that was what was happening! Well the next Wednesday April 10th we met with my doctor, Dr. Andtbaka and his team, and a few med students to discuss my arm and what would go on. It really had my head spinning! We then discussed dates and it was either the next Tuesday or yesterday the 30th. We decided to do the 16th so it wouldn't be so close to graduation. We set it all up and left. The next Monday the 15th I went up to Huntsman for a lymphoscintigraphy. My nurse Jen was so nice and made me very comfortable for it. My sister in law Deb was so nice to accompany up there on her day off so Andrew wouldn't have to take anymore days off then he was. The doctor came and inserted some dye in my arm at the sight and it travels to my lymph nodes and they have a special camera that shows exactly where the lymph nodes are. It was traveling very slow and after an hour and a half they knew where the ones in my elbow were and they marked them, the nurse told us to leave and come back in a couple hours. So we went down to City Creek and wandered and Deb treated me to a yummy breakfast at Kneaders! Thanks Deb! We then went back and they were able to finally trace the ones in my arm pit and mark them so we could leave. They had to find them so they could remove them during surgery. Also I can't forget my mom and sister who helped me that day with my kids. They got to sleep over Sunday night at Grandma's which was such a treat for them! Monday night we took the kids back over to my parents for another sleepover and then headed home. Andrew gave me a blessing and we went to bed early so we could be up early. Tuesday the 16th we were up at the Hospital at about 8 and check-in and surgery was set for 9:45 but as hospitals go it was about 11 before I was taken back! I was getting really bored and anxious. They came the anesthesiologist gave me my stuff and I was out about 30 seconds after I wheeled into the OR. The surgery took almost 2 hours and then it took me about an hour to wake up. I remember waking up in the post-op room with someone next to me in a bed and someone across the room. The guy next to me left right after but they really wanted me to wake up and they were trying to get my pain assessment but I was so sleepy still. They finally took me to a room and Andrew came in and I barely remember the next hour or two after that. We both fell asleep again and then the nurse came in and sat my bed up and insisted I be awake now, which would have been fine had they not given me sleeping pain meds (the same stuff they gave me right before I had Ella), hopefully I can now know that no matter what the dosage I don't want it because it will knock me out! Anyways finally about 6 they discharged me and the nurse asked if I had a newborn at home and I said no just a two and a three year old and she said oh that is much worse, Ha ha!! I went home and my mom brought my kids and some dinner. They were a little hesitant at first. The next day Andrew took the morning off and then my Grandma came and brought us lunch and stayed to help me with the kids for the afternoon. It was so nice to have her here to help, there is no way I could have lifted my kids or changed a diaper for the first week! I even got a nap in that afternoon, that never happens! My mom was so nice and brought us dinner for the next few nights and then we had some meals brought in from our ward. I really don't know what I would have done my mom! Thursday I finally got to take off the bandages and "shower." I still had to cover my arm so it really wasn't the best but nice to get clean. Andrew was so nice and patient and helped me in any way I needed even when he would get light headed from the sight of it all! Wednesday my Grandma came again and brought dinner for us and helped me clean my house and did some ironing for me, I am so thankful for her, thank you Grandma! I went in last Thursday the 25th for the pathology results and they said everything came back fine and they got all of the melanoma cancer! Also my lymph nodes (which they took 1 or 2 out of my elbow and 3 or 4 out of my armpit) came back perfect and it hadn't spread! It was great to hear that news so we didn't have to seek further treatment! I am now the eternal patient and have to rotate every four months with Huntsman Cancer and my dermatologist for the next two years and then every six months after that for a couple years and then once a year after that until forever! I get the outside stitches taken out tomorrow and I am excited! It will be a while before it is normal again and before part of my arm isn't numb but it seems to be healing really well! Not exactly what I had planned for the month of April but I am grateful for all the prayers in my behalf and am grateful that they are able to do get it all taken care of! I have had so many friends who have called or text concerned and I had a friend who lives across the country send me such a sweet card! It really makes me feel so blessed to not only have such great family but friends who are concerned and care! Thanks!

This was from the consult, he asked to draw on my arm to show the med students and resident and me what he wanted to do. The bigger circle is the amount they took off down to the muscle. The other lines were the ways he was thinking about cutting. He initially thought he would have to do a skin graft because my skin in so young but he made it work without having too!

This was the spot before they operated, I need to find my picture of the spot before it was initially removed.

This is during the lymphoscintigraphy.

Right after surgery all wrapped up!

This was two days post-op right after I took off the bandages. It was a little swollen but got worse. There was a big dip in my arm which is filling in. I wish I would have taken a side picture to see how crazy it was!

This was about 10 days post-op, it is looking better and filling in. The spots where they took my lymph nodes are healing up really well too and all the stitches are on the inside!

 

 After my follow up last week we went up to the Pointe Restaurant and shared a yummy sandwich while we looked out over the city! I was such a relief to have just gotten the news we did and I had done my hair for the second time in a week in a half!

Park

The kids have loved having a park right outside! We had one in our house on Lexy Lane back in Mississippi just a block away as well and we really have missed haven't something within walking distance! Andrew loves to take the kids out a few times a week while I make dinner or after we eat. The kids love it and it gives them time to spend with him!

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