Remembering December 2005...

I came upon these pictures again the other day and remembered how much I loved them! I thought they were worth sharing since my blog is so new and doesn't go back that far! Ally was 4 years old and Ryland was 2 years old, they were having a great time playing dress up. I remember she thought she was so beautiful! Too cute!

Memorial Day with the Mathies....

We celebrated Memorial Day with Nate's extended family. On the way there Evelyn fell asleep while sucking her thumb! Where did that come from? We had a great time at the Mathie family BBQ. All of Nate's family was there except for M'Lissa and Kelly's family...we miss you! We had great food, great laughs and thanks to Daniel and Latrica a great water fight! What a fun way to celebrate Memorial Day!

Hawaiian Cruises and a Pain in the Neck.....

Well, Nate and I were supposed to leave yesterday for a Hawaiian Cruise to commemorate the one year anniversary of his Cancer diagnosis. We had it planned for months but it never worked out, timing, babysitting, cost, etc. Now we know why! About 8-9 weeks ago he got a sinus infection and along with that a swollen gland on the right side of his neck. Well, when your dealing with Cancer you obviously don't ignore that! The family doctor said to mention it to his oncologist if it doesn't go away in 2 weeks, the Oncologist said to get it biopsied if it doesn't go away in another 2 weeks. Well, 2 days before the biopsy his whole neck on the right side swelled up and made him look like he had a goiter! There was so much pressure and pain he could hardly move his neck. We had the biopsy done on May 12th down at the Huntsman Hospital. Nate had a severe reaction after and they kept him there from 9 a.m. til 3 p.m.! I hadn't gone with him b/c I was so sick and I wouldn't want someone as sick as I was around Nate when he was going through treatment. It was supposed to be a 20 minute procedure, in and out, no doctor visit and no info til the next day. At the time they thought he was having a seizure but it wasn't. Anyhow, it was so bad they gave him Demerol and watched him for hours, they wouldn't let him drive himself home so his mom and his brother Daniel went down to get him and the car. I felt like "Wife of the Year " that day let me tell ya. The next day I took him down for a head and neck CT scan. Then on Friday the 15th we saw the Ear Nose and Throat Surgeon at Huntsman and had a scope done. After all of the test results came back it was determined that it was most likely NOT Cancer (whew!) but a Branchial Cleft Cyst that needed to be removed. They wouldn't tell us it was 100% non-cancerous until they got inside and looked around. Surgery was set for Thursday, May 21st. We then went that day up to Laketown for the weekend (see previous post). So, last Thursday we got the kids dropped off to their various places and headed down for surgery. Once they got inside and saw what they were actually dealing with a few things changed. He decided that it wasn't in Nates best interest to remove the cyst that day b/c it was so severely infected and inflamed that it was in muscles and nerves and just everywhere. So they cleaned it out, 7 milliliters of fluid, and closed him back up. They determined he needed to stay in the hospital for 2 nights on IV antibiotics b/c the infection was systemic and if not taken care of it could potentially kill him. Once home he would take 2 different antibiotics for 10 days in the hopes that it would be enough to kill off the infection or atleast keep it at bay enough that when they go back inside in 4-6 weeks that they can then get all of the cyst removed. Poor Nate with all of this going on had some extra fun in the middle of the night Thursday when they determined they needed to change his IV site. It took FIVE different nurses an hour and a half and SEVEN tries to get a new one in. He looked like he was attacked by a gang of angry horse flies! Poor Guy! So, instead of a long week on a Hawaiian Cruise we spent a romantic weekend at the Huntsman Hospital. Now we atleast know why it never panned out, Heavenly Father knew we'd have other things on our minds! Thankfully this is just a speed bump, his Cancer is still in remission.

"When are we going back to the Lodge?"

Last weekend was the Burke Family getaway at the Laketown Lodge. We spent Friday night arriving and getting settled. Saturday was full of activities. After a great breakfast we went horseback riding, for most of us if it wasn't the first time ever than it had been 15 years or more since we had been on a horse! Which if you let your imagination go than you get the idea! We had a pinata party for the kids, a family baseball game (again very little imagination required to picture that one!). The Sister-in-laws all went for a 4 mile walk together and later that night rewarded ourselves with a little jewelry shopping! Sunday was spent cleaning and packing up and finishing off all of the great food! It was a great time had by all and we can't wait til next time! Before we had even made it out of Laketown the kids were already asking "When are we going back to the Lodge?"