Oh How I Love Thee Summer FF

1.  I was super sad to see Tristen and my nieces leave Saturday morning, but they needed to get back to their daddy and to attend dance camp this week.  My nieces have a special place in my heart and in my arms.  I am so glad we were able to spend nearly 2 weeks together this Summer.  We had such a great time and have already put it on the calendar for next year.  Lazy Summer day's can't be beat.

2.  Saturday was super busy.  I attended 2 baby showers, a birthday party, a lunch BBQ and a Dinner.  By that evening I was exhausted.  My cousin Callie threw the cutest "Around The World" baby shower making most all of the decorations.

3.  Sunday we had a BBQ and the kids all came over.  We did some tentative planning for our Disneyland trip.  Oh, are we going to have fun!
4.  Monday morning I went to see Alisha's new house.  It is around the corner from her old house.  I love her new house.  It is decorated so nicely.  I especially love a picture that is hanging in her living room, which hung in our grandparents house for years.  It looks perfect in her house.  We had us a lovely chat over Bowel of Heaven for breakfast.

 5.  Callie, Danielle, Becky and their kids came over Monday afternoon for some pool time.  Callie also cut my hair since I was starting to grow another mullet.  It grows so fast in the back, sure wish the sides would hurry up.  She actually said my hair was looking like a bell, so we thinned it a little.  It is really cute and actually has a cute style when I wear it straight, which is difficult to do when you live with humidity.  It was perfectly straight when I got to the ferry Tuesday night 15 minutes into my ride I had a head full of curls.

6.  Monday evening we went with Grandma Betty and Lee out for dinner.  We had such an enjoyable time visiting and eating of course.  After dinner my friends since childhood Derick and Terra dropped by.  I loved catching up with them.

7.  I flew back to MVY on Tuesday morning.  My dear friend Melanie stopped at the store and bought me some groceries before picking me up from the Ferry.  What a darling she is.  It is so wonderful to be back here.  It is quite possible that my plans will change as I will likely stay here now until September 3.  I just can't give it up and if I'm going to have to have chemo I might as well have it in a beautiful place.  The Summer is flying by so quickly, I want to savor all the time I have here.

 8.  I had a devastating case this week.  As a cancer patient myself, yet a medical provider, I had to inform my patient who is only 39 and had 4 children under the age of 8 that she had metastatic cancer throughout her spine.  She had finished treatment for breast cancer a year ago.  She had even had a double mastectomy.  Before I gave her the news I said a prayer that Heavenly Father would bless me with comfort and guidance as I gave her the diagnosis.  He was with me for sure as I was able to have composure as I discussed her test results.  There was a tender mercy in this experience given,  as I was able to tell this dear lady about my experience and to let her know that I knew exactly what she was feeling as I had experienced my very own recurrence of cancer just 1 month previous.  My heart still aches for her and her children.  Will you pray for Anne please?
9.  I spent nearly the entire day today with my dear friend Melanie.  She is so much fun and we have lovely chats when we are together.  She is cool too because she drives a Jeep.  We put the hood down today and let the wind blow our hair.  Most of our day was spent at the beach.  It was a perfect beach day.  We regrouped for an early dinner of fresh clams and oysters.  They were okay, but the experience was fun.   This bird swooped down and picked up the lunch of the person behind us at the beach today.  It was hilarious, especially when the person was trying to get it back from the bird.

10.  I moved today.  I wasn't fond of where I have been staying.  The location was perfect, but the house was dirty.  I'm now staying at the hotel in Vineyard Haven.  It is much cleaner and has 2 beds for when my guests come.  It also has a little kitchen, but the best thing is it has a private beach.  The view is spectacular.  I can't wait to do some exploring in the morning.  The town I'm staying in has beautiful white houses with black shutters and the yards are gorgeous.

 This was in the previous house across from the nasty loveseat hung what I guess some people call art.  I had to stare at this thing for weeks whenever I would sit down.

 11.  Tuesday when I returned I was trying to turn on the ceiling fan.  Somehow I fell and instead of just falling on the floor, I caught myself and slammed my face on the corner of the wall.  Since I didn't have ice, I immediately slapped a frozen chicken breast on my face.  It maybe helped the swelling, but the bruise looks awful.  Thankfully it looks worse than it feels, actually it doesn't hurt unless I touch it.

20 Years Since High School

This past weekend was my 20th High School Class Reunion.  It really is crazy to think that I'm that old.  It was so enjoyabel to visit with friends, many of whom I haven't seen in 20 years.

The Friday evening gathering was wonderfully attended.  People always think it is awkward when you haven't seen someone for several years, but I didn't feel this way in the least bit.

Saturday I attended the BBQ Luncheon, but only for an hour.  I was so happy to see my friend Amy who has been my friend since 1st grade.  We double dated all through High School.  Our boyfriends played on the Varsity Basketball team together; it was fun for us to attend games together.

Saturday evening we had a nice dinner and program.  When I arrived an hour late to the evening festivities, I saw on all of the tables teal nail polish with an attached message.

What a huge surprise and humbling experience for me.  I didn't expect something so kind and generous in my support.  I truly have amazing people in my life and am so grateful for them.  I was given an opportunity to address my fellow classmates during the program.  I talked about my experience with Ovarian Cancer and about trials, that we all have them and how no trial is better or worse than another.  I hope my words touched someone in the crowd.

It was wonderful to be able to visit with my classmates, many of which I attended elementary school with.  There were 2 in attendance that I attended Kindergarten with.  I found myself saying, "This isn't just a High School reunion, it's a life reunion."

Friends since Kindergarten; a Nurse, PA and DR.  Mrs. Shea would be so proud.

For those of you who aren't aware, my brother Tyler was in the same grade as me.  It was awesome to grow up with him.  I never felt alone or afraid, because he always had my back.  One story I heard about him was when we were in High School and the guys in the locker room were saying inappropriate things to my then boyfriend after football practice about us.  Tyler wasn't afraid to put them in their place telling them not to talk about his sister in that way.

There were many, many who didn't attend our reunion.  For those people, I'm sorry you missed a great time.  I think the consensus is to have another reunion in 5 years because this one was so enjoyable, hope we see you there.

More Idaho Fun

Last week in between swimming, celebrating birthday's, being sick from chemo and my 20th High School Class Reunion fun (post to come) we also did the following:

We went to the 100th Snake River Stampede as a family.  It was crazy and the parents were afraid the kids would fall over the ledge and into the crowd below, but I'm happy to report all came away wanting to get on a horse or a bucking bronco.

One morning the sisters attended the beautiful Boise Temple. What a peaceful experience it was.  I loved being able to attend with my sisters.  The spirit was beautiful and even though I wasn't feeling well the entire time I was there it was a treasured experience.  I'm pretty sure that because of giving my time to serving others, Heavenly Father blessed me, because from that afternoon on I've felt back to my normal healthy self.  I might even venture to say the back pain even after traveling from Boise to MVY today is not even bothering me.

After the temple we stopped by one of our most favorite restaurants for Saturday morning brunch Tammi's Tea Cottage.  The reason being was because they are closing after 26 years.  It stinks that our favorite hometown restaurants always close; like the Beanery.  They say they will still do some catering, but I bet we will have had our very last one of these very unhealthy, yet amazingly delicious Monte Cristo's.  "Is it greasy?  Is it fattening?  I'll take it" (Inside Sisters Joke).

 Since I'll never have the opportunity to have a child, my brother Troy and Sister-In-Law Becky gave me the special opportunity to go with them to find out the gender of their baby coming December 1.  As soon as I saw the face I said, "It's a boy."  He looks like Beckett.  And yes he is a boy.  Stella wasn't happy one bit when we did our revealing party.  For that we bought a pinata and of course put lots of blue candy in it.  

But we also revealed to the kids that we are going to Disneyland in September by decorating it as Micky Mouse.  The kids are so happy, but I think the adults are even more excited.  This week we even reserved our 6 bedroom house with 2 laundry rooms which is only 2 miles from Disneyland.

My favorite part of my time home was just being together.  My mom always says it's a let down when everyone leaves.  I think she is probably right, but we always have our next get together on the books.  Mom, Dad, Tenielle and Tony will be here August 7 and most of us will be home again the end of August.  And in 2 months we will all gather at Disneyland for an entire week together! Until next time...