Tumor Marker

 

Up from 220 one month ago. This means that cancer is growing somewhere in my body, even with the new chemo.

Family Updates

 McKinley just finished 8th grade at South Davis Junior High. She isn’t one to love school, but she’s very social and is generally happy! We love her loads, her spunky personality keeps us all going!

Interesting week so far, Maddie graduated from the UvU with a BSW last week. So proud of her hard work and dedication toward things she feels passionate about!!

Brooklyn is graduating tonight with high honors and a 4 year scholarship to Weber State University! I’m sure she didn’t get her dedication and smarts from me. She’s navigated a difficult, emotional, anxious year, but she’s made progress in finding her peace and living her perfect life. We love her so much! And can’t emphasize enough how proud we are of her!!!

The best news of all is that by next Friday, Mathew will officially be retired from teaching. I never thought we’d get here - especially not under our current circumstances, but I’m so grateful he found a way to make it work and still get his full pension. He taught 18 years at Evergreen junior high, 10 years at Riverton high. He’s “only” 54, so there will still be work in his future, but it will be something that doesn’t consume every waking moment. I LOVE HIM for sticking with it and for providing for our family all these years. Mathew, I love you more everyday and can’t wait for all the adventures we can cram into the time we have left!

Musings on Motherhood

It’s safe to say that all my adult life my thoughts and worries have centered on the well-being of my husband, marriage, and kids. I am the Mom that had a million ideas and expectations for myself. And I’ve thought of a million things I “should have” done better. I should have read more books with kids. I should have read more scriptures. I shouldn’t have started my business. We should have been more active, gone hiking more, we should have gone on more family activities. We shouldn’t have ever gone down the slippery slope with cell phones. I should have been more patient. I should have listened and loved more. I should have been more accepting. I should have done more to serve those around us.

I could go on and on …

No parent is perfect, but I hope my family knows that I did the best I could with the knowledge and experience I had at the time. I hope they can see that as the years rolled on, I became a better Mom by learning from my mistakes. I hope they can see we did everything we could to provide a stable, safe home for them. I hope they’ll remember the funny times we’ve had. I hope they don’t forget sleep outs in the backyard. I hope they remember marshmallow roasts, birthday parties, camping trips, the private hours, the crazy road trips. I hope they noticed the kindness I tried to show to everyone, including strangers. I hope they know that we love(d) them no matter the decisions they’ve made. I have loved being their Mom.