March

March was a big month for us - lots of things happened! First of all, we found out that we will be moving to Las Vegas, Nevada, for Joseph's next assignment! We are so excited to be moving closer to family! We will miss Biloxi and are looking forward to enjoying our last 3 months here.


Matthew didn't feel well for a couple of days, and when Joseph took him to the ER one night we found out he had appendicitis! He was so brave and everything went smoothly and we are grateful for all the blessings we received over those couple of days. He is all healed and feeling good as new, now!

Joseph took his boards exam and then had a research conference in Florida. My mom and dad came to visit for a week while Joseph was gone. We had lots of fun with them and are happy they got to enjoy our beautiful spring weather!



And I finished chemo at the end of March!! It was a long five months, but we received so much help and I handled it pretty well. We are so excited for this chapter to be done, and so thankful for the friends and family that celebrated with us!

February

We had some nice weather in February and we enjoyed getting out for walks and bike rides and runs! I am slowly starting to run again and it feels so good! We really love our neighborhood and all the trees and water and open space.

More Mardi Gras parades and fun with friends! I got to go on a field trip with Anna's class to the Stennis Space Center. She is such a sweet, friendly girl, and it was fun to see her with all her friends. And Matthew made this awesome campfire cake for scouts.

I got to speak to the youth in our Stake about having gratitude in trials. It was a blessing to share my story and some of the things I have learned with them. It has been a rough six months, but we are so grateful for all the good we have experienced along the way.

Working my way through chemo treatments! Only one more month! The side affects have been very mild on this medicine, and my weeks are usually pretty good and go by quickly! February flew by, and we are excited for lots of good things happening in March!

January

After having friends and family here with us for almost 3 months, January came and we were back on our own! And we survived! My chemo medication changed to one that doesn't make me feel too sick or tired, so we are back to functioning almost as usual. It has been nice to feel like life is back to normal a little bit.

I got my braces off, yahoo! And I am so grateful to be working my way through this chemo regimen. I hit the halfway mark in January, and have been feeling good enough to start exercising again. My doses are weekly now, but they come and go quickly and don't interrupt our lives too much.

We had some cold weather in January and school was closed for a couple of days because of ice. It was nice to relax and play with the kids!

Mardi Gras celebrations commenced, and pretty soon January was over! Our goals for this new year are just to get and stay healthy, have Joseph finish his residency, and move and get settled into our new location! I know the next few months are going to fly by.

Holidays

We had a wonderful holiday season! We had so much family come visit, to help us out and to spend time with us during the holidays. My mom came for Thanksgiving and we had a wonderful few days together and enjoyed a lovely Thanksgiving meal.

Our December was very calm and simple this year, and it was just right. We decorated the house, enjoyed the warm weather, and watched lots of Christmas movies. Joseph's parents stayed with us for a few weeks and were such wonderful visitors and helpers.

My sister Megan and her family came to visit us right before Christmas. The cousins had so much fun together and we loved celebrating a little bit of Christmas with them. We exchanged some gifts and had a delicious meal and took them around to see a little bit of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
 
We had a nice, quiet Christmas day with our little family. Matthew and Anna were happy and excited, and Joseph and I took advantage of the chance to spend all day on the couch. We were able to spend lots of time together over the school break, and it was just what we needed!

We are so thankful for our wonderful family for helping us so much over the last couple of months. When I was exhausted or achy from chemo, they were there to help run the house and take care of the kids. We are excited for this new year and hopefully being over the roughest part of this journey. 2018 looks pretty good!

Update

Our lives took a surprising turn at the end of August. After a few exams and procedures, I found out that I had invasive ductal carcinoma, aka breast cancer. The next few weeks were filled with lots of tests, appointments, decisions, and many prayers. Once we knew a little better what we were dealing with, I had surgery at the end of September. We were able to go to the cancer hospital in New Orleans and have a wonderful team of doctors perform the mastectomy and reconstruction. There have been so many people along the way that have been such a good help to us. My mom and my friend Rachel came to help our family during my recovery, and we couldn't have done it without them!

The results from surgery showed that we caught it early, only Stage 1a and clear lymph nodes. There were a couple of test results that showed that I would benefit in the long run from doing chemotherapy, so that is the next step. I will start a 5 month regimen of chemotherapy tomorrow, and hope to put this all behind us soon after that.

We feel extremely grateful for the way that everything has worked out, and that things have gone smoothly and results have been very positive and hopeful. There have been many miracles and blessings all along the way. We have received so much strength through prayers, packages, letters, and service, and have been amazed by the outpouring of love and support from friends and family. We have already learned so much through this trial, and hope that it will make us more caring, empathetic, humble, and reliant on our Savior. We are always stronger than we think we are, and now is our chance to show it. I will try to post updates here as I can, mixed in with all the normal life events that I love to share. I will also update a little more often on instagram. Thank you to everyone for your love and support!

Baptism & Visitors

Our Anna girl was baptized on her dad's birthday in August, and it was such a special day! We are so grateful that so many family members and friends could be there with us!

It was so wonderful to have both sets of grandparents be able to be here for the baptism. We enjoyed a few days with each of them visiting and tried to show them all the cool things to experience in Biloxi!


We loved visiting the beach, hanging out with alligators, eating lots of good food, admiring all the beautiful homes, and spending lots of time together.



Thanks for coming all the way to Mississippi to see us and support Anna! Sorry it had to be during the hottest month of the year! ;)