Still snowing and random stuff

It's still snowing here in beautiful Colorado. It's awesome for our local ski resort. I can't wait to get out there and ski! Zackary will be taking ski lessons in Feb. We are all excited. Below are a few pictures of our Christmas snow. I left my memory card at my parents house, so I can't post Christmas pictures until I see my Dad next week. Christmas was good. We spent Christmas at my parents house. Santa was very good to the kids this year. Jourdan got a PSP, Meghan got a balance beam, and Zack got a cool Batman toy. The kids are all off school until January 5th. Jourdan is loving not having school. Meghan is staying busy with gymnastics. On an exciting note.. Meghan made the gymnastics team! I'm so proud of her!

Some of you know that I had surgery last week. Without boring you with all the details, I found out a couple days ago that the surgery failed (failed BAD). I have no choice but to head back to surgery. I will find out when the surgery is on Wednesday. I'm pushing to have the surgery ASAP for 3 reasons. First, I'm in a lot of pain... Second, I want to be healed to take my trip to Dallas in Feb. Third... I need to continue my workout plan. I'm discouraged to say the least.

Lots and lots of snow

It has been snowing nonstop for the last 4 days. We have at least 2 feet of snow. The kids are loving it.

Meghan

I went to check on Meghan last night, and this is how I found her.

Ice Skating

The kids went ice skating for the first time this past weekend. I had to work, so I wasn't able to go : ( Meghan did really well and was skating around the rink on in no time. Jourdan spent most of his time on his butt, and Zack was a little scared. We hope to go again this weekend. I'm excited to ice skate! I don't think I've skated since High School. Should be interesting....

More Ice Skating

Church Christmas Party

Saturday was our church Christmas party. Zack was beyond excited! He was so excited to sit on Santa's lap and sing Christmas carols. I also included a picture of our church, just because I think it's such a pretty church.

Gingerbread House

The kids made their annual gingerbread house over the weekend. They did a really great job, and didn't make too much of a mess!

School Pictures

Jourdan Dean, 6th grade, 11yrs
Meghan Gwendoline - 4th Grade, 9yrs
Zackary Trusty - Kindergarten, 5yrs

Our Daily Visitor, Pete

The past 3 days we have had this same deer in our yard. This deer is always alone, and not afraid of the kids or our dogs. He just hangs out in the backyard and eats our grass. The kids decided his name should be " Pete". He's starting to become part of the family.

5 years

Five years ago on Monday, November 17, 2003, I heard the words "You have Breast Cancer". A day I will never forget. I look back at everything that has happened since then. I had a baby, bilateral mastectomy, reconstruction times 9, hysterectomy, nausea, vomiting. The stress was beyond belief. The stress of this event was just as traumatic for my husband and my parents. To a degree my children were also affected, even though we made life as normal as possible for them.

My family have been supportive through this journey. Dennis, my parents, Ruth and my sister-in-law Niki, were and still are my lifeline. My rock.

The year I was diagnosed, 2003, NEMO was a very popular movie. My children watched Nemo all the time. I remember a scene in the movie when Marlin was scared to swim in the deep, dark water. Dori held his little fin, and sang " Just keep swimming, Just keep swimming, when life gets you down just swim, swim, swim". That phrase got me though everything.

My first chemotherapy, Niki drove down from Denver with buttons she made that said "Just keep Swimming". She had a button for me, Dennis, our children and my parents. To this day, this button gives me comfort. Every time I scared to go get my blood work, scans etc... I take out that button. Just keep swimming.

I canno't believe it has been 5 years. I'm a 5 year survivor.


Below are a few pictures I found.

The top picture is my "real" hair. You can see at the top where it was starting to fall out. My goal was to match my real hair with my wig. The bottom picture was my wig.

The last 2 photos are of my hair growing back. The chemo made my face so swollen.

Happy Veteran's Day!

Here are my 2 favorite Vets. My Dad who served in the US Airforce and my husband who served in the US Army.

Ski Season....

Is almost here! Aspen, Vail, Copper Mountain, and Breckinridge are now open. Sunlight Mountain (ski resort in our town) will be open on December 5th. The kids have unpacked their snowboards and are ready to go! We're all really excited!

Trunk or Treat

We had Trunk or Treat on Wednesday. Dennis and the kids had so much fun! I wasn't able to go because I had to work. The church went all out on decorations. Spiders, Fog machines, great entertainment etc.... Zackary was Batman, Meghan was a fairy, and Jourdan wore a skeleton shirt (he thought he was too old to get fully dressed up).

What's Happening with the kids

A Quick Run-down....

Meghan

What can I say about Meghan? Meghan's life is gymnastics. It takes up a lot of our time. She is loving every bit of it. She is finally working on perfecting her back hand spring. Meghan did wonderful in the primary program. She memorized her part, and did awesome. I got tears in my eyes when she sang "I am a child of God". Meghan is very excited because this week she is taking a field trip to Vail, to see CSI the play!

Zackary
Zackary is loving kindergarten. He is the youngest in the class by far, but is keeping up. He still needs to work on his motor skills, but he is coming along. Zack shocked Dennis and I today because he asked us " Are you voting for Barack Obama or John McCain"? We had no idea he knew who they even were. Zack had his first field trip to the Police Station last week. He was excited because he has never been on a field trip before. What was even more exciting for him was they were able to walk next to the river.


Jourdan
Jourdan had the stomach flu for about a week. It was a nasty little bug, that he passed on to me. Because of Jourdan's sickness he wasn't able to participate in the Primary Program at Church. He was very happy to watch though. I still can't believe that Jourdan is in middle school. The middle school had their first school dance on Friday night. Myself, and a couple of other Mom's from the church were not confer table with the kids going to a school dance at 11. So some of the other parents and I set up a little party at Jourdan's BFF house. This was a nice substitute to the school dance. Included below is Jourdan's school picture. I think it turned out really well.

Gymnastics

This week was "show off" week in Meghan's gymnastics class. Meghan was also finally able to climb all the way up the rope. She has only started to reach the top of the rope the last week or so. Meg has more lower body strength than upper body. Next week Meghan moves up to Advanced Classes. Advanced class means more training, but Meg is up for it. The next level after advance is Team. Team is what she is worked so hard for!

Video taken by Jourdan......

Way too cold

I think we skipped fall and went right into winter. It has been so cold in the mornings. This morning it was only 14 degrees when I woke up. We had to break out the winter gear. Thankfully, it hasn't snowed yet. We've had frost, but no snow. Times like this I wish I was back in Texas.

Below is a picture of Zack going to school.

Pumpkin Patch

Today was a pefect fall day. The weather was on the cool side. A perfect day to pick out a pumkin.