Sarah's condition

Sarah is my oldest sibling. She has been fighting brain cancer. In May things got pretty scary for a few weeks. Then with chemo treatments she was living very well. She definitely had changed and was living with my parents and her boys had moved in with their Dad, but she was functioning and thinking very well. Before Christmas, Sarah's started showing short term memory loss again and her December 28th MRI was devastating. The doctor's told Sarah and my parents that chemo could no longer do anything for her and it was time for her to spend quality time with her family. She has changed by leaps and bounds in the last 5 weeks. Her short term memory is nonexistant. She cannot do the simplest of tasks without help. Her left side is extremely weak. She cannot balance on her own. Hospice is visiting a couple times a week. My mom has been at her side every minute. My mom is physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted. My sister Emily was able to come down from Utah for four days and spend a lot of time with her while she was staying at the in care family hospice facility getting her pain meds figured out. The reality and severity of her condition has hit all of us hard. It is really difficult to see the changes that have taken and are continuing to take place.

One amazing thing going on around us though is the kind, unselfish acts of those who want to show their support to our family. Women from my church have been amazing. It felt strange, when I was not sick to have these wonderful women bring dinner for me and my little family. At first I felt selfish to accept. However, it was amazing to feel the burden of my heart being lightened in this way. Having one less physical demand of my time was such a relief. Feeling that these women cared for me and wanted to help me and my family lifted my spirit. Just last night, my sweet cousin who has a new baby brought me a meal as well. For some reason it is just the sweetest show of love and support and it has meant so much to me. Not to mention the many friends offering to take my kids so that I can go and spend time with my sister. Even the act of bringing me a fountain drink has brought me the best feeling of being buoyed up by those that love me.

I know that my parents are experiencing this same kind of show of love and support from so many and I can't imagine how we would all get by without it. So thank you to everyone who has been offering support, thoughts, and prayers for Sarah, her sons, and our family! We couldn't do this alone.

Charlotte turned 6

So, Charlotte's birthday is December 26th. We did have a celebration with Trent's family at the beginning of the month at the same time we celebrated her Aunt Jen's birthday and her cousin Ashlyn's.

On her actual birthday she woke up to a new bike and some barbies. She had outgrown her other bike and was really ready for a new one. The one Trent had gotten was actually a little too big, so he ended up taking her to go pick out a new one. That was after he took her to go get doughnuts for breakfast. The kids spent most of the day outside with Trent, riding bikes and scooters and enjoying the nice weather. Then Charlotte requested we all go to Souper Salad for dinner. It was so nice spending the whole day together as a family. We stopped by Grandma and Grandpa's on the way home to see Trent's sister and her family who had gotten in town from Idaho.

It was too late when we got home to make a cake, so I promised we would do it the next day. When I tucked the girl's in for bed, I sang them a song and when I turned to leave the room I saw Trent standing in the doorway. He wanted us to sing "Happy Birthday" to Charlotte before she went to sleep. I really think he is the cutest Daddy alive.

Christmas 2011

Christmas Day we enjoyed new scooters, a new bike for me and lots of fun presents. Then we ate sticky buns and headed off to church. I sang in the choir and got asked to bear my testimony and enjoyed the lovely spirit of the day. We enjoyed our toys, some naps and some more family time. We got to see Grandma and Grandpa Summers one more time before they left town.