Celebrating 10 Years Cancer Free!

This lady is a ROCK!  I just need to say it.  Words can't really describe just how much my mom exudes this word! 

 

Ten years ago, and we can all still remember the moment the call came in, we got news that my mom had two types of breast cancer, stage four.  It was devastating for all of us as we are such a close knit family and the thought of our mom and wife going through so much and the possibility of losing her made our hearts ache.  During the following year she underwent multiple surgeries, long treatments, countless times of sickness and fatigue, pain, emotional anguish, losing her hair, and her body changing forever.  It was a tough, sometimes very dark journey.  There were lots of tears, sleepless nights, and most of all prayers for this very special woman in our lives.  Each day brought about triumphs as well as heartache as she was the one going through all of this, and all we could do was help her out with different tasks and try to be there for her as much as we could.  Most days we all felt helpless.

 

Through it all, as much as my mom was a rock, my dad was the rock that she needed.  He was by her side every step of the way and the unconditional love and sacrifice that was shown was an example to all of us!

 

Now, jumping forward 10 years since that call, our mom is still with us and stronger than ever!  She got to be there for our weddings and meet and invest herself in her grand daughters, she continues to hold a full time job and puts her heart and soul into it every day, she works to stay healthy and strong, and she loves her family with all her heart and would do anything for us.  Words can't express how much she means to each and every one of us and we are so thankful that God has healed her.  She gets to be a part of our lives and we could not be more blessed by her!

 

So today, we celebrated 10 years.  She took her last anti-cancer pill with a celebratory mimosa, and we enjoyed a beautiful lunch amongst a garden of flowers of which she enjoys so much.

 

 

This beautiful lady needed to be celebrated!

 

We all tried to wear some form of pink to commemorate this special day :).

 





 

 If you or your family has been hit with cancer, you know how hard to journey can be.  For us, it has ended so well and we could not be more grateful!

 

Happy 10 years Mommy and to many more healthy years ahead!

Aloha!

Back in April we had the most gracious blessing of being taken to Hawaii! Brandon's parents took us to the big island of Hawaii for a fun filled family week. We were so excited! 

This was Lucy's very first plane ride and she was so excited about it she was talking about it for weeks on end before the trip! We visited daddy at work and of course saw airplanes in the sky, but she had never been in one and now was her chance! 

We got out the door around 4:30am and were off to the airport! 

 

The plane flight went so smoothly! The girls did great despite the long time of having to sit quietly and be still, but we couldn't have asked for better :). 

Even better, the flight ended with the girls getting to sit in the cockpit with daddy and talk to the pilots a little bit! The girls got little wing pins that they proudly wore and shared about when we got home. 

 

 

 

 

Of course when we got to the condo the first thing the girls wanted to do was go swimming! It was actually a little cool in Hawaii all week so Lucy and I spent most of our time in the spa or outside the water watching everyone else swim :).

 

 

And swim they did! We went to different beaches each day and pool several times and the girls really couldn't get enough time in the water or by the beach somehow! 

Aubrey wasn't even afraid of going down the slides at all! 

 

 

 

 

        

        

Our mornings were lazy. We had breakfast and coffee every morning on the lanai and let the girls run some of their energy I the grass right in front of us. The bottom floor was the best floor for these busy girls :). 

Lucy affectionately named one of the cats that roamed the premises 'healthy carrot' :). 

We had access to other hotels so we went to go see the Dolphins and turtles one morning. 

 

 

 

And we all had some time all together that morning. 

We all had our hand at making leis for the first time. Even Aubrey made her very own and she was so careful in making it correctly. 

And here were the finished products! 

This one looks just about right for Lucy :).

 

One day Mike, Tyler, Jessica, Brandon and I went on an excursion to the north side of the big island where it's much wetter.  We kayaked through a large irrigation channel that included tunnels and bridges. 

 

 

It was an unusually wet, cold day even for this part of the island and needless to say, our plastic rain ponchos didn't do much more than hold the water close to our bodies! I had some nice hot chocolate when our trip was over :).

 

 



Beach by day and beach by night. Our little beach babes just wanted sand and water! 



Burying daddy and Uncle Tyler was definitely in the plans. 

Throughout the week we went to lots of different beaches and each were beautiful in their own way.

 

 

This beach was one of the prettiest during the day with the bright blue waters. It was calm during the day, but the waters got a little rough in the evenings. 

 

One morning it was just the girls and I for a little bit, so we walked the little shops in Kona and enjoyed some Hawaiian shaved ice on the beach!

 

That evening we went back to the beach for some more play time and sunset gazing.

 

 

The next morning we went to another beach where Lucy actually got into the water and enjoyed it for more than 5 minutes!

 

 

 

 



 



 

The hotel grounds were absolutely beautiful! 

 

 

 

 

This little lagoon was just perfect for the girls to wade and swim in!  They could have spent the entire day there!


 



 

This particular evening Brandon and I got to enjoy a fancy dinner out just the two of us at Roy's (a little early anniversary celebration). We went to this restaurant on our honeymoon, so it holds a special place in our hearts :). Boy, how things have changed in the last eight years! 

 

 

The last day we had some down time and some time all together in the evening.

 



On that plane flight back Aubrey was fully awake and excited, but Lucy just needed some sleep to recuperate from all the fun she had!

 

Thank you, thank you, thank Mike and Mary for taking us on this memorable and very special trip!  We will remember this always and are so grateful for how you really went over and above with making us feel so special.  We will treasure the memories of this trip always :).