Arrow of Light

Spencer has worked really hard this year in Cub Scouts.  In November he earned his Webelos badge and this month he was awarded with his Arrow of Light.  During the award ceremony, the purpose of the arrow of light award is discussed and feathers are tied on the arrow one by one by each of his fellow scouts.  Each feather representing a different quality that a scout should posess.

Then Spencer pins a special pin on me and is congratulated by the Cub Scout Master and Matt and I.

I'm really proud of Spencer for acheiving this award.  It took a lot of patience and perserverance.  But I did it.  Oh, I mean HE did it.  No really, Spencer did work really hard to fulfill all the requirements.  I just had to bug him everyday to get it done.  And if you're wondering why I'm wearing a scout shirt...I'm currently serving as the Bear den leader.  So I get to wear a uniform too!  Just look at all the pins Spencer earned this year...

Matt's parents and Grandma were able to come and support Spencer in his acheivement.  We are so lucky to have them live so close!  (Only a mile and a half away!)

There's something about a uniform that just makes your baby boy look all grown up.  We're so proud of you Spencer!  Way to go!  Watch out Boy Scouts...Here comes Spencer!  Now we're on to earning the Eagle!!

Celebration of Life Dinner

So,  I'm part of the best group ever.  However, NONE of you are invited to join.  Sorry!!  It's my breast cancer support group entitled, The Young Survivor Sisters .  It's a group another girl and I started after we were diagnosed with breast cancer 7 years ago.  It's a support group for women diagnosed with breast cancer under age 45.  One in every 8 women will get breast cancer...usually not in their twenties though.  So we're a rare breed. 

When a nurse coordinator put me in touch with another young woman battling breast cancer I felt an immediate connection.  Ginny Nelson ... (Ginny and her hubby)

and I were instant pals the second we started talking on the phone seven years ago.  Then we decided to meet for lunch along with another young survivor, Cheryl Pulsipher. (no relation, but the irony....)  After having lunch together and feeling so relieved to talk to someone about our experiences, challenges and fears, we knew we had something good going.  While I have AWESOME friends and family support, there is something extra special about connecting with another "sister" who has been through the same crap I have.

Ginny and I started meeting other young women at various places and realized what a benefit it was to get together and share stories.  Even if it was just to laugh and sometimes cry, it feels great to have someone who understands.  It proved to be an AWESOME resource for surgeons, doctors, reconstruction options and where to get the best wigs.  Ginny and I kept meeting more and more young women and decided we need to form a group and name ourselves.  We decided that ever since we've met each other, it was like having a sister...hence...Young Survivor Sisters.

Along the way, we met an AMAZING survivor named Ginger.   (Ginger and her hubby)

Ginger saw that keeping the group going was becoming somewhat burdensome on Ginny and I and she stepped in to help out.  Ginger has done AMAZING things for our group.  In the one year since she has been president, our group has gone from around 40 members to almost 80.  She designed these super cute cards to put in doctors offices to advertise our group.

She has worked tirelessly to get the word out.  We knew there were lots of young women out there who needed our group, but just didn't know how to find us.  Ginger has done so much to improve that.  Ginger started a yearly donated dinner entitled, Celebration of Life.  We have a nice dinner, (donated by a generous plastic surgeon Dr. Marge Massey) and enjoy a nice program and each other's company.

This year was AWESOME.  It was overwhelming to see so many faces that I'd never seen before.  Ginny and I were both so taken back that what was a small lunch in a McDonald's 7 years ago, has turned into this!!!

I'm so grateful for the experiences, life lessons, and humility I learned from having cancer.  The experience was forever life-changing.  I feel like the person I am today, is due in large part to the lessons I learned while battling the disease.  Everything from self worth to physical illness and lots of lessons in between.  I grew an unbelievable amount spiritually and my testimony of the gospel has deepened imeasurably.   I know that meeting Ginny was not a lucky happen-stance.  It was a blessing from above.  These amazing young women have changed my life.  I have learned from them, laughed with them, and will forever be their best friends.

If you know a young woman who could benefit from our group, please refer them to our website.  It can make all the difference.

The Young Survivor Sisters

Basketball Season

It's that time of year again...basketball time!  Spencer and Ethan both love to play Jr. Jazz basketball during the winter months.  And let's face it, if I didn't have an outlet for all that cooped up winter time energy they have...it could be ugly.  I love basketball because it gives the boys a chance to run and have some fun during the winter months.

Both Spencer and Ethan are really pretty great players.  They both usually score 1 or 2 baskets for their team at each game.  And that's a lot when sometimes there is only 5 baskets the entire game! 

I'm so proud of both of them for trying so hard and doing so great at every game!!!

Here's Ethan making a basket...goooo Ethan!

Ethan had a couple of steals this game...nice!

I happen to catch him at another attempt at a basket....this one rolled around the rim and then out.

Here is Spencer making the first basket of the game!  Woohoooo!

Spencer is AWESOME at defense.  He is the first one to hussle down to the other end of the court and he can put some serious pressure on his opponents!

I love watching the boys games and seeing how much they improve each game.  I'm one proud mama right now!

Spencer turns E-L-E-V-E-N !!!!

Wow, I'm really getting old.  I have an eleven year-old now!  On Spencer's birthday, his grandparents came over to help him celebrate.  I never thought it would happen, but my Mom played some Wii!  What a hip granny!  She's over 60 and she's got mad skills!  Seriously it was so fun to watch my own Mom play video games.

Spencer LOVES Transformers and everything about them.  So, this is his cake....

I'm definitely not skilled enough to make a cake in the shape of a Transformer...I think I tried last year and failed MISERABLY; so this year I got smart and printed some pictures to stick to the cake.  Spencer loved it!

So what's the best gift for an eleven year old?  Yep, you guessed it.  Cold, hard CASH.  The kid was beaming ear to ear after opening card after card filled with the green stuff!  Thank you Grandma's and Grandpa's for the mulah!  You sure made Spencer smile!!

Every other year, we allow the kids to have a friend party.  This was the year.  Since eleven year-olds are too cool for party games, it was a pizza and movie night...here's the invite:

Of course it was a Transformer's theme.  Pizza and the viewing of Transformers 2.  (the edited ClearPlay version of course!)

I was beginning to wonder what I had got myself into.  Fifteen eleven year-old boys pretending to be Transformers...wow.

I thought I was being a pretty cool Mom because I took the boys pictures as they arrived at the party.  Then while they watched the movie I edited their pictures to be in a Transformer's scene, then emailed the images to the printer and went and picked them up so they could take home their picture that night.  I thought it was cool anyway.

The boys were actually really well behaved.  I was so glad.  They all enjoyed the movie.  It was so great!

Thank you parents of eleven year-old boys for teaching them manners!  THANK YOU!  They were all so great!

All in all Spencer had a SUPER great birthday.  Still can't believe my baby is eleven, but I'm actually liking the fact that I can have a decent conversation with him.  Love you Spencer!  Happy Birthday!

Cousins, Parties, and more cousins!

So the week after Christmas is just my fave.  Wanna know why?  Cuz I usually get to see all of my family that lives out of state.  We get together, eat, laugh, open presents, eat, laugh and laugh some more.  It's just so much fun!

This year it was my side of the family first....so we packed up the car and headed up to Mountain Green in a major snow storm!  A normal trip up there would take about an hour, and because of the snow packed roads the entire way, the trip took 2 hours!  But it was worth it.

After eating yummy pizza, we sat in a huge circle and opened presents.  As you can see, we are a Nikon family...hehe.:)

The boys LOVED their new matching pajama pants Grandma gave them!  And they are even better when your cousins all get a matching pair!!

Sadie and Kenzee....the cutest cousins!!  They are pretty much inseperable from the moment they see each other.  They walk around holding hands and talking about bracelets and lip gloss.  It's just the cutest thing you've ever seen.  And Kenzee's little sister Amelia is just the icing on the cake.  She's got to be the happiest child ever!  Sadie already misses you both!!

We all slept over at Grandma's...cousin heaven!!  And then we woke up to 12 new inches of fresh snow!!  The boys couldn't wait to get out in it! 

Sadie couldn't wait either.  She LOVES to play in the snow.  Even though she didn't have any snow pants and ended up with snow down her pants, she kept playing and playing.

Unfortunately Kenzee wasn't quite as excited...she wanted to see the horses.  So after we walked down to the horses, her frown definitely turned upside down!  (don't you just love the pic of Sadie hugging Kenzee, trying to make her feel better?)

JUMPING.  Spencer and Ethan loved jumping off the snow covered wall to the snow below.  So fun!

This is Spencer taking flight.

This is Ethan's lift off...

Sadie loved throwing the snow up in the air and then burying herself in it.

The boys loved rolling down the snowy hill with their cousin Kelton.  And then my brother decided to come help shovel the walks....in his cute jammies..go Nate!

After a day of play, we headed home to get ready for the next party.  It was Matt's side of the family this time and again...cousins, cousins, cousins...SO FUN!!!  The kids were all in heaven!  Matt's family is getting bigger and bigger by the minute!  There are 19 grandkids with THREE more on the way!  Yikes!

And of course everyone has a favorite uncle, right?  That would be uncle Jake.  He's the youngest of Matt's siblings and is just cool.  He's active duty military and currently in helicopter pilot school.  All the boy cousins look up to their awesome uncle Jake.  I had to take some pictures of the boy cousins with their favorite uncle!

And then there's Rachel.  To say that Sadie loves her cousin Rachel is the understatement of the year.  The two of them are tied at the hip every second.  It's all about Tink and Cinderella and sweet aunt Carrie got them matching backpacks.  Really, seeing the two of them have so much fun together just melts my heart!

It was New Year's Eve, so later that evening we had a HUGE party.  Just kidding.  I put Sadie to bed and Matt, the boys and I watched a movie and waited for midnight.  At midnight I woke Matt up for a kiss and the boys thought it was so awesome to be able to stay up until midnight.

Welcome 2010!!

Can't wait to see what happens this year!!!  I'm sure grateful for my awesome hubby, great boys, and sweet daughter.  Love them all!