Michael

The girls and I used our Get Out Pass to see Michael one morning. It was super fun and the luxury seats are amazing. I made sure to get plenty of sleep before so I could stay awake.

Lehi Round Up Week

We enjoyed Comedy Night during Round Up week. It was Comedy Sports, which has now changed its name to Comedy Box. 

We enjoyed the parade and sat in a new location. It wasn't as good as our old spot but we were forced out of our old spot. Brigham and Miriel stayed with Friday night so they could go to the parade with us. 

They went to the Market/booths at the park after. Tag and Kade played in a tournament that weekend and Tag's team made it to the championship. So it made for a busy week and weekend.

Sienna's Sewing Camp

Sienna attended another Bright Ideas sewing camp. We love Mary Alice so much. She does such a good job teaching the girls how to sew. Her sewing room is so cute!

I took a picture so I could show Ali how cute of a place it is.

Saratoga Springs Soccer 5 v 5 Tournament

Kade and Tag are on new teams this year at a new club called Futuro Futsol Academy or FFA. Calling FFA is funny for us though because we just think of the agricultural club FFA. The Club was started by some Brazilian coaches so they definitely don't think of cowboys and livestock when they say FFA. With that aside, we have been very happy with the club. 

Their first tournament was 5 v 5. Kade's team was put in a high school bracket by mistake and so they were playing against seniors. They got beat by a lot. Kade played goalie because their goalie was out of town. He blocked a PK during the second game and broke his wrist. Although we didn't confirm it until a week after because it was hard to know if it was broken or just sprained. 

Tag's team rocked and won every game except the championship game. It was so close. It was very windy and they almost won.

Sienna's YW Boating Activity

Sienna went boating for YW with the Gregory's. She told me she wasn't going to ride the tube so I was pleasantly surprised when she came home and told me how fun the tube was.

I'm glad she went out of her comfort zone.

Cutest Hair Stylist

I may have already posted this, but Sienna dyed my roots for the second time. I pay her to help me, and it saves me so much time. She enjoys it, so it is a win-win. 

FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup started while we were at girls' camp. The boys were very happy watching endless soccer games all week. I'm glad it distracted them and kept them from missing us. Lynnlee had a watch party with her friends once we were back. Lynnlee really got into it which was so fun for her and Marshall.

It was also cute watching James and Lynnlee watch games together. We are just soaking up every minute with James this summer.

They went to a watch party at Cam's and Lynnlee made the girls shirts.

Stake YW Camp

My calling as Stake YW president has been a rollercoaster ride. We hit a lot of notes after the multi-stakeholder dance last summer when Jenna Sharp was hit by a car and passed away. My presidency wanted to end on a high note. We asked to not be released so we could plan one more stakeholder YW camp and end on a high note. I felt very good about this decision because I really had wrestled with asking to be released when my clinical rotations started. After praying about it, I didn't feel good about being released. 

We asked the stake camp director if she would like to be released or help with camp one more time. She was very prayerful about it and ultimately decided she wanted to help. There were multiple check-ins with her from October through February, and she remained on board. Unfortunately, that all changed in April. She decided to step down due to her mental health and her family's needs. This was very overwhelming to me, and I was so stressed and frustrated. I immediately wanted a camp assistant to step in as president, but neither assistant said they could. Both assistants said they could still help, but couldn't step in to take it all on. Then I wanted to call a new camp director. I made a list of sisters who could step in. I didn't feel good about anyone on the list. I went to the temple with my parents, prayed about it, and felt that my presidency needed to step in and take it on. We needed to divide and conquer. My presidency supported that decision. Everyone took on responsibilities. Jeanne-Marie took on the sweatshirts and decorations. Nicole took on cabin assignments. Megan took on small tasks like name tags for the stake cabin. The camp assistants each stepped up and helped plan the night activities and rotations. It was very stressful and a lot of work. I made the schedule and kept communication going. I helped plan rotations and the nightly activities. 

We went to the temple together on a Saturday night, a week before camp, to have heavenly help. It was such a neat experience and very special to me. 

ChatGPT helped me design the slideshow for the camp kick-off. I received so much information for camp kick-off. It was so amazing to be guided and directed through the whole process. It was so nerve-racking to get up in front of parents and young women of the stake and go over camp, but I did it. It all went as well as I hoped. 

Megan was busy getting a missionary ready, so I made these for the stake cabin, and then she added string to them. 

We had a YCL camp kick-off on the Sunday before camp. Payton gave an awesome devotional. Then the girls helped make the watercolor painting kits. They also got to make their Always beaded keychain. It was a fun activity, and it was good to get to know everyone and spend time with them.

My ward was so great to work with. The leaders took good care of my girls. It was a really great experience. I went to camp early with the stake YCLs. My girls came up an hour or two later with our ward. It was fun greeting wards as they rolled into camp. Everything went really smoothly as we unpacked and settled in. I conducted the opening meeting and was so nervous, but it went well. I did a positive visualization activity. It was one I learned from a BYU football coach who spoke at a youth fireside. Coach Jay Hill had everyone stand up and face forward. Then we kept our feet planted and turned the upper half of our body with our right hand extended, to see how far we could turn with our feet planted. Then we turned back and faced the front. Then he told us to visualize ourselves turning farther than we had before. Then we tried the exercise again, and there was an audible gasp from everyone as we all turned way farther than we had first. It was so cool. So I had the girls at camp stand up and do this exercise. Then I shared how James taught us to have a positive attitude and to say "I get to" instead of "I have to." I encouraged everyone to have a positive attitude while at camp so they could get the most out of it. During the week, it was fun hearing girls say I get to instead of I have to.

The rotations took place on Monday and Tuesday. We had soap whittling, embroidery, watercolor, and beaded keychains. The YCLs were so helpful in leading the rotations. That allowed me to walk around to each one. 

The first night, we had a game night. I was so nervous about it, but my presidency and the assistants really came through and helped. The younger assistants, Payton and Molly, were the hosts, and that really took some stress off. The girls seemed to love the games. 

My ward had Hi Fit in the pavilion on the second morning. Anyone was welcome to join. They had a good time.

I took this at the embroidery rotation. It was so fun to be there with my girls! 

On the second night, we had Singing in the Trees at the amphitheater, then went to the Light Walk. The singing was so beautiful and the perfect lead-in to the Light Walk. The Light Walk was amazing. It was my own personal journey with the Savior. It was really spiritual and emotional. Everyone wrote down a trial or difficult thing in their life, and they were hung along the sides of a walkway under black light. It felt dark and heavy. Then we learned about how the Savior atoned for us and helps us through. He doesn't remove our trials, but he helps us through them. Then we wrote down what the Savior would say to us in our trial. They were hung on the sides of a lit walkway that felt so light and positive. It was so special, and I am so grateful I got to go.

We took these while we waited for our turn to go through the Walk.

The wards each took turns going to a low ropes course, high ropes course, tomahawk toss, and the lake. I got to see our ward at the Tomahawk Toss and high ropes course. 

Lynnlee on the left and Sienna on the right.

Lynnlee had most of her friends' group at camp. It was so fun to sit by these girls at meals.

The lake was on the last day. That night, we had Bishop Olympics and a testimony meeting. Jeanne-Marie was in charge of that, and she did an awesome job! The testimony meeting was so spiritual. It was so nice and comforting to go with my ward. It totally made up for two years ago. 

There were a lot of emotions knowing this was our last hurrah for our presidency. I love these women so much. 

I had my kids carve soap so I could have examples to show the girls. I knew it would help and give them direction with whittling their own bars of soap. My kids and I really got into it and enjoyed carving soap one weekend.

We came home Thursday morning. It was a great week. There really is such a special spirit at Heber Valley Camp. I was so grateful for a wonderful week with nothing bad happening there. 

Side note: on the last day, we got news that Sister Ott was out for a run and was hit by a car while crossing Pioneer Crossing. The car ran a red light and hit her while traveling at 50 mph. She was being life-flighted to IMC. We were at the high course, and we stopped what we were going, and all said a prayer. You could feel the spirit so strongly. It was so emotional but also so spiritual. Thankfully, after a few hours, we found out she was going to be ok, and she only had a broken leg, some broken ribs, a concussion, and a small brain bleed, but they weren't worried about it at all. It was totally a miracle. Wow! So something bad did happen back home, not at camp. Thank goodness!

We had a camp recap about a month after. It was actually the Tuesday after being released, so it was the perfect way to say goodbye to the old presidency and welcome the new one. We had a slide show and movie treats. It was stressful leading up to it, but Michelle Stradling took on the movie treats. My neighbors had a screen and a projector, and they let us borrow it. Marshall helped me with setup and cleanup, and it went well. I felt so much relief when the activity was over, and I knew I was released and could hand everything over to the new president.

Lynnlee at FSY Georgetown

Lynnlee drove to Texas with Charlie's family after they had been in Utah to take Ashlyn to the MTC. They got to Texas on Sunday, and then she and Lydia went to FSY at Georgetown on Monday. Huge thanks to Angeline for taking them there and picking them up. 

Biopsies and Stent

I went to Utah Valley Hospital in May more than I would ever want to. Like I said in the Mother's Day post, my mom had her first biopsy on Friday, May 8. We were feeling hopeful. The biopsy came back inconclusive. The sample didn't have enough tissue. When I researched biopsies, it said it was very hard to get a good biopsy with a needle and aspirating the tissue. The way they did it was to put my mom in a light sedation and insert a camera down through her mouth to the pancreas. Once they were in the right place, the needle entered from the outside of her abdomen and into the mass. So you can understand why it would be difficult. 

My mom had a trip to Texas planned right after Mother's Day. Ashlyn's mission farewell was the next weekend, and my parents planned to go with Betsy. Nothing was going to stop them from going. We still didn't have answers, but it was almost better that way, so they could just enjoy the trip. 

We hadn't noticed at first, but in the results from the CT scan, two nodules in her abdomen were suspicious for cancer, and it would be assumed that they had spread from the pancreas. That was devastating because even without knowing the results of the biopsy, it was clear that it wasn't just a small autoimmune problem. 

We met with the oncologist the day before my parents flew to Texas. Since the biopsy was inconclusive, the doctor could not give an official diagnosis. He just spoke in hypotheticals. He left a sliver of hope in all he said, so we didn't leave the office feeling sad. He ordered a CA 19-9 blood test and genetic testing. He said it was important to do the genetic testing since my grandpa, my aunt, and my mom's cousin all passed away from pancreatic cancer. 

The day after my parents returned from Texas, my mom had a second biopsy. This time, the pathologist came to the biopsy so he could make a diagnosis right there on the spot and ensure the biopsy sample was sufficient to be conclusive. They brought my mom back to her same-day room, where Ali and I were sitting and waiting. She slowly woke up and felt sad. We felt sad with her. I will never forget the moment Dr. Kawa came into the room and told her it was for sure Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma. My mom put her head in her hands and sobbed and cried. We cried too. We held her hands and cried. It was so hard! 

The next step was to do another biopsy, this time of the suspicious nodules in the abdomen. This would tell us if it had definitely spread. It would be bad news because that would put her at stage IV, but at least we would have answers. The next step was to place a stent in the common bile duct. This would prevent jaundice, and the mass continued to grow. 

With everything evolving and getting more complicated, Katie decided she could come take care of my mom and dad for the summer. She arrived in time for the nodule biopsy on Thursday, May 28th, and the stent on Friday, May 29. Katie coming to help is such a huge blessing and relief. 

My mom is such a trooper and got through the biopsy and stent placement, and IV placements that went along with each procedure. She has tricky veins for blood draws and IVs, so she was like a pin cushion. 

There was a pathologist there with the biopsy of the nodule. We didn't get the results that day, but we did pretty soon after. It was bad news yet again. It was confirmed that the cancer had spread. The outcome for metastatic stage 4 pancreatic cancer is pretty grim. Once it has spread, surgery is no longer an option, and chemo doesn't have much success.

The genetic testing came back and everything was negative. That was our last hope because if it was a certain marker, it would be more susceptible to certain medications. Since it was negative, those medications were not an option. 

We went to the oncologist on Wednesday June 10. We expected it to be a cry fest but it ended up not being ok. He said he wanted to test for more factors to see if any other treatments would target anything. So it was nice to kick the can further down the road. My mom and dad got new matching chairs. Now they each have a comfortable place to sit in the family room. 

James's Senior Trip

James's friends planned their Senior Trip, with the help of the moms, on a cruise to Mexico. They left out of LA and made stops at Cabo and Ensenada. Marshall and Ray were the chaperones. They drove to LA on a Monday morning and got there early enough to play on the beach that night. They got on the ship the next morning. 

I will have to try to add more pictures so for now this will be a place saver. They had a great week! They enjoyed the beach in Cabo and surfing in Ensenada. They got back to port on Sunday morning and went to church and then drove home and got back late that night. 

Aunt Jane's 75th Birthday

Aunt Jane's 75th surprise party gave us a chance to see Aunt Jane one last time. She was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in April. Her son and daughter, John and Stephanie, put together a surprise party. It was so fun to be there to support her, and she spoke to everyone and told us how grateful she was for all of us. She said that she feels pretty bad after her chemo treatment and has to be in bed for a few days. Then she has about a week of good days until the next treatment. She was glad she felt well enough for the surprise party. She then went around and greeted each table. It was really special to talk to her, knowing it would be the last time. 

All of my siblings were in town, so it was pretty cool that we all went to Aunt Jane's party together. After the party, we went to dinner at a nearby Greek restaurant and then had ice cream at a new place called Stella's. The great thing about Stella's is that they have gluten-free ice cream, waffle cones, and waffle bowls. Mmm! Another cool thing is that my friend Katie Broadbent's sister owns Stella's. It also happened that Katie B., who now lives in Washington, was in town for a niece's wedding and arrived at Stella's after we had been there for about 15 minutes. So I got to catch up with her. 

Charlie, Angeline, Betsy, and I enjoyed visiting after, and Sienna was curling her hair with her sample spoon. Look at that ringlet! 

Huge thanks to Katie, who brought my dad to the party and had to take him back home after, so she missed out on dinner and ice cream.