Vacation!

We just got back from a 9 day trip to DisneyWorld in Florida! It was a surprise trip for Emily who didn't know where we were going until we got to the Disney bus area at the Orlando airport. (She thought that we were going to Atlanta, GA for a family wedding.)

She was much happier to go to DisneyWorld than a wedding! Hee, hee...

Here are some of the pics from our trip...

at Hollywood Studios

at Epcot

at Animal Kingdom

and...

with the characters!

Birthday crafts

At the party we made journals to keep summer memories and phone/address books to help with keeping in touch with friends over the summer. We also made crazy flip flops to wear over the summer. Everything turned out really cute!

Emily's 10th birthday!

Swimming @ the party!

We took the girls down to our neighborhood pool during the party. They had a good time swimming for almost 2 hours!

Memorial Day trip

Kevin and I took a day trip to Shoshone Falls for a picnic lunch over Memorial Day. The falls were low, but it was nice to finally see them.

My current journey...

So I am not going to include any pictures with this one, because honestly, you won't want to see them. I just finished have surgery this last week. It has been a long and very tiring journey that began back in January when my doctor found a lump on my right thyroid. From there I was sent in to have an ultrasound on my thyroid in February. March came and brought a pretty painful biopsy on what ended up being 2 masses on my right side. The biopsy came back inconclusive and surgery was scheduled for April 29th.

My parents came on the 28th to help with Emily and on the morning of the 29th I headed to St. Luke's for my surgery to remove the right side of my thyroid that was supposed to take about 1 1/2 hours. Well...during my surgery, cancer was found and they went back in to take out my left side and 7 lymph nodes as well. I had a terrible reaction to the anesthesia as I was waking. But, by the next evening I was able to check out and come home to recover. It has now been 9 days since my surgery and I am able to eat already, but drinking is still difficult. (Go figure!)

I went back to school on Tuesday morning and for a full day on Wednesday. Wednesday is when I overdid it. By yesterday morning, I was shaking all over and an emotional wreck. I was sent out to my car for an hour to lay down while my aide helped to cover my classroom. I left early to meet with the doctor and have my stitches taken out. My pathology report came back and it really was cancer. I was by myself at the doctor's office and what was I supposed to think? He said that there was cancer in my right side, left side, and one of the lymph nodes as well. He painfully took off the tape and pulled out the stitch and then left. At that point my emotions got the best of me and the tears started flowing. A person can only be strong for so long.

Now I will look to what is ahead. I still need to have an iodine/radiation treatment and am waiting for my new endocrinologist to schedule my appointment so that I can get done with this an move on. I am hoping that this will be a quick process, but as I am learning, things of this nature move at their own pace!

One thing that I am truly thankful for is my family and friends that have been surrounding me. I feel very loved and cared for and that means so much to me! Thank you to everyone for your prayers, food, cards, flowers, and support! I will try to update everyone as I continue to recover. Stay tuned for the rest of the drama that is my current journey...

Easter 2009

This is Emily dressed up for church on Easter morning!

There was an Easter egg hunt at Grandma and Tada's house after church. Here are pics of all the cousins before and after the egg hunt.

Powder Puff Derby

This is a compulation of clips from 4 out of the 5 races Emily's car was in. She won 3 of her heats before she was eliminated. (Her car is the orange one.) The race was in the gym at Sawtooth M.S. today (4/11). Emily's top speed was 61.14 mph!

Spring Break

Emily had a chance to play her fiddle at a nursing home in Richland, WA with her "Great-grandpa Earl" (in the red shirt) and his group that performs. It was a really great experience for her!

Basketball has started!

This was Emily's game last Friday night at our church (game 2). Her team is the Owls and so far let's just say it is a learning year! We have another game this afternoon. I am trying to take videos for Nana andPapa, but I am afraid that anyone watching my video skills is going to get motion sick! It is really hard to watch and record at the same time!

So here, Emily is SUPPOSED to be throwing the ball in during the game, but is much more excited about smiling for the camera! The game isn't nearly as important! What a ham!

Tubing at Bogus on New Year's Day

Emily, Kevin, and I had a good time tubing on New Year's Day up on the tubing hill at Bogus Basin. We were there for 2 house and 30 min. into out time, it started raining...sideways. It was still fun, but we were soaked by the time we were all done.

Idaho Ice World-Christmas Break

Kevin, Cassy, Emily, and her friend Matthew headed to Ice World for an afternoon of ice skating (or ice falling!) over break. We had a lot of fun and it was nice to get out of the house for a while!

Ski Night at Bogus Basin 2009

This was my (Cassy) 3rd year going up to Bogus with Discovery. We went up last Tuesday with around 80 4th and 5th graders. We left school early this year, at 2:30pm, and left the inversion of Boise to head up to the sunny mountain. It was so beautiful up there! Emily took a lesson again while Kevin and I skied down some black diamonds. Once Emily was done, she and I skied together down the easier trails while Kevin skied with his students down the harder runs.

We had a great time and are looking forward to going again next year!