Casting Off Anxiety

I am writing this while sitting by my Mom's hospital bed. We did so enjoy our slumber party last night at a nice hotel! It was such fun, we are going to have another tonight at a surgical center! OK, neither of us were really that much fun last night. We were both exhausted and went to bed early, getting a solid night's sleep. That doesn't usually happen at a slumber party I guess.

Mom told me before her surgery that she'd given some of her friends (hi to the NutraSystem ladies!) the link to my blog so they could learn how she's doing. 

She's doing GREAT!

Her surgery took about 4 hours and if it were not for the wonderful pain meds I expect she'd be quite miserable right now. However, she is not miserable and she is reporting that she has almost no pain. Her nurses and her doctor have been wonderful! They have made comments both about how tough she is and what an easy patient she is for them. 

We don't know all the biopsy results and such, but we still have hope that she has been cured of this cancer with just the surgery.  She has prepared herself if the biopsy results do not show this to be true, though, and she seems to have a sense of peace and calm. I do also. 

I know that Mom really appreciated knowing she had so many friends and family supporting her through this. I just want to say thank-you to all of you for that. I'm sure she will soon be back to posting on Facebook and she can tell you all about this. For now, I just wanted you to know she is doing very, very well. 

1 Peter 5:7

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

file photo

Happy Birthday, Elise!

Elise is two years old today! 

And oh, how we love that little girl!

Elise at two is an interesting little person for sure! 

She is smart and funny. 

She is loving and polite. 

She has strong opinions and she knows how to express them! 

She snuggles with her whole self.

She loves pink.

Spiderman makes her smile.

Grandpa makes her smile.

Happy birthday, little sweet girl.

We love you so much!

Slumber Party With Mom

Tonight I get to have a slumber party with my Mom! I am going to drive a couple hours to her town and pick her up. We will then drive a couple more hours to a city where we will likely have a nice dinner. I've made a reservation at a lovely hotel. I think she will like it!

It will be nice to spend time with her.  I really love my Mom!

We probably won't be too terribly relaxed, though. You see, this isn't a leisure trip. Mom has surgery tomorrow morning. I wish she didn't have to but I'm also grateful this day has finally arrived.  It took a long time for her to receive her diagnosis and more time yet to get to this day so she could take action on her own behalf.

I feel honored that I get to have this small role in helping my Mom as she deals with all this. My brother and my sister have been available to her as well. My sister will be keeping Mom's church family informed and praying. My brother will be easing Mom's worries over her pets. We will all be seeking opportunities to do things for her but we wish we could do more. We wish we could take some of this load from her. What we can do is keep her aware that she isn't doing this alone!

I am feeling grateful, also, for all the strangers who are helping her. Today I am very grateful that there are people willing to learn to be surgeons. I'm grateful for all the hours and practice that has brought my Mom's surgeon to this day where she feels confident that she can help my Mom.

I am grateful for all those who have studied cancer, promoted research and donated time and money to the effort of saving lives.

Tomorrow we will meet nurses and other caretakers who will be helping my Mom. They will be assisting her on this mission to getting her back to good health. For this, I am grateful as well. They will be rewarded by getting to meet this classy, courageous woman.

It feels weird to me to be on the other side of all this. It won't be me starting this patient's IV. I won't be taking her vital signs or giving her medication. It won't be me explaining to her what she will be experiencing tomorrow. But, it will be me waiting during the surgery. It will be me calling family afterward to assure them she is doing will. I will post to Facebook for relatives and my Mom's friends. It will be me making sure she asks for pain meds, a drink or whatever she needs. It will be me representing her family and all the love they are sending her way.

As family, I find myself already wishing those who take care of her knew her better. It seems they should be told of all her kindnesses, of her strength, of her artistic talent, how she makes the best stuffing, how she makes her yard and home look like something out of a magazine, how she gave up so much of herself for those she loved. I suppose it is not necessary that they know all that. Why do I want them to know these things?

I'm kind of rambling now, aren't I?

Iff you are the praying type, maybe say a prayer for my Mom tomorrow. Her name is Grace.

Wordless

Summer!

Running in the sprinkler

Splashing in the puddles

Hot summer sun 

Carefree

Joy

Family

Love

Memories

Photo Bomb

Yay for Independence!

Mom's Gallery

Something I've always been around is great art. I live among many, many creative people!

My first exposure to art came from my Mom. She picked up our little water colors when I was about 7 years old. She's not stopped since then! Not only did she study and learn and practice her own techniques, but she later taught classes to help release the inner artist in others.

My Mom has passed on this gift for drawing and painting on to quite a few members of the family. My older brother has that gift. As I've said before, I have the carrier gene and so does my sister. Many of Mom's grandchildren and great grandchildren are artists as well. It is wonderful to watch as they all develop their own styles!

Today, I came upon some photos I took just while I walked around Mom's home one day. I think you'll enjoy walking through this little home gallery as well. Enjoy!

Photo Series

I'm not that great of a photographer.

To make up for it, I take a LOT of photos

in hopes of having a lucky shot.

That is exactly what I was doing when I shot this series

But as it turns out, more WAS better.

These two little sweeties are rarely still.

I think you can see that.

They also have quick-changing emotions

which you will also see.

Week-End Wind Down

What a fun week we've had! We started off celebrating Ben for his 29th birthday, happy that he was here with us for his day this year.

Later in the week Sara arrived with her parents.

We enjoyed a sweet time having them visit here in Wyoming.

It is nice when others can see the beauty of the West with us.

By Friday evening it was back to just Mike and me.

We were in our dual rocking chairs when a cold wind blew through, 

bringing hail and lots of rain.

 It was really, really a LOT of rain!

THEN, our cell phones and our land line all started ringing.

We are signed up for a CODE RED alert system that

calls us with serious weather threats.

We were being warned of the potential for flash flooding!

We didn't have any problems at our house but we did

learned that the local art museum was flooding.

That's the museum where our son-in-law is employed,

where they were just starting on their big week-end festival!

Yikes!

I don't think he had a very pleasant evening but

he and the rest of the staff there did get

everything under control.

 It turns out to be tougher than you might think to get a 

good photo of rain and hail but this at least gives you

an idea of the bouncing and splashing that was occurring.

 By this morning, things were calm again so we headed into

the festival to enjoy...well, to enjoy the festivities.

The girls had their faces painted.

Elise held her face funny but she was very still throughout the process.

Cordelia requested a butterfly face.

She was very specific in asking for a monarch butterfly.

Aren't they precious?

 There were stilts there for people to try.

Cordelia did pretty well with them.

 There was plenty of cotton candy.

 Our little monarch butterfly really enjoyed her cotton candy.

 This is how I smile when I am trying to take a photo of Elise

but due to the glare on my phone, I didn't realize the camera

was in mirror format (looking back at me).

Oopsy.

 There.

I got it figured out.

It was fun to watch Elise

work her way through the cotton candy.

 Yes, she was wearing two hats.

Cordelia's kept blowing off as she was dancing around a bit

so Elise kept track of them both.

Uncle Ben found these adorable hats for them

in New Mexico and they sure were drawing a lot of compliments.

When we first arrived at the festival we had a chance to chat with a man on stilts.

As we were leaving, we saw him from the back.

Well, what can I say about that?

No thanks.