Trials

Ok, so as many of you know, my dad was diagnosed with liver cancer almost 2 weeks ago. Cancer...what a scary word. It is all around us and probably everyone out there knows someone who has been affected by it or knows someone who is going through it or has gone through it. In this day and age you think there are cures and many ways to beat it through some long hard roads. Well, in my dads situation there is only 1 cure...a liver transplant. Also that cure is pretty rare because the cancer usually spreads before a liver becomes available. In some types of liver cancer there are more options but the type of cancer my dad has is pretty rare. He has over 20 tumors throughout his whole liver and they have no idea what caused it. Usually, liver cancer comes from somewhere, such as, the stomach, prostate, gallbladder, etc. From what they can tell right now, it is only in the liver and thats where it originated from. We will find out for sure later this week when he gets the results of his PET Scan. My dad starts chemo on friday and we're hoping that is will start shrinking the tumors and keep them from spreading. The type of chemo he will be on doesn't usually make people really sick or make them lose their hair, so we're really hoping it works good so he can have a good quality of life while he is on it. How long my dad has left depends on how well the chemo works and how long it works for. The guesstimated time frame is 6 to 18 months. But like I said, it's a guessing game. No one knows when my dads time is up except for God. It's that way for all of us. Some people with liver cancer have been told they have 6 months and they last 5 years (that's about the max). So really we just don't know. There is also still that small miracle of a liver transplant as long as the chemo keeps the cancer from spreading. It is in Gods hands. I love my dad so much and this is the hardest trial I have ever had to go through, but my faith will get me through it. Now more than ever I am so grateful for the knowlege of eternal families and life after death. I can't imagine going through this without my knowlegde of the gospel and without a loving Heavenly Father who hears and answers my prayers. I don't want to lose my dad and I'm not ready to at all, but what I know and feel will get me through this. It will be a hard road no matter which way this goes, but I have an eternal family either way. This reality of how mortal we all are has helped me to realize how much more I need to do, how much better I need to be, so that I can have those blessings. My dad is the best dad in the world and I love him more than words can express and I would do anything for him. His faith and example has gotten me through some tough times in the past and I'm sure many more in the future. I will always cherish the time we do have left together as well as the time I have with others I love. Thank you all for you love and support during this time. All of your prayers are more appreciated than you know. It's helps to know how many people out there care.

Addi's 1st day of 1st Grade

Ok, so, I admit I have lost my passion for blogging. It takes so much time and I have very little of that these days, but I couldn't miss blogging about my baby starting 1st grade. Addison is so excited to be going back to school. She had a great first day and made lots of new friends already (which does not surprise me, she tends to make instant friends). She was nervous to go to a new school this year, but she already is adjusting. She wanted to hop on that bus and get there. Of course, I made her ride with me on her 1st day, especially since she hadn't been to her new school or met her new teacher yet. She allowed it yesterday, but today she HAD to ride the bus. The past two mornings she has woke up and got dressed for school all on her own. That won't last, but it's funny how excited she is. The picture's not the greatest cause I couldn't find my camera (don't worry I did later), so I had to use my phone and the picture's not very clear.

Anyway, I am working now (and more hrs. than I wanted to) so I am keeping very busy with family, work, running, etc. I'm working at a bridal shop and they are going to market the first part of Sept. plus they are having some family things they are needing to take care of, so I am working lots of hrs trying to learn the business because when they are gone, I will be on my own a lot. That doesn't give me a lot of time to learn everything, so I have to get the hrs in now. I'm catching on to things, but there is so much more to do than I ever would have thought. I enjoy it, but by the end of the day I am worn out. I am enjoying the early to bed, early to rise thing. I am feeling so much better between that, the exercise, and eating better. Plus I have a wonderful husband who is helping out so much at home. Spencer is still looking for work. We have had some crazy things going on with that but it is a LONG story that I don't want to try and explain, but we are hopeful that something good will turn out with it. The company he is trying to get on with is S-L-O-W with getting things done, but if he gets the position he is trying for it will be SO good for us. Better than what we had originally hoped for. I don't know what the lord has in store for us, but we KNOW things are the way they are for a reason and no matter what is going on, we have been SO blessed. Anyway, that's all I'm going to blog about for now cause I gotta get ready for work. I will hopefully get some pictures up from our chicago trip soon (Spencer's World Meet), now that its been a month, lol.

A GOAL WORTH RUNNING FOR!

You probably have figured out from the picture/banner what it is...or maybe you've heard since I haven't stopped talking about it for the past week, lol! That's right! I am going to run in the St. George Marathon, although it's still a long time away. I'm hoping to be ready to do it by Oct. 2010! That gives me about 15 months to prepare. Don't worry, I'm not trying to start big. I will start small and build up to the big 26 mile race! I'm planning to do my first 5K in Sept or Oct. I'm VERY excited about it! I haven't been training for long, but I already love it! Having a small goal in the near future has kept me very motivated and excited. I will keep building up until I feel prepared to do the St. George Marathon. That seems a little crazy from where I am right now, but I know with the dedication and time I can achieve it.

Finally, an update!

Ok, so it's been a while since I have done a post, mostly because I'm a slacker, but I am trying to get back into it. This is only going to be me rambling because I'm too tired to upload and edit the 300 pictures on my camera right now. I just figured I would update everyone on what is going on with us (at least what I can remember) and I'll work on adding pictures in the near future.

For starters I will let everyone know that Spencer was laid off 3 weeks ago. It's been kind of hard and scary, but we have been staying close to the lord and have had a lot of comfort from him. We were able to take off for 10 days and travel across the state to visit friends and family, as well as, look at options for us all over. We went to Lagoon with a bunch of Spencer's family, which was super fun and way good to see everybody and finally pick up our little Addison (who was in St. George for 2 weeks without us...that was tough!). Then we hung out in Salt Lake with our good friends Brandon and Valee for a few days looking around there for employment. We didn't really find much there that we felt good about so off we went to St. George. It was really good to spend some time with Spencer's parents and just enjoy being back home. We had one job offer there and planned on accepting it, but I couldn't get this nagging feeling out of my gut and after talking with Spencer and praying lots and lots about it, we decided for the time being it wasn't going to work out. Both of us weren't very happy about that because we wanted nothing more than to move back down south. Oh well. The lord seems to have something else in mind for us. After much praying and deliberation we feel like we're supposed to stay where we are. We were strongly prompted to move into where we did and really feel that we are supposed to stay, so we feel confident that the lord will provide a way. If not, then we are not very good at listening to him! We have a hopeful job opportunity we'll find more out about tomorrow, but since we know nothing at this time I will just have to update everyone on that later.

Also, we had a little boy turn 3 on July 3rd. That's right, Treyson is 3! Can you believe it? I can't! Time had flown right by! I remember so clearly the first time I saw my sweet little boy and It feels like only days ago. I love seeing him get older and all that is he learning, but at the same time it's sad to see how quickly my baby is growing up. I just have to cherish every moment with him because next thing I know he'll be all grown up. Anyway, Treyson had a great birthday and was sad when it ended. I made him a yummy breakfast and we let him practically plan the day, which of course involved swimming at the rec center. Although his poor cousin Dallin (who is 7) had to leave within five minutes of arriving because he cracked his head open on one of the slides and had to get 5 stitches in his head. I felt so bad. His main concern though was he wanted to get back and go swimming, lol. He has blood gushing out of his head and all he can think about is swimming. Anyway, we did the usual stuff like presents, cake, ice cream, and spoiling Treyson since it was his day. I'll try and post some pictures of his day later.

I guess that's pretty much what has been going on with us the past month and a half. Spencer and I will be going to Chicago for the Amateur (meaning drug tested) World Powerlifting Congress meet in Aug. We're way excited about that. It's an amazing opportunity where only 3 lifters from each country, in each weight class are able to compete. He had to earn a spot in the meet during his last competition and has been working hard training for the event. He is planning on breaking some more world records when he is there (he broke a world record in bench at the national meet last April). Anyway we are way excited and have had a lot of donations from friends, family and a few businesses so that we can get there and I just want everyone who has helped contribute to helping us get there to know how much we apprecitate it. This is a huge opportunity and without the help of those contributing we would have to miss it, especially with Spencer out of work. So THANK YOU SO MUCH! There are two specific people I want to mention at this time and that is Spencer's mom Sue Ann and Darcy Powell. You two have helped so much to make this happen and you will never know how much it means to Spencer and I, so once again THANK YOU!

That complete's my ramblings for the night and I'm off to bed now. I'll try to be better at keeping things updated so I don't have to play catch up!

Our New Place

Ok, so I am finally getting around to posting some pictures of where we're now living. We've been here almost a month now, but things have been pretty busy, so I'm just now getting around to it. It's nothing fancy, but it's ours (for now) and we love being here. We have quite a bit of space (more than the pics portray) and I didn't take pics of the bathrooms, so sorry you don't get to see my toilets (I know you are all so disappointed about that one, lol). Anyway, for those who don't know, it is a basement apartment, so our front door is at the back of the house.

This is our living room

(with my new couches, which I love, and my new t.v., which I also love)

This way taken from our bedroom door and it shows the living room and kitchen and the hallway that leads to one of the bathrooms.

This is Addison's room

(she made her own bed, not me!)

This is Addison's reading area. The little dresser is full of books and she has been learning to read so, hence, the reading area.

This is Treyson's room

This is Mine and Spencer's room

It has changed a bit since the picture because I now have a weight rack at the foot of my bed which is quite large for those of you who haven't seen it. Surprisingly though, we still have more room in our bedroom than we ever have, so I guess I can deal with it. Yes, Spencer, it's because I love you!

And last, this is our backyard

Well, not really, but it's the view past my backyard. As many of you know, I love horses! What is even better is baby horses! So for now, I have a wonderful view which I smile at every time I walk out the door. Especially, when they are running around playing.

Anyway, that's the tour of my house many have been asking for. Maybe one day you can come for a visit.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

I know mothers day isn't until tomorrow, but I will probably be busy with Mother's day plans, so I just wanted to wish all you wonderful mothers out there a

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

Addison is 6!

Addison turned 6 years old on April 24th! I can't believe my baby girl is getting so big! I will start by telling you a quick story. I have been trying for 2 years to teach Addison to ride a 2 wheel bike. Well, she was too scared and the second she knew I would let go she would lean to one side and jump off the bike. She kept getting mad at me for letting go, but that's kind of the point, to ride on your own. Well, I told her if she would learn to ride a two wheeler I would buy her a bike for her birthday. She wanted one, but still wouldn't really let me help her so I quit and told her to have her dad help her. She didn't want that either. She tried over and over to teach herself, but didn't seem to be making progress. She would get excited and tell me that she did it, so I would watch and she would go a few inches and fall over. I just told her to keep at it. Well, on the Monday before her birthday she came and told me the same thing, so I went out to watch expecting the same thing. Well, I was wrong, she rode all the way across the drive way! I was shocked! She actually taught herself and 4 days before her birthday. After that, she just kept going and going.

So, now we are to Addison's birthday. I kept my promise to her. She got a new bike for her birthday. Before her bike was too little and now it's a little to big, but I couldn't find any in-between. She can still ride it, but it makes me a little nervous. She didn't even hesitate, she just jumped on and went. We told her she had one present to open when Spencer came home for lunch and when he got there she was so excited. We hurried and snuck the bike into the garage and told her we were going out to lunch first (she picked Pizza Hut). She was disappointed but when along with it anyway. I was waiting in the garage when her and Spencer came out and she saw her bike. She loved it! Watching her ride it about gave me a heart attach though. From now on she has to wear her helmet and pads to ride it.

That night we had most of my side of the family together and had poppyseed chicken for dinner and had cake and ice cream for dessert. She opened the rest of her presents and then the kids played and played til it was time to go home.

Hope you had a good birthday, Addi! We love you!

Ready, Set, FINISHED!!!!

So we have some great and exciting news to share! Treyson is finally a big boy! He is potty trained and wearing big boy undies! YAY! We had some tough times along the way, but we finally did it! I say "we" because for those who haven't done the potty training thing before, it takes a lot of effort on the parents side, as well as the childs. I'm sharing my story because I know how much I appreciated other's stories and advice when I needed it. When we first started, Treyson was getting the hang of things and I knew it would only be a short time til he had it down and lucky for mommy, he wanted to use the BIG potty, not the little one (saved mommy from having to clean it!). What mommy didn't plan on was the flu hitting us all. We didn't have to but, we called it quits for a while (mommy was too sick to care). Little did m0mmy know, trying to start over was going to prove to be quite difficult. Treyson just didn't want to anymore and no longer had any interest in the matter. After a while mommy decided, WE ARE DOING THIS! After a gruesome day of mess after mess it hit mommy we had a trip to Idaho in a few days so once again, we put it on hold. Finally, on monday (one week ago), mommy decided to give it another go, but approach things a little differently. Mommy took Treyson potty every 20-30 mins all day long! The same thing the next day although mommy still couldn't catch Treyson before he left a surprise in his undies. After the third accident (which happened while playing outside) mommy was already sick of it, but just didn't know what to do. While cleaning up the mess Treyson said, "Let's go back outside!" and it hit mommy like a ton of bricks and she knew EXACTLY the key to suceeding! What is Treysons favorite thing on the planet? Playing outside! So mommy said, "No, Treyson. When you poop your pants you don't get to play outside. If you want to play outside to have to poop in the potty." Treyson tried kicking and screaming, begging, sneaking out, anything he could try to get back out there. Mommy was tough though and didn't let Treyson go back out to play. On the third day mommy decided to go longer and see what happened and reminded Treyson if he pooped his pants he couldn't play outside so we went around an hour between brakes, but guess what? Treyson started telling mommy he had to go potty. BREAKTHROUGH!!! At least with #1. Mommy was still waiting to see what would happen with #2. Then FINALLY another BREAKTHROUGH!!! Treyson told mommy he had to go poop! Not only told mommy, but actually did it! Mommy was so relieved, but didn't want to count her chickens before they hatched. Well, mommy can now count her chickens! Treyson is still telling mommy when he has to go both #1 and #2 (or he just does it on his own sometimes too).

This is Treyson's potty chart. Some of it was from before when we tried potty training, but a lot of it is from this week as well. He got it all finished and we got to have a little success party. He loved the sticker chart and also getting one for himself to keep everytime he went potty.

Good job Treyson! We are all so proud of you!

AAPF NATIONALS 2009

Spencer qualified last October for and was able to attend the AAPF (Amateur American Powerlifting Federation) National meet in Idaho Falls, Idaho. Usually it's not so close to home, so that was pretty cool. He did so awesome. He weighed in at 148.8 lbs, which was the very highest he could possibly weigh in order to compete.

The first lift was the squat. This is usually Spencer's best lift and he planned on getting 600+ lbs. Well, in order to make weight he had to drop quite a few lbs in a few weeks in order to make that weight and during that time he lost quite a bit of strength. He still got his highest squat that he has ever gotten at a meet which was 545.6 lbs., but it wasn't quite what he'd trained for.

I was a little nervous for his bench because he didn't do as good as we had hoped on squat and his bench is usually his lift he sikes himself out on. Well, the day was full of suprises! He planned on getting around 330 lbs. for his bench, but he got all 3 lifts with such ease so he was able to go for a 4th attempt to get the world record in the AAPF for his weight class. He went for 355 lbs and got it! That was beyond exciting!

Spencer preparing to deadlift.
I liked this picture so I had to put it on.

After such an amazing bench, Spencer was so pumped up for his deadlift. He got all 3 attempts and ended up getting 501.5 lbs on his final deadlift. That's been a goal of his for around 5 years to hit 500 lbs. on his deadlift. Another huge accomplishment!

Look how excited he was to get that last deadlift!

It was such a great meet and full of excitement. One thing Spencer realized once we were back at the hotel was that he only needed 1 kilo more to tie the total (all 3 highest lifts add together) of the world record! Darn it! If he would have realized it at the meet he would have went higher so he could have broke that world record total. Oh well, Spencer qualifed for the AWPC World meet in Chicago (in August) and we are planning on attending if we can afford it, so he can break a few more records while we're there! That will be such an amazing experience for him. Only 3 people from each weight class and from each country is allowed to compete in the World Meet, so Spencer is 1 of 3 in the U.S. allowed to compete in this World meet. What a stud! I'm so pround of his dedication and determination. Love you Spencer!

I also wanted to tell Sue Ann, Grandma Oldroyd, Subrina (also thank you for all your wonderful pictures!), Kensi, Jessica, Debbie, Mike, Noel, Beth, Cody, and Zack for coming and supporting Spencer for this meet, THANK YOU!!! It meant so much to him!

Random pics from the meet

The kids at the meet

Playing at the park during the big break. They were excited to get out and run around!

SPLISHIN' & A SPLASHIN'

Of course we had to go swimming while we were staying in a hotel! We has a blast playing in the water and most of the time it was just us. Not much to say here so, hope you enjoy the pictures.