A heart full of gratitude

Many of you know that Bronwyn had her yearly MRI this weekend at Primary Children's.  4 1/2 years after her surgery, she is still cancer free!  I like to think that I get less nervous as the years go by, but my stomach is still in knots each time we walk into the neurosurgery office to get her results.  This morning was no different.  My heart beat irregularly while my stomach did flip flops until I heard the reassuring words that there is no change in her MRI. 

The more time passes, the more I notice the other parents who are carrying the heavy burden of a sick child.  It is easy to pick out the first timers.  Dads who look exhausted and stressed sitting beside their crying wives.  We have spoken to several, and each time we have been right with our assumption that it is their first time there.  I will never forget the feeling of shock and fear during our first few hours being at Primary Children's.  For the first several follow up appointments we had, I would feel the heavy burden as soon as we entered the doors.  To me, the hospital was a place of pain and disappointment.  A constant reminder of the brain surgery we had endured. 

I didn't know which kind of parents we would turn into after that.  Would we be the parents that pushed their bald child through the hallways in a wheel chair with smiles on their faces?  How could there be parents in this place that smiled?  It was a mystery to me.  Or would we be the parents that continued to feel the torture each time they accompanied their child to an appointment or treatment?  Or would we be the parents with the child that recovered? 

This weekend I was talking to my sister in law, Wendy, about the Make A Wish program that she volunteers for.  She recently attended a wish for a young boy with a terminal brain tumor.  The main wish for him was that he would live to see his little sister be born in several months.  My heart broke, because that could have been my child.  There were days that I wondered if Bronwyn would be taken from me before her sister was born, and I wondered how I could ever survive such a heartache.  But I am not the mother who will have to experience that kind of heart break.  I am so blessed. 

As we were leaving the hospital this morning, my girls wanted to throw pennies into the fountain and make a wish.  They decided to wish for the kids who had not received good news this morning, like we had.  In that instant, my heart was filled with so much gratitude for Bronwyn's health.  It has been a hard, stressful, scary road.  And that road will continue for the rest of her life.  But it is NOTHING compared to what so many kids have to endure, and we are so incredibly blessed for the vibrant, healthy child she is. 

I love you, Bronwyn!

Yellowstone!

Last weekend Todd's parents took the entire family on a trip to Yellowstone.  We had such a great time!  I was especially lucky since we were able to go through Rexburg and Sugar City, and see all of our favorite places.

First stop was the Idaho Falls Temple, where Todd and I were married.  Next week is our 9 year anniversary! 

Next stop was Bear World, and Ty loved sitting on my lap!  He really liked looking at the animals.  He kept saying "Dog, dog, woof woof!" and then he would just squeal at the top of his lungs.  So cute!

This was our favorite bear.  He/she was so sweet hugging the log while he slept.  The girls loved it.

I have loved taking cheesy pictures like this since I can remember! 

We, of course, had to eat at Gringos for dinner.  Ty loved the chips and salsa!  He and I were both covered in salsa by the end of the meal.  :)

Re-enacting our proposal.  We always take the kids up to Ricks and show them where we met and went to school.  This is the practice room that Todd proposed to me in.  Each time we visit we take a family picture here.  It is fun to see our family change and grow.

Todd's mom made matching shirts for all the grandkids to wear.  They say "Yellowstone, Cub # 1-7".  They each have a number according to their birth order.  They turned out so cute.

Here we are in front of the canyon that Yellowstone gets it name from.  This picture doesn't do it any justice.  It is so majestic, and the color is really yellow.  Go figure.  :)  Aside from me worrying that someone would fall over the cliff, it was incredible.  I visited Yellowstone many times as a kid, but I don't remember ever seeing this before. 

Sitting in front of Old Faithful.

This was my favorite geyser as a kid.  Walking the boardwalk around the geysers brought back so many childhood memories.  It was great to be back and share it with my own children.  As an adult I am starting to realize what an amazing place Yellowstone really is.  I couldn't help but wonder what it must have been like to discover Yellowstone as a Native American or explorer.  No wonder places like these have always been considered magical, sacred, and healing.  I really was in awe by all of it. 

I couldn't help but be annoyed by many of the other tourists there.  :)  So many were driving crazy and getting WAY too close to the wild animals there.  It almost seemed like a lack of respect and reverance for the amazing environment they were in.  I have always loved learning about Native Americans, and the peace and respect they had for the earth.  I wish I could be more like that.  I love how they didn't feel entitled to everything in the world, like most of us feel now.  Such a deep respect, it really does move me.

Can you tell that this little girls like fairies?  (check out her Tinker Bell jacket, she is almost obsessed!)  So you can imagine the excitement she felt when we went to a place called Fairy Falls, and she caught some sort of winged bug, and we told her it was a fairy! She totally believed us!

Notice anything wrong with this picture?  Ty had a case of the runs (yippee), and had to wear Magdalen's short while we found him some clean clothes.  Doesn't he look great in lace?  :)

We ended the trip at the Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center.  The older cousins even got to help feed the bears!  And yes, the little girl sticking out of the bear's bottom is mine.  :)

July thus far...

July started out with a quick visit from Uma (aka my mom).  We had a ton of fun enjoying the beautiful weather!

We also played at the fountain downtown, and looked cool in our hats.  :)

When our girls won't go to sleep we often have them sit on a barstool.  It shows them pretty quick how tired they really are.  Well, the other night they both fell asleep while they were in time out.  Hilarious!

Don't you just love the tan line?!

The 4th of July has always been a favorite day of mine.  Growing up we always went to the parade.  Once I was in high school, I was always in the parade.  Then we would head over to Porter Park and check out the vendors.  If it was hot, we spent the afternoon inside, wishing we had AC.  But I also remember a couple 4ths that had lightly falling snow as we lit off our fireworks.  I looked forward to it every year, and loved having the traditions.  Sadly, the parade in Boise is seriously lame.  I was beyond disappointed when I took my kids to it a couple years ago.  But this year Boise had a chalk art festival in the park.  We had so much fun walking around and seeing the beautiful artwork.  Both of my girls love art, and even talked about entering the contest when they are older.

 Don't you just love the row of port-a-potties behind us?  Really classes up the picture...

Here is the artwork from my two budding artists.  What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

I LOVE fireworks!  I am like a little kid again.  Every year we take our kids downtown to watch the Boise fireworks.  I think it will be one of my favorite traditions as a mom. As much as I love watching the fireworks, I found myself watching my kids alot.  It was so fun to see their eyes all lit up with huge smiles across their faces.  Ty kept saying "ooh!".  It was so adorable. 

It was another great 4th of July!  I hope my family will look back on their Independence Day memories as fondly as I do.  :)