Every year I contemplate if I have enjoyed a year of good luck or wonder whether I should wish for better luck in the coming year. Our family tradition is to burn a bayberry candle and if it burns all the way down overnight the new year will bring good luck. I guess in looking back at my 2013 on the surface you would think that cancer would mean I had a year of bad luck, but I think I had some amazing things that happened.
January brought a month of wedding planning. It was fast and crazy, but we kept things simple and being in love made the month fly by. New beginnings brought new love and a new life to build together. Joey had rotator cuff surgery and I had the opportunity to be the caretaker and nurse him through his recovery. He is an awesome patient, much better than I am!
February was our wedding and our Honeymoon to San Francisco. I inherited four more children, a crazy dog and an amazing extended family. Our wedding and dinner was at Oakridge Country Club. Looking back on our photos I was so grateful for the simplicity and class of the event. We kept things small and focused more on a marriage than a wedding.
We got engaged on December 18th on Christmas Street in Salt Lake City.
This pretty much sums up our girls and our boys!
I love this picture...the mountains in the background and I love how Joey is looking at me!
Joey made the President's Circle at work and we got to go to convention in Las Vegas. We stayed at Ceasar's Palace and got to see Celine Dion. I loved sitting by the pool while he was in real estate classes!
(This picture makes me miss my hair!) Loved this dinner at Olives!!
We bought a lot this spring on the Bountiful bench and we dream about our future home often. It will be a few years before we start building, but we are excited to build a life together and combine our wishes and dreams. I look forward to sunsets in our new home and hikes in the hills behind our lot.
April brought a back surgery for me and our first experience for Joey to nurse me back to health. He is an awesome caretaker. Fixing my herniated disc was such a breeze looking back on the year! The surgery worked wonders and it helped us meet our deductible for the coming hospital bills!
We had an end of year party for Dallas and Savana in our backyard. It was time to celebrate no more elementary school. We had Craig Chambers come dj a dance and we had lots of graduating 6th graders dancing around. Joey thought it was crazy that both of us had Craig dj when we were kids and here he was spinning it for our kids! And Dallas was dared to put a bean in his ear and so we had to have that removed surgically. He named the bean Jeffery!
June was our first family trip to Lake Powell. We went with six other families and had SO much fun spending a week off the grid. In fact we even stayed an extra day! (Without meaning too!)
We spent a lot of time at the club house and out on the golf course. I can't explain how nice it is to run up and escape in a golf cart for a couple of hours. Joey made sure the kids and I got to take lessons and we are all slowly improving.
The pool time at Oakridge was always a hit with the kids!
In July we went to Hawaii with my parents for their anniversary. Spending time in paradise with my love was heaven.
We spent time up at the cabin in Yellowstone and up at TimberLakes. We were so grateful for the opportunity to get away and have cabins to ride 4-wheelers, hike, fish and play games.
In August, Joey and I had the opportunity to escape to Chicago for a quick trip with some friends from his work. We got to go to a Bears game and a Cubs game. We saw an airshow and did a little shopping. It was a total guys weekend and I loved every minute of the vacation.
I had my 20 year reunion and enjoyed having a wonderful man by my side and getting to see my high school friends. And of course it was perfect that Ashley who has been my friend since I was 4 was now my sister!! I look at this photo and realize that this was three weeks before we found out my diagnosis.
The end of August I found the lump.... I put off going to the doctor until September. I wasn't too concerned. We went on a hike up to Timpanogas Cave with the kids before school started. I haven't done this in years... The kids were troopers and I realized that I was out of shape, but they were very patient with me.
The kids started school. Cassidy is a senior at Viewmont. Mikayla is a sophomore at Bountiful and Savana and Dallas are both 7th graders at Bountiful Junior (Joey's junior high!).
Savy is busy playing comp soccer and has made a ton of awesome friends.
Dallas is busy with basketball, football and baseball. This year he wants to work on his golf game!
Mikayla started playing guitar and got her permit to drive. She is doing well with her musical talents and she recently drove on the freeway!!
Cassidy is keeping very busy with school and working. She recently finished Impact training and has a glow about her and a sparkle in her eye!
Gage is working at South Davis Hospital and has enjoyed doing yard work and trips to the cabin. (Okay maybe enjoying yard work is a stretch, but he is an awesome helper!)
Greyden is now living in California and attending flight school. He surfs every morning and hits the sky after! He cruises around on a motorcycle. You could say he has no fear and lives life to the fullest!
On September 11th we found out that I had cancer.....
We started the process of fighting but we welcomed football season as a desired distraction.
October was the double mastectomy and everything went smoothly. And our journey with cancer began. I have never felt more love and support in my life.
November brought chemotherapy. I am so grateful for the Huntsman Cancer Institute and for my amazing doctors. Chemotherapy isn't fun, but I feel blessed for modern medicine and for the encouragement and love that has helped me stay strong when I am ready to give up.
We spent Thanksgiving in Boise with our Idaho family and Joey got to take Coco hunting with his dad. I loved spending time with Joey over the holiday. It was strange to not have any of our kids for Thanksgiving, but it just allowed us to fall deeper in love and connect with his dad and Laila.
December was our first holiday as a married couple and I had a husband to buy me gifts and shower me with love. It has been 12 years that I have waited to have a true love to wake up next to on Christmas morning.....
Christmas morning breakfast
So looking back on 2013 I have so much to be grateful for this year. Cancer may be testing us this year but it can't hold off beautiful, lasting memories as we finish our first year together. I look forward to 2014 as we continue our amazing journey full of ups and downs! Happy New Year!
