A Little Scare

In May I went in for my annual mammogram, which was my 2nd one ever. They had told me last year that I have dense breast tissue and that they recommended me coming in every year to be safe. Insurance covers an annual screening mammogram so I figured I might as well get it done. I also want to catch anything early if they do discover anything. Well, a week later I got a message on my phone from the doctor saying that the radiologist spotted something abnormal on my right breast. My heart just sunk. I didn't want to jump to conclusions early, but it's difficult not to. All kinds of thoughts flooded my mind about the possibility of having cancer. They wanted me to come in again and get another scan and ultrasound. I scheduled it for June 16th and just tried not to think about it too much. I really wanted to call and ask family members questions, like my sisters or my mother, or my mother-in-law (who is a breast cancer survivor), but I didn't want to cause unnecessary worry.  

After I told Curtis about it and that I was a little worried, he did something so sweet. The very next morning he woke up super early to go to work and then unbeknown to me, he got online and ordered some flowers that were delivered later that morning. It meant the world to me that he would consider my feelings and do something like that. The next few weeks were hard for me to not think about what might lay ahead, but the day of the 2nd appointment finally came. They did a more in-depth scan and then an ultrasound. The radiologist looked at everything, and it turned out to be a cyst! It was benign and nothing to worry about. Whew! What a relief! I was trying to prepare myself for the worst, but I am so happy for the results that came. Now I could relax and get back to normal.

The flowers that Curtis ordered for me.

Sometimes it's difficult to share things with Curtis because he's a man and doesn't quite understand feelings of women and our emotions, but it made me feel so much better after he sent those flowers with that note, letting me know that he would be here with me and I wouldn't be alone.

The funny part is that I hid the card in my drawer because I didn't want my kids to be worried either. I think because we had flowers on our table for a couple weeks after Jack's prom that it didn't surprise them to see a new vase of flowers on that day. It was delivered while they were at school. None of them ever asked or said anything about them.

Ward Campout

We are one of the few families that enjoys going on the ward campout. The previous two years they camped at the church camp called Teancum Timbers about an hour and a half from our house. This year they decided to try a new location. A member of our bishopric has a brother that just purchased a huge property an hour away in Zillah and it even has a river running through it. I was a little uneasy about going to camp at someone's property, but it turned out to be a great spot and very beautiful. I was also worried about ticks and mosquitos, but those weren't a problem, thankfully! I was also the only adult female to camp in a tent. The only other women were a mother and daughter (the Cheney's) and they brought their big RV camper. The owner of the property of course slept in her house. Larissa is actually younger than I am, but we had a good time visiting and even played Bocce Ball. I also played a game with Jack and Cam where we were throwing a little metal spike and trying to see who could get it to stick in the ground the farthest away. Others played some frisbee and frisbee 500. Some of the guys rode around on a dirt bike. Then we had a campfire and roasted s'mores and visited. One of the adults brought a bunch of glow sticks and the kids really enjoyed that. It turned out to be a fun campout. The only problem I had was not being able to get my feet warmed up while sleeping, even though I had 2 pairs of socks on. I would have slept fine otherwise.

Down at the river.

I took a small camp chair down to the river and just sat to look around and listen for a bit.

It's really beautiful and peaceful.

Jack throwing a frisbee with Cam. They have been working for a month or so to cut down these weeds that were as tall as us.

Curtis riding the bike. I love that he's biting his lower lip, ha ha.

A beautiful nighttime scene with the moon and clouds.

They had just built this campfire ring after we got there. It was a nice big one and worked great.

Picture at the campfire. See, I was there.

Glowstick fun.

Inside our tent.

The next morning, after a delicious breakfast of sausage muffin sandwiches, hashbrowns and juice, they set up a shooting range. It was a little distance away from where we were camping, so they gave rides on their 4-wheeler, mostly for the kids. They use this ATV all of the time to drive all over the property. So, she was a very experienced driver. Before we left to go home, the men were able to help the owners move a small deck that goes to their mini house. It was a small house that Larissa built with her dad, and she lived in when she was in Idaho. She actually lived in Kuna and Nampa!

The mini house is in the background under that canopy.

Fun Random Things We Did in May

Tri-Cities has gotten me going out to watch live plays and musicals. I'm addicted! In May, the same group (Vibe) that did "The Little Mermaid" in January, did "The Prince of Egypt" musical. Our friend's daughter from our ward played the role of Moses' wife, Zipporah. They did such a great job, and I loved hearing the additional songs as well! I can't wait to hear what they'll do next.

Moses and Zipporah (our friend's daughter, Rachel Chandler)

There was also a play put on by Hanford High School in Richland for "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child". They did a great job and the stage they have is SO nice!  In the middle of the stage, they have a big rotating circle so they can rotate between scenes quickly and it just makes it more interesting. I have learned that it is worth seeing the plays that this school puts on. They did an amazing job! I went with Charlotte to go see it with friends and then went again with Curtis, Garrett, and Alice. Jack was busy with his friends. My friend, Jen, said it was comparable to the Broadway production, which she has seen. She was very impressed as well.

Some other friends of ours who do homeschooling put on a Shakespeare play called "Twelfth Night". These were mostly younger kids around ages 8-12, but some were older. They did a really good job, but it was difficult to understand and follow, considering it was Shakespeare. I was also not prepared for it to be outdoors with the sun right in our faces. It was hard to concentrate on the play when I was so hot and had no sunscreen. I had worn pants thinking it was going to be indoors and air conditioned, but nope. They did it in someone's backyard, which was large and had this nice set up for the stage. It was only the beginning of May, but it was warmer than I thought it would be that day (which happened to be the same day as prom).

Beautiful setup.

I finally had to get up and go get my umbrella in the van and then moved to the back so I wouldn't block anyone's view. I'm so thankful I had that umbrella!

Other fun things that happened in May was that my girls had the opportunity to help a lady in our ward with her cats while she was out of town. She ended up giving us a new cat scratching post that is just like the one we used to have in Nampa that both of our cats actually used. Sage is good about using any of the cat scratching items that we have but Coco is very picky. This post is the only thing he will use. I was very thankful to get this because he tends to scratch the carpet on the stairs sometimes. Anyway, we had a little fun with the cats to get them interested and know about this new post by putting some chicken pieces and yummy treats on top of it. The cats would then climb up the post to get the treats. It was pretty cute!

Licking his lips after his treat.

"Got any more chicken?"

Watching her was the cutest thing! She may be getting old, but she can still climb!

My Mother's Day gifts from my kids (mostly Alice). Curtis forgot it was Mother's Day. I can't blame him since we were busy with prom dinner the day before. We had lots of leftovers and just ate that for Mother's Day dinner.

Charlotte finally got a new bike that fits her better. She'll need it for the youth high adventure in August. I still need to get a new bike too, but haven't decided what type to get, cruiser or mountain?

An impromptu pool party one Friday evening. I love watching the kids have so much fun in the pool together.

The Saturday of Memorial Day weekend the girls and I volunteered to go place flags on Veteran's graves. They loved it and want to make it a tradition. I love that idea. 

While we did the flags, the boys got busy building our shed.

The walls are up! Not bad for one day of work.

On Memorial Day, they worked on building the trusses. We're going with the barn roof style for more storage space.

The librarians gave Garrett and me this basket of flowers to thank us for volunteering in the library at the school this year. That was super sweet of them, and I had my husband hang it up by our front door. We needed some color in our front yard!