Simply crazy how varied life can get! But lets at least somewhat start in chronological order...
Christmas... so this year we went to Christmas at Grandma and Grandpa Johnson's house (this is actually Dave's grandparents or Everly's great grandparents). They live in Ogden UT and while we were there we got hit with a snow storm. Its SO nice to have snowstorms when you have no where to go and nothing to do but stay home and be lazy!
We decided this year since we were poorer we would just do stockings for Christmas and get Everly a few things. I ended up getting lots of candy, the Hercules cartoon DVD, and some other odds and ends. Dave got The Sword In The Stone DVD (one of his favorites from childhood), a new tie and collar stays and some other odds and ends and of course candy and peanuts. The man loves salted peanuts. Everly got no candy in her stocking but she did get a Tinkerbell camera that says phrases like "I believe in fairies" and some other equally cheesy sayings but she likes it. She also got a shopping cart (a co-gift from Santa and Grandma and Grandpa Richards) that lights up and sings and a purse with all the accessories including a fake wallet and fake plastic cards that she can put in it and pull out of it over and over and over and over again since that's all she does with my purse! She also got her own pack of "post-it" notes to destroy and pull apart as she wishes and A Bug's Life DVD. All in all it was a good Christmas and very relaxing. The only super stinky thing about it was the drive home and the fact that Idaho doesn't take care of their roads so it took us about 2 hours to go 40 miles.... uggghhhh. Everly had her first peanut butter sandwich during our visit and Grandma Johnson got Everly to really try walking around on her own with the assistance of our hand to hold hers. She made really good strides in walking while there.
Then a week after we got home from Christmas in Utah we flew to Orlando, FL. Because we had HORRIBLE head winds and we had to de-ice the plane before take-off, we missed our connection in Seattle and had to hang around the Seattle airport for like 5 hours. It wasn't a pleasant experience but we made it through and had a good trip in Florida. Dave ran in and finished his first ever marathon. He had to finish it in 7 hours and I think he finished it in 6 hours and 28 minutes but hey, I cant say I ran or walked 26.2 miles in a day! I was SO proud of him for finishing especially since I was so worried he wouldn't and he would be disappointed. He's already planning more marathons and to return to Disney to do it all again. He however, didn't come out completely unscathed. He got this great idea to Pedi-Egg his feet (using my Pedi-Egg I got for Christmas) and so he buffed all of his callouses off and didn't even think this would be a problem till he ended up with the worlds LARGEST BLISTERS on both of his feet. After a week they pretty much healed so its all okay now but for awhile they were pretty bad.
As for Disney... we went to Magical Kingdom and Epcot. We had a problem with registering Dave for his marathon so we missed most of Epcot but Magical Kingdom was fun. Everly REALLY kicked up walking at Magical Kingdom. She got the to the point where she would push Grandma Johnson's hand away when she wanted to go somewhere Grandma didn't. It was pretty funny. We also went to Seaworld and Everly loved to see the baby dolphin pin. She vocally "wheeee"d a whole bunch when they would swim remotely close or she could see them. She's such a funny kid. We went to all the shows which was fun and pretty amazing to see what they can train animals to do these days. All in all a good trip to Florida. We almost bought a timeshare and had great food so we were happy and would do it again. Oh and Dave bought Everly her own pink baby mouse ears with her name on it before we left. He took it upon himself to pick them out and get them for her. He's so endearing sometimes.
The day (actually within about 2 hours) of getting back from Florida we got a call from my dad saying that my mom for sure had breast cancer and they were removing her left breast. Kind of bum deal because she didn't know she had cancer for at least a year. **LADIES OUT THERE** check for "thickening" or patches of thickness on your breasts because it can be cancer. Not all breast cancer is "lumps" or "bumps" which is why my mom's cancer got as far as it did. Basically it was like a soft callous patch if you want to liken it to something. They said it was a rarer form that usually isn't as aggressive as some other cancers can be. We decided to fly up there to be with her after surgery even though they told us to stay home (so TYPICAL of my parents) but they were really really glad to see us and Everly walking. It helped cheer my mom up. After surgery the surgeon had said the cancer went deeper than they originally though and they had to remove a little bit of her chest muscle (ouch). And then at her follow-up visit on Tuesday they told her that her test results had come back and the caner had spread into her lymph nodes which I guess means once it hits lymph nodes its mobile in your body and can show up anywhere. Because of all this she also now has to do chemo but we wont know more about that until she talks to the oncologist.
So right no everyone is holding their own and doing their own thing. I found out that I might be put on a stronger arthritis medicine which would mean I would have to give myself shots either weekly or bi-weekly (fun). We are thinking about having or trying for another kid later this year but that all depends on my health and getting off the bad drugs.
Oh and one BIG BIG BIG piece of news - Dave is graduating with his bachelors degree this May - YAY!!! There was lots of drama and program displacement that's surrounded all of this but I think the plan is to stick it out in Boise for year after this while he gets his Grad Certificate in Community and Regional Planning and we wait to see if they institute the master's program under the same title next year. If they don't then we will be completely up in the air what to do.
Whatever the case... one day at a time.... oh and Everly can now waive "bye" and can KIND of say bye or at least "b" sounding garble when she flaps her arm and hand at people! She said goodbye to everyone on the plane as they left after we came home from visiting my parents. We tried to get her to say goodbye and hi to people about 2 or 3 months ago but she didn't mimic us or anything and then out of the blue she started this. I think she caught it from PBS... DARN that PBS and their programs that teach kids to read, write, and waive ;-)
Such a funny girl... we are very blessed.
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