Well...

My sister had her first round of chemo today.  She did really well, said it wasn't too bad and they gave her free food so you can't beat that can you?  Oh, you are probably going... "What the?!"  Two weeks ago Rachel was diagnosed with Lymphoma (cancer of the lymphatic system.)  Through pathology they have determined it to be Hodgkins Lymphoma.  They say that if you are going to get it, this is the one you want.  It is very treatable.  So says the superfluous "they".  I know she will be fine, but its crazy when I think that my sister has cancer.  She has a great personality, up beat and positive.  She has a huge support system which is the most important.  And above all, she has a fantastic fiance.  Yes, that's right fiance.  She got engaged to a really great guy on Saturday.  He has a great story about how he knew he was sopposed to propose, you will have to ask him about it.  His name is Skyler Anderson, and he is perfect for her.  A great addition to the family.  Keep her in your prayers if you can.  She is going to be fine.  We are starting a blog for her, called The Rachel Report.  It is at raesreport.blogspot.com  Come and visit when its up and running!

Words

We think Bryce can say one word for sure.  "DAD?"  He jibber jabbers all day long, everywhere, and to everyone.  But his dad was blessed with the first word.  When Bryce sees Brett for the first time in a while, he points and says... "Dad?"  his voice inflection makes it sound like a question.  Its totally adorable.  Another cool thing Bryce does now, if we give him something and tell him to bring it to Daddy or Mommy, he does it!  He even picked up a (clean) diaper off the floor for me.  (I think he felt bad because he pulled it out of the diaper bag and flung it under the pew at church.)  We love him!

Bryce's Funnies

(No picture, sorry, someday when we have internet at home I will post more pictures, but for now you have to use your imagination.)  Bryce loves to laugh, and his laugh is delightful!   He is such a boy.  If you say something is GROSS, he thinks it is hilarious!  Euw, Ishy, and Gross are his favorite words. He loves to be tickled, and he loves to run.  However, he has not figured out how to stop, so he often runs into whatever he shouldn't.  But he is a good sport and doesn't cry.  Unless I make a big deal about it.  Sometimes I do on purpose, (not often) because it is really cute.  He likes to drink from a straw, he's not a huge fan of sippy cups.  He doesn't like to lift the cup up enough to get the liquid, so he just throws it. He usually throws it anyway as well.  When we go to the store, I put him in the cart with his legs sticking out the foot holes, but he squirms and wants to sit side ways with one leg upon the seat.  He gets a bigger scope of the world around him.  He also likes to chew/suck on the safety straps, when I turn around and he is doing that he gets a resounding "Euw!  Gross!  Don't do that!"  And he laughs so hard.  The funnyness of the whole thing just causes him to do it again.  I think I need to make one of those seat covers for grocery stores, so he doesn't pick up anything REALLY weird.  Its totally gross.  But, we love it!

Fun on a Cold Day

We went to the park to swing on the swings, Bryce had so much fun!  Even though it was freezing, he was loving it.  He thought it was so fun to kick in the air and try to kick mommy.  He laughed so hard!

Then we went to the Museum of Ancient History at Thanksgiving Point.  It was so cool!  We got there kinda late, so we had to move through each room pretty quickly.  Bryce loved the Dinosaurs.

Just a familyof dinos!

He didn't like parting with this guy, kinda his size.

Cool picture huh?!

It was a long fun day!

Can You Believe It?

He did it.  He got in to medical school.  He has two acceptances.  One in Rochester NY, and on in Iowa.  This is so exciting!  We (really meaning Brett) have worked so hard trying to get in and finally we did!  Both schools are fantastic and would suit Brett really well.  He just has to choose one.  He wishes he could attend both schools because of their fantasticness, but he can only go to one.  He hasn't quite picked for sure, but he has until May 15, to really make up his mind.  It's a hard decision, but I am sure he will make the right one.  But, for now at least we know we are in.  We have a future!

Christmas Vacation... Disneyland!

This was the third time Bryce rode the Merry Go Round.  He finally had the confidence to let go of the pole and look around.  The first time, he held on tight with his arms and his face.

This was at the Airport waiting for our flight out to Long Beach, California, and Bryce's first trip on an airplane.  He did really well.  I was worried he wouldn't do well with the pressure changes, but he did great!  He didn't cry until we were making our final descent, but that only lasted a minute.  On the flight home, he didn't cry at all.  He just fell asleep.  It was Great!

 

This was a ride in Bug's Land.  Little Jake wanted to be in the chinese box, so we raced around trying to snag it before anyone else.  We were successful, and Bryce loved it.

Mr. Potato Head!  He is an animatron guy that stands right outside the Toy Story Mania ride.  He talks and moves, makes jokes.  He is really funny.  Bryce couldn't keep his eyes off him!  It was so cute.  Toy Story Mania is like Astro Blasters, only so much better.  Its in 3D and you have a gun that you get to shoot targets with.  You rack up your points and stuff like that.  When you pop balloons, air blows on you in little puffs.  Bryce really didn't like it.  So of all the rides we could tak him on, this was the only one he really didn't like.

Sleeping Beauty's castle decorated for the holidays. It was so beautiful!  The picture doesn't give it justice. 

During the holiday parade.  Bryce loved all the lights and people. 

Brett and I wanted to see the castle up close, I wish the picture looked better, but it was awesome!  I love my Minnie Mouse ears.  I wore them everyday, and everywhere.  (I know you can't see the ears, and just the bow, but they are there!)

I got to hold Bryce when we went on Pirates of the Carribbean.  He loved it!  Although, I forgot about the drops at the beginning, and was surpirsed at how droppy the were.  I just about lost my ears while trying to hold tight to Bryce.  I thought he would freak out, but he just sat in my lap soaking it all in.  Thankfully, Alexa (Brett's sister) used her ninja like skills to snatch my ears right out of the air.

What kind of pirate doesn't sleep with his sword?

Bryce and Momma had so much fun together!

This was going into It's a Small World, it was also festive for the holidays.  Bryce absolutely loved it!  He eyes were so wide with thrill!  It was awesome.

We spent Friday and Saturday at Disneyland, so Sunday we decided to go the beach.  On our way there it got up to 80 degrees!  It was so great, but by the time we reached the beach it had gone back down to 70.  Aweful huh!?  This trip was full of firsts, so this was Bryce's first time at the beach.  We put his feet in the sand, and in the water.  He didn't seem to care all that much.  I really wanted to see what he would do when a wave came up over his feet, so we brought him closer, thinking it would only cover his feet.  Ha!  Boy was I fooled, the next wave was a big one and came up around his little bum!  He didn't like it one bit!  Probably because the water was freezing!  I felt so bad, that was such a horrible mommy moment.  But he recovered.  And went on to try to eat rocks and sand.  It was a great day.

A classic, the Dumbo ride.

Waiting to get on the boat for the Jungle Cruise.  We had spent a lot of time in lines, so I think we all felt like this.  But boy was he in for a treat!  We had so much fun on the jungle cruise.  When the piranhas jumped out of the water, Bryce jumped pretty high!  It was adorabe.

This sums up our whole vacation!  It was wonderful, and desperatly needed.  Bryce had a great time, and we did too!  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for the fun!

Thankfulness

Thanksgiving was great, but we didn't get to say what we are thankful for, so I am going to tell the world now.  I am grateful for my family-husband and son.  We have such a good time together.  Medicine and technology, with it my little love bug wouldn't still be here, I probably wouldn't either.  Bathrooms, sometimes they really come in handy!  My job, I work with great people.  Funny jokes.  My mom and dad, they watch Bryce Monday thru Friday (Bryce loves his Mimi and Papa!)  And finally (not really finally because I can't think of a whole lot else) the gospel/Savior.  My life is blessed.