Trek left the last week of May for TDY in Alabama, so June was the start of a very long summer for me. Trek got tasked with Field Training duty (he was in charge of running it) so he was gone the entire summer & barely got to call & talk to me due to the 18-24 hour shifts he was on the entire summer. I felt so bad for him. He was exhausted.
Also, in mid-May we found out that my dad has Stage 4 Lung Cancer that has spread throughout his lungs, diaphragm, & liver. In other words, he doesn't have very much time left here on Earth so I also spent my entire summer taking care of both of my parents extensively. My dad has been my mom's primary caregiver for the last 12 years & now he can barely do anything for himself, let alone take care of my mom. I wound up going to my parents house for 5-7 hours a day most days over the summer break. It was hard. It took me away from my own kids & it was exhausting both physically & emotionally. Watching your parents get sick is the absolute worst. It breaks my heart. However, I've been taking my dad to chemotherapy & here we are towards the end of August & my dad is doing pretty good considering his condition. The chemo gave him bloody boils all over his face, eyes, ears, & neck which have been absolutely awful for him. We've stopped that chemo med & but are continuing with the other 2 chemo medications plus an immune therapy medication so we'll see how that does. After 2 months of all of that, the boils are starting to disappear (which is the biggest blessing), my dad's catheter is finally out after 2 months, & he is occasionally able to get up & walk around the house a little bit. It's those little triumphs that matter most. Today we had a "picnic lunch" together in his bedroom. I'm beginning to truly cherish those moments I get with both him & my mom.
Despite all the craziness happening, we still managed to have a pretty fun & eventful June. We had a family vacation to Aspen, CO, Craiger & Bladen went to young men's camp, Craiger went to encampment with CAP, & Canyon had play practice almost every single morning for 2-3 hours.
I took the kids to the Layton Temple open house which was wonderful. I love taking my kids to the temple.
We also went to the Draper Amphitheater to see "The Little Mermaid" play. We had several friends in it & wanted to watch them. It was fantastic.
Bladen worked really hard this summer at his custodial job at the elementary school. He earned enough money to start buying pieces of his custom built computer. He still doesn't have everything to make it run, but he's getting there a little bit at a time. In June he bought his case & his CPU.
Canyon started a club for the summer called "Comic Bros." He made homemade flyers & handed them out the last week of school as well as posted them around the neighborhood. Believe it or not, people came!!!! Every Tuesday from 4-5 he held his "club" which started out with 2 people & his sister. By the end of the summer, we had 12 kids over here drawing comic books & playing in our backyard. I was SO proud of him for coming up with an idea, pushing it out there, making it happen, & following through til the end. He had 10 days of the club & every one of them was a huge success.
Cadence met a young man named Amkaa (from Mongolia) who is also going to BYU right now & they started dating. He's a great guy & I love the way he treats her. They have a lot of fun together & I enjoy when they come to visit. He first came in June & together they made us Hosher (spelling?), a meat/veggie pancake dish from Mongolia. It was delicious.
Then they stayed & played ankle bone games (also from Mongolia). Since then we see them quite often & have loved getting to Amkaa better. He's just become part of the family now & we love it.
Sometimes the kids would go help me at my mom & dad's house. Craiger helped clean their house one day & fell asleep afterward with their dog Bella. ADORABLE.
When Opa's sister, Kay passed away, he came to UT to visit us, & then I drove him to the funeral in Idaho. The night before the funeral, he took Canyon & me to Leatherby's for banana splits. Holy moly they were HUGE.
We also went to the Lehi rodeo with my brother & his family. My kids get a kick out of rodeos & they LOVE their cousins. We had so much fun.
The month of June ended the best way possible. One of my very best friends from Germany moved here to Sandy less that 10 minutes from me. We can see each other every day now & it's SO GREAT. My kids are happy to have her kids here. It's just wonderful for everyone.
Hooray for a WONDERFUL June!
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