You know whats in Cancer?

 A great big ole CAN!

Last Fall my Momma was diagnosed with lobuloar carcinoma of the breast. A small tumor was discovered in one of her routine mammograms and those big words, "You have breast cancer," became part of her story.  

The cancer diagnosis is scary no matter how you slice it.  Last October when she got the news it was understandably a shock to us all.  Cancer has no bias when it comes to growing.  Old, young, healthy, or not, cancer doesn't play favorites and Momma gets a turn to fight.

She had a lumpectomy in November and once the pathology on the tumor had been evaluated and re analyzed by an oncologist, the verdict was clear, chemo and radiation.  We are so thankful that even though she has to walk this road, the cancer is treatable and curable!  Praise the Lord.  

But......the fight must be fought, and the road to cured is arduous.  Momma had a port placed back over Christmas.  No fun, but is making her Chemo treatments easier.  

Her first treatment in January was scary, but thankfully Aunt Kathy and Uncle Mike came to help her through and keep her company while I was in Colorado taking pictures.  

Her second treatment, I was able to come up to the mountains and attend her newly branded "spa day."

We played gin and really had a blast together. Chemo is hard, battling cancer is hard, but there is so much joy and the hope we have in Christ and the blessing of life in Him makes the pain and hardship doable.

Momma started losing her hair after her first treatment so I was able to find her a barber to close shave the rest.  Losing her hair was a tough one, but she embraced the liberation of it.  She has found a bunch of different hats and headwear to make the experience more tolerable.

We even giggled while trying on a blonde wig.  Mom said she likes hats better.  Can't say I blame her.

Mom is doing what she needs to do to be in the ring with cancer.  I'm proud of her because resting on the daily is not always in her wheelhouse.  She's learning to listen to the body and do what needs to be done.  2 more treatments to go.

Alpine

One of the things I love to do with my girls every year is take them out to Colorado to see Sarah, Caleb, and Elijah.  We love to take this little girls trip and usually find snow, fun, and Great Wolf Lodge.

Colorado was chilly and snowy and perfect for these Arizona dwellers. We discovered really quickly that our shoes were inadequate for the wet that is Colorado snow, but the kids had a blast.

We explored Red Rocks one evening for a photo session and spent a lot of time playing Roblox, and catching up with each other.

One afternoon we discovered this amazing park called Slick City.  An entire warehouse full of slides.  The kids had an absolute blast and it was so much fun to watch them.

Icees and pretzel bites topped off the day.

Unfortunately one of Sarah's sweet dogs, who had been sick for a couple of days, was in a lot of trouble when we got home.  Sweet Alpine had a series of awful health issues converge all at once and the sweet boy had to be put down.  It was so sad, surprising, and traumatic.  Im just so grateful that we were around and able to support our friends.

It was a late night for all of us and the next day Evie slept till 9.  I was shocked!

We took all the kids to Great Wolf Lodge to help heal the hearts and had a great time riding all of the slides, doing the ropes course, sleeping in a hotel, and eating pizza.

It truly is a small world too.  I ran into this lovely lady who I haven't seen since college years.  This woman, Jessi, is a powerhouse, a deep woman of Christ, and one of those amazing humans you are just really glad to know.  Super delighted to have had this chance encounter.

The time in Colorado is always full of fun and memory making.

We said goodbye to Alpine's brother, Glacier, set out on our train and headed home.  

Grateful for these times and for the adventures with my girls.