Happy Thanksgiving!

Here are a few pictures from a family photo shoot done at the end of summer. We are sure Thankful for each other and the little one on the way!

Also, You would think its Christmas morning here. 

Tayvia kept hugging the snowman her Grandpa John built. "Oh, I love your frosty."

Feeling Thankful!

Feeling so blessed today!
♡ Sometimes it feels so surreal to be having another baby. Getting more and more anxious to meet him.
♡ Tayvia did so well in the primary program today. She was sure scared & nervous but was able to be so brave to do her part. 
♡ This time of year I definitely reflect on how lucky I am to have Eric with us. It was around this same time 4 years ago that we found out he was sick. 
◇ I love a quote I recently read, "In this family we do hard things."
#happyearlythanksgiving #feelingblessed #godisgood

Happy 8th Anniversary!

We made it past the 7 year itch! Yahoo! Time is honestly flying by so fast which means we are having fun right?

We had a little family birthday celebration in Park City this past weekend. 

Happy Halloween!

Jake from State Farm, Elsa, and Flo from Progressive.

(our friend said that our son's name will be flake from Progressive Farm! LOL)

Tayvia had a little Halloween Parade and program at her preschool.

It's a.......

I let Eric have some fun with our gender reveal since he let me go in early to find out what we are having.....

Labor Day Weekend and Neurologist Follow-up

Over the weekend we enjoyed some time to ourselves in the great outdoors at the cabin. It's our favorite place to get a way! Tayvia asks almost every time if we could live there.

Eric had a follow up this morning with Dr. Zimmerman the neurologist that he has been seeing. As long as Eric remembers to take his medication everyday he shouldnt have to worry. It is something he will take forever to help prevent anymore seizure from occuring. He doesn't have to go back but once a year to follow up!

We have been keeping a secret.....

WE ARE SUPER EXCITED TO ANNOUNCE......

We feel so much gratitude in our hearts for the miracles that have been possible in our lives through modern medicine and through our faith. Without either or those things Eric wouldnt be here with us today and we wouldnt be expanding our little family. 

(Also to Erics parents who made it financially possible to go through the IVF process)

February can not come soon enough!

ps. The first part of August Eric had a check up with Dr. C and everything looks good. Scheduled scans for December.

p.p.s If you cant see the video these are a few clips. :)

Summer 2016

June

Weekends at the cabin are the best!

photo courtesy of Tayvia

Fathers Day

Summer isnt complete without Lake Powell

July

Wild flowers at the cabin

Fourth of July hike up Ferguson 

Dinner at our favorite Mexican Restaurant in Ephraim

Watched Finding Dory at the Drive in Movies! 

Riding horses at Grandpa Gayles farm. 

May

Eric had a check up visit with Dr. Chandramouli. Everything looks good.

A few pictures from our May adventures:

Tayvia had a field trip to the Zoo. It was fun to have daddy come along!

Tayvia had an observation day for parents to come see her perform what she learned. I think she liked dance but she sure crawls in her shell when it comes time to perform.. cough... wonder who she gets that from?

We went camping with the Holman Clan in Goblin Valley

We planted our garden. Tayvia loves to water the plants!

We went camping again. This time with the Ross family near Huntington.

April: Testicular Cancer Awareness Month

We love to visit Eric downtown for lunch dates. I knew the flowers were amazing at temple square so we wandered over to see them.

Over Spring Break we went to Canyonlands to do some exploring. 

More lunch date fun.  

We went to a Bee's game this last week. 

The weather was beautiful and we had fun sharing ice cream! 

Playing out front. We love spring!

Also, Dont forget that Early detection is the key!

Regular check up and Neurologist check up

Eric had a followup with Dr. C a couple weeks ago and his 6 week follow up with the Neurologist last week. He hasn't had a seizure since the one if Feb. His MRI shows radiation necrosis. Which is also what we found in 2014 when Eric had the biopsy on his brain. Eric's recent EEG looked normal so HOORAH.

My phone remembers the Utah Cancer Specialist wifi password still....

Waiting for Dr. C

Update on Eric: MRI with contrast

Eric had his MRI with contrast while I was gone on a dental humanitarian trip to peru. He sent me an email that said...

Had my mri with Dr zimmerman she said the results were concerning, so I went to Dr C and he wasn't too concerned as it appears like the same stuff as when i got my biopsy. Dr hunter will review also with his feedback. I meet with Dr c on the 25 of march for an update. It has been fun with tayvia, though I have been a little stressed with my brain issues.

I'm going to call today to schedule his EEG and get that done before his next appointment with Dr. C.

Follow up with Neurologist

Yesterday we met with Dr. Zimmerman who was very direct and thorough. She asked Eric tons of questions, asked if there was anything else we felt like she needed to know and did an exam to see how his dexterity and movement were.

She said that it sounded like he had a Focal Seizure. She wants him to have an MRI WITH CONTARST something they didn't do during his ER visit. She also wants him to have a sleep deprived EEG to see the electricity of his brain.

Eric is able to drive because he never lost conciousness and she discussed other safety precautions with seizures. In the future in the event of a seizure if it lasts more than 3 minutes Eric needs to go to the ER. She would like him to take seizure medication for the rest of his life. You never know when or where you will be if one happenes again. I know Eric isn't excited to take medications everyday but it will give me piece of mind.

Can I just take a minute and say that this seizure seriously took me by surprise. I mean no one told me that from the scare tissue where tumors once were that he could have a seizure down the road. I seriously thought the tumors were back. Eric hasn't needed to get an MRI because he hasn't shown any signs of needing one. We will have to talk to Dr. Chandramouli about that next time (march) when we go for a check up.


I'll end by saying ERIC IS A CHAMP! He wasn't worried at all about what happened. His nickname is EasyE for a reason. He is layed back and easy going even in the midst of everything. I seriously love him for that. He is my rock.  Prayers have been answered yet again.

Counting Our Blessings

On Monday, February 22 at 4:30 I received a text from Eric's boss saying,

"Justine, this is Gary Mangum. I brought Eric up to LDS Hospital. He was experiencing some numbness on his left side. He's being checked out right now by the ER doctor. He is feeling better now than when we first arrived. I'm with im in the exam room and will let you know what they find out."
I told him thanks for letting me know and that I was on my way.

When I received this text I was almost done with work and happened to check my phone in between patients. I called for two of my coworkers to come in the break room where I handed them my phone to read the text and I just bawled hysterically. It had taken me by complete surprise and sounded exactly like the symptoms he had when he was first really sick. My coworkers could tell that I was really upset so they said a little prayer with me before I left. I think that's the only thing that made me get home safetly. I drove quickly with cold air blowing on my face as I rushed to my mom's house. She drove me to see Eric at LDS Hospital. On the way I text my bishop who works at LDS and asked if he was still at work. He had actually just gotten home but turned right around to come check on us.

When I first arrived Eric seemed fine. I teared up a little bit seeing him in a hospital bed again. His boss explained that Eric had experienced numbness on the left side of his face, his tongue seemed swollen and he had slurred his speech, the left side of his face looked droopy and his left are was moving- clenched and rigid like.
Eric recounted it for me as well- he was at his desk and his left are started moving up and down and he felt weird. He laid his head on his desk thinking I'll rest until this passes but it wasnt so he walked into Gary's office and asked him to take him to the ER. It continued on the way to the hospital but once there he felt fine.
When I got there they had done some blood work and a CT Scan which all came back normal and that Eric was waiting to get an MRI soon. Our bishop showed up after Eric had been taken to get the MRI so he ran an errand and would come back shortly while my mom and I grabbed a bit to eat at the hospital. I really had no appetite but my mom made me eat. (she is a good mom :)) Bishop Cooper found us and we chatted for a little bit in this little eating area and he walked us back to Eric's room with is nifty badge that got us through different doors and straight back to the room where Eric was waiting for us. We didn't wait too much longer before the ER doc came to discuss everything. He had been in contact with a Neurologist and Eric's Oncology office.
The plan was that Eric could go home that night because he didn't loose consciousness and had returned back to normal. We were to meet up with a Neurologist this week and meet with Dr. Chandramouli as normally scheduled (didn't need to go sooner)

Eric's recent scans and doctor visit

I got called into work last minute and wasnt able to go with Eric to his recent appointment that followed his CT scan. Eric didn't report much about his check up. He did say that they talked about protein shakes lol Tumors continue to get smaller, blood work is good.

A Little bit about these pictures. They were taken in front of Eric's parents Christmas tree. I'm wearing my Great Grandma's dress, Tayvia is wearing her new Christmas dress from Grandma Susan, and Eric is wearing his late Uncle Joe's suit coat, vest and pants & his new Christmas tie picked out by Tayvia. 

The Holidays

Out on a hot date to the Jazz game for Eric's work party.

Our Christmas Card

Caroling out in the snow

Tayvia had a dance observation day. She is the cutest!

Every year we volunteer handing out hot chocolate at the Live Nativity in Alpine. We raise donations for the Hirsche Smiles Foundation.

Visiting dad for lunch is our favorite thing!

We spent New Years Eve having a party at our house. Have any of you ever played Bean Boozled? Talk about entertainment!