Easter

I'm sure by now you all are aware that I will always be tardy when it comes to posting about our holidays. At least I'm consistent about posting late:)

This years Easter was great! The Easter Bunny left Carter a pretty sweet Easter basket. It was full of candy (which his mom quickly consumed) and toys. We had a small egg hunt in our backyard for the little man. He didn't understand why someone would leave eggs all over the place. He thought we took him outside just so that he would clean up, then he realized there was candy in the eggs. Look out!

Way to go BUBBA!

Havin fun with Dad!

Lovin the bubbles!

Mowing Great Grandpa Praters Grass!

This is my new favorite picture.

Girls enough already!

I don't care what you say, Ring Pops ROCK!!!

Cowboy Carter!

I have been meaning to post these pictures for a while now. This is Carter's cowboy attire. He loves the sounds his boots make when he stomps his feet. He still is not crazy about the hat, but he will keep it on as long as his hand are full. Hope it makes you smile!

You Should See The Other Guy!!!!!

Lately Carter has been a bit clumsy. Ok, clumsy is an understatement. He is down right uncoordinated! First the little guy falls out of the camping trailer resulting in a black eye. Then at home he falls into our entertainment center which left him with a nice size scratch on his forehead. Next he decided to fall flat onto his head on the garage concrete floor. The kid seriously needs a helmet!This right after his fall out of the trailer!

This is after his close encounter with the garage floor (this one freaked me out).


I know that kids fall a lot and that he is gonna get his fare share of bumps and bruises, I just hate seeing him hurt. You should see the looks I have been getting in the grocery store! I swear that I don't beat my kid. I'm a really good mom . . . . .promise.

Camping

We went camping a few weekends ago to a place called Gold Butte. We talked Kenny's family and our friends Robbi, Jay, and Ted into coming with us. We got to ride the quads and check out some really cool sites. As always we had a ton of fun! My only compliant was that we had to leave so soon.

The first night we got there kinda late and it took us a while to get set up. There was a little confusion with the directions and by the time everyone got to the campsite and set up it was pretty late. I was inside the camper getting dinner ready and the next thing I hear is a big BANG. That big BANG happened to be Carter as he fell out the camper door and down all three stairs! It's the same story every time he gets hurt, "I just turned my back for a second. . . . ." We were pretty lucky he only got a black eye. Carter will be rocking his first SHINER in all of these pictures.

When we headed home on Sunday there was 50mph wind gust! That was the first time we have ever towed the trailer home in that kind of wind. I was totally freaking out! We managed to make it home in one piece. Check out some of the pictures of our camping weekend. This is our Camp. It was a great "play pin" for Carter and blocked most of the sun.

This was the day after the fall. He looks soooo tuff.

Ted just enjoying the ride.

This is our dusty group (minus grandpa, he is doing the picture taking).

Family Razor Ride. This is Carters favorite part.

This was the morning we were packing up to go home. Carter was so tired. He decided to use his yogurt as body paint, I guess he wasn't that hungry.

Seven Years

This month is my seventh year in remission.Most of you know that I had thyroid cancer when I was a sophomore in high school. In 2002 I was considered cancer free. Just to be positive they decided to do a scan and make sure. Being the lucky person that I am, they discovered that it came back. That sucked. Now I'm cancer free AGAIN! I get regular check ups every three months and have even gone to UCLA and MD Anderson in Texas to have check ups done.

Cancer sucks! I have beat it twice and if for some freakin reason I get it again I know that I can beat it. My cancer was really, really easy compared to other types of cancer. I was very young the first time and recovered really fast. The doctors told me "hey guess what, You have cancer", I didn't feel like I had cancer, I was never sick, never weak. It was so strange to be walking around, feeling fine, and know that I had cancer. I have seen friends and family with cancer and they get SICK. I was so, so lucky to catch it when we did. A few surgeries latter and a little radiation and I was all better. . . ok maybe it wasn't that easy (especially on my mom).

The second time was a little harder. I was older and understood how serious it was but it still wasn't THAT bad. I had some more radiation (yes its true I do have a slight glow that radiates off me when its really dark) and few scans, no big deal. In the end it worked out because it made me skinny for my wedding :)

I tried to find some pictures of me when I first had my surgeries. This is the only one I could find. I guess no one wanted to take pictures of the scary girl with her neck cut open. If you look close you can see the drainage tub coming out of my chest. Come on, you know that's COOL!
So to remind myself how strong and determined I was all those years ago, and how strong and determined I will always have to be. . . I got a tattoo. Yep you read that correctly. I got a tattoo! I know that there will be some of you out there that do not approve or understand why I got a tattoo. There are also some of you out there that have not fought cancer twice, and to be honest I didn't get the tattoo for anyone but MYSELF. I love it and it's exactly what I wanted. For those of you that are a excited as I am here are a few pictures.
Yep I got a tattoo on my foot. The blue part of the ribbon represents Thyroid Disease and the purple part represents Thyroid Cancer.

This is the guy that did my tattoo. I don't even remember his name. I was a little nervous.
This is me being strong. . . . not really, this is me smiling for the camera trying to look strong.
Close up of my cancer ribbon tattoo.

I have wanted this tattoo for a really long time. I always talk about getting one but I never do. I have known exactly what I want for years. Saturday night we are at a family party and we start talking about tattoos AGAIN. Jordan (my sister) txt me late Saturday night and says " hey, gonna get a tattoo tomorrow want to come watch?" (yes, Jordan got a tattoo also but that's her story to tell). I say "heck yeah!" in the back of my mind I know I'm gonna get one too. I can't let Jordan be the only one that gets a tattoo. I'm no chicken! So we go down to the Palms Casino and visit the Huntington and Hart Tattoo shop. Jordan was already getting her tattoo by the time I got there and she was in a back room where we couldn't see, that kinda sucked. I check and see if they have anymore appointments and SCORE, they have one left. I decide to take it on one condition, that my mom stays with me while I get the tattoo. She was with me through every cancer, doctors appointment, and everything in between, I just couldn't see getting the tattoo without her. After it was all said and done I got my dream tattoo. I'm not gonna lie. It hurt. If I had to choose between kidney stones and a tattoo. . . . tat me up baby because those stones hurt like HECK!

Superbowl

We crashed Aunt Robbi and Unckie Jay's house for the Superbowl. They got a bunch of toys just for Carter to play with and he loved them all. Unckie Jay gave Carter his fist lesson in pin ball. Then we enjoyed a vast array of fried foods and chips and dip. It was AWESOME! Thanks again guys, we love you (mean it).

Carter and Unckie! I love this Picture.

Carter and Dada.

Camping

Last month we went camping with Kenny's parents. Gary (Kenny's dad) is part of a motorcycle club. Every year his club puts on a desert race. We go every year and have lots of fun. This year we invited our friends Jameson and Jamie and there two little girls Zoey and Mackenzie (Carters girlfriends). Carter got to spend lots of time with his Aunt Kim, Uncle Den, and grandma. Which meant that there was no shortage of babysitters! It was really nice to just sit back and relax. Check out some of our pictures.

Carter saying "CHEEESE" for a picture with his Dada.

Family ride in the Razor!

Jameson and Jamie in the super sweet Odyssey.

Carter making out with Mackenzie!

Carter holding hands with Zoey. He just can't keep the girls off of him!!!