Party

So, this past weekend we had a Halloween Party. Justin was supposed to be there...but he's working over on the East Coast & being all responsible & whatnot. I made the most AWESOME costume I've ever made in my entire life for this party. It took weeks of scouring the internet for *just the right* things to piece together for this stellar ensemble. Two pairs of Spanx and one spandex unitard later, we have this:

that's right...MY LITTLE PONY. Since I probably weigh like, 8 pounds less than Aretha Franklin does, I'm not really all into the "skank" look for Halloween these days....Spandex is even pushing it...but, in the end, it all worked out, and for one night I got to look like my favorite childhood toys.

Pumpkin

We took a little trip to the Pumpkin Patch on Sunday afternoon. This year, we decided to go to the Taladega Frights Patch. It was pretty cool...they have a giant corn maze, bounce houses and slides, and lots and LOTS of pumpkins. Reese was so amazed by all the piles of pumpkins that he could hardly contain himself. He found "the one" and kept picking it up and dropping it...He'd leave it somewhere, run off, then come back, pick it up...drop it. It was pretty funny :)

Magical

This weekend was beyond busy, but we squeezed in a little Disney. Saturday we took Reese to Disney on Ice, and it was a-maz-ing! I almost cried just watching him jump and squeal with joy. Totally worth the money...not to mention we had REALLY good seats...THREE rows from the ice! He could almost reach out & touch Mickey. I thought he was going to go into overload when Mickey came to our side and waved at him--I've never seen a kid so happy!

Today.

Today, as in five minutes, as in 1:45 PM, my dad will go in for his biopsy to test the tumor in his throat for cancer.

Do you ever feel like you ask too much of God? Like, a lot of times I hear myself saying, God, if you get me out of this, if you see me through this, I swear, things will change...but does it ever really? I mean, things go back to normal, everything works out, and you're still doing the same things you were before, until the next crisis.

I've been thinking about this a lot, especially this morning, now that the biopsy is upon us. I just keep going, Okay, this is it. This is the make it or break it day.

And once again, here I am, asking God to help. Help my dad, help my family, help me restrain from having a nervous breakdown.

Trees.

I've been having SUCH a problem with creating some centerpieces for our wedding in June. I keep saying I want to get as much done as possible BEFORE the new year...and here it is already October!

Anyway, I've been doing some research on the web...trying to find the cutest centerpieces for the least amount of money. I have $1000 budgeted for decor, but I'd like to stay as far away from that number as possible....so this is what I've come up with: Manzanita Tree centerpieces :)

They're pretty inexpensive, but OH-SO-PRETTY when they're finished & all decorated. These aren't the exact colors & whatnot, but here's an idea:

We already have the dangling crystals, which hang from the tree as well...they will look really nice in the hall, and since the ceilings are super high, they will add some height between the chandeliers & tables.

I'll post pics as soon as a get a couple made!

waiting.

The last time my dad had cancer, I was in 3rd grade. I don't remember much, other than my parents going to a place called UCLA every other week for check-ups, laser treatments, and other appointments. (which I thought was weird, because as far as I knew, UCLA was a football team, or a school. So I imagined him taking trips to the football field a lot) The one part I do remember, is being in class, around 3:30, and my teacher nudging me telling me I had a visitor and pointing to the window. I looked over and saw my dad peeking through the window of our classroom making a funny face. I was so excited because him & my mom were there to pick me up....early! He had actually just got back from his last visit to UCLA to remove the tumor from his bladder....I know that now, but back then, I was just excited to get out of school early and hang out with my dad because that meant we would go to 7-11 and get a Slurpee.

After he was in the clear, he would go back every other month for check ups, to make sure there weren't any new tumors. Soon it was 6 months, then 9, then 12, then 24, and he's never had to go back since, so its now become a distant memory.

So as I sit here trying to grasp what has just happened to our family, is it fair to ask "why"? He's already beaten this once, why does he get it again? Why us? Why not someone else this time?

This time, its in his throat at the base of his tongue. After a week of coughing up blood because something scratched his throat, they found it. A little, white, lump thing the size of a pencil eraser, that holds the fate of the rest of his life.

So for now, we wait. Wait for more tests, wait for results, and wait for answers.