I don’t know why we hadn’t thought of doing this before, but Lacey, Becca and I finally decided to get together and have a girls night. We didn’t have much of a plan, but decided to make some cute crepe paper flowers to decorate for Valentines day. Tom was even able to take Lilah to scouts with him so we would have the night to ourselves.

We ran to the store and grabbed some pipe cleaners, which was the only purchase we had to make. The rest of the stuff we already had on hand. We had a great time and made a bunch of flowers. We made enough for everyone to have a little table display. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of us all together. Thanks again girls! Can’t wait to do it again.

Here’s Lilah, in a pair of boots that belongs to Travis’ roommate.

The very next night, we headed over to Houston and Becca’s apartment for some delicious homemade soup! We felt so spoiled! Two delicious dinners that we didn’t even have to make. We were able to bring a side dish of our garden carrots to Becca & Houston’s place. I’m still so amazed that you can leave carrots in the ground all winter without them getting limp or going bad! You just go out and dig them up as you need them! Garden carrots always taste much better than store bought ones too. Lacey and Travis came over as well and we all enjoyed the time to just relax and catch up. Lilah adores all of these people says their names all the time!

Thanks again guys! Wish we could see everyone else this often too!

Here’s the fort that Tom made for Lilah, before all the cousins had arrived for the week. She loved it!

Lunch with a bunch of my high school girl friends! I had just had my surgery the day before and was so grateful that I was still able to go. I wish more people could have been there, but it was fun to catch up with those who could make it!

The boys decided that it would be funny to try on a few of mom’s wigs (with her permission of course)! Pretty sick if you ask me! 

Christmas eve dinner was a lot of fun! We all got to eat on mom’s special Christmas china and have a candle lit dinner. The food was delicious too!

After dinner we had a really fun time letting the kids act out the nativity… Angela described it perfectly on her blog, “First no one wanted to be the donkey, then Matthew & Caleb both wanted to be the donkey, then Emily-who was supposed to be a shepherd-decided she wanted to ride the donkey, meanwhile Lilah (Mary) tossed the doll out of the manger and hopped in herself, then Emily decided that looked like fun and hoped in the manger too.” We all laughed a lot, but it was still a very special & spiritual evening.

Christmas morning turned out really well. We went to church (9am), then came back and opened presents. I wouldn’t mind if Christmas was on a Sunday every year! The kids were all very excited, and I loved being able to feel their excitement. Lilah still wasn’t that great at opening gifts, but loved getting what was inside. She especially loved her very first all-fruit fruit snacks in her stocking! She just kept giggling, and I couldn’t get to interested in anything else. I was excited about our stockings this year that were filled with fruit, fruit snacks, fruit leather, larabars, honey sticks, and a few small gifts.

Dad, making good use of Tom’s new buckyballs. I don’t know if I’ve seen a funnier picture of him!

We got a chance to do some service for a neighbor.

Playing UNO with Grandma.

My parents got a cat for Christmas to help with rodents outside, and we all loved her! She was so sweet!

Playing with Ang & Jeffs new Wii game. This was so funny to watch!

Playing dodge-ball at the church.

The grand-kids all got hippity-hops for Christmas, from Grandma & Grandpa, so we tried them out in church gym.

Lilah & Emily rocking themselves in the little baby cradle. Theses girls were so cute together, and I think they will only become better and better friends.

We were able to all go out to eat this trip. It was a nice, relaxing night thanks to the babysitter who listened for the kids at home. Sadly, Travis (Lacey’s boyfriend) had to head back to Provo for a few days that very afternoon & missed our fun little outing. We were happy to have him back that weekend for New Years!

We all had such a great time together, and as always, it was difficult to say goodbye. Thanks again Mom & Dad for letting us fill your house with craziness! We love being there.

We headed up to Idaho about a week after arriving home from our Boston trip. My mom started chemo on the 1st of December and we were fortunate enough to be able to head up there to help out. My mom is an amazing woman, and I look up to her so much. She has an amazing attitude about life’s trials and her unfortunate situation with cancer is no exception.

We actually stopped in Twin Falls for Tyson & Kaylee’s wedding dinner that Friday night. My parents and little brother Cole met us there. It was fun to be able to see so many family members on the Haworth side. We spent the night there in Twin and attended their wedding in the Twin Falls temple in the morning. The ceremony was beautiful and I found myself feeling very grateful for my own eternal companion. I can’t believe that it has almost been 4 years!

All the Haworth sisters with Grandma & Grandpa Haworth at the wedding dinner.

Tyson & Kaylee after the wedding:

We drove up to Boise that afternoon and attended their wedding reception in downtown Boise that night. The Boise temple is closed right now for maintenance, and that is why they did the wedding in Twin Falls. Soon they will have 2 temples in the area! Boise will reopen and the Meridian temple will be build just a few miles from my parents home! We are all very excited!

I was fun to have Heidi, Cathy and Kylee come back to my mom’s house. We all went to the reception together that night then they all flew out the next day.

My mom’s 2nd treatment was the following Thursday morning. Her treatments usually last from about 9:30am-2pm. She meets with doctors & nurses, gets tests done, & gets the treatment. After her 2nd treatment we decided to go to a wig shop and pick one out. Mom hadn’t lost her hair by this point, but she could tell that it would be happening soon. We spent a good 2 hours trying on just about every wig in the shop! We had a good time and both decided that it was fun to at least pick whatever hairstyle you want when you loose your hair. Again, my mom has an amazing attitude. Here are a few she tried on:

We ended up picking 2 different wigs! They are quite different, and it’ll be fun for her to switch up which one she wears. It was a good thing we got the wigs so soon because just a few days after the 2nd treatment she decided to shave her head. Her hair was coming out in handfuls and loosing your hair is actually quite painful. It felt a lot better once it was all gone. She had me shave it. I forgot how cute she looks with her little bald head.

This kind of chemotherapy has been the most difficult. Her appetite goes, and the nausea and fatigue take it’s place. It’s been much worse than her last experience a couple years ago. It’s been hard to see my mom this sick, but it is much easier when I am here with her and can see it for myself. She has a way of making you feel happy and at peace with her condition. She is so strong and it is contagious. I have learned  so much from her positive attitude and faith. Thank you mom for being the most incredible women I know.

There was just too much to fit into one post, so here’s some great stuff from the second part of our trip—Thanksgiving through Dec. 1st. As you’d expect, we spent a lot more time around Hybid and the horses. While some of the kids were participating in a games rally (on horseback) Lilah discovered the egg and spoon game.

Lilah couldn’t get enough of her grandparents. She loved playing games with Grumpy…he even coached her on the ‘memoh’ (piano).

And while we made our share of messes, we were also able to spend a lot of time cleaning up and organizing the house. Mom helped us go through drawer after drawer of kids artwork, papers, photos, gems and junk. We bought and labeled bins so that everything has it’s own place. Which is no small feat, as those who’ve visited can attest.

On Saturday night Kristie and I left Lilah with Nana and Nina, and headed into Boston for a date night. We spent some time in Cambridge, grabbed dinner near Faniuel Hall, dipped into the Italian North End for dessert, and spent the rest of the evening walking and window shopping around Newbury St. and Boylston. Lots of memories there, so much fun to be back.

We also got a chance to head up to our place in New Hampshire for a couple days. Here’s a shot of handsome Wicky, looking manly.

On our way out of town we stopped by a small farm where my mom buys raw milk. They had all kinds of animals that Lilah absolutely loved—chickens, dogs, cattle, pigs, calves, horses, etc.

On our last full day in town, we decided to go to the New England Aquarium. That place seemed magical to me as a kid, and my return 20 years later didn’t disappoint. Lilah spent the whole time running around excitedly, yelling “Fis! Fis!”

Houston & Becca

Lacey & Cole

Angela, Jeff & the kids.

Mom & Dad Tanner

Thanks again Cathy, it’ll be double the fun at Christmas!

Mom Tanner got a chance to fly down here for the weekend and it was a blast! She flew in Friday the 15th and was able to stay through Monday morning. A lot of the Tanner family is here in Provo, so it was really fun to get everyone together. I wish I had gotten a picture with all of us together, but I completely forgot.

Some of the highlights were:

Going shopping with Mom, Lacey, Travis, Tom & Lilah. Mom bought me some really cute clothes for my birthday and found a few cute things for herself as well!

Dinner at Brick Oven with Tom, Me, Lilah, Mom, Lacey & Travis. Lilah wasn’t even sad that she had her own food that we brought her from home. While we were there a guy walked by and offered to make Lilah a balloon shaped animal. We had him make here a dog and Lilah loved it! I don’t really think it looked like a dog, but Lilah wouldn’t put it down.

Another highlight was being able to attend church together! I love being able to have my mom there with me. She even helped me take care of Lilah while I taught my sunbeam lesson.

Sunday dinner with everyone was really fun. Houston and Becca actually had Becca’s parents staying with them earlier in the weekend, so they weren’t able to be with us Friday or Saturday. So on Sunday we had everyone over to our house for a big dinner. That night we watched 17 Miracles. It was a really neat portrayal of what some of the pioneers had to endure and the miracles they experienced along the way. I came away feeling very grateful for what we have. It made me not want to take anything for gran-tit.

Mom Tanner flew out early Monday morning, and the house seemed a little too quite all day. We are so grateful that you got to come all the way down here to be with us, Mom! We loved having you here, and can’t wait to spend more time together soon!

This is one of Lilah’s new favorite things to do: putting on socks, shoes, gloves, leg warmers, etc.

Lilah loved posing for pictures with these glasses on.

Lastly, here is a video of one of Lilah’s favorite past times. She’ll ask me to turn on the music, then get me a blanket so we can play. Lilah’s outfit is adorable right?! Since she is potty training she needed to have something on that we could take off easily… many times… But I don’t want her little lets to get cold. I am happy that we aren’t having many accidents now so I can just put her in her normal clothes. The real challenge is trying to find underwear for a 16 month old! The smallest I can find is 2T/3T. They’ve worked alright though with pants over the top, to hold them up.

We decided to take Lilah to rock canyon park on a Sunday afternoon. After getting there I decided to try and teach her how to roll down the hill. I didn’t really expect her to do it, or enjoy it, but she did! She did it over and over again! I felt dizzy from just demonstrating it once for her! We had a great time enjoying the warm weather, that I know will not last long. Here’s a video from the afternoon: