Update

My Mom is HOME! That's right. She has walked out of the hospital 2 days after brain surgery for the second time in a row. Everything went smoothly during surgery and recovery and she is officially the strongest person I know. Our family is truly the recipient of miracles and we are so grateful to everyone for your prayers and love for our family. We have been blessed so hugely by you all.
Now treatment continues, whatever that means. We press on right? I'm pretty sure my Mom doesn't understand the words "give up" and that's good with me. I never had much liking for those words myself.

To All Those Who Pray

My mom went to the hospital today because she has been having a lot of pain and extreme fatigue. Today she couldn't get out of bed on her own so Jon and Dad took her to the hospital where they did an MRI and found that there is a lot of swelling of the brain. The scar tissue and/or tumor are putting pressure on the brain....the short version of the story is that she needs a second craniotomy tomorrow at about 12 noon. They are going to be more aggressive this time and try and take out most or all of the tumor and any scar tissue left by the radiation. They say everything is very close to the surface, which gives them confidence, but who wants to go through TWO brain surgeries in one lifetime? So please pray for my Mom and Dad that they'll be strong and also that the Doctors will be successful. Thank you everyone for your love and prayers. We really need them.

We did it!

After an hour of coaxing and crying over Winnie the Pooh a week ago, I decided that Halloween was not about torture, but about fun! So I went out and got Elly a Dora the Explorer costume. Although she was initially skeptical, her love of Dora won out and she proudly sported her entire costume both Friday for the trunk or treat and Saturday for the real thing. Owen got to be the cutest Boots the Monkey I've ever seen and I made Andrew and I these nerdy t-shirts just for fun! Halloween turned into a huge success! As Dora would say, "We did it!"

Proof that Elly was a happy Dora!

This is a good view of her back pack. She put her stuffed monkey inside and I put red socks on him to look like boots. The back pack didn't come with a map so we rolled up some paper and viola!

Owen was pretty darn happy about being a Monkey. I love this little boy's smile!

I had to post this one last picture. We had our dear friends from Tolleson down for Halloween and were so thrilled they could all make it. We had a fun and busy house that night and I don't know if it was the kids or the adults who were having more fun. The only sad thing about our move is missing these wonderful friends! We are missing two little ones in this picture and there is one more on the way, but look at how cute these trick or treaters are!

Calling All Mothers!

How do you get a two-year-old to wear a Halloween costume? I have been talking up Halloween for a while: teaching Elly to say “trick or treat” and telling her about the endless candy she can enjoy PLUS she gets to be one of her favorite people…Winnie the Pooh! Her grandma bought her this costume and so I bought Owen a Tigger costume because I love nerdy family themes, but Elly will NOT go near Pooh. She yells “No like it! No like it!” We’ve tried promising her cookies, candy, movies, outdoor play…I’m not sure what else to do! Please, I need any and ALL suggestions otherwise Elly is going to wear a sign on Halloween that says “I refused to wear my costume. Can I have candy anyway?”

How we're rollin'

Before the weather decided to boil back up on us, we were actually saying goodbye to triple digets and hello to the park! These are my new wheels and we've been rolling to the park in style. Elly LOVES the swings and slide. She runs to the stroller and yells "let's go guys!" and off we go!

This is how I found Owen the other week. He rolled over, got stuck and then had a look on his face like "I meant to do this. I'm cool here." He's so silly!Elly and I are practicing her "sweet smile" instead of the big CHEESE you'll see below. She is such a sweet girl, she deserves a sweet smile. She loves to say "pweese" and "thankyouwelcome" all the time. That is one word by the way.
CHEESE! Go Sun Devils!
Ahhh! We had a little photo shoot with "the buddy" as we call him. He was all smiles for Daddy!

I can't believe I only posted 2 pictures of the smile fest. That is some serious self-restraint people.

Saying Goodbye

We said goodbye to Abuelo last Saturday through the nicest memorial service I have ever attended. Abuelo is the closest person to me to pass away so I was probably more personally invested than I have been before, but I think those non-biased attendees would agree with me. My Dad and his brother spoke at the funeral and my Dad dedicated the grave. The service was so well attended they had to open the overflow of the chapel just to accommodate everyone. Abuelo left a lasting impression on so so many people.

The nicest part about attending the funeral was seeing family. Here is Abuela with her kids from left to right: Ron (Dad), Larry, Chris, Patty.

My parents with three of the four grandchildren born in the last nine months or so. That makes eight total and two very happy grandparents!
My sisters and I with our respective babies. Erin (Bryce), Janae (Annabelle), Me (Owen).

We had six babies with us on my Dad's side of the family. We affectionately refer to this clan as the "2009'ers". There is one more on the way in November too!

Owen and I were the only Bangs able to attend. We actually had a MILLION things going on this weekend including MOVING! We took care of everything but furniture before-hand and then Andrew spear-headed the Saturday move. We had lots of help too so THANK YOU to all of you that flexed your muscles on our behalf. The rest of the commitments we had simply had to wait. It's amazing how much we think we HAVE to do and then when it really comes down to it, most things we can do without.

Light Grey

I keep thinking of my life in black and white lately.

Black because I lost my Grandpa (he is the first grandparent I've ever lost.). Black because of what my Mom is going through. Black because I worry even more about my Dad. Black because I'm pretty scared most of the time.

White because I have an amazing family. White because I have beautiful children and a patient husband. White because I'm sealed to my family forever. White because I have such loving friends. White because we're getting a new house that is really a dream for us. White because the temporal things in my life are really coming together. White because I know God loves me.

So when you blend them together, I guess my life is light grey. More good than bad.

It's okay to be this honest right? Oh well, I'm super emotional lately and I have to express it someway.