Huntsman 140

I am doing the Huntsman race again this year.  But this year I have committed to doing the whole 140 miles.  It will have been almost a year since Bob has passes away from cancer.  I want to make sure others don't have to go through what he did.  I love and miss him everyday.  I am so grateful for the time we had with him.  He was an amazing dad to my family.  If you want to donate to this amazing cause click here.

Bob's Legacy

The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions.  Bob last his battle with Cancer on Friday, June 14 early in the morning.  My family was all there, he went in his sleep.  My mother has been a rockstar throughout his whole battle with cancer.  The last weeks she never left his side, this even meant sleeping on an air mattress.  My siblings all rallied too and were amazing.  I am so blessed to have such an amazing support system.  

Through watching Bob struggle with cancer it have made me think about how I want to live my life.  Every person who came over to the house to visit Bob all gushed about what an amazing man he was.  In all the time I knew Bob I never heard one bad thing out of his mouth and he never was negative about life.  I do not think I can say that about anyone else I know.  I am going to make a conscious effort to be more like that and let his legacy live.

The night Bob died I had the great honor to saying the family prayer.  It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, but I know without a doubt that my Heavenly Father was listening.  He was ready to accept Bob with open arms.  Though we were not ready to lose him I know that he is being taken care of and is no longer in pain.  I also know that he will be watching out for us, especially my mom.

I so wish I could take away the pain that my family is experiencing.  It is so hard to see them all suffer and the pain that they are experiencing.  My mom deserves the world and I vowed to Bob before he died that I would take care of her.  She is my world and I am so lucky to have such an amazing strong woman as an example.

I thank my Heavenly Father for the time we had with Bob.  I love him and will miss him so much. 

Bob

For those who do not know my stepdad Bob has been fighting a long battle with cancer for the past year.  In September he lost feeling in half his face and so went in to see what was wrong.  We found out he had a huge brain tumor and when they did scans they also found cancer around his stomach.  Within weeks he went into brain surgery and had the brain tumor removed.  He had biopsies of the cells in the brain tumor and his stomach but neither of them showed signs of where the root of the cancer was.  So the doctors came up with a plan to do a general chemo.  He did chemo for several months when scans were completed we found out the tumor was not shrinking.  Surgery would be the best option.  Bob went into surgery and once they had removed the gall bladder to get to the tumor they realized it was too close to the heart and it was bigger and more invasive than originally planned.  They sewed him back up and decided to do another form of chemo.  Having had his stomach open (he calls his scars that go across his whole stomach measuring over a foot long a shark attack) which meant that he had to be strong enough to start chemo again.  So Bob went into a rehab center for two months to help him rehabilitate and become strong.  Upon arriving home we started chemo once again.

I moved home in April for a month and thought Bob was making major strides.  On my birthday he was up more than I had seen him in along time.  I think God knew I needed this.  Bob has been a dad to me and shown me that their are descent men in the world.

A day after my birthday things went for the worst Bob's lining in his brain swelled and he couldn't move anything.  My mom brought him immediately to Huntsman where they told us the cancer had spread and they could give him steroids to help but the chemo was now only to manage the tumors but not to shrink them.  We decided this was not going to be end and added a second type of chemo into the mix.

This brings us to today.  Bob had scans to see if the tumor in his stomach had shrunk at all during this whole process.  Then the dr. told us what no one wants to hear the tumor had grown 10% and there was nothing else we could.  We may have only weeks or months.  This whole process has brought my life into perspective.  I have been having a pity party for myself the last six months about having a guy dump me and not knowing what my job situation was, meanwhile my dad was dying.  I was being so selfish.  I am sincerely so sorry for putting my needs in front of his.  It has been amazing to see the out pour of love my family has received it shows so much goodness in the world.

Bob is one of the most amazing people I know.  I have loved seeing his friends and family all come over to the house and talk with him.  It shows me what it means to be good to your fellow man.  Bob has always put others first.  I am so grateful for the past 15 years that he has been in my life, I can't imagine not having him around.  He brought joy and peace to my family when we so desperately needed it.  Most importantly he made my mom so happy and for that I owe him the world.  I love him with all of my heart and thank God for allowing me to have him as a dad.  I know I will see him again but it doesn't make it easier.  Please pray for my family and for Bob.  I cannot imagine knowing the end is near.  I wish so desperately that it was me going through this.  He doesn't deserve to be in so much pain.

I hope all those will forgive me for being selfish and know that my mission now is to put others needs before my own.

New Home

I have moved into my new home.  This is the first time I have lived alone and am so excited.  I can finally have everything the way I want it.  Here are some photos.

Thank you to all those that helped.  I love it!!

My 30th Year!

My 30th year has been very exciting.  It has been full of ups and downs.  Here is a recap of my life over the past year:

• Spent my 30th birthday in Kauai 
• Went snorkeling for first time
• Went on helicopter ride to Jurassic Park waterfalls
• Climbed Kilimanjaro with Rachael
• Helped build the Bubu School in Tanzania
• Learned to cook Tanzanian cuisine
• Swam in the Indian Ocean
• Went on an African safari
• Ran my fastest marathon time of 3:46 at Utah Valley
• Ran the Top of Utah Marathon
• Went to Nicaragua to study the educational system
• Went to Napa and Tahoe
• Graduated with my Master of Arts in Teaching
• Patrick got married
• Bob got diagnosed with cancer
• Loved and lost
• Started teaching 2nd grade at Dilworth Elementary
• Signed up for first bike race
• Graduated from the YSA wards 

I had an amazing year and am so grateful for my family and friends.  

Huntsman 75

I am doing the Huntsman 75 miler! I am doing it for Bob and all those who have had cancer. Bob has taught me to live each day to its fullest, I owe him more than a bike ride. Thank you Bob and love you! Click here if you want to help me reach my fundraising goal. 

DIlworth

I have officially been a second grade teacher for 3 weeks.  Here are some pictures of my classroom, I must say it looks really good.  People comment on how clean and great it looks.  Pinterest and my OCDness have helped with that.