Janell

Over the past few months I have had an overwhelming amount gratitude for my family relationships. Especially my sister in-law, Janell. There have been a few times when I will be thinking about her and I just have to tell her how much she means to me. So I would just send her a text telling her. I even felt prompted to post about my sister in-laws just a few entries back.

Well in just the last couple weeks Janell has been dealing with some health issues. She had a lump in her breast the doctors were concerned about. She had a skin biopsy done and had to wait a week for the results. I was sure it wasn't anything. I brushed it off, While we were out shopping a couple days before the results returned I told her she had nothing to worry about. I just assumed she was too young to be concerned about it being something serious. Well, I was wrong. In fact, it is quite serious. She was diagnosed with a rare form of breast cancer called Paget's disease. It is rare because they don't know if the cancer starts on the skin and works it's way in or the opposite, starts inside and works it's way out. In addition she has a tumor and a mass that are both cancer. This news was completely shocking to me. Not just me really, all of us! She is 28 and has an almost 1 year old Violet. You just don't think this could happen at such a young age.

Each year as "Mills" women, we walk in the Susan G. Komen, Walk for the Cure. We do this in honor of my husband's grandma, Eloise Monteith. She was a survivor of breast cancer. Each year we hear the reminders, wear our breast cancer shirts, and we are humbled by those survivors who walk with us in the crowd. I just honestly never thought about on of our family members wearing that pink shirt.

I think this week the shock has turned into action. I was overwhelmingly emotional after the news. Crying often and easily. This week we are pulling resources, making plans, offering help, doing what we can to try to lighten their burden. When I say we, I mean everyone... friends, family, even people they have never met. Janell though, solid as a rock. Reassuring, confident, positive, and ready to do what needs to be done. All the things a doctor could ask for. In fact, when she met with the surgeon he told her that if he ever gets cancer, he wants to handle just like her. The glass half full. Everything is new and important to understand. Peter and Janell are working as a team to digest the information and make the right decisions for their family. We all know there is a rough road ahead. I am confident and positive, but I dreading what what this next year will hold. I am continually comforted by the spiritual experiences Janell has had along the way.

I am grateful for the prompting of the spirit. I always regret not acting on it and this time I am thankful I did. Janell is my sister. I love her and she knows it. We are ready to help her fight this battle! We know she can do it and we will be there each step of the way.

First Day of School

I saw everyone posting their first day of school photos on Facebook, but never put ours up. My mom thought I was slacking. So here is proof of her grandchildren's first day! 

Josh is in 2nd grade this year and is doing fantastic so far. His reading has improved so much. He is ahead and it is a relief. We were excited to have a friend of his in the same class for the first time. Now he has made another buddy, so the three seem to be excited when they get the chance to be together. Josh is one of the tallest in the 2nd grade and he is proud it. 

You may wonder where Mr. Parker's glasses are? Well it seems his eyes are growing so fast and his prescription keeps changing. This is good because it has been improving. The only downside is that there always seems to be a wait to see his doc. His eyes still cross occasionally, which cracks me up from time to time, but not as bad as before his surgeries. So... here Parker is in all his glory. An old outfit he has started to outgrow and a wet mark on his shirt from something he spilled right before we left. I had a brand new outfit ironed and ready, but he refused. At least he felt comfortable on his first day. He did wear his new socks and new Star Wars slip ons. Parker is going to Transitional Kindergarten. His birthday falls in August and he wasn't quite ready for Kindergarten. There was a lot of debate about this topic, but ultimately we feel we made the right choice for Parker. He is thriving and loving his class. He enjoys going everyday and I enjoy it too! He was always so bored on his days off. He likes going each day just like his big bro. We are carpooling with two other families who we didn't know before. It has been nice for Parker to get to know their boys. 

 

This is Parker with his friend Justin, or as he calls him... "the boy with the golden hair!"

We are excited for all the new experiences the kids will have this year.

Soccer!

We have started a new phase of life in our home... sports! This is Josh's first year playing soccer. We have a great coach who is focused on helping the boys learn the game and learn fitness. Josh worked hard during the game. He seemed to fall on the ground often, so the goal is to stay on his feet the whole time! 

We all wore our TEAM MILLS family reunion shirts even, Grandpa & Grandma Mills, and Gramma Jean. It was so fun to have them come support Josh! 

Emmi's 1 year photos

 I wanted to capture Emmi at this fun stage. My friend Courtney, at Peas and Pods Photography, did an amazing job at getting exactly what I was looking for! We will treasure these forever.

 

Emmi Baby's Birthday Party

As usual, the first year went by in a flash. Emmi has been the best baby. She has really made our year! One thing (of many) that Emmi has done for our family, is taught the boys how to be affectionate and gentle. They are always so rough, wrestling and being boys, but not with Emmi. In their tone, the way they play with her, and help her with what she needs is kinder. I didn't know how life would be with a girl. Trying to figure out how to dress and accessorize her was new to me. I felt like there needed to be a little girl handbook with tips like... what color tights are appropriate with black shoes or you should have a diaper cover with every dress. We survived though. (Although, her hair flower does look a little out of control in the pictures. It was meant to be outrageous for her birthday, but one day she'll say what were you thinking!) Her almost always happy demeanor and smile has brought so much joy to our family.

To celebrate Emmi's birthday we had some friends and family over. 

Since our Miss Emmi has "orange" hair, I decided to just orange for decorating. 

I baked a cake for Parker's birthday earlier in the month and decided, I'm never baking a cake for birthdays again. It tasted fine, but I am always disappointed in the appearance. Thankfully, my friend Scot is an amazing pastry chef. This was the BEST cake I have ever eaten. It was like an orange creamsicle. I am not a big cake person, but I actually ate the left overs.

Then came the gifts. She wasn't quite sure what to do. Her brothers were her helpers. After everything was opened (and Aunt Teresa took everything out of the packages, that was a gift by itself), she played all night with her new toys!

One of the funniest things about Emmi is that she loves the camera. She is a ham! While she was sitting here on the table, she would smile for each camera, even looking in the right direction. 

Below is Emmi's personal birthday cake. Peter took some great pictures of her close up, but I haven't found them on computer yet. He got a good one of her eating the cake with her mouth and no hands.

Janell cut the cake for me, look at the the colors in the cake. It had an orange curd filling. Delicious!

I realized we didn't get pictures of Emmi with all the grandparents. Don't you think we all need personal photographers for these kinds of events?! Anyways... it was a great day. It was nice to spend time with those that care about our Emmi. And now we're officially onto whole milk and front facing car seats!