planes, trains and automobiles...minus trains

early to airport in SLC
lots of time to wait for plane
made it to denver
sunny skies..beautiful
eat wendy's
just enough time to get on next plane
lots of crochet time..this is great
all loaded on the plane
close the door
loud speaker announcement
oh no....
everything to oklahoma canceled
snow..snow..snow...ironic
NO!
get off plane
where's our luggage?
wait for them to dig it out of the endless luggage from canceled flights
an hour later they are on on the conveyor belt
yes...at least we have clothes
no presents stolen this year
now what?
dad finds flight to little rock for next morning (christmas)...
rent a car
drive to colorado springs
what a joy to see sister and fam on christmas eve
sleep for 4 hours
wake up
drive back to denver
get on another plane
please take off this time
good flight
sleep the whole way
sunny in little rock
dad drives 3.5 hours to come get us at airport
arrive RIGHT on time
drive with them 3.5 hours back to siloam
arrive on christmas night
a l l d a y t r a v e l i n g o n c h r i s t m a s
worth it?

EVERY BIT!

gratitude

ya, i know...thanksgiving is up and gone.
but i just can't help but feel so grateful for all that i have.
my husband
a warm house
two amazing families
a body
great food
a washer and dryer (thanks for an early christmas, mom and dad!)
an awesome job that i love
friends
a hilarious dog
tv
slippers
...
i could go on.

but, the thanksgiving holiday started out rough for me. first, my hair started falling out in clumps and that's a scary thing. i have prepared myself for this moment... but it's still more awkward than you can imagine.

next, i heard about the hear wrenching story of John Jones' death. first we didn't know who the man in the cave was. it was a sad story in itself. but when zach heard the name of the trapped, young father and realized it was his favorite MTC teacher, my heart sank once again.

elder patterson and brother jones

that's not fair. my heart ached all weekend long for his wife. raising a young toddler and another on the way - and no daddy. not fair.

she must be a lot stronger than i am. i am sitting her whining about losing my hair, while she has to pick up and move on with life. alone.

i am learning more each day how fragile our mortal lives are. there's no time to whine or feel bad for ourselves. there is a life to live and we must be grateful for each and every day. how blessed i feel to know the truthfulness of the gospel. dear emily jones will be without john in this mortal life, but they will be reunited again!

i think he was needed to spread the gospel on the other side. but he is missed here.
r.i.p. brother jones.

spooky

zach's pumpkin creation was so intense, it went all the way around the pumpkin!
he designed it himself!

carvin' pumpkins with the jacksons

wow, the angel's halo is really glowing!

white trash

(i've already got my wig picked out for chemo!)

happy halloween!

..even more happy...the holidays coming up!

it's a work in progress, but here's my new blog.
right now there are only hats, but more creations are likely to come...

check it out!

www.jacisjuicy.blogspot.com

cancer

there. i said it.

it's a word i have always cringed at.

the cyst that was removed from my ovary came back testing positive for cancer.

there are still lot of unanswered questions. chemo is most likely in the near future in efforts to make sure that another tumor does not form or spread to another part of the body.

life is precious and we need to enjoy every great moment we have! each of us battle our own different trials. i know my heavenly father loves me and knows me personally. it's times like this that we can prove our faith in something we have believed our whole life.

thanks for all your prayers and support.

some more designs...

simply green
cherries on top
ribbed with ribbon
shell - in green
strawberry ear flap (zach said it looks like a strawberry)
roses are red ...and blue and purple
squigly in purple

here are some more hats!
i am getting quite the inventory and am open for custom orders!
i apologize now for the horrible pictures! i have a nice camera but was too impatient to get good lighting and everything.

newborn size:

blue checkers
striped with ear flaps

children size:

blue with a bow

adult small or large child size:

blue and fuzzy too
green and cream
pretty in purple
olivia's butterfly (from someone else's pattern)

fuzzy with a flower

more designs in the works...

crochet craze

having so much down time during the 4 week recovery, i have gotten ADDICTED to crocheting!

here's a sample of my creations..

.

p.s.don't judge me for playing with dolls at age 25! :)

surgery x 2

the word 'cyst' apparently runs in the family!

here's the skinny...

poor cache had a quarter size skin cyst on his chest. it had to be removed before it got bigger...and we had him neutered while he was under! Here's how he feels about that...

you can also tell he thinks he thinks this love seat is HIS spot


to keep him from licking his stitches, the doc told us to put a shirt on him. so cute!
we even went out and bought him a kids size shirt - doesn't he look so buff!

and i had a cyst too. unfortunately not on the surface. my ovary had grown a volleyball sized tumor and it needed to be removed before it got any bigger. here's me and zach in the claustrophobic hospital room waiting for my body to heal ! (with my hugely swollen face).
gratefully i am back home and recovering well!

THANK YOU to everyone for your fasting and prayers for me!
i love you.

5 months

just wanted to show you cache is still adorable and getting bigger. he loves to jump really high and he gives high-fives!

crock pot initiation

i am sitting here smelling the yumminess of dinner, waiting for zach to get home so we can EAT! It is the first time i have EVER used my crock pot (after two years of it taking up space in my kitchen cabinets).

to walk into the house after a long day of work with dinner all ready to go is fabulous. (haven't tasted it yet, though, so hopefully it tastes as good as it smells!)

but, i need your help!
what is the best thing you have ever concocted in your crock pot??
does anyone else feel like all the recipes you find for crock pots are enough to feed an army?
leftovers aren't so fun sometimes. how can i cook for two in a crockpot?

so..help me.
i need great, simple recipes that you have tried and tested!
please :)

she'll be comin' around the mountain

you'll see me comin' from a mile away in my bright new blue VUE! (that sounded cool)
ok, so it's not really new..but it is to me! i love my new ride!
the bold color is growin' on me. i guess i just have to be sassy now to match my car.

mo-tab in OKC

the mormon tabernacle choir made a stop in Oklahoma City. that choir includes my mom!

that's only three hours from Siloam Springs! yay!
that's a lot closer than 24 hours.
mom even got us FREE tickets the concert. woop woop!


just the perfect cure for my homesickness.
i love you mom.

into the wild

we journeyed to southern arkansas to see aunt jan and uncle billy and explore their endless acres of wilderness.

preparing to talk a walk/hike, jan pulled out these homemade fly nets for us to weari thought it was a joke, so i took mine off after the laughter and the photo opp.
and we walked.

zach was on the lookout for wild pigs

gracie caught tons of these tiny frogs along the path
and about a half mile into the walk... it was attack of the horse flies. the nets were not a joke anymore. glad mine was in my pocket :)

hannah fit all the way inside hers.
i was wishing for a full body net. or at least long pants. oops.

gross (continued)

a few weeks ago when I posted the unfortunate killing of the copperhead snake in the yard, i received a chastising comment from an anonymous reader. whoever you are...this is for you. THIS is why we had to kill the snake instead of just move it...
duke (cache's daddy) looked like this this morning when he came in. his leg is swollen and he has a distinct snake bite. gross. and sad. look at his face.

now wouldn't anyone have done the same thing to a snake they saw that close to their house?

float trip

last month we took a float trip down the buffalo river with the bond family. so fun!

we got to stay here (in the tents)

...through two storms

watched ninja nate do some of this

and this
listened to uncle zeke tell crazy stories
and he even let the boys shoot this

we all enjoyed a long day on the river doing this

and i tried to work on my tan, but by the end of the day, i looked like this!

thanks, tressa and zeke for a fun weekend at your place!