Father's Day

We started off Father's Day with one of John's favorite breakfasts.  We have been clean eating for a while now.  Only eating things from the ground and quality meat.  No sugars or wheat.  We definitely have cheat days because who can eat like that every single day in the world we live in.  

John loves him some waffles though, and there is none better than Mrs. Voss' recipe.  I also had to throw in her blueberry pancakes for the kiddos.   

Happy camper. 

I made this DIY project I found on Instagram.  My friend from work and I both labored over these things.  Ha.  Just kidding.  It took maybe 30 minutes.  

It is his favorite gift to date. 

We all got ready and began another big day.  We stopped by John's parents to visit with his Dad after his bike ride.  This is the only picture I got.  Just talking about grass.  =)

I found this gem at my parents' house.  

We decided to go to the Redbirds game which happened to be at 1:30 in the hot, hot sun.  We started on the bluff, but since it was a Sunday afternoon and not crowded…we found seats in the shade.  =)

Bad Mom forgot his hat, and ya know he has blue eyes…his Daddy and him just have the hardest time seeing in the sun.  (I realize blue eyes are more sensitive, but I think these two milk it!!!)

I went and bought him this Redbirds hat and it is so cute.  

Definitely sweating here. 

Can't go to the game and not play the fun games. 

Mason going down that scorching hot slide.  That was the first and last time he went down it. 

In the stolen seats eating ice cream.

So glad they came with us!  Dad doesn't get out too often.  He was SHOCKED by the price of the food and drinks.  The last thing we got was the bottomless popcorn.  He wanted to know why we didn't get the refillable bag of popcorn first.  

Rocky the Redbird.  Mason searched all over the park for him.  

I thought Brody would be scared of him, but it was the opposite.  He was star struck. 

Someone was catching flies on the way home.  He had a big weekend.  

Back to John.  We had our first checkup after surgery this past Thursday.  We actually hadn't met with our oncologist since we decided to get a second opinion and have the surgery.  I won't lie, I was super nervous.  But Dr. Weeks was so nice and told us he thought we made the right decision.  He told John it was his body, and if the best in the world said it needed to come out, it needed to come out.  

He did a very thorough exam, blood work, and chatted with us about all our follow-up appointments.  We also had a chest X-ray (recommended by Indiana University).  I was anxious to see the X-ray.  Dr. Weeks said he usually doesn't do chest X-rays, but he will continue to follow their protocol.  He said he will go along with whatever Indiana says because John's tumor was just so non-textbook.  The primary mass was so tiny, and it had metastasized so much.  There is just no way of knowing 100% if any cancer cells invaded the lungs, so we will keep a close eye on them at every checkup.  

The bottom line is this is not a cancer that usually comes back, and we are so grateful for that.  With that said, it is so assuring to have a clear X-ray and lab work.  We will see him again in 3 months for scans and another exam.  

We received all this wonderful news Thursday, so we decided to enjoy the weekend with our family.  It has been 6 months since this chapter in our life started, and I am thankful we are ready to leave it behind.  

I know how blessed we are that this only took 6 months of our life.  It could have been so much worse. But it was a horrible 6 months.  We would have not survived without our friends and family, prayers, and God.  People say when times get tough, your true friends shine.  I can honestly say every friend/family in our lives (and many, many others) shined.  

I knew when we got the original diagnosis, things would be okay…we just had to get there.  It just feels so, so good to be on the other side.  Finally.  And with a ton of people who love us.  

It was a great Father's Day!