Happy Birthday Cali!

This month has been so crazy. There's only four people in our little family, but we've celebrated three birthdays and an anniversary in the past month. Apparently we don't like to spread things out :). As hectic as it's been, it's also been a blast.

We ended our hectic birthday month with a trip to Idaho Falls to visit JR's brother Aaron. He and his wife Angel blessed their new little girl A.J. on Sunday. So, we thought since all the Peterson's would be there, and it was Cali's birthday on Saturday, why not make it even more special for Cali and celebrate her birthday there. The only worrisome part was transporting Cali's 'purse' cake from Spanish Fork, but luckily that went without a hitch, so everything was great! Cali was so excited all day and couldn't wait to get to Idaho to have her party. Her party was so much fun. All I can say is that Cali got SPOILED! I knew that would happen, simply because she would have been spoiled just from the presents JR and I got her, but add the family gifts on top and she made a killing! Of course she didn't mind though. She even told people proudly that she got spoiled. It was so fun watching her face as she opened each gift and got so excited...even if she didn't quite know what the gift was at first :).

As crazy and silly and talkative as my daughter is, she's still so very sweet and I couldn't be more proud to be her mom. She's getting so big and is continuing to blossom into such a beautiful little girl. JR and I know we're in trouble when she's older :). JR and I love her so much and look forward to many more birthdays and special occasions with her. But more than that, I look forward to the everyday things that bring me joy and make me realize how blessed I am to be her mother. Happy 4th Birthday Cali! We love you!


Cali picked out this cake over six months ago and never changed her mind. I didn't mind, because it's cute and very easy :). I thought it turned out cute, don't you think! I mean, what four year old doesn't need a purse cake complete with candy jewelry, candy lipstick, and chocolate money!

It was so cute - Cali was so excited for me to bring her cake in, and once I did she immediately blew out the candles. I almost said, "Wait, you forgot to make a wish!", but then I figured she was already going to get spoiled so she wouldn't be any worse off :).

She got some Scooby Doo Cartoons from her Grandma Peterson. She was so excited because she loves watching those cartoons with her Aunt Rachel.

What little girl doesn't want a princess wrap and wand. Even her eleven year old Aunt Rachel was jealous!

It was so sweet, Rachel's friend bought this for Cali. You should have seen the look on her face when she opened up her princess phone! Now she had a direct line to all the Disney princesses...whom she calls frequently :).

Cali LOVED her candy bracelet, necklace, and lipstick (that she's sucking on in the picture, and in about half of the other pictures we took :). I also let her wear one of her new shirts, which looked SO cute on her!

It was so much fun celebrating Cali's birthday in Idaho. Thanks Aaron and Angel for letting us use your home. It was a great party and Cali had a blast!

Here's an after-party picture of Cali and Rachel playing with Cali's new toys and eating cake. Cali loved playing with the 'money' that was around her birthday cake. She didn't even realize, until chocolate started oozing out from the warmth of her hands, that the coins were filled with chocolate.

She's so funny :).

I swear there's some inner biological clock that kids have that tells them they're having a birthday. When Cali was about to turn three, and again when she was about to turn four, she kicked up the drama another notch. It's like her body instinctively knew it was getting older so she was suppose to become an even bigger stinker. Case in point, when we were driving up to Idaho Cali had to ask a million times if we were there yet (I think that phrase is inborn as well :). So, finally I told her, "Cali, you'll know we're there when we get out of the car." Cali responded, "But that doesn't MEAN anything?!" JR and I started laughing so hard. I know that phrase doesn't mean anything, but she wasn't suppose to figure that out until she was a teenager! What a stinker :).

Baby Shower!

This weekend I got to go to a baby shower for my friend Jennifer Clark. She's the sister of my very best friend Angelica. It was so much fun being with all the Douros girls and celebrating the soon-to-be arrival of Jennifer's little girl. It was also great getting out of the house without the kids. I almost didn't know what to do with myself!


Here's me and Jennifer, as she's trying to hide her cute belly :).

Melissa, me, Hayley, Angelica, and Alex at Angelica's house.

Me and my best-friend-since-I-was-born Angelica. I never get to see her anymore, so it was so nice spending some time...even if it wasn't long enough.

This picture was taken the day before the baby shower, but I just had to include it. Poor Isaac was getting neglected as I vacuumed, so he fell asleep - something he's never really done outside of his bed. I felt so bad, but it was so cute! Don't worry, I put him right down to bed after I took the picture :).

It's a Miracle...no, seriously

Yesterday I got a call from Dr. Avizonis, the radiologist I went to see up in Salt Lake for a second opinion. She had had a conference with a bunch of other doctors that morning (Wednesday morning) where they reviewed my situation to see what the best course of action to take would be. I knew that whatever she told me to do, I would need to do. Honestly, I was expecting to hear that I needed radiation. Even if my MRI was clean - even if it showed no signs of cancer, there was still that 10% of my tumor that had been removed that was a high grade cancer, so I knew that just as a precaution I would still need radiation. I was scared to get radiation, but I was even more scared of what would happen if the cancer came back and spread, so I was trying to deal with the idea of living with the side effects of radiation for the rest of my life. It was a scary thought, but I knew it wouldn't do any good worrying about it until I had heard from Dr. Avizonis. Needless to say, it was an important phone call.

She's such a great doctor. Everything she could have done to help me she did. She talked to my ENT doctor who did my surgery, she got all my records, including my new MRI films, she got the pathology reports and slides, and she spend time with the other doctors at the conference thoroughly reviewing my case to decide what to do. She asked me if my nose had been itching that morning because they were talking about me :-).

So, on to the news - and the miracle :-). She reviewed my pathology slides with other pathologists and they discovered that the pathologist who had first looked at my tumor and had graded it as 90% low and 10% high was most likely using an older method of grading. All of the pathologist at the conference agreed that with the updated information out there, my cancer was actually ALL low grade. I couldn't believe what she was telling me! Because of that, it changed everything. I don't need radiation. There's less than a ten percent chance of my cancer coming back, which is even better odds than doing radiation. If by chance my cancer does come back it would be localized and would not spread. So, as long as I get MRI's every six months or so for the next several years, they'll be able to monitor it closely and make sure I'm ok. Plus, if that weren't enough amazing news, Dr. Avizonis told me what my ENT doctor, Dr. Riddle, had told her about my surgery. Dr. Riddle had said that if he would have known that my tumor was cancerous when he did the surgery (Dr. Riddle and I had no worries beforehand that it would be cancerous), he would have removed my facial nerve, or at least part of it, and grafted in another nerve in hopes that it would regenerate. So, I might not have full use of the left side of my face if he would have known beforehand that my tumor was cancerous. I'm so glad he didn't know!!! Now, if my cancer does come back he'll most likely have to do just that, but at least I have a chance to beat this before taking that kind of (in my opinion) drastic action. My MRI was totally clean, though, so that's very promising. So, at least for now, I can smile and blink my eyes and not have to worry about having half a face that doesn't work. From the odds that Dr. Avizonis told me, I'm not worried about my cancer coming back. One of the last things Dr. Avizonis told me was to focus now on being with my kids and taking care of my family. I swear if she would have told me all this in person I would have kissed her!

I got off the phone and just cried. I thanked my Heavenly Father for this miraculous news and for the chance to move on with my life and not have to worry about cancer or radiation or not being here to spend time with my family. I can't even explain fully how I feel right now. I am so overwhelmed with gratitude. I think what overwhelms me the most is knowing that this miracle came about not because of me or what I did, but because of all of you. It is because all of you prayed and fasted and put my name in the Temple and showed your support. I know it is because of the love of you, my friends and family, that I am going to be ok. Again, I cannot fully explain how grateful I feel. It makes me tear up just thinking about it. All I can say is thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all of your love and concern and prayers in my behalf. I love you all so much. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for this experience, and this outcome. I know that it has made me a better person.

Well, I hope this is the last you'll be hearing about all of this. But, even if it's not, I am just so grateful for this experience. I know that everything happens for a reason. I've seen the Lords hand in every tiny step and decision and I thank all of you for being a part of that. Again, I love you all!!! I hope you all have as good of a day and week as I'm having right now :-).

Happy Birthday JR!

JR turned 29 on Tuesday and we had such a fun day celebrating his birthday. We actually did a lot of celebrating over the weekend too, along with celebrating four other birthdays in my family, but I forgot my camera so you get to see lots of pics from Tuesday to make up for it :-).


For dinner we went to one of JR's favorite places: Tucanos. It was so yummy! They sing to you in Portugues when it's your birthday, so that was fun too.

We enjoyed lots of yummy food and the kids really enjoyed it also.

Here's JR in his new birthday outfit. Grrrrrr :-).

After Tucanos we went up Provo canyon and walked around by Bridal Veil Falls. Here's a pic for you Jenny!

Here's the Provo River (I think). It was really full.

I love these pics of Cali. She's so pretty!

Here's the fam on our walk at Canyon Creek Park.

JR and Cali found a bird, and if you look really close you can see it close to where they are. It was bright yellow with a red face - very pretty.

Here's my cute Isaac. He had a blast being outside.

There was a pink blossom tree in the middle of all the green, so I had to take a picture. I think it turned out pretty good!

Instead of a birthday cake JR wanted doughnuts. So, we made a stop at Krispy Kream on our way home. Cali LOVED watching the doughnuts being made and picking out one just for her. Here's JR blowing out his birthday doughnut.

They were yummy!

Happy Birthday JR! We love you!!!

Radiation Update

For those of you keeping tabs on me here's an update. I haven't started radiation yet. I'm getting a second opinion tomorrow from a radiologist up in Salt Lake, so I'm looking forward to that. From there I'll just take it one step at a time. The good news is that if I do need to get radiation I'm feeling much better about it. I was really scared at first, but now I figure if it can help me and increase my chances of not having a recurrence then it's worth it. I love my family and friends, so I'm going to do all I can to stick around just for you :-).

I need to give a big THANK YOU to all of you who have extended your love and support, as well as your opinions about what I should do. I can't tell you how much that helps me. I have the best friends and family in the world! I don't know how I could do any of this without knowing that I have such amazing support behind me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your comments, e-mails, and words of wisdom. I know I'm not alone in this. With all your love and support behind me I feel like I can make it through anything. So, for those of you who didn't think your words would help, just know that it's because of every single one of you that I'm able to think positively and move forward without fear. That, and my faith in my Savior. I love you guys so much. Thank you for everything.

I'll continue to keep you posted!!!

Picnic Fun

Since this week was our anniversary, JR took Thursday and Friday off of work so we could spend time together as a family. It was such a fun week! JR didn't want to go back to work today :-). On Friday JR wanted to take us on a picnic. We went to a park in S.F. just down the street from us. It was SUCH a nice day and we had a really fun time being outside and spending some good quality time as a family.


Here's my cute JR and Isaac eating the yummy sandwiches JR made for us.

Cali couldn't wait to go on the picnic. She had a blast!

After everyone ate Cali and Isaac got to play on the playground. I think the swings were a favorite :-).

Isaac had so much fun in the swings. Look at that smile!

Cali is so funny. When she was climbing on the playground I told her she was doing a great job. She replied, "Yeah, I'm pretty talented." She cracks me up!

I love this picture. Cali ran off without telling us where she was going, so JR is talking to her. Isaac thinks life is great, though, so he smiles for the picture while Cali is getting in trouble. It just makes me laugh :-).

Here's Isaac playing with Dad. JR plays so cute with the kids :-).

Here's me with my sweet Isaac. I love this kid!

Our Seventh Anniversary

On May 14th JR and I celebrated our seven year anniversary. It was so much fun! We both surprised each other with different things, which made it even better. I surprised JR with a new haircut and a fun new outfit (which he loved :-), and JR surprised me with a night in Park City and a yummy restaurant. JR really did an awesome job planning our anniversary and we really enjoyed time alone together while my family watched the kids.


Here's us at Ruth's Chris, a very VERY yummy restaurant in Park City. It's so fancy the waiter actually asked us if we wanted water "with or without gas". I was like, "what the?!" Apparently it just means with or without carbonated bubbles. JR was smart, he already knew what that was. You learn new things everyday! I learned I definitely DO NOT want my water with gas. It's disgusting!!!

Here's my cute JR with our YUMMY fancy chocolate desert. They even put a candle on the plate for our anniversary. It was a really nice place to eat and we really enjoyed ourselves.

Here's the huge condo JR rented for us in Park City. It was so nice! It had a fireplace and a hot tub on the balcony. Again, he did a great job surprising me for our anniversary :-).

Here's me with the roses JR also surprised me with. I surprised him with my new haircut. Do you like it? JR did! I really like it too. I'm blonde again!

For our anniversary JR and I like to go and do Temple sealings. We didn't get to do it on our anniversary, so the next day we went to Timpanogos Temple and did sealings. I love that temple. The flowers were gorgeous outside. It was especially nice to be in the temple together. Doing sealings has been a really fun way to celebrate our anniversary. It brings back great memories :-).

101 Reasons Why I Love JR

In honor of JR and I celebrating our 7th anniversary today, I wanted to let him know just how wonderful he is and why I love him so much. So here's 101 reasons why he's the best hubby ever:



1- He tells me he loves me every day.
2- He loves being home with me and the kids.
3- He's planning on surprising me with something(s) for our anniversary! I can't wait!
4- He has the best, most genuine loud laugh ever. I love it!
5- He is the reason why I'm better able to express my feelings.
6- He lets me speak my mind and doesn't freak out if I'm upset.
7- He's very patient to listen to me, even if it takes a while.
8- He's the first to apologize after an argument.
9- Both being Psych majors, we love figuring stuff out together to make our relationship better.
10- He's constantly trying to better himself in ways that amaze me.
11- He gave me two of the most beautiful children ever!
12- He LOVES being a dad and is so great with the kids.
13- He honors his priesthood and can give me blessings when I need them.
14- He loves to cook and spoils me with amazing meals!
15- He cleans the bathroom for me!
16- He sings Cali songs before she goes to bed.
17- He teaches our children the gospel and shares his testimony.
18- He is SOOO smart and remembers almost everything he hears, reads, etc.
19- He is the Sr. Primary chorister and absolutely loves his calling!
20- He is so great with kids.
21- He plays the piano and even plays the organ in church!
22- He's not afraid (like me) to share his talents with others.
23- He's very artistic and drew a picture of me as a gift for our wedding.
24- He makes me feel beautiful and tells me that I am all the time.
25- He plays the guitar!!!
26- He loves languages and knows two, plus understands parts of others.
27- He fulfills his male role of understanding electronics so I don't have to :-).
28- He watches chick flicks with me and actually doesn't mind them!
29- He loves talking almost as much as I do :-).
30- He has written me songs and sings them to me.
31- He has a beautiful singing voice!
32- He lets me do things my way when I get perfectionistic.
33- He likes spending time with me.
34- We're currently reading the Twilight book together and he actually likes it!
35- He helps me be my best.
36- He's a generous tipper.
37- He is kind to everyone around him.
38- He gets his feelings hurt sometimes when I'm sarcastic. He's not as sarcastic and I actually think it's sweet :-).
39- He helps me with all my issues :-).
40- He makes me feel safe.
41- He is so strong and supportive.
42- He is such a great dad and will put the kids to bed all by himself!
43- He irons his own shirts.
44- He likes to dress well.
45- He looks dang sexy - in whatever he's wearing!
46- He has beautiful blue eyes and (no-fair) long eyelashes.
47- He makes me yummy birthday cakes.
48- He works very hard to support our family so that I can stay home with the kids.
49- He helps me with my church callings.
50- He helps me make hard decisions.
51- He supports me when I'm having a hard day.
52- We both enjoy good food, fun restaurants, and eating healthy (well,most of the time :-).
53- He admits when he's wrong.
54- He is very knowledgeable about the gospel and I learn a lot from him.
55- He is an amazing teacher - whether it's primary or gospel doctrine.
56- He is also an amazing speaker. He loves it when we give talks in church!
57- He loves his family and is a great big brother.
58- He's like the son my father never had - they're so much alike it's scary!
59- He's honest with me, and doesn't just say something because he thinks it's what I want to hear.
60- He takes care of me when I'm sick. He even fed me pudding after my surgery!
61- He lets me talk him into giving me foot rubs :-).
62- He's patient with me when I sleep in or stay up late.
63- He's just as weird and crazy as I am!
64- I trust him with my life.
65- He makes me smile :-).
66- He'll buy me candy because he knows it makes me happy :-D.
67- He wrote the first talk Cali gave in church and helped her give it.
68- He tells me when he buys a Coke because he feels guilty :-).
69- He enjoys a challenge.
70- He is such a proud daddy :-).
71- He enjoys my cooking.
72- He is extremely eloquent and sweet, especially when he tells me how he feels about me.
73- He loves the sound of my voice.
74- He encourages me to get out of my comfort zone.
75- He thinks I'm funny :-).
76- He makes me feel good about myself.
77- He openly shares personal things with me.
78- He helps me with the kids as much as he can.
79- He would rather stay home with me and the kids than do anything else.
80- He stays up late with me, even when he has to get up early the next day.
81- He gets up with the kids at night.
82- He has a beautiful smile that lights up his whole face :-D.
83- He is an INCREDIBLE kisser! (sorry, I know, TMI)
84- He cooks dinner for the family when I have no clue what to make (or am just being lazy :-).
85- Some Sundays he plays primary songs on the piano and sings with Cali. It's so sweet :-).
86- He does silly things to make the kids laugh.
87- He likes to hear me sing and gets mad when I say I don't like my voice.
88- He tells me how great I look after having two kids :-).
89- He never raises his voice, even when he's angry.
90- He's patient with me when I get overenthusiastic about something.
91- He loves to visit Snow College and reminisce about how me met.
92- He'll warm up my feet when they get cold.
93- He encourages me to do things that make me happy.
94- He loves to ask me deep questions to know what I'm thinking.
95- I trust him to trim my eyebrows, and he doesn't mind doing it!
96- He makes me laugh :-).
97- He is so good looking I think people wonder how I snagged him!
98- He loves me despite all my faults.
99- He's a very deep thinker and always has something important on his mind.
100- He's my best friend and I love simply being with him.
101- He is the love of my life and I'm so grateful he's mine!

JR- I feel so privileged to be the one that gets to share everything with you. All the little moments of the day that I have with you mean the world to me. We've gone through so much together and have grown so close that I can't wait to see what the rest of life holds for us. Thank you for all your love and support, and for everything you do each day to show me that you love me. I love you sweetheart! Happy Anniversary!

P.S. I can't WAIT to enjoy these next few days together :-).