The end of my Molly girl:(

Today was a day that I really hate being an adult instead of a kid. I had to go to the hospital today to have a scope done - down my throat to look at my esophagus and stomach. It turned out alright, so I probably have to have my gall bladder taken out, as they think that's the problem.


After I left the hospital, Mom and I went to the vet's office to check on my dog, Molly. Molly started looking sick on Friday, then refused to eat anything from Saturday on. The vet said that her liver wasn't working, but they would try medications. When we got there today, though, the vet said she was worse and she looked bad. So I had to make a very adult decision that I didn't like. I had to decide to put my dog down. I sat with her, holding her head until it was done, which was quick. She's not in any pain now, which I'm glad. She was definitely the best dog ever and I know that I will miss having her here and snuggling up to me to give her Mommy love!

Molly didn't really like to have her picture taken that much. lol If she was "sitting", she always looked so regal!

That's my Molly girl!!

Unfair portion of life....

Sometimes, it seems as though life hits much harder than absolutely necessary. This has been one of those times.

This past week, my mother's brother passed away, my dad's medications have become out-of-whack and my mother's cancer has come out of remission. When life slows down, I'm pretty sure that I will have a good cry about all of it, but right now, it doesn't seem possible.

My mom's brother, Jack, died Monday (7/14) morning. In the afternoon, we had an appointment with Mom's oncologist because she's been having some all-too-familiar belly pain. Sure enough, he confirmed that Mom's cancer levels have jumped to 75, which means she is not in remission and the cancer is growing again.

We asked him to be completely honest and he said "OK, here it is: Ovarian cancer is strange in that the 1st time your cancer goes into remission is always the longest remission you will have. Each subsequent remission will be shorter than the one before it. So the 2nd will be shorter than the 1st, the 3rd will be shorter than the 2nd and so on." I think I have read that somewhere since it sounded familiar. I must have blocked it, though, because Mom's only actually been in remission for about 7 months. So yeah, if you do the math....it's not good at all.

You know those times that you don't think life is fair....this is definitely one of those times. I am definitely coveting your prayers for my mother and our family. We plan to have a healing service for her soon -- we just have to get back from this funeral to plan it. We also meet with Mom's oncologist Monday for some more test results and to set up her chemo schedule. So I will write more soon.

4th of July!!

On Friday, we celebrated America's Independence Day. I decided that we should have a party, so I got to cookin' in the kitchen!

I do have a tip. If you're going to add powdered sugar to make fondant or icing, you should turn OFF the KitchenAid mixer BEFORE adding the sugar. I honestly have not forgotten this since, well Mom said she never remembered me being so silly in the kitchen. lol So she decided to get a shot of my stupidity. It was a MESS to clean out of my hair!

Instead of making a big cake, I decided to make star-shaped cupcakes and decorate them with fondant. They were a big hit!


Mom & Daddy did the grilling together. Aren't they cute?! Circumstances turned out strange. Daddy actually had to work Friday until 8, so he was going to miss the party. He called in the early afternoon, though, because he had one of his horrible headaches. So we brought him home, gave him medicine & sent him to bed. Fortunately, the meds worked because his headache didn't go away, but it was better and he was able to enjoy the party!!

We set up the tables in the screened-in tent outside. I hate bugs when I'm trying to eat!

I pray that you all took a minute or two to really focus on the "independence" part of the day. We are so blessed to live in a country which we are free. I've lived where there is no governmental freedom, and let me tell you...I have a new appreciation for ours!

Last year during the summer, I decided that our house needed some changes. So I painted the walls in almost every room, even put down new carpet in some rooms.

This summer, I decided that we needed to spruce up the outside. When Grandma was alive, she had flowers everywhere in the yard. I wasn't usually able to help with any kind of gardening because of my allergies. When I was able to help, Grandma always told me that I had a brown thumb and she didn't want me to help. haha She had such a green thumb that it was ridiculous. I'll try to find some pictures of her flower garden to post sometime.

Anyway, this year I redid Grandma's flower garden. Here are pictures from when it was all first planted.

The hanging basket was SO pretty I couldn't resist it! I also spruced up the front porch with some new furniture! Well, I picked it out & Mom paid for it.

These flowers are in a "separator". It was originally used to separate cream from the milk after the cows were milked here on at our family's farm. My mom has many fond memories of those days!

These pansies are in Grandma's iron kettle.  She used this for making apple butter and stew, rendering lard and boiling water for laundry. Yep, my family's country alright. My mom can even remember Grandma using this kettle in her childhood.

This is Grandma's clematis around the wagon wheel. And yes, I just found out the wagon was actually used by my grandparents. I didn't realize they lived that long ago, but apparently they really did use a horse and wagon.

Yep, it's official. You can call us "Little White House on the Prairie".

I'm back...

So...I've gotten a little behind on my blogging. I promise there are reasons for that. 1) Life is kind of boring sometimes. 2) My internet was so slow that I couldn't put much on without getting disconnected. 3) Mom's been sick for the past couple of weeks.

Now, though, I have a better net connection, so we'll see if I will do better now. :)

I found some pictures from Mom's birthday cake that I made. My friend, Amanda, told me about an awesome marshmallow fondant recipe (usually fondant tastes gross). I think it turned out pretty good for my first fondant covered cake.

Here's the cake itself.

And I even made her a little one for her candle -- there's no way we could put 58 of 'em on the cake!