Libby is TWO

Elizabeth SueEllen/Libby/Libby Sue/Sue Boo/Naughtiness/ or just plain Sue turned two on Saturday. It's hard to believe. I still think of her as a baby, but I guess she is not. In case anyone is curious the cake is peanut butter cake with chocolate ganache. She loves, loves chocolate. She is definitely my child.

She of course got overwhelmed by presents and had lost interest by the end. She did love this little bake ware set I found for her though. The little measuring spoons and cups and things are accurate and dishwasher safe.














Almost better then cake and presents was making her Uncle Rob catch her 826 times while she jumped off the table. Then Ethan got in on the act. We are not sure if Uncle Rob will ever be the same.
It was a fun party, but Libby was quite ready to go home by the time it was over. It is so nice having the park close to our house.

Camping in Crouch

Michael had a two week break between summer and fall semester so we went camping at his grandparents' summer cabin north of Crouch in Garden Valley. We could've stayed in the cabin, but we like camping. Plus a lot of my family came up, so it just made things easier. We had a lot of fun. The first night we were up there was the best day to view the recent meteor shower. It was incredible. The shooting stars left huge trails across the sky. We just put the sleeping bags on the ground, laid back, and watched for a couple of hours. We probably each saw a couple of dozen. We also played in the river a lot and even floated it a few times. If you can call having to get out and walk because it was so shallow floating it. But we kept on doing it.

The whole gang, minus Krys who is taking the picture. This was on the second to last morning, so everyone is a mess. The kids spent the whole time just covered with dirt and sand. They have never been so happy.
What would camping be without smores? Granted we were on burn restriction, so we made them on the grill. The kids didn't seem to mind.
Libby got bit right under her lip by a wasp the second day we were there. She only cried for a minute, then made a full emotional recovery. Her fat lip, on the other hand, lasted the better part of the day. All the adult made a fuss over her because she looked so pathetic. I don't think she even knew what they were fussing about. She just liked the attention.
Everyone getting ready to float the river. Ethan and his favorite cousin/person in the whole world, Isabelle, thought they could float down the river without an adult.

Michael may never forgive me for posting this picture of him, but everyone else should just be thankful it's not a picture of me in my bathing suit. We were a little sad to come home after all of our fun and no deadlines, but alas Michael has work and school.

Health Update

So as most of you know, the molar pregnancy thingy came back. My hCg levels got down to 124, then they started going back up. So they sent me to an Oncologist. The Oncologist prescribed chemo shots. So I went in every day for eight days and got a shot in the rump. Every other day it was actually a shot in the arm, to counteract the side effects of the rump shot. The shots made me tired and for a while I had mouth sores, but that was all. I have been told repeatedly that this is one of the easiest cancers to treat and the easiest chemo to tolerate. My last hCg level was at sixteen, the goal is five or below. I should achieve that in the next week or two (it takes awhile for the chemo to take full effect). After that I will still need to get my blood drawn monthly for a year to make sure it doesn't come back again. I am feeling fine, just frustrated as the doctor bills are coming in. Holy Cow, we shall be broke forever. Life is good and we are hoping this is all behind us.

Super Cute Cupcakes

I really liked my sunflower cupcakes. I think if I make them again though I would put them on chocolate cupcakes. I think they would just look better against a darker background. But they tasted really good, lemon with lemon curd centers. Yummy!

Grandpa Wood's Memorial

We spent the weekend of the 7th in Crouch, Idaho. We were attending a memorial service for William E. Wood (Michael's maternal grandfather) who passed away back in December. Michael's grandparents own a cabin up there, and as the cabin was full, our family set up our tent up on the property. It ended up being more of a family reunion. We ate way to much food and spent most of the time by the river trying to stay cool. The property backs right up against the Payette River. There is a little beach the kids enjoyed playing in. The whole family, aunts, uncles, cousins, in-laws and babies floated the river together. This picture was taken before we left. The river was really low and my poor bum got very beat up by the rocks.
Ethan loved playing in the water and actually waded out past his knees. It was enough to make this mother proud.Libby loved all the attention she got. This is one of the only pictures were she isn't caked with dust and/or naked. She really likes naked, the little exhibitionist.
This is the lady of the hour, Grandma Wood. This was right before we went home. The kids were tired and had no interest in having their picture taken. Libby is wearing her swimsuit cover because it was the only thing she had left that was even close to clean.