Sledging with friends

We had planned a fun trip to the snow with our friends for Saturday... we got some sledges and were all ready to go. Then we found out about the cancer... well, we decided to go anyway to have some fun and relax.

So we got up and headed to Leavenworth with our friends Kari & Terrence and their son, Elijah. It took us a while to find some snow to sledge down, but after talking the Sheriff we found a nice park and went for a walk... and ride!

Kayle liked being pulled on the sledge...

But after her first ride down the hill...

She didn't want to go again... she was a bit scared!

So, I went alone... and loved it!! So fun!

Elijah had a really good time and LOVED the big hills!

He wanted to go again, and again, and again!

We had a really nice day out with our friends... and it took our minds off of what was to come!

It's Back Again!

As you can probably imagine from the title of this post, this is not going to be the best post I have written.

On January 6th, we found out that my cancer has come back. I now have Stage 4 Metasticised Breast Cancer. Stage 4 means that it is classed as incurable. This was a huge shock to our family as I had been to see the doctor the day before and my blood tests had come back clear of cancer.

I went for a stardard blood test on Thursday 5th Jan and mentioned to the doctor that I was having some pain in my right ribs. We initially thought that it might be a broken rib from damage done to the bones by the Radiotherapy... so my doctor sent me off for some x-rays.

Thank the Lord for that... because she called my Firday to tell me that there were some dark areas on the x-rays that she was pretty sure were cancer, but she wanted to double check with a chest CT. So, we dropped Kayle off with some friends and headed to the hospital. I had my CT scan and met with the doctor straight away.

She told me that there are a large number of small lesions all over my lungs.

Not good news!

So... Monday and Tuesday I was back at the hospital for more tests to see if the cancer had spread to the rest of my body... Thank God, it has not. It is just in my lungs!

We talked to my doctor for an extended period of time about what to do next and we will be starting Chemo all over again... but this time, it will be to manage the cancer, not get rid of it.

We are just praying that the chemo works and that we can manage for the cancer for an extended period of time... but, the cancer will never go away completely.

So... after we got finished at the hospital on Friday, we met with our Pastor and his wife to talk about all sorts of things and one of the things we talked about was the fact that before I started my chemo, I would love to go on holiday and sit on a warm beach in Hawaii! (I said this, not really thinking anything of it!) Next thing we know, we got a call from our Pastor, Walt telling us that the church is going to pay for us to have a week in Hawaii before I start my chemo. So... I am writing this to you from Princeville, Kauai, Hawaii!!!

We have been here for 5 nights and have loved every minute of our time here! We have been to the beach, the pool, on a helicopter ride, Paddle boarding, ziplining, kayaking and there is still more to come! So many of our friends have bought us an 'activity' so that our trip is fun... we are SO THANKFUL for everyone who chipped in for our trip, paid for an activity, prayed for us, looked after Kayle, bought us dinners and have just been so supportive!

It;s going to be a very long ride from here on out... and we are just so grateful for all our family and friends who have been so loving, supportive and caring and just generally wonderful already!

Christmas Time

Christmas this year, was nice and chilled out for us... we needed a quiet Christmas! It was also our first Christmas at home together and the first time Kayle has had a Christmas Tree! I wrapped up all her presents and hid them in our bedroom so that she would have a surprise on Christmas Day.

Boy... was she surprised!

When she woke up on Christmas Day, she came into our room and just wanted to snuggle with us... we were the ones who told her she could get up and go downstairs and see if there was anything there.

She ran downstairs and looked under the tree... she was so excited by all the presents there, she didn't even notice her stocking by the fireplace! Needless to say, we had fun opening them all!

Kayle also got lots of amazing gifts from our friends... she got this wonderful jacket from our friends at work! She loved it and put it on straight away! I think she has worn it most days since!

She also got these wonderful new PJ's and put them on straight away! She had fun playing with her new Littlest Pet Shop toys that her friend Elijah gave her!

Christmas Day was wonderful... once we were done opening gifts, we got dressed and headed to church. When we got home, we Skyped with Granny and Grandad and opened MORE presents! (Video to follow!)

I cooked us a yummy English Christmas Dinner that we all enjoyed... the full works, roast potatoes, veggies and apple meringue for dessert!

A few hours after we ate our dinner, Kayle and I came down with a horrible tummy bug... it was so terrible. I was in bed for 2 days and poor little Kayle had such a bad tummy for about a week! But, we are better now and are looking forward to New Years Eve at our friends house!

New Christmas Traditions...

I am trying to start some new Kyser Christmas Traditions this year... so, we headed out with our friends to create some!

First stop... Bellevue Square for Snowflake Lane.

We got there a little late so weren't able to get close enough to the stage to watch the main show, but we did get close enough to watch the drummers and get 'snowed' upon. The make snow and fire it off the top of the building and cover the people below! It was so busy, but it was fun!

Once we got done there, we headed to Issaquah to meet Santa! Kayle was so excited to meet him! We rushed to the little groto and went in and said Hi... we didn't get a photo because they were SO expensive, but the kids had a blast seeing him and talking to him.

Next stop... Crazy Christmas Lights!

I downloaded a list of houses from the internet that are famous for having crazy lights. We got all loaded up in the car and headed out to our first one.

Pretty crazy....

Onto the next one... this house was out of this world. It has INSANE lights all over the house and garden and even had a set of reindeer that lit up as they 'jumped' over the road. The lights were flashing on and off to some cool Christmas music. The kids had a great time.

This was our last house for the night because we had 2 tired little kiddies on our hands! We made our last stop at Starbucks for toilet breaks and then headed home.

We had a really fun night and will certainly do it again!

Photo Shoot...

We were given a wonderful Christmas present this year by my boss, Toby. She was having a photo shoot done of her kids for Christmas presents and said that Kayle and I could also have our photos taken to give as a Christmas gift to Jason.

It was fun to have it done because I have very few photos of Kayle and I because I am the one who takes the photos!

Our own place... at last!

We are finally in a place of our own after a long year!

We moved into a great 2 bedroom condo in the same town that we used to live. Our place also has a 'Den' for our visitors! We are so excited to be in our own place.

Kayle and I enjoying our new kitchen... we like making breakfast!

Washington here we come! Almost home!

Jason, Kayle and I are heading back to Washington. We have all our stuff packed up and are ready to go. We will be driving to Medford, Oregon and staying the night because it's a long 18 hour drive!

Once we get there we will be staying with our friends until we get organised and find somewhere to rent. Our friends have 3 little girls and Kayle is really excited to stay with them so she can play with them everyday.