Busy Busy Busy

The above pictures are our pictures from our day trip to the Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC.

Take me for a ride on your big green tractor Baby.

You can go slow, you can go faster!! LOL

We have been crazy busy the last week and a half. The weekend after I finished radiation we took a day trip to the Zoo and an Edventure Museum. It was a lot of fun. Shane had never been to this particular zoo. We usually go to the one in Asheboro. But I really like this one because you can see the animals so close up. I know it is better to have a large natural habitat but when you go to the zoo you would at least like to see the animals. Caitlyn loved it. She was only about 9 months old the last time we went. Plus this zoo doesn't have as much walking. You are not totally exhausted when you leave. So we still had enough energy to go to the Museum too. At the museum the kids can pretend grocery shop and ring up the items, play in a real fire truck and dress up in costumes, milk a cow, hunt for eggs, go to Africa, go thru the body parts of a giant sized kid. There are slides thru the heart for the aorta and arteries. Pretty cool stuff. Then we went for ice cream and then we drove home. It was a blast. The kids had no idea where we were going till we got there.

The following week, Mom found a house and we just moved her in this past weekend. So her and Travis will be living there for at least the next 18 months. She was pretty excited to get her own place. I think it is a good step toward a new beginning for her. Plus I was ready to feel like I can move on to the next phase of life for our family. To feel like I was taking control of my life again. Not that I so did not appreciate all my mom did for us, because I know few moms would have done or been in the position to do what my mom did for me, but it was time. It is hard to go back to living with your parent after not for 13 years. You all kind of get set in your own way.

So now the house seems very quiet. Crazy too when we have 3 kids under 9. But it is. We still have Sheba too till mom can get the invisible fencing set up. But overall I think we are all starting to adjust to what "normal" is now.

On Saturday, Shane turned 34. Wow!!! How time flies. We were just teenagers when we started dating. But I have loved every minute of it and look forward to many more years with the love of my life. We had hamburgers, mac-n-cheese, & sweet potato fries. Yummy and of course, Chocolate Delight for dessert. It was very good if I do say so myself.

We are working on getting all the rooms back together after mom & Travis' departure. The guest room has furniture but no comforter. The office has nothing save the wireless and modem. I have been bugging Shane that for my birthday I would like to redo our room. I love the brown's and pale blue. So I could use my comforter set in the guest room and get a new one for my birthday & Christmas. So we shall see. But then I would want the room repainted so I don't know. I will have to wait and see.

I had herceptin today and met with Dr. Lemantani. He said everything looks good. I started my tamoxifen today also. The first day for the next 5 years. Yikes. That is a long time. Oh Well it is better than the alternative. I should only have 4 more treatments of the herceptin. That will be nice to finally be done with that. Should be done by end of February.

My breast tissue is healing nicely from radiation. It looked like I had a severe sunburn with major peeling. But it is finally starting to just look like a tan. Hopefully next week I can start up with the final fills and then set for 6-8 weeks than my reconstructive surgery. Yeah!!!

I am looking forward to Thanksgiving this year. Obviously, I have a lot to be thankful for this year. A lot of things have been put into perspective for me. Not necessarily by choice but overall it has been a good thing to have your eyes opened whether you want to or not. We will be spending the holidays with Shane's parents this year. We rotate each year. It keeps it simple and no one has to wonder. We are taking the boys four wheelers and they will ride probably most of day over the 10 acres. Caitlyn too with her Daddy. She loves them. Shane can't wait till he can get her one too. Then we will have dinner, celebrate birthdays & then do a bon fire that night. So it will be much fun.

I hope everyone has a Blessed Thanksgiving. Remember we are all here, so we truly have much to be Thankful for. Don't forget to let the ones around you, the ones you love know how much you truly appreciate them. You never know what tomorrow may hold.......

All my love,

Rachael

The First Day of the Rest of My Long Life to Come

This is me today.

My Radiation Team:

Left to right: Amy, Andrew, myself, Robyn, & Lori

Dr. Mark Liang

My Radiation Oncologist

Today is my first day without radiation in 6 weeks. Wow, I have so many feelings going thru me. I am thankful & relieved that it is over, sad because I won't see my wonderful radiation team anymore, grateful for not having any excessive tiredness or pain during the process, a sense of accomplishment for what I have finished and gone thru, But most of all, excited for what is to come. I can almost see the light at the end of this long tunnel.

I want to say Thank you to all the staff at University Radiation for the great care you have given me over the last 6 weeks. It was fun while it lasted. NOT!!! But I thoroughly enjoyed meeting all of you and you being a small part of my life and sharing parts of your with me.

Andrew take care of little Sophia. Amy good luck with your new baby boy in January. You guys are the best.

With a sincere and grateful heart,

Rachael

Happy Veterans Day

This morning the boys woke up and got all of the 4th of July paraphernalia out. They decorated the hall and the walkway in front of Travis' room with it all. When he came out of the shower yelled quietly, "Happy Veterans Day"!!! They were so proud of themselves. I had nothing to do with it because I was sleeping. I hope Travis enjoyed their "surprise" before he went to work.

Well as I was typing Chandler hollers for me. He has not been feeling good all day and he pucked all over the floor in Mom's bathroom. Yucky!!!! He says, "I think it is chicken & cranberries mom." So apparently he has the 24 hour stomach virus that Connor had last week at 3:30 in the morning. Changing sheets in the middle of the night. Fun Stuff. Oh well guess he won't be going to school tomorrow. I was trying to hold my breath the whole time I was cleaning it up. Just trying not to throw up myself. I hope we all don't get it again.

Happy Veterans Day to All!!

Thanks to my Grandpa Bob & Carl, Papa Fred, Travis & Dustin, Jesus', Jerod, & Uncle Clay.

Love to all and Thank you for your Great Sacrifice.

Love The Higginbotham Family

A Surprise Visit

Grandma Shirley, Nikki & I

Nikki with 6 month old Ryker Jay

Shane & Ryker


Bella doing some kind of scary!!



Me going out on the town with Nikki & Yesenia

Grandma Shirley playing on the slide with Caitlyn. What 79 year old Great Grandma does that? Ours does. Grandma climbed up the back ladder and down she went.

Grandma Shirley & Caitlyn

Nikki & I

Grandma Shirley 79 Years Old

Pecan Pie for her Birthday Cake

Travis & Audra

Audra & I

Dustin & Yessie with Ryker

Well as you can see we have had a very busy week. We arrived home Sunday evening and on Tuesday afternoon my Grandma & cousin Nikki from Oregon flew in. This had apparently been planned for about 2 months. It was awesome to see them and spend the week with them.

We didn't really go anywhere. Just relaxing, talking, & playing games together. We were all here to be with Grandma Shirley. While she was here, she turned 79. I can't even imagine. She is such a wonderful Grandma and an example of a Godly woman. On her birthday, we had a mini-Thanksgiving Dinner with all the fixings. It was delicious. She had a pecan pie for her birthday cake. At dinner, we gave her the special plate that our family uses. It is a large gold charger and whoever has it, is the "special person" for the evening. Everyone at the table went around and told Grandma why we loved her and how special she was to each of us. It was pretty special. One of the reasons that I love my Grandma so much is because of the example of what a wife and mother should be. No one is perfect but she is pretty awesome. When I was about 11 she asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up...I said, "I want to be a Mom & wife just like you." Guess what. I am. To have such a beautiful heritage is the best. I am so glad she is around for my children too. She has 27 Grandchildren & 11 GreatGrandchildren. We are a truly blessed and fertile family. LOL

Well in the midst of all of this, Mom was still in Washington/Oregon visiting with Family & Friends. She came home on Friday night. Travis picked her up. So Mom and Grandma stayed in her room. Nikki & Ryker stayed in Chandler's room, Travis is living in Connor's room, (Yes I said living) and the boys stayed in the playroom on the hideabed. In the evenings for dinner there were 13 people and of course Sheba the dog. Crazy Crazy but lots of fun. It was nice to visit and step somewhat away and have a break from everything else going on in our lives.

So Travis is now living with us also. So our steady household residents are 7 plus Sheba. It is a full house, but overall I think it is functioning very well if I do say so myself. Travis will be moving back here permanently. He came down the Sunday we got home from the funeral and began job hunting. On Thursday, he got a job. He is working for the same security company that Dustin is working for. He started that job on Monday. So we are excited for him. And Audra is very happy!!! So are we.

Saturday night, Yesenia, Nikki & I went out to our favorite Chinese restaurant "House of Taipei". Yummy!!!! Nikki likes it and now it is a tradition when she comes to go. Then we went to a movie. So that was nice for some girl time out on the town. We are some real party girls!!! LOL JK

Tomorrow is my last day of treatment for radiation. I can hardly believe it. It feels like forever with having to go everyday but than again I can't believe I am finally done. All of the staff have been great. They were so nice and friendly thru the whole process. I will be sad not to see them each day. Kind of. The next big hurdle will be to get re inflated. Which I have an appointment right after my last radiation. LOL I am ready to at least look half way normal and I finally get to wear normal deodorant. Whoo Hoo!!!! Ahhhh..... the simple things in life.

As you can probably tell from the pictures my hair has grown out even more. I had it trimmed right before I went to Washington and it is growing like crazy. Nikki highlighted it for me. And showed me another way to style it. Today getting in the truck it was a little windy and I could actually feel my hair moving in the back. I sent a quick Thank you Jesus for my hair being long enough to feel it move. I have noticed with the colder weather and my "length challenged hair" that my ears and neck are going to freeze this winter. It is weird the things you never notice before when you have long hair. But it is finally growing and hopefully will be long and beautiful soon.

Please pray for my cousin Nikki's dad, Uncle Greg. She called my a while ago and said that they admitted him into the hospital with chest and left arm pain. They believe he was having a heart attack. He is only in his early 50's. Pray for a quick recovery and that God will use this to minister to him.

Thank you to Nikki and Grandma for coming all the way out here. It was so much fun. Thanks Yessie for the help in the kitchen with cooking and all.

Love

Rachael

When I Am Weak He is Strong

Last Thursday, we buried my Grandpa Bob. It was a Lutheran Funeral, which is a little different when you are used to a Pentecostal Funeral Service. However it was a beautiful service. The song I chose for the service was by Brad Paisley & Dolly Parton, "When I get Where I'm Going". Everyone cried.


While we were there we were able to see so many family members that we grew up with (like till we were 5 anyway)LOL, an uncle and several other relatives that we literally have not seen in 25 years. We bonded like there had never been any time spent before. We discovered an Uncle Clay who is hilarious. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time. So in spite of the sadness and occasion of being in Washington, a piece of our family was restored.


But I have to say it made me sad too. To think of all the time lost with those family members. It once again reminded me of how precious life & time is. We only have now. We are not guaranteed tomorrow. As the saying goes, "The most important things in Life are not Things!!" Oh how true that is. The people in our lives are what is important. One of the things last week that seemed to continually come up was: Forgiveness. Please don't leave things unsaid to those you love. Regardless of the issue, is it worth it to hang on to the bitterness and anger? Life is too short. People change. Make an effort to build that bridge. As I discovered this week, it is soo worth it.


We all flew home Sunday morning early again. Mom stayed to go visit a friend in Portland which is about 2 hours or so from Tacoma. Monday evening we got a call from Mom that Uncle Carl, whom is Grandpa Bob's Brother, passed away. He was at Grandpa's viewing and funeral. He has been fighting cancer the last year. He wasn't doing well but still. So 4 days after we buried Uncle Carl's brother he passed away himself. Sometimes this year I really do feel like screaming to God, "Come on Lord. Enough is Enough!!!!!!" Maybe that is rude but this year really is a doozy of a year. And I keep thinking Ok it can't get much worse and then guess what it does. However, in saying that and feeling that way, the last two mornings getting in the truck to go to radiation the song by Chris Tomlin, "How Great is Our God" started playing as I backed out of the driveway. I honestly felt like God was saying, "Don't forget who is in control. Don't forget the I Am that I Am. Don't forget how Great God really is." And once again I remind myself that He is still in control and I hold to my verse...He has plans to prosper you and not harm you. To give you hope & a future. Jer. 29:11



With Faith & Hope like that straight from God himself, who am I to question the plans he has layed out. I still do not understand. And Yes I am totally scared to death, but I do TRUST Him. No Matter What I know He is looking out for us.


On Tuesday, I had a surprise visit from my Grandma Shirley and my cousin Nikki and her 6 month old little boy, Ryker Jay. It was great that they could come out to spend time with us for a week. Tomorrow is Grandma Shirley's Birthday. She will be 79. So far our visit has been great relaxing and catching up.



Good Night for Now.
Rachael


Rest in Peace Uncle Carl. Your sense of humor will be missed by all who loved you.