Callister Reunion

Tate and I just got back from a marathon vacation. Three vacations in one. It was spectacular. I think I'll write about them one at a time so it's not too overwhelming.
Glenn joined us for the first two weeks which started with my mom's Callister family reunion in McCall, Idaho. I'd been there once before when I was really young but I'd forgotten how gorgeous it is there. I couldn't stop thinking how much that peaceful little town by the lake reminded me of many places I've seen in New England. There were tons of beautiful ponderosa pine trees, a huge gorgeous lake to swim in, camping with tons of family members. It was wonderful.
We drove up and slept in an RV. It was cozy and a comfortable way to spend the 8 hour drive. Cody, Aubry and their girls slept in one end and Glenn, Tate and I slept in the other. One of my favorite moments of the trip happened one night while we were trying to get Tate to fall asleep. He kept crying, "Mya, Mya, Mya!" over and over. He just adores her and knew that she was right behind that door! Mya was going to bed too and said, "Mya wite here," as if she was trying to comfort little Tate-o and tell him she was nearby. So sweet.

Many a naptime were spent like this:

Zoned out in front of a disney movie. There was apparently just too much to see to waste time actually falling asleep. Silly mom.

We played on the beach with cousins,

(Apparently Tate was doing something terribly wrong in this picture! Mya was so embarrassed!) Spent some snuggle time with Grandpa.

and Auntie Kenzie.Witnessed our families' incredible talent at the talent show. Here is the Banks' rendition of "Put a Ring On It"And the Garvin family's synchonized swimming routine was so hilarious and absolutely one of a kind.Nope, this is not the whole Callister clan folks. This is just all of the kiddos in attendance under the age of two. Tate had so many people to meet and play with he hardly knew what to do with himself!He even got a ride on Uncle Ben's scooter! It was definitely a trip highlight. Uncle Ben let him push the horn button and he spent much of the morning wanting to push it again.We sure belong to a fabulous family. It was fun to see so many people again who I don't get to see very often. Crazy how fast we all grow and change and now we have kiddos who are doing some growing up of their own. We had such a great time.

On the drive home in the RV Tate started throwing a ball with Nana. He kept saying funny things like, "Nice!", "I got it!", "Awesome", all with an incredible lisp mind you. We didn't catch him on video at the beginning when he was super excited about it but I think it's still pretty cute.

Radiation

One year since radiation.

Thoughts:

1) Thank you, Ondansetron (Zofran), for making my three weeks of treatment liveable.

2) Thank you, Kim, for taking care of me. You have seen me at the lowest level of human existence... repeated vomiting until incoherency.

3) Thank you, Dr. Chopp, for taking your namesake literally. At least there was comedy.

4) Finally, thank you all for your prayers.

Several other thoughts:

1) Life is fragile.

2) Don't put off your goals in life for later. Do it now. Make it happen.

3) The people in your life are the most important thing in your life.

4) No one is capable of doing it all on their own.

5) Being sick sucks.

6) Crappy things happen. You may as well decide to be happy. Otherwise, life will suck.

7) You get a free rectal exam when you tell the doctor you think you have testicular cancer. Why? I don't know... but hey, it's free.

-Glenn

Buzz uh Woody

We have new friends at our house. Their names are Buzz and Woody. Tate has Buzz and Woody bath toys so he knows their names. Those guys are everywhere we look these days because of the new Toy Story movie, so he is getting really good at pointing them out at the grocery store on fruit snacks, cereal, and of course the toy aisle.
We finally bought him a couple of toys and they've been inseparable. He is constantly walking around saying, "Buzz uh Woody" (Buzz and Woody). We even took him to the movie last week and he sat through the whole thing, quite a feat for little wiggly Tate.
He knows that Buzz says, "Beyahhhhh" (To infinity and BEYOND), and Woody says, "Sake a Boot" (There's a snake in my boots). Last night a good friend of ours watched Tate while we went to a movie. The plan was for Tate to go to bed at their house in their pack and play but I forgot to bring his Woody. I didn't know he was that attached. Tate wouldn't go to sleep and kept crying for his Woody. So our friend brought him back to our house and put him in his bed. He got Buzz in one arm and Woody in the other and then promptly fell asleep.