A few days after our trip to Priest Lake, my sister and her family drove up from California for a visit. They were with us for 7 days and what a great time we had! It is just what the Dr ordered! My sister Cathy is 11 years younger than I am, she is 3 inches taller but I am still the BIG SIS! This pix was taken on our deck which overlooks Silver Lake.
This is the Fangonilo Family: Krysal, age 7, Kenny, Cathy and Kayla, age 3
My boys love their Aunt Cathy. Lil RC is on the left and Ben is on the right.
Katie and Krystal were joined at the hip, here they are pictured in their matching shirts!
And we won't forget a pix of the Manly Men!
Kenny and Cathy had originally planned to come for a visit after my surgery sometime in July but I'm so glad that plans changed. It was so diverting to have them here--I didn't have time to think about the upcoming surgery, only time for fun!
They arrived on a Saturday having driven through the night so they were exhausted but their little girls weren't and we had fun playing so their Dad and Mom could get some shut eye. From there we had fun all week.....
Sunday the men took off to watch the new Terminator and the gals went shopping! Guess the movie was great (I have no interest in that) and shopping with the girls was fun too. Katie was brave enough to get her ears pierced at Claire's!! We have been asking her for 2 years if she would do it but Aunt Cathy must have given her the courage and Krystal gave her encouragement. Katie did great but Krystal passed out!! We then got something to eat at McD's and headed to Kohls where we found a swimsuit for Katie and matching shirts for Katie and Krystal. By the time we hit Kohls, the girls were tired so we were just in and out. This is my sisters favorite store and I hadn't been in it since it opened here. Still hope to go back to look around some time.
On Monday, my friend Jaylynne came over with her kids and we enjoyed Papa Murphy's pizza and pictionary. The girls dominated that game so then we played Balderdash and that was a mix of crazy and fun. Dessert was ice cream. Mmmmmmm! I had spoken to my sister so much of Jaylynne that she was dying to meet her so we were glad to have this opportunity all together. Jaylynne said that Cathy and I are funny together...it is a sister "thang" with mannerisms, etc.. I thought that interesting since Cathy and I are very different but sisterly ties must span that gap!!
On Tuesday, lil Rc had an orthodontist appointment he couldn't miss so while he was gone with JR, the rest of us headed off to Waterfront Park here in Medical Lake which is right on the lake. The kids had a great time playing and running around. We met up with JR and RC at McDonalds so the kids could eat BECAUSE the boys watched the girls so the adults could go to Olive Garden (my fav!). We had a great time relaxing and chatting and eating of course!! A big thank you to the boys who were sorely disappointed in missing Olive Garden!
The big event was going to Silverwood Theme Park in Idaho and we did that on Wednesday. The weather, however, didn't cooperate and we were hit on and off with rain showers and in the evening a huge thunder and lightening display! YIKES! It was still fun and hardly any one was there which, compared to California amusement parks, is very different. My boys and Kenny got their roller coaster fix with hardly any lines and everyone who was brave enough to go to the water park enjoyed that too (JR and I were happy to stay dry!). We did have some added excitement at the water park....we were there in the evening with the storm and when it hit, we moved all of our stuff to a covered area. WELL, poor Kenny was in the lazy river with Kayla and when the storm hit he couldn't find us! He had no shirt, no shoes, no towel and poor guy ended up walking to the car! Cathy was pretty frantic but we finally found them and poor Kayla was ice cold but kids are resilient and I told her she had an adventure with her dad. The rest of the night she talked of that adventure! I'm sure Cathy and Kenny would call it something else though.
Thursday, Cathy and I were able to have an afternoon to ourselves. We headed out to Azteca (my second fav) and spent so much time chatting that we didn't get all our shopping done (that will have to be for another visit!). We did hit Bath and Body and a board game store to look around but missed out on Kohls.
Friday my sister wasn't feeling well so Lil RC stayed home and the rest of us went, where else? but Chuck E Cheese! A second one opened in the Spokane Valley in February and we didn't know about it til that day. The kids had a great time of course...and so did the men in the group but I won't tell!
The original plans were for my sisters family to leave Friday night and drive through the night but they decided to stay til Saturday and we were so glad for one more night! Every night they were here we played games...ladderball was a hit (it was Kenny's father's day gift), balderdash, loaded questions, pictionary, scattergories, scrabble, and upwards. Oh we laughed so hard our sides hurt! My sister was kind enough to help me with false eyelashes (but I don't think I'll try them again) and give me a pedicure too! Like I said, it was just what the Doctor ordered.
Speaking of the Doctor, I got the results of my full body scan (from last Friday) on Tuesday...NO EVIDENCE OF CANCER OR SPREAD!! The chemo worked! I still will have the surgery on the 24th though....they explained that the tumor basically explodes and the microscopic cells aren't detected on the scan, but they are there. BUT no more tumor or mass. That is a huge praise and I was so glad my sister and her family were here to celebrate with us! The adults had gone out to eat that afternoon and when we got home Katie and Krystal had made me cards and drew a huge picture on our humongous dry erase board in the school room! Everyone was thrilled! And it was a direct result of all your prayers and support so thank you!!
So now that our house is empty it is time to prepare for surgery and gut the house. Please continue to pray for us during this time.
But before I go, one more story.....I wore my wig when they arrived and then my poor sister cried. It wasn't easy for her, eventhough my wig looked great, she knew that there wasn't much underneath. She quickly got over it though and I wore my cute hats most of the time. The funny story though is this: one day I was in my bathroom putting on my make up and Cathy was on my bed chatting with me and in walks Kayla her 3 year old. Well, I forgot I didn't have a hat or wig on and she looked at me and said "why did you pull out your hair?" I let her feel my fuzzy head and then showed her my wig and hats and that was the end of that! Cathy said she was surprised that Kayla didn't start pulling out her own hair! Kids are incredible, aren't they?
p.s. For more pix (all 60 of them) check out my Facebook page
