Our busy but enjoyable Christmas and New Year

All in all we had a pretty good Christmas and by that I mean in view of the fact that we weren’t with our children for the first time, having Steve’s Mum and Dad not doing too well and me finding a lump in my breast 10 days before Christmas which prompted me to go and see my doctor the next day. After seeing my doctor who referred me that day to the hospital I did have a melt down thinking the worst, I quickly turned to Steve asking him to give me a blessing, which gave me great comfort and I quickly decided that I needed to be positive otherwise I would make myself ill with worry when there was quite possibly nothing to worry about. I also re-read an incredible book that I got several months ago called ‘The Secret’ by Rhonda Byrne which is all about the law of attraction, the power of positive thinking and much more, the power of the mind and our thoughts and how it affects our bodies, I recommend everyone read it.

My Christmas cake

Mum came to stay on the Saturday before Christmas and settled in quite nicely, with Dad leaving hospital and going to a lovely residential home that is run by people we know. The Tuesday before Christmas I went to the hospital and my dear friend Vicky picked me up and took me, we talked about everything and anything except for the reason I was there which is just what I needed. I had a mammogram, scan and because of the size of the lump (4-5 centimeters) they did a biopsy and asked me to go back a week later for the results, but did tell me they didn’t think it was anything to be worried about, initially I was disappointed that I wasn’t given the results that day as my doctor had said.

Christmas Eve Ride!

On Christmas Eve was filled with the usual anticipation and Steve and Beth went out for a Christmas ride on Cyril and China, they decorated their hats and the horses!

Beth and Cyril after their ride

We followed our normal Christmas day activities (as recorded in my last post); we attended our Christmas Day service held at our ward meeting house in Loughborough. It was lovely to sing carols and listen to readings and mingle with many family and friends, being organised and making time in our Christmas Day to celebrate our Saviours birth is a small price to pay and a very rewarding one. Steve went and fetched Dad while I prepared dinner which I have to say it was delicious and in fact I enjoyed my Christmas dinner more then I ever remember. We spent the afternoon together saving our joint gifts to open with Mum and Dad. We also got to talk to and see Aaron, Kimberly and Josh over webcam, which was the highlight of the day. Josh is so funny and proved again just how much he loves his Pops when he spotted him on the webcam in distance behind Grannie and Grancha (Steve’s parents) and said ‘Hi Pops, Aaron hadn’t even noticed him. Then as we were finishing up and saying our goodbyes I said we love you Josh and he said ‘I love you Pops’, what can I say other then we know who Josh’s favourite is don’t we?

Christmas dinner with Mum and Dad

Boxing Day and Steve fetched Dad; we were so pleased that he is doing so much better was able to spend some time with us and of course Mum. Saturday 27th saw Mum return home at her request she wanted to get ready to have Dad home, she has done remarkable well recovering from her knee replacement surgery, but then she is a real fighter with great determination. We had another highlight and that was talking to Jess, Ben and Jack on webcam, Grannie and Grancha loved it. On Sunday we had my Mum over for dinner and spent and nice afternoon together.

Beth and Me enjoying our Christmas dinner

Monday 29th we had our Christmas party with several of our friends attending, as usual we chatted, ate, played games and laughed a lot, we played charades boys against the girls with the boys winning by some fluke or maybe it was cheating, I know they had much easier titles to act out! I had felt anxious all day not wanting to admit I was worried about my return visit to the hospital the next day and glad that I was kept busy with the party and getting ready for it during the day.

The girls team for our game of charades at our party

My appointment the next day was at 1.30pm I decided that I wanted to go on my own believing that everything would be ok and by taking someone I felt I was doubting that everything would be ok, if that if that makes sense! I arrived 10 minutes early hoping to be seen early but no it was 50 minutes before I saw the doctor (I had taken my journal incase I was kept waiting and so I got up to date at the same time of not trying to think about things.) I had remained very positive but doubts did start creeping into my mind the day before and I would quickly banish them with positive thoughts and amazingly I was quite calm as I waited.

The boys team

The doctor I saw quickly told me that the biopsy showed nothing of concern and that I had a benign tumor called a Hamartoma which consists of fatty, fibrous tissue, it is so rare that this doctor that I would say was in his late 50’s had to read the details from a text book. I thought that is typical of me as this is the second rare thing I have had (I had a hydatidiform mole which is abnormal form of pregnancy after I had Aaron) and he advised me to have it removed as it could grow bigger and although very unlikely to become anything sinister it definitely can’t if there is nothing there, so I will have it removed on the 19th January. I was so excited and happy as I left the hospital, I felt total gratitude for all my blessings and especially that of good health. However I soon found myself thinking oh no I have to have a general anesthetic and then I quickly reminded myself that was nothing and not to be such a coward and to be grateful that that is all I have to have done. I’m so thankful for all the messages, thoughts and prayers from my family and friends. Oh and also Dad went home which is wonderful, making it an even better day.

Chester with Uncle Steve and Ella with Beth on New Years Day

New years Eve and we had a dance/party at church there were only about 50 of us but we had a great time dancing – disco, rock ‘n roll, barn and line dancing, eating, chatting and just having a real fun time. The hall had been decorated beautifully and the Bishop had all his equipment set up did a wonderful job of a DJ. I danced so much that I woke the next morning at 7am after only 5 hours of sleep with pains in my legs; the muscles were in spasm, I NEED TO GET FIT THIS YEAR!










Lydia concentrating on her playstation game and Steve with Cester, Ella, Beth and Kelvin

New Years Day and my sister Sarah and her family came over for lunch and a lazy afternoon; it was fun to see them and all.

Rachel and John

Friday the 2nd January we went to the wedding of Rachel Hardy and John Holbrook, Steve was asked to play the piano as the bride walked into Enya’s ‘Watermark’ and out to Alicia key’s ‘No One’, with him playing the organ for the hymn, he did very well considering he only got the music on Christmas Eve. It was a lovely wedding, cold but sunny and the reception was held at Beaumanor Hall where we treated to a 3 course meal which was delicious.

Beaumanor Hall

So we wish everyone a Happy New Year and a prosperous 2009, we are excited to have a new addition to our family our first granddaughter due in March, we have flights booked to go over for this special event. Jess and Ben moved and arrived safely in Denver the weekend before Christmas although they had to delay it a day because of storms and they are settling into their new home nicely with Ben starting his new job on Monday, good luck Ben and congratulations on graduating with a master’s in Accounting. I’m excited to see Jess and Ben graduate in April.