Georgia

So Chase and I had the chance to see my sister Rainya last week. For those of you who don't know, she is suffering from ovarian cancer and currently going through chemo therapy and other treatments to help her fight it. The worst part is that she found out she had cancer immediately following the birth of her baby girl. She was struggling through her pregnancy from being so sick, and her doctor kept ignoring her and telling her to stop whining basically. She has three other children, so she knew she was not feeling normal, but they wouldn't listen. The pain and discomfort rose to a point that she could barely move and it even hurt to lay down.

She finally demanded to be seen by a fetal specialist. The fetal specialist really listened to her and it only took them about 2 minutes before they knew something was really wrong and had her sent to the hospital in an ambulance. She had huge cysts on her ovaries, one the size of a cantaloupe. (how could her OB have missed that?) They told her they would have to do an emergency c-section and then they would remove the tumors immediately following. They also told her that if the tumors proved to be cancerous, they would also have to do a hysterectomy.

When she woke up after the surgeries and came to, she was told she had cancer and they had done a hysterectomy. I still cannot even imagine the pain and grief she suffered at that moment. She is 35, and a beautiful young mom of four wonderful children. I hope and pray the best for her, but I am also very scared and worried and sad that she has to go through this terrible illness. We are very close and I miss her so much everyday.

So I decided at the last minute, literally, to go see her. One of my classes had no class last week, so I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to spend time with her. So I bought a flight, decided to take Chase, and asked Brad to find some people in the ward who could watch Owen while he was at work and School. It was a really amazing week, I was able to spend a lot of time with Rainya. She seemed so happy to have me there and I think it really cheered her up.

 I got to be on Baby duty for a couple of nights and remembered how tired and exhausted a new mom can get. But luckily she has tons of help from the church and her husband she doesn't have to do everything on her own. I also drove her to a couple of her appointments and got to have some really good talks. She was also feeling up to it enough to watch a couple of chick flicks with me and just enjoy being sisters. I'm so glad I got to go, but I really miss her. :(

Chase's 1st airplane ride - about to take off at 6 AM

We got there in time for Rainya's Birthday Celebration

She was so happy and surprised to see us because we didn't tell her we were coming.

I dressed up Baby Serena and took pictures of her the day after we arrived. All I had was my Iphone to take pictures, but they still turned out good.

She is such a sweetie

Some pictures around Rainya's block. There are crazy amounts of trees everywhere.

This little jungle is at the end of their road. The kids love playing here, it leads to a little creek.

Me with sweet baby Serena

Chase had his own seat on the last flight home, he and I were both very happy about this, I was so tired of holding him and all the flights were super cramped, so it was a joy!

I brought home a little something for Owen from the Arizona Airport. I picked it up at a little layover there. Owen got a kick out of it. Candy and Bugs, goes perfectly with a boy. haha