Radiation
After 30 daily weekday trips to the cancer institute, DJ finished radiation on March 20th! Overall, the whole process went really smoothly. There was only 1 day that the machine wasn’t working to delay treatment. He had fatigue but it was manageable. He did lose some hair but it is easily covered by his other hair. It was a long 6 weeks but we are so thankful to have this step behind us. Now we have a break before chemo starts on April 22.
Spring Break 2024
As with most things this year, spring break looked very different. We wanted to take the girls for an overnight trip but with DJ’s fatigue from radiation, we decided that wasn’t the best option. Instead, I took each girl for a day trip to Charlotte. Ava and I spent our day shopping (no pictures from that day). Zoe and I spent our day at Discovery Place. She loved the science themed museum and especially loved the recycled crafting area.
We ended spring break with ice skating at the Pavilion. Zoe was determined to teach herself how to skate. She took a few pointers from me and Ava but she actually did figure it out on her own. I don’t have any pics of her once she mastered it but here she is zooming by with the walker. She can’t wait to go skate again!
Riverbanks with the Cousins
The girls and I met up with Tiff and the kids at Riverbanks for a cousins’ day at the zoo. These crazy kids had a great time together! I’m going to post all of these pictures because this whole attempt to get a picture of the 5 of them was pure chaos and hilarious.
Random Pics of Ava from Winter
Now it’s Ava’s turn for some random pics from the past few months.
She took this selfie and I can’t get over how grown up she looks. We decided not to get her ears pierced again after the holes filled in immediately but she loves her clip on hoops!
We started full on home school with Ava this semester. It’s been fun to go on field trips with her. This was a trip to walk around the lake with Sookie. We also went to the Botanical Gardens in Clemson.
Ava started horse back riding this winter. She absolutely loves the horses and is excited to learn more about them and about riding.
Random Pics of Zoe from Winter
To minimize the number of posts, here are some random pictures of Zoe from the past few months.
She is determined to master the handstand!
Ready for her Valentine’s Day party at school with her Valentine’s from her daddy.
All snuggled up with her babies, Bobby and Bun Bun for watching TV on a Saturday morning.
Hiking at Table Rock
We decided to take the girls to Table Rock for a picnic and short hike. We took Winnie along with us and she loved every minute of it.
Marshmallow Fun
We’ve been trying to do more campfires recently and the girls are loving roasting marshmallows. Ava also discovered the fun of putting marshmallows in the microwave.
Belated Family Christmas
Christmas looked so different this year after DJ’s surgery. We are thankful we celebrated the 4 of us before surgery. We also had actual Christmas day together and did a smaller version of our brunch. My mom was with us and the girls opened a couple gifts from her. We opened the remaining gifts and celebrated with my grandmother, Eric, Jenn and Piper later in February. Unfortunately, I did not get any pictures that day. We also celebrated with DJ’s side of the family in January. Nothing looked normal this Christmas but the girls had a great time with our family and we were all so thankful to be together after such a hard few weeks.
A New Year Visit
We had a very special visit around New Year’s. Mat and Janet, the missionaries that DJ and Gunkin lived with in Malawi for 4 months, came to SC to see the guys. They have wanted to come visit for years and when they heard about DJ’s tumor, they decided it was time to make the trip. It was so good to see them. DJ and Gunkin loved talking about their time with them in Malawi and reliving so many amazing memories from those 4 months.
Holiday Lost Teeth
Zoe ended 2023 with 2 lost teeth! She lost her first tooth (well the first lost naturally…she had one pulled years ago) on Christmas day. Then she lost the 2nd tooth on New Year’s Eve. She was so excited to get a visit from the Tooth Fairy. Ava started the tooth fairy letters with Zoe a couple months ago and Zoe latched on to her fairy, Nova. She writes her all the time and loves getting letters back from her. She was so excited to finally lose a tooth and get a prize from Nova! What a way to celebrate those holidays!
