Good news: I don't have cancer!

So, around the time Brittney and I took engagement photos, this weird lump surfaced on the side of my neck.  You may have seen it.  Most people didn't say anything when they saw it -- out of some sort of courtesy, I suppose -- but those closest to me never hesitated to voice their distress.  I remember Matt saw it during a trip to Idaho and immediately said, "What the heck is that thing on your neck??!" followed by a series of pokes and prods.

My mom and Brittney tied for the most vocal.  My dear mother told me religiously to "get that dang thing looked at" while Brittney subtly hinted at my early death and her apprehension at raising Calvin after my premature departure.

If you haven't seen it, check it out:

Notice the artful diagramming.

I had plenty of reasons not to go get it looked at but, when the stars aligned and I ran out of excuses, I decided to see a doctor.  The first doctor sent me to a dermatologist who poked and prodded ("Four years??  You've had this for four years??  Why didn't you come earlier!??") and decided it was totally harmless and "purely cosmetic."  He told me I could leave it alone or get it cut out.  I flirted with the idea of leaving it but I knew the grief I'd get from my mom and my wife, so I scheduled a surgery.

Fun fact: novocaine injections actually sting a little and I counted twelve novocaine injections into my neck to remove this sucker.  They made a small incision, pushed the thing out and stitched it up.  Simple.  They asked if I wanted to see it and, as they were handing the vial to me, started joking and laughing between each other about the last lady who wanted to take a picture of it to "put it on the internet somewhere."

So, sorry I didn't take a picture.

Stitches:

Looking again, those sutures are pretty awful.

And semi-healed up:

It is really bright out this morning.

So, basically, I traded one lump for another lump.  The last lump was smooth but big, and this one is gnarly and small.  Two days later, I got a call from the pathology lab telling me it was cancer-free, which finally gave the supporting women in my life the relief they needed.  I still wish I had a picture.

In other news, we finally landed just the right job, which was cool.  More on that later.

Trick-or-Treating with Calvin

This year was the FIRST TIME Calvin went trick-or-treating!!! Last year, he was going to go with us dressed up as a tiger...but then he got Hand Foot and Mouth Disease and he was prohibited from interacting with others for at least 10 days. We were so bummed for him...but we certainly made up for it this year! 

We dressed up as The Batman Family! Calvin wore Jake's original batman costume that Lisa made for him when he was 2. How cool is that?! The only thing that didn't survive over the years was Jake's cape. Apparently he wore that cape ALL THE TIME and it was ripped to shreds. So, it was up to me to make a cape for Calvin. Feeling a little inadequate for the job, I did the best I could! I think it turned out just fine. Once Jake heard I was making Calvin's cape, he REALLY wanted a cape made for him, too. But not just any old cape...A HUGE, LIFE-SIZE replica of Batman's actual cape. Yikes! Talk about feeling inadequate. But I did the best I could! So, since Jake and Calvin had capes, I had to make one for myself, too! Those will be fun to have for years to come. 

We tried to explain to Calvin how Halloween and trick-or-treating works: everyone dresses up in costumes, knock on doors, says "trick-or-treat," the person who answers the door gives you candy in your bag, and then you say, "Thank you!" Calvin didn't quite get it, but he caught on quickly!

There he goes! Jake's trying to push him along. Calvin was pretty hesitant at first.

But after he trick-or-treated at the first house...

...He was excited for more!

The Justesen kids helped show Calvin what to do.

Uncle Chris and his girlfriend Brittany joined us for the fun.

Calvin was having SO MUCH FUN going from house to house collecting candy.

...Until Jake and Uncle Chris introduced Calvin to the SCARY side of Halloween. Calvin didn't like the scary looking costumes at all.

From then on, Calvin only wanted to be near his Mom and Dad.

After all that trick-or-treating, we thought Calvin would want to eat his candy...NOPE! He just wanted to play with Drayten's toy cars. We weren't surprised.

Calvin had A BLAST trick-or-treating for the first time. He'll definitely remember how it goes next year.

Calvin's 2nd Birthday!

I can't believe I have a two-year-old. I feel like it was just yesterday that we brought him home from the hospital. He's growing up so fast!!

Since Calvin's birthday is so close to Halloween, we had a Halloween-Birthday party at Aunt Janet's house! She is notorious for throwing big Halloween parties, so why not make it a birthday party, too?! There was adorable Halloween decor everywhere and Halloween-themed food. So fun!

And here's Calvin's Batman Birthday cake I made! 

Before dinner, we had a fun art activity of putting together skeletons made out of vegetables. The Justesen cousins had fun creating their skeletons, Calvin, however, was not interested. So I made one for him.

Calvin is also not interested in posing for a picture. It's so hard to get a decent photo of him these days. I guess that's sign that he's entering the "terrible-twos!"

Calvin was a bit confused when we all started singing Happy Birthday to him. But he was mesmerized by the lit candles, so he was perfectly content.

Our gift to Calvin was a strider bike. It's a bike for toddlers without any pedals so he gets used to the feeling of gliding. Calvin loved it! 

I love this two-year-old.

Happy Birthday my sweet boy!!

Jake's Graduation

Phew! Jake did it. Jake graduated from Brigham Young University! He graduated with a bachelors of arts degree in Spanish and he minored in Business. 

Day 1: Commencement

The main speaker was Ronald A. Rasband
(Senior President of the Presidency of the Seventy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)

I was so touched by his speech it brought me to tears.  Here is his entire speech. But below I've extracted some of my favorite quotes:

"Your degree is much more than an honor hanging on the wall or a memory to recall with perhaps a sigh of relief. It is a statement that you have persevered and achieved, knowing that your purpose here fits into the Lord’s plan for your life."

"We chose to start our family shortly after we were married, having confidence that we would be blessed in our temporal matters if we put the Lord first."

"Jon said to me he was not interested in me because of my academic credentials. (I don’t think he ever knew my grade point average. That was a good thing!) He told me he was interested be-cause he felt significant character traits he saw exemplified in my life would work well in his busi-ness—character traits such as a strong work ethic and the ability to balance all the life-challenging priorities we were faced with at that time."

"...There is a masterpiece within each one of us, and when spiritually nurtured, carefully mentored, and loyally engaged in building up our families and the Lord’s kingdom, all things are possible."

Since the Commencement occurred during Calvin's nap-time, he was quite grumpy! Luckily, Grandpa Bean (a.k.a. the baby whisperer) walked Cal around for a bit and got him to sleep pronto! He slept through the whole thing.

We are so proud of you, Jake! We're your biggest fans.

Grandma and Grandpa Green enjoyed every minute of it. And they definitely helped us out getting comfortable seats in the handicap section.

Jeff and Jill are so proud of you, Jake! I think my Dad got a little sleepy with Calvin.

Calvin: a grumpy mess. But your parents are SOOO proud of you! 

Our little sleepy-guy didn't want to leave Jake's arms.

Day 2: Convocation

This is the day where Jake lined up, waited his turn, moved his tassel to the other side, listened for his name to be called, walked across the stage, shook important peoples' hands, and officially graduated!! 

This is the part where the speaker asked the graduates to stand if...
1) They lived in another country during college years

2) Can fluently speak another language

3) Got married during college years

4) Had a child during college years

...you are so accomplished!

Jake had a fun time walking with his lil sis.

Calvin was a bit unsure about what was happening. But he saw Jake walk! And Calvin was really excited to spot out his Dad in the sea of blue people.

Jake's proud Grandma and Grandpa Green!

Even though I already walked in April with my Dietetics Program, I dressed up again in my cap and gown and took pictures with Jake! Yay! We've graduated! We're done!! ...well, with our undergrad degrees.

Big shout out to our loving parents. Who helped shape us into the people we are today. Thank you for your love and support.

And thanks to our goofy siblings :) We love you!

Our college experience would not have been the same without our dear friend, Justin Norman. He was Jake's roommate at King Henry when Jake and I continued to date after his mission, then we got engaged, then we got married, and we practically adopted Justin into our family. We morphed him into an amazing soccer goalie/player--family initiation.

Also, he's Calvin's Godfather.

School would have been easy-peasy without this little-guy distracting us so much. But we wouldn't have traded it for the world. Thanks for entering our life, Calvin! We love you so much!

...And one day, you'll be graduating from BYU. Meet us back here in a couple decades. Can't wait to watch YOU walk!

Apparently, this is the spot where Charlie took a photo with his Dad when he graduated from BYU.

The is pretty much how the story goes:

Charlie's Dad drove out from Oroville, CA to Charlie's graduation in Provo, UT. He attended the convocation ceremony (about 2 hours long), took one picture with Charlie afterwards, and then drove back to Oroville, CA. Talk about a short trip! I guess Charlie's Dad isn't a warm and fuzzy kind of guy, but making the effort to come out was a pretty big deal! 

Later that day, we went to a BYU soccer game. Going to BYU soccer games was our FAVORITE activity to do as students. Attending our last BYU soccer game during Jake's graduation was a nice way to say "goodbye" to our student life. 

As we looked out, there was a gorgeous sunset on Jake's favorite building on campus: the IPF (Indoor Practice Facility). We played many soccer games in that building with family and lifelong friends. We'll always have fond memories there.

This is our favorite sign on campus. "Enter to learn. Go forth to serve." That's exactly how we feel about our experience at Brigham Young University. We learned so many things academically and spiritually. Now we are taking what we learned out into the world with the mindset to work hard and to serve others.

Phew! We're done. We are BYU graduates of 2013.