An old friend needs help!

My senior year in high school, I met some great guys through a friend of mine. We became really great friends with these guys and called them the SJC (south jordan crew). They lived in South Jordan and would come down to Provo to jam with us at the Chump shows. They all went on mission's and Kim and I would write to them diligently every Sunday. We sent them all packages at holidays too! When they were in the MTC we would drive past there on P-day and scream HI to them if they were outside playing soccer. While they were on their mission's I got married and we lost touch. As of late, I have found almost all of them. Today, I was on one of their family blogs, and found a link on the side for our friend Jon. I clicked on it, and I found some very sad news! Jon has cancer, and it is spreading like crazy! I started balling. He is such a great guy and has a beautiful family. I am so sad that this is happening to him.

Today, they got horrible news that the cancer has spread. This is so hard to see happen to him!!

Because of this illness, his family is in need of money to help pay all the medical bills they are getting. I don't usually pass these on, but he was once one of my closest friends. I feel so awful for him, and can't even imagine how awful this is for him and his small family.

Here is the blog address, and a little about the Unander's! http://helpjonandtiffany.blogspot.com

Jon (30) and Tiffany (26) have been happily married for 7 years. They have two adorable children, Maxwell (age 4) and Kenadee (age 1). Jon was recently diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic melanoma. (Find more information about this cancer here.)

About 7.5 years ago Jon had a suspicious looking mole removed from his back. It turned out to be melanoma, a very dangerous and potentially deadly form of skin cancer. At the time they attempted to remove the cancer from the area by removing some nearby lymph-nodes and the mole. They thought they got it all and for the last 7 years his blood work has looked "normal".

5 months ago Jon noticed a small, tender lump under his arm. He waited for it to heal and get better (hoping for the best) but the lump only continued to grow. A biopsy was done and they found out that the lump was actually melanoma; apparently there were some cancerous cells left from the original site and it has now spread (metastasized).

Soon after this was discovered, Jon experienced some tenderness in his leg/groin area and then cancer was discovered in his pelvic bone also. This is believed to be melanoma as well, but a bone sample needs to be taken before that can be verified. The type of cancer that is in his bone will determine how the doctors will treat the cancer.

The outlook isn't great. Even with all of the best treatments (and "best case scenarios") Jon has about a 25% chance of a cure. Jon is a strong person and he is not going to give up! He is an amazing daddy and a great husband and isn't about to leave his beautiful family without a fight. And the doctors have told him that he definitely is in for the fight of his life.

Jon has already had many medical procedures done, with many MANY more to come. They do have insurance but the deductibles and their out of pocket costs are starting to (and will continue to) pile up. We can help this amazing young family by donating money, spreading the word and offering our prayers and support.

Please help however you can!

Pajama Picnic/Wear Red day...

October 9th, 2009

Kindergarten has had many fun "dress up" day's. They started out the year with wearing different colors everyday, and now it is time for "Pajama Picnic" day. They were learning about the letter "P" this week, and so on Friday they got to have lots of fun!

Not only was it Pajama day, it was also the last day of Red Ribbon week and they were also supposed to wear RED! Well, the only jammies she has that have red on them are her Santa ones, and she said, "Mom, I am not wearing those, it isn't even Halloween yet!" So, she picked her polka-dot ones, and I was going to let her wear the little Avon Valentines Day pin for her red. I went to the store the night before and got her some RUBY RED nail polish. I surprised her in the morning with a little nail treatment, and she was in HEAVEN!!!

Looking fancy-schmancy in her jammies and he beautiful nails! Ready for the Pajama Picnic, where she took Peaches, Pretzels, a Pop Tart and some pastacio's.


Of course, Julles had to do what her sister did... don't mind her filthy p.j's... they were put in the dirty clothes as soon as she took them off!! But, she was feeling mighty fancy!

Sister's sportin their jammies and smokin hot red nails!

Cute little girl hands! What a fun day!

Erkel...

I was getting ready for bed one night, and Jonathan had Jaxson in our room with him. I heard him leave the room for a minute and then come back and start giggling! I walked out and this is what I saw! ERKEL!!! Jonathan has this cabbage patch doll from when he was a kid. His name is Wade Ambrose, and those are his glasses.

Have you ever seen a cuter ERKEL before in your whole life? I don't think so!

Julles First Day

On September 1st, Jullsie had her VERY OWN first day of school! I am excited this year, she will be her own little person, and her personality will completely come out. She has always done what Beene has done, and said what she has said... so now she can be HERSELF!!!

She was very excited and couldn't wait! She was ready to go by 9:00, and was mad that school didn't start until 10:00.

School this year is going to be fun, she has already gone on a ton of field trips, which I have only gone on 1... this is very hard for me, as the last two years, I have been on ALL of them! She is learning so much already, and loves her "school days". She loves that she has her very own friends, and that she is a big girl!

The annual "sister's first day" picture, Beene's is missing of the two of them because Julles was barfing her guts out that morning! They are such cute friends and I love them more than I think I could ever explain!

B-A-N-A-N-A-S...

(August 26 and 27th)
I made a midnight run to the grocery store. When I walked in the doors, there in front of me were more BANANA'S than I had ever seen!! I swear the cases went to the ceiling!! Our Macey's grocery store was starting a HUGE sale on these banana's and were also going to break a WORLD RECORD!!! 66,000 pounds of the yellow beauties!!! It was a gigantic Banana Castle! The whole produce department was covered in monkey's and banana type items. It was very cool, and I knew the girls would LOVE it.

The next day after Beene got home from school and Julles got done with play group, to Macey's we went! The girls couldn't wait to see the "castle". Not only did WE go, but Keri and Kenadee met us there, and so did Gina and Abby. It was a girls outing to the grocery store!! The first thing Beene said as we were walking in the parking lot was, "mom, I hope they have a mascot!" I told her I didn't think there would be a mascot, and she looked disappointed... but then she saw Kenadee and it made it all better. The girls RAN into the store and their mouths fell to the floor!! Then Beene turned around and said, "Mom, this is NOT a castle!!" I then had to tell her that I just thought it looked like one! But, in my defense... they had sold a TON of them already! They were 11 cents a pound!! People were walking around with CASES of them in their carts!!!

Beene, Kenadee and Julles standing in front of the "Banana Castle"... Abby met us there later on! However, they did think it was Fantastic! (Beene even had to wear her Monkey Pet Shop shirt, to go with the occasion!)

We all split up, and did some shopping. Then, we met up at the Deli, where they were serving Banana Splits!!! So, we all (Keri, Gina, all the kiddo's and I) caved in and got some ice cream and splits. They were delish, and the kids loved laughing and talking together at their OWN table! Jaxson was completely oblivious of any of the goings on, since he was sound asleep in the cart! I am amazed he slept through those 4 little girls and their giggles! All the mom's agreed it was time to go home, so we all went out separate ways. I hadn't gotten very far, when I heard Kenadee screaming, "Jilly-beene, you have to come over here.... THERE IS A GIANT BANANA!!!" Beene perked up and went running to see this GIANT BANANA!!! She then came back to me and said, "Mom, I TOLD you there would be a mascot here!" Boy was I wrong!!

The girla's and the Banana Mascot! They loved him or her... I asked and it didn't say anything, I even asked it to give me thumbs up for girl or thumbs down for boy... and I got NOTHIN'!!! But, it was great anyway! (and really... the night before, the boxes went almost to the ceiling!!!)

What a great time at the store, and with our friends! We couldn't have asked for a more entertaining visit! By the way, they totally broke the record with I'm not sure what, but it was a huge amount of banana's. Lots of people made banana bread that week, I am sure of it!!!

Bear Lake 2009

When I was younger, Grammer would take all the cousins to Bear Lake every July. Usually it was over the 4th or 24th. We would stay for a week, and LOVE every minute of it. Well, when I was 10, we stopped going!

Grammer's birthday is September 7th, and the last few years of her life we would all get together as kind of a birthday party/family reunion for her. She loved it because we would all be together... her kids, grandkids, and great grandkids. She loved kids and watching them have fun. We went to Cherry Hill water park a few times, and one year we went back to Bear Lake... it was awesome!!

Now that she is gone, we still party for her special day, and know that she would be tickled pink that we were all together in a place that made so many special memories for us...

So, I give you SOME of Bear Lake 2009 pictures!


The beach... such memories here as a kid! I have a picure of me with my mom when I was just tiny on one of those swings!! What a beautiful view too!!!

Julles, Katie and Beene warming up in the hot tub after playing at the lake and swimming in the freezing pool.

Julles testing out the water... our kids had never been here... WE LIVE 45 minutes away!

Julles and Jason hanging out on the beach together... he had just written "Julles is beautiful" and "Jason is a stud" in the sand!!

Beene taking her first run into the lake... she loved it, even if it was a little cold!

Jason and Beene looking for shells... this has to be my FAVORITE picture of all 400 that were taken!! What a great big brother he is! (and I think that they bring in truck loads of shells every year... I swear there were just as many this year as in 1989... maybe more)

Cute Sisters... Best Friends... having a great experience together!!!

The girls and thier cousin Jack... they could play with him for HOURS!!!

Playing in the sand with cousins... Could it get any better?!

Joseph, April and Laurie hangin out in the condo!! Everyone loved that they were there with us! Great time for Laurie to meet my family... all 24 of us!!!

Jonathan and Jaxson doing what they love to do most... napping TOGETHER!! Those two are peas in a pod!

Joseph and his baby girl!!! He is such a great daddy! He loves that little girl more than life itself! (How could you not though... look at her!)

The Johnson Family... first family picture since the year after we got married... WOW!!!

My wonderful Mom and Dad!!! Thanks for a great time you two!! Thanks for keeping the memories going! We love you more than you'll ever know!!!

Me and my family... my, my we've come a long way!! Couldn't have been born to a better bunch of people!

The whole Morrow Gang, and our cousin Jana and her two kids! What a great bunch... we are getting HUGE in size though...

We can't wait to go back next year and the year after that and on and on!!! Thanks family for a great weekend. Grammer, your memories will live on, and keep growing!

The "big uncle" meets his niece for the first time...

Laurie and April had been in Indiana since a few weeks before I had Jaxson, so they hadn't gotten to see him yet. So as soon as they got back to Logan, and were able to come over, they did!! We had missed them soooo stinkin' bad. We were excited to see how big our peanut had gotten and to give her snuggles!!

I saw her and almost started to cry, I had missed holding her so badly!! Laurie and I did a baby trade off, and we both got some snuggle time with the babies! For so long, April was sooo tiny, and now compared to Jaxson she was HUGE!!! Everytime Jaxson would cry, it would scare her and she would scream and scream!!

Ahhh... look at that face??? We layed them down next to eachother, and she freaked out... this was the only picture I could catch of them while on the blanket! Jeremy has dubbed Jaxson the "big uncle"... very fitting!

A big bunch of babies!!! Jonathan with his grandbaby and his baby... he just wanted to fit in, so he got his cry face on too!!!

All in all, thier first meeting wasn't a huge hit, but they will end up being buddies... we know it!!!