introduction

Many of you know how the Todd Family feels about journeys. We try to keep an eternal destination always in view, while focusing on finding joy in the way we choose to get there. We are so grateful for the knowledge we have about where we want to ultimately be... in the presence of a loving Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, who made it possible for us to achieve that destination. We have been sent to this earth to see if we can reach our potential, becoming all that Heavenly Father wants us to be. Sometimes the journey back to our Heavenly home takes us through wide, gentle paths and sometimes the road is treacherous and unknown. Regardless, we feel that with every step we take, we should be looking for the beauty around us... learning from our fellow sojourners and relying on the maps that were provided to us to get through. Sometimes it is easy to happily skip along, but often we struggle, wondering if we will make it, and recognizing in the end that we can do hard things that we would have not previously thought possible. These are often the stretches of road that bring the most joy... the difficult ones. We have recently found ourselves on “a road less traveled” and, since we can’t turn around, we have decided to find joy in the opportunity to go there... to become better for having trod this new path. We hope that none of you will have to take this route, and can instead experience the vistas through us as you follow this blog. Here we go... Remember to enjoy the journey!


Thursday, September 12, 2013

Run!

I realize I am way past due for a new post, so here's a quick update on the Todds:

We are officially back in school after a crazy, exciting, fun, and HOT summer. Tanner is a senior, Matthew is a junior, and Haddie is a sophomore at our high school. Their football team has surprisingly been winning, the boys have dates lined up for Homecoming, and they've all signed up for every club that will let them in (Did you know that the Poly Club accepts non-polynesians?). Matt is running cross country right now, as is Austin. Austin has come to the realization that he is somewhat of a loner in our family because he is the only Todd kid at the Jr. High. He told me the other night that he figured out why he feels so isolated... it is because he is in "the big gap." Haddie is two years ahead of him in school and Savannah and Normandy are three years behind him. Everyone else has close siblings but his are "so far apart from me in age." Sorry, Mista! My bad:) Savannah and Normandy are in 5th grade and suddenly have way more homework. It's hard to work in all the friends with all their responsibilities! They are somehow managing to still play the piano and take tumbling. They are growing up!

Derek and I have been busy with little home improvement projects. He is still working on a shed... it's looking great! We're hoping to have time to do a patio where our deck used to be this fall, but we'll see how long the good weather lasts. He is enjoying the hustle and bustle of his job and has been involved in many great things. I have been trying to make more of an effort to get to know my neighbors and LOVED a recent opportunity to attend Education Week at BYU, where I took many classes on how to parent successful teenagers. Now to practice all the things I learned! We have season tickets to the BYU football games, which we are so excited about. We completely enjoyed our rainy win over Texas... and no, Derek did not cheer for the longhorns!:)

Our minds continue to reflect on the miracles we've experienced in the last year and all the tender moments we have had with people as a result. We are truly humbled by the goodness of our friends and the love we have felt from casual acquaintances... I don't think a day goes by for me that my eyes do not well up with tears at a memory of a kindness that continues to stir my heart. In August Derek had another clear scan and his tumor marker continues to remain low. His regular oncologist was out of town so we met with a partner we didn't know. He looked at the scan report and the blood work and commented on the surprising fact that he had also read in the chart that Derek is a stage 4 cancer patient. He remarked, "I know there must be a good story here... what is it?!" We gave him the back story and he just continued to shake his head while repeating, "You know this is amazing, right?!" Yes, we know. We assured him we were grateful and we are. Ten months of remission so far!

This weekend the high school is sponsoring a Relay for Life event. Derek has participated in these in the past, but never as a "cancer survivor." Since not too many people here even know that he has cancer, I don't know that this one will look any different, but it definitely feels different. Our kids are participating in it, just because a lot of the students are... will their perspective be different from their peers? We were so touched recently by a group of our dear friends in Colorado who ran in a cancer run under the name of "Team Derek." I will post a picture of some of them. What an honor for us to have such awesome friends!! Thank you, all! This last year and a half would have been so different without you.


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1 comment:

  1. alisonSeptember 30, 2013 at 3:39 AM

    I have finally found your blog again! Glad that you all are doing well. :)

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