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!


Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Lasts

While I have been neglecting my blogging, many things have happened at our house.  We had a fun and crazy summer, filled with many "lasts," before sending our oldest child away from home. It was great to have a lot of family time together and hopefully some lasting happy memories were made.

June was not particularly enjoyable for Derek because he was doing radiation treatments and an oral chemotherapy every week day, beginning at the end of May and continuing until the 8th of July. He was a trooper, as usual, keeping up his regular busy schedule while feeling tired and yucky. A few projects were put on hold for a couple of months, but then he more than made up for lost time, when we put in the patio, part of a deck, and some landscaping rock and mulch by the middle of August. It was so nice for him to be feeling better again! June did bring a "Sweet 16" birthday to Haddie and Austin turned 14. Derek and I celebrated our 20th wedding anniversary with a day in Park City and a stay in the beautiful Zermatt resort in Midway. It was admittedly bitter-sweet due to the cancer treatments, but we enjoyed our time together, reflecting on 20 years worth of memories.

One of our favorite things about July was our family getaway to California. We spent a couple of days at theme parks and a couple of days relaxing on the beach. My happiest day was when we rented some cruisers and my 7 favorite people and I carried our gear and lunches on our backs while cycling down a smooth, flat trail along the Pacific Ocean... stopping along the way to play in the water and bask in the sun on the sand. It was beautiful and a practically perfect day. I loved every minute, taking picture after imperfect picture, hoping to somehow preserve it in my mind forever. We were so glad to have that opportunity for one last family vacation together while all living under the same roof.

In August, we crammed as many things as possible into an already full month... the last family reunion, the last family dinner, the last family bowling excursion, the last family home evening/testimony meeting, the last family prayer, the last chance to hug Tanner... you get the idea. It was ridiculous! I was an emotional mess with tears spurting forth often. I decided I was completely grieving the loss of my family as I had always known it. I knew things would never be the same from the moment Tanner left home and I didn't want to have any regrets. We did the best we could to fit everything in and had some really neat experiences together. It was wonderful to have great one-on-one time with Tanner as he prepared spiritually and physically for his mission... awesome.

Finally, the day arrived when 5 Todd kids would head off to their first day of school and the oldest would hug us goodbye in the airport, never look back, and fly 2 days to a foreign country where he would spend the next two years trying to bring strangers closer to Christ. As soon as Tanner was on his way, I felt so happy and peaceful. All the stressful and overwhelming emotions ended... it was great. The next day we met with Derek's Oncologist and were told that the radiation had worked on the affected area and that no new cancer cells had grown in untreated areas. They hadn't expected things to be clear so soon, so it was great news and we are grateful. We, of course hope that it will be the last treatment ever... but know that as we stay close to the Lord we can create happiness and have peace, regardless of what trials come our way.



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