Mid-Storm...

I was looking through some old pics tonight--I was actually searching for something specific.  But I ran across some pictures my Dad took on a visit to our house back in the fall of 2006.  It was just a couple of weeks after my bilateral mastectomy.  I was mid-treatment or "mid-storm" of our first cancer journey.  He came to give me a hand with the girls for a few days & we did some playing around while he was here.  The girls are SO small & the boy wasn't even a thought yet.  We had no idea at that point if we could have anymore children. 

I often think back to that 6 months following the first diagnosis & it's all a blur.  I can't remember very much about it besides the surgeries & doctors appointments.

What I love about these pictures is the smiles. 

And I think I wanted to share them this way because they are a sign to me that we didn't let the diagnosis get in the way of our living during that 6 months.  When my girls look back on these last 4 years, they are bound to remember the many hospital trips & the weeks of recovery where someone was constantly warning them to watch out for Momma's boo-boos.  But I'm reassured by these pictures that those memories will not be the ones in front, as we sure didn't let it stop us. 

It was a journey.  We're almost at the end.  I'm glad I had this team of little Js & my very biggest fan,

 Daddy J, by my side through it all.  And look...we're STILL smilin'.