Cancer Free at the One Year Anniversary

It's been just over one year since Teresa found a lump in her breast, resulting in a breast cancer diagnosis, followed by a double mastectomy, chemo and radiation. Through the aggressive treatment by her medical team and her own perseverence, she is proud to be cancer free.

We took these pictures a few weeks before Christmas to celebrate her victory.

Luminary Walk

We went out to the Overland Park Arboretum for their holiday Luminary Walk. It was a cold night, but fun to be out with friends and family.

Meredith had a chat with Santa about her expectations for Christmas, along with Mallory and Mallory's cousin, Peyton.

Birthday Party Day

Meredith is Five!!

Meredith had a great day on her actual Birthday. Although it was a school day, we brought a couple of dozen donuts for Meredith to enjoy with her friends and teachers at school. It happened to be field trip day as well. Her class took a bus to a dairy farm to learn about milk cows and have a picnic in the grass. For dinner, Mommy made one of her favorite meals -- waffles with strawberries and powdered sugar. Miss Teresa picked up a cake so that Mer could have some candles to blow out. All in all - she had a great day.

Little Dancers

Meredith recently started taking dance (ballet & jazz) classes at her school. On a boring week night at home, she and Mallory broke out the dance shoes and put on a recital on the fireplace to some of their favorite Hannah Montana songs.

Here they are with their serious ballerina poses.

Here are some of their less than serious ballet poses.

And the mandatory smile and pose for a picture for mommy.

Pumpkin Patch

Mer got some new cowgirl boots from Grandma Sue during a recent shopping trip with her. She figured the Pumpkin Patch would be an appropriate place to break them in. After getting dressed, she informed me that this is an outfit like Miley Cyrus would wear.

First stop at the Pumpkin Patch was this "air pillow." It's like a bounce house, but without the enclosure. She had a great time jumping around.

Next stop, the lawn mower train.

This fire truck and similar pirate's ship was one of Meredith's favorite things at the Pumpkin Patch.

Looks like about 3 1/2 feet tall. I can tell she's growing by her every shortening pants.

Finally, we made it out to the patch to pick out our pumpkins.

The girls taking a rest on their pumpkins as we wait for the hay rack ride.

One final pic in the giant chair.

Farm Girls

Teresa and I spent the weekend going through the girls' clothes and figuring out what fits for the fall/winter. The girls went through the clothes to figure out what would make for the best farm girl outfits. Here's what they come up with.

Tea Party

With her summertime free time, Morgan set up an elaborate tea party as a surprise for the girls when they got home from school. She helped them put on their princess dresses and serve the tea. I'm pretty sure all three thoroughly enjoyed the party.

Memorial Day Weekend

On Friday, I took off work a little early and Mer and I set up the tent in the backyard to play in. Brady came over that night to hang out. Mer, Brady and Mallory enjoyed playing "house" in the tent with each taking a role of mom, dad and baby.

Brady brought some popcycles over to share with his friends.

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Mallory was upset, so she sat down to pout for minute. I love the way she really sticks he lip out when she's mad.

Saturday night, Mer and I decided to spend the night out in the tent in the backyard. It was a very pleasant night to sleep outside. Mer had a great time and asks me nearly every weekend if we can go camping again.

I made some smores in the microwave for Mer and I to enjoy while camping. After enjoying our treat, Meredith watched a movie on her portable DVD player and I read a book until we both fell asleep. Roxie also spent the night with us in the tent, but stayed up all night keeping watch for us.

Grandma and Grandpa Pearce traveled to town to spend Sunday and Monday with us. On Sunday night we went down to Union Station to enjoy the Celebration at the Station. This is the fourth year that we have attended and enjoyed the event. Amy, Ian and the kids came along as well.

While listening to the symphony, I painted a butterfly on Meredith's face with face paint.

We also took some time to celebrate Aunt Amy's birthday.

They always end the show with a beautiful fireworks display. Meredith cuddled with grandma to watch the show, but chose to plug her ears to the noise. Zoe nearly slept through the entire fireworks display.

On Monday, the entire family gathered to go to Denali's family's home in Liberty for a barbecue. Max and Meredith enjoyed fishing off the dock, while the rest of the family rested in the grass. It was a beautiful day to be outside spending time with family.