Wednesday, December 17, 2014

6 Months of Life: Part 2

Time for Part 2! :) 

Ok...this is just gonna be one month!  August was a big one!



August was a BIG month...so much happened.  In July, my sister, Laurie, had surgery to have tumor removed. We found out after surgery that the tumor was cancerous and she was given the diagnosis of Stage 2 Ovarian Cancer.  If you saw my last post, after the month of July we had of attending two funerals for Keith's uncles that both passed of cancer I was pretty much in pieces.  To be honest, it is a bit of a blur looking back now on what my reaction was completely.  I remember thinking that there was just no way I could lose her, I lost Mom only 2 years before and my sisters are all I have.  They are my rocks, who I lean on and just could not fathom the thought of possibly losing Laurie.  When someone you love has cancer or is in pain or hurting of any way, shape or form...the feeling of helplessness SUCKS! (Sorry, no other way to express it really)  When I don't know what to do...my mind automatically goes to "What CAN I do?"  I decided I wanted a way to help Laurie FIGHT...I wanted her to know that we were standing behind her, in this with her and we were supporting her...so I had the idea for some t-shirts (if you know me well, you know I love making shirts for ALL kinds of occasions and events) for our family that would show Laurie we were in this together!  So...Team Laurie's Ninja Shirts were born! ;)  We did these as a surprise and ended up getting shirts for not only our family, but also some people that Laurie works with (and AMAZING group of people, BTW).  In total, our first order was over 50 shirts...we surprised Laurie right before her first chemo treatment and it was so wonderful to see her face when she realized what was going on.  I will forever hold that in my heart.  It went on even further after we posted some pictures of our shirts on Facebook and in total, over the last 4 months, we have ordered over 125 shirts and were able to use them as well as some generous donations to help Laurie with medical and other expenses while she had to take off for treatment and such.  It was a HUGE blessing and we are incredibly grateful for everyone for showing such support!  Side note - if you need shirts made in the Wichita/Garden Plain area - talk to me...I have a guy...he is AMAZING! :)
Our INCREDIBLY handsome model when we surprised Aunt Laurie!

 

That's RIGHT...WU is on TEAM LAURIE!!!!

With emotions running high from the news in late July of Laurie's diagnosis, we also had a HUGE change in our family in early August.  My dad decided after losing mom and since he was getting older and things were getting harder to take care of, after 17 years he was going to sell his house and land outside of Garden Plain and move back into town.  So, we embarked on organizing a lifetime of accumulating (and that man can ACCUMULATE - I am being EXTREMELY nice here...;)) and divide out the most important items and sort through the "stuff" to be sold at Auction and the house to get ready to be put on the market. To say it was a daunting task does not even begin to describe it...but we are Seiwert's...we press on (and always have a some fun in doing so):
Candace and I having a little fun  - yeah...we are goofs ;)

Day of the sale with Dad
Everyone was all over so we couldn't get all of us in one picture, but it was a great day

The day of the sale was incredibly emotional.  I thought I had a handle on it and then I watched our family dining room set being sold...I remembered Mom's excitement and attention to detail in finding just the right piece of furniture for that dining room.  This house was her dream, everything was just has she had always wanted...I could remember all of the holidays we had spent gathered around that table...and there it was, being sold to the highest bidder...it was too much.  I broke down, which caused a chain reaction and we had a crying party in the garage.  The day was rough, but we got through it.  The house went on the market and sold withing a month and soon, it was all done (after my brothers set the pasture on fire of course - it's another story for another time).  At the end of it all, all of the "stuff" may have been gone and the title of the house is in someone else's name, but no one will ever take away the memories we made in that home...those will stay with us forever.

The rest of our August flew by in a flash (not even kidding, the sale and Laurie's first chemo treatment were just in the first week and a half of the month!).  All of a sudden it was Kolten's first day of school!  Preschool at least....:)  Garden Plain started a Preschool in the Elementary School. Kolten was SO EXCITED to meet new friends and get started in school!  He even named his backpack...his name is "Gary" (no idea why)! ;)

Our handsome little Preschooler!
Of course, school means treats for momma to make!  Those that know me well, know I kinda live for this stuff....so I had to make some adorable little treats for his class during the first month of school...:)

We also celebrated Keith's 32nd birthday during the month of August. It was a pretty low key celebration this year, but don't worry, I wouldn't forget to mention that Keith is a whole year older! ;)

All in all, like I said...August was a month of emotional highs and lows to say the least.  It was incredible to watch God at work in our lives and yet again providing strength when I thought I could not handle even more.  I am so amazed continually that God brought us back to Kansas at just the right time...it was hard, it was crazy and it has been AMAZING to see His plan working in our lives!

Stay tuned for later this week to get into the rest of this year!!  Have a blessed day friends!

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