Texas Lowry Invasion

My brother John and his family came down last week and it was so fun I never got onto the computer to blog anything, for that I apologize.  However, I am really not that sad because it meant I got to spend more time with them.  It wasn't an adventure filled visit since I had just had chemo a few days before and wasn't back to full speed yet but for me, getting to just sit with them was awesome.

I was trying really hard to wait to cut my hair until my brother and his family could be here.  But that date seemed further and further away as my hair fell out in bigger, and bigger clumps.  There was no need for them to be there but for some reason it just mentally seemed easier if I had my entire family with me.  (There is a very weird psychological component to cancer that I am still trying to get a grasp on.) So imagine my surprise when Jo and Brin walked in with a strip of pink of hair for me!  It was so unexpected and out of character for them (totally natural beauties that don't even hardly highlight or dye their hair!) . Of course Reyna is desperate to do this to her hair too now.  

Then John and Ty came in and they had both shaved their heads for me too!  Everyone in the family thought I looked like John once my head was shaved. If you check out the face swap we did with Snapchat you can have a good laugh and see that we actually look more different.  I have a huge nose and he has a cute little.  Maybe I am the milkman's baby, my geneticists always wants to confirm that my dad is really my dad after all!

The best part about having John and Jo there is that my kids get to see their kids.  Brody LOVES Tyler to infinity and beyond.  He counted the days until they got here.  Then while they were here he was glued to his side.  Brody convinced Ty to sleep in his room on a mat the entire time.  They stayed up all night long playing Fort Night, discussing Legos and Star Wars, and watching band performances on Tyler's phone.  To Brody it was like he won the lottery.  After 5 days of Tyler-immersion he had a rough time acclimating to life without him.   Thankfully we have FaceTime.  Plus I told the kids once I am well enough we are going to visit them in Texas!  

The boys also went to a Modesto Nuts with Grandpa...

I realized as I was looking for pictures to add to this post that we really didn't take very many.  Unfortunately the way chemo and cancer work is to knock you on your butt.  For me it is weeks at a time.  I'm not much fun, meaning I do an immense amount of sitting followed by an even larger amount of sleeping.  The awake moments are spent staying near a bathroom and a kitchen.  In the past three months I have left the house a total of 9 times that wasn't for the doctor.  So when I say that it was so special to have my brother and his family here, I mean it was extraordinarily sweet.  I know that they wouldn't have chose to spend their family vacation sitting inside at the table with me.  I'm boring.  That is just how it is these days.  But man, oh man, I cherished those moments.  I loved hearing my kids bug theirs.  I adored watching them all stare at some super weird sci-fi-ish show that John got them all absorbed in.

 The moments I sit and watch my family I wish I could freeze in time.  There is nothing, I mean nothing, that I would not do to have more of these moments that took place over the past week.  In my heart I know I felt this way before the diagnosis.  But now my understanding is so much greater.  I want every second to slow down.  I want all of my family with me all of the time.  I want a lot of things.  For today I am going to be happy that I got these moments, grateful that John and Jo spent their vacation with me, and thankful for every single second of each day.