We Love Trish the Dish

 Trish's friends and neighbors came up with this idea to show her our love and support.  Everyone showed up one morning with pink balloons and a banner that read, "We love Trish the Dish."  It was cold and wet out but there was hot chocolate and warm hearts to keep us from freezing.

I could tell that this meant the world to Trish.  She was overwhelmed with love and had tears in her eyes the whole time.  Even with her weak body, she kept a smile on her face and gave every single person a hug.  Trish is such an amazing person.  It just does not seem real or right that this could happen.  She is so dear to me.  When I visit Trish she will grab my hand and not let go.  She looks straight in to my eyes with genuine love and mouths the words, "I love you" over and over.  She can barely speak and can barely move but the love remains.  I love you so much Trish.  My life will not be the same when you leave this earth.  You have made me a better person.  I can't say enough how much I love you.  My heart hurts to see this vibrant woman deteriorating.

I am glad that Mike was able to come be there with me.  Kelly and the boys were there, as well as my cousin Julie Crockett.  We all share a love for this amazin Trish the Dish.

Pink balloons!  Trish loves pink.

That beautiful smile lit up her front porch

The boys were excited to see all the people there as well

We let the balloons go in to the air...

Lots of pink!

Love the banner

I found this handsome man lurking around...

Such a beautiful soul...

My sweet aunt Trish greets each person with love

Kelly watched and held Edison

and Parker played Kind of the Mountain!  in the snow pile

Edison is such a happy boy!

I love this picture.  Lots of love here.

The lovely Glenn home...

Science Fair - Avril

We had the hardest time coming up with a project to do for Avril's Science Fair at her school.  In order for her to earn her Excellent Eagle Award, this was a requirement.  Mom has a lot on her plate, with the girls, a baby on the way, and full time work, so mom was on board with something simple.  Since we had an abundance of snow outside, we tried to come up with a way we could use the scientific method to analyze snow.
We decided to see if the volume of the snow would change when it converted from the solid form of snow to the liquid form, water.
Then we put the steps and photos on a poster board and, walla!  Done!  Thank goodness.  :)

Avril was excited to start packing the snow in a measuring cup!

The packed snow

after sitting in room temperature for awhile...

after sitting in the house for awhile, and then awhile longer...

Avril's finished poster!

Avril had to present her Science Fair project in front of Judges at the school, and then put it on display.  She did a wonderful job and I am very proud of her (and mom) for putting in all that effort!

Avril's ME Board

Here are a few more pics that I stole from Avril's classroom facebook page.  I just love how many fun activities they get to do in First Grade.  Mrs. Woolf is an amazing teacher.

Avril's teacher commented on how creative Avril's ginger bread house was.  She said she'd never seen anyone use the pretzels the way Avril did.  Avril does have quite the artsy skills!

Check out the pretzel fence!

And here is Avril enjoying the playground slide

Avril was sooo excited for her ME Board.  We spend quite a bit of time selecting all of her favorite photos to put in the slideshow.  The class had lots of questions for Avril, like how did she get in that pumpkin?  And what will her baby brother's name be?  Avril did awesome, it was a proud mommy moment.  We did a pretty impressive presentation!

Avril shows how she got stuck in a pumpkin!

Avril shows when she got a new baby sister!

Avril talks about when she was born...

lots of questions from the class!

Glad I was able to watch my brilliant girl!

Playing with the Boys

After intensive physical therapy and days at the hospital, Trish was sent home to be on hospice care.  We all know that Trish's time with us is short, so we want to visit her and soak in as much Trish time as possible before she leaves to be an angel.  Trish is able to get enough words out to talk to her boys and let people know how she would like to plan her funeral.  She gets to say goodbye to all her family and friends before she goes.
The Glenn household seems to always be overflowing with guests and kind friends and neighbors, dropping by to see Trish and bring food, flowers, and presents for the boys.  Trish isn't able to say much but you can see how much she appreciates the love and feels overwhelmed by all the kind gestures.
The girls came over to play with the triplets.  McKel is so great with Edison.  She loves to sit with him and help him play.  I am so lucky to have such kind-hearted children.
When I first told McKel that Trish was not going to be around for much longer, because she would pass away, she had an unexpected reaction.  She all of a sudden shouted, "she's going to die?!!"  Then she started bawling uncontrollably the entire drive home, and was almost inconsolable.  It is certainly hard to explain something like death to children, when you don't have any of the answers yourself.  My heart continues to break for Trish and her family.  I still just pray for a miracle.  It is just so hard to understand how this could happen.  It seems so wrong.  It seems not real.
Here are a few pics from our time visiting with the Glenns...

McKel gives Edison a hug :)

 I don't think I realized this was a video... its really just a snippet.

Uncle JJ and McKel playing with the boys' train set...

 another snippet...

Avril joined in on the playing

McKel especially loved the remote control transformer

Adorable Edison

an excited George

George loves his snacks

and of course, sweet Parker

We love you, Trish...

Trish

I don't really even have the words to say about the sadness that I feel...  The pic below is of my Aunt Trish's CT scan showing the tumor in her brain that we just learned she has.

Trish had a stroke and Kelly had to take her to the ER where they decided to perform emergency brain surgery in an attempt to save her life.  The surgery did save her but the surgeon was unable to remove the tumor, and found that the cancer had spread to her brain and lungs.  She was given a limited amount of time left.  After the surgery Trish was paralyzed on her right side and could not speak.
We went to visit Trish in the University of Utah hospital (luckily we were close by) and I could barely be in the room with her because I couldn't stop bawling.  Trish was so vibrant, excited about life, an amazing mom, and always ready to take on the world...nothing could get her down.  Except for cancer, I guess.  Cancer finally wins.  It was the most heartbreaking thing in the world to me to see Trish in this state.
I cried and cried.  The whole time we were there, Trish kept squeezing my hand and trying to find the words to tell me that she loved me.  She kept on mouthing the words.  Tears were streaming down her face.  I will never forget this memory.  She knew that death was inevitable, and not long away for her.
I cried for Kelly and for her kids.
I love Trish so much.  I just cannot believe how this could happen.  I have a voicemail from her 1 day ago asking if I'd like to take the kids to the Jump Around with her.  She sounded perfectly fine and happy.  She spoke of looking at houses more suitable for Edison's handicap.  Just weeks ago she was at McKel's birthday party, looking healthy and happy with the boys.
I love Trish so much.  She has been one of my only friends in Salt Lake.  She has always been someone I've looked up to.  She has always cared about me.  I love her and my heart is completely broken.  I don't know how to deal with this kind of pain.