SO STINKING EXCITED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Going on a "journey" with my mom and my sister Becky at the end of this month! Sooo...excited!!! I am so glad they asked me to "go" with them! It should be a blast, a riot and everything in between but the "final destination" will be all worth it...especially the final "performance" ROFLMBO :)

Long time...no post...

WOW...cannot believe it has been that long since I have posted on my blog. Most of you have just been updated on FaceBook, but for those of you who still REFUSE to be a part of FB (LOL)...well, here is an update and I will try better to keep it updated from now on!

I think things began to spin crazy after my son's accident in May. Zach (our oldest son) was in a motorcycle accident, hit on his head, split his helmet, knocked out, life flighted to PCMC & fractured 7-3 in his neck. Dr's told us he was, not only, lucky to be alive but lucky to have avoided paralysis. We KNOW we were blessed to still have him here and feel that he has some special purpose here to be spared. WE LOVE YOU ZACH!

We took our normal trip to Lava Hot Springs, ID again in July and had a ball...as always. The highlight of the trip was watching my brother and two sisters take down a drunk thug in the campground! LOL...go "Sauter Security Dept"! No accidents this year...YEAH! Becky & I and our families decided to stay an extra day after everyone had left. We enjoyed watching the girls ride the river on an air matress...it was hilarious!

August was the beginning of a nightmare for our family. On August 17 David was diagnosed with cancer. At first they told us it was lymphoma, later relieved to find out it was just thyroid cancer and then shocked, once again, to find out it was an extremely rare type of thyroid cancer (1/200,000,000) where it mastitized to his body AND there was NO thyroid cancer in his thyroid!

September was rather foggy as we learned all we could about this new challenge David was facing. Kids were back in school...Zach in high school, Courtney in 8th grade and Brandon finally out of elementary, in 7th. I continued to work my TV job and picked up substitute teaching to help us out and prepare for David to have surgery and be off work.

On October 6th, my sweetheart endured an 11 hour operation and they removed his thyroid glands and 9 tumors from his neck. Although he coded shortly after they brought him out, he pulled out of it, was put on a ventilator, remained in ICU for 4 days, had feeding & suction tubes & spent a week in the hospital. It was a VERY hard recovery for him. He was a trooper, endured more than I could ever imagine and he is my hero!

November was still based around Dr & hospital visits, tests & dealing with the news that he was stage 4 cancer. We were both shocked to hear those words, but were determined to have faith, pray and put everything in the hands of the Lord.

December came and he grew stronger and was missing work terribly! He had to keep going back to be tested for iodine to see if he could begin his radiation treatment. The drs put him on an iodine restricted diet to starve his body of iodine. Blood test after blood test...he still didn't pass. FINALLY we got the good news on December 21...no iodine and ready to go! David had his radiation on December 23. He was in isolation for 3 days and even though he was not able to be with us Christmas day, it was a very memorable Christmas for us all.

December 30th, he had his full body scan. This would tell the Drs where the cancer had spread to. They had already told us that is looked as if it had spread to his bones. We were prepared for the worst, but nothing prepared us for the news that we finally received on January 7th......NO CANCER...ANYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Although this past year has seemed like a roller coaster of bad luck and bad news, we have definitely been blessed and have witnessed, first hand, the power of prayer and miracles! We have been extremely blessed with good friends, neighbors and ward members that have been here to help us every step of the way. Our families biggest thank you's must go out to mom & dad, Becky, Pete & Sebrina, John & Dawn, Heidi, Marilynn, Aleesa, Jeannie, Chris & Heather, my team at work & ALL of the Wal*Mart "family" that David works with. You all were the rock that helped us endure and press forward! WE LOVE YOU!!!

We are "voting" for a better year than 2009!!!!!!!!!!