When I first got diagnosed, one of my fears was that I might not live to see my girls get married, have babies, and do all the things. I would imagine this is any mother’s worst fear. By God’s grace, He has spared my life for moments like these!! Last night Tara and Ty got engaged!! And we were all there to celebrate afterwards!

Ty contacted us at least a month ago to let us know of his plan to propose. He and Tara have maintained a long distance relationship since he graduated last Spring and moved to Texas. She has another year and a half at John Brown University in Arkansas where they met. This magical event was all coordinated with their mutual friend Bethany, who is a photography major, so that she could capture the moment. Bethany invited Tara to help her out with a photography assignment (which she has done before), and Tara invited six more friends to join them because she didn’t want anyone to feel left out…. Little did she know, Ty was driving over to meet them at Crystal Bridges, and Tara was completely surprised! Kent and I drove down to meet them all at Chick-fil-A afterward for the celebratory dinner. Kylie drove down a couple hours from Springfield, Missouri, and Ty’s parents drove over from Oklahoma as well. More of the amazing photos that Bethany took:

Then today was Family Day at Drury University, so after spending the night in Arkansas, we came back up through Springfield to enjoy a few hours with Kylie. We played Bingo, and Kylie actually won! She picked her prize, which was a Brita water pitcher and the bonus prize was a Drury t-shirt as well.

This is her dorm behind us. It’s the oldest one on campus, so she’s had a few plumbing issues in her bathroom, and the only working drinking fountain is on the first floor (she’s on the third with no elevator), so the water pitcher is really going to come in handy! But she’s loving college life and is becoming great friends with her roommate and a couple other people on her floor. Her 8am Calculus II class is her favorite, so you know she’s destined to be a math major!

The only downside to the weekend is that I got a little dehydrated last night, so I’ve been on the brink of another UTI today. I’ve been pounding the liquids to try and get ahead of it, and I’m finally starting to feel a bit better this evening. The hormone blocker definitely dries me out, so I have to drink even more than normal. I knew I needed to be drinking even though we were traveling, but apparently I wasn’t as vigilant as I should have been. I’m learning what my limits are! Otherwise, I’ve been feeling pretty great lately. Still dealing with post-menopausal symptoms like hot flashes, etc. but my energy levels have been good, and I feel like my systems are starting to level out again after all the surgeries. Best of all, it’s been good for this mama’s heart to see her girls again!!