Mark has Skin cancer - MOHS procedure

For a Long time Mark has seen a spot on the top of his head that was suspicious of skin cancer. It was small and he felt he was too busy to get it checked out. After Christmas and our trip to Utah he finally took the time to get it checked out. On January 10, 2018, It turned out to be skin cancer. On January 26 Mark had to have the MOHS procedure. This procedure is where they remove a layer of skin at a time in order to confirm they have taken all the cancer.

Usually it just takes a few hours and one or two layers of skin have to be removed. For Mark it was a little different, he had to have six layers removed creating A hole in his head at least 2 inches in diameter and a quarter of an inch deep. With this big of a wound Mark had to have skin grafting.  They took skin from behind his ear to fill the hole on his head.  We were there for over 10 hours.  

After everything was said and done that was a lot of treatment that we had to do it home. Every day Betsy had to clean and dressed his wounds make sure that they would heal properly.  

Mark went back three weeks later to make sure everything was OK. We were glad to find out all the cancer is gone and he is well. 

Robert gets his mission call

Robert has wanted to go to Thailand on his mission since he was 4 years old.  It has always been his dream to serve there - and follow in his dad's footsteps.  About one month before his mission papers were submitted he submitted and humbled himself to go where ever the Lord wanted him to go - letting go of his dream to go to Thailand.

On January 24, 2018, Robert received his mission call.  He picked it up a few days late because they forgot to let him know it was in.

Thank goodness for Facetime Video - Tonight Robert opened his mission call at Jessica's apartment.  Jessica, Tate, Devon and Marissa are there to see it live, while Mark and I are watching via FaceTime.

We all did our usual picks:
Mark:  Mexico, or Arizona
Betsy:  Thailand, or Arizona
Jessica:  Philippines
Tate:   ??
Devon: Thailand,
Marissa:  ??

Drum roll ...

Robert starts reading...





Robert Thomas Lowe, you are hereby called you to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  You are to labor in the ...

Thailand Bangkok Mission.

It is anticipated that you will serve for 24 months.  ... You should report to the Provo Missionary Training Center on Wednesday, June 6, 2018.

Sibling Love!!!  Everyone is so excited for Robert!!!

 

For he's a jolly good fellow - we are so excited!!!!!

 Everyone is sooooooo happy!!!!

 Signed by Russell M. Nelson

Jessica is so happy for her brother

Jessica and Tate are so happy for Robert!

 Mom is so happy for Robert.  She had the faith all along - Thailand - Babe!!!

 Dad and twin son are both so happy:  Thailand 1982, Thailand 2018 (36 years later)
Robert will serve in the same place his dad served.  They are both so excited.
This is Robert's dream come true.

On to the next generation!!!

Our Thai Boys!

Saying Goodbye - maybe in more way than one

This was so Hard because it was saying goodbye for the next four months but for Robert it was saying goodbye knowing that he’s going to be going on his mission coming back very soon for two years. It was also saying goodbye to the freedom of Jessica and Tate being able to come and visit now that they’re expecting a baby. It was also saying goodbye to Marissa because she thinks that she wants to stay out there for spring and summer and not come home next summer. Also saying goodbye to Devon as he may stay out for spring and summer as well as he develops his relationship with Sierra. So this is a time in our lives where a lot of things are changing and we’re saying goodbye to the old way of doing things and saying hello to a new way and a new life

Settle in at BYU - BYU Volleyball game

For the evening entertainment we went to the BYU men’s volleyball game!  They were last years National champions.  It was a fun exciting game and a fun time with the kids.  

My stomach was still upset from earlier in the day so I walked around the indoor track in between games.  What an amazing facility BYU has for students.  Their track team is featured inside and I was so impressed by all of their accomplishments!  

After the game we dropped off Robert so he could hang with his friends.  

Day 3 - Provo Bound

After having a wonderful time in Park city skiing with the kids and Sierra it was time to head back down to Provo. We needed to get Marissa checked into her new apartment and go shopping for the remaining items that Marissa would need. We also needed to get her parking pass. It was a big fiasco trying to get Marissa into her apartment. The landlord didn’t have the key. We had to go to the management company which had moved to get the parking pass and a key.  This took way more time than we expected!

We also had to go to BYU book store to purchase next semester‘s books.  I had pre ordered them, but BYU didn’t have them ready!  Once we get all of that fixed, we met up for food!

Jessica and Tate also had a few fiascos because they had Air-B-n-B'd their new place so they were delicately waiting for their guests to leave before they could get into their place.  It was all good though, because they made money while they rented it out.

Each one:

Robert in the dorms - one more semester before his mission.  He had submitted his mission papers so now we all are waiting to hear where he will be assigned to serve.  He has an aggressive and difficult schedule this next semester.  Good luck Robert.  We are so proud of him and know he will do great this next semester.  He's made great friends and is involved in many extra-curricular activities, too.

Marissa is back from her mission and settled into the Avenues.  She is apprehensive about getting back into the school/college routine, but I know she will adjust well.  She has four super nice, return missionary room mates.  We are so proud of her for her courage to return to normal life and venture back into the academic and dating world.

Devon will continue in engineering.  He missed taking an important class, so now he is behind the schedule of courses to take.  He needs to focus on his course work.  He is also dating Sierra and very interested in her (he loves her).  It was so very touching to see him with her in Park City - so nice to see how much he cares about her.  We are so proud of him for his endurance and commitment.

Jessica and Tate have such an exciting and yet challenging semester ahead of them.  Jessica is pregnant and finishing up her classes and clinicals.  She will deliver some time in July.  Tate is working hard at PEG, and they give him many opportunities.  We are so proud of both of them for everything they are doing for their family.

Day 2 - Ski Snowbird and Girls day out

Today Mark went to Snowbird with Robert, Devon, Sierra, and Tate.

Jessica, Betsy and Marissa stayed around Park City since Jessica can't ski.  Betsy's knees were sore from the skiing she did yesterday and Marissa's head hurt from the snow boarding she did with Tate. 

The girls took an Uber to Park City resort to return some ski rentals that didn't get returned the previous day.  We then took the bus to the mall area to eat lunch at Zuppas!  Jessica's favorite.  We walked over to the Outlet Mall were we were shopping for cute baby clothes when we ran into Sierra's family.  How funny is that. 

After shopping We went and saw the movie "The Greatest Showman".  It was fantastic and for the rest of the day all we did was sing songs from the sound track. 

That night when everyone returned from Snowbird we heard that Devon and Sierra didn't really get to ski because Sierra's toes hurt too much.  That's such a huge bummer.  Dad spent lots of money on tickets to ski and they were wasted.  Dad, Robert and Tate had a blast on the trails there.  They said they were much better than Park City - more snow and more trails were open.

That night Betsy ordered Pizza for everyone.  We had a fun time playing games around the big table and relaxing in the hot tub!  It was a great way to end the day.

Gathered around the fire

We also had a wonderful fire place where we would gather around after the days activities and talk and share stories.  It was so nice to meet Sierra and get to know her better while on this ski trip. 

It was so cute to see Devon and Sierra cuddle up together ... Tate and Jessica cuddle up together and Robert and Marissa around the fire place.

Skiing Park City

OK just to start this off Betsy has not skied in 27 years. Just let that sink into your head for a minute. The year has finally come when we don’t have any sports in the winter time and our family can be together so Betsy booked a family vacation to Park city Utah. Everybody was there, Marc, Betsy, Jessica, Tate, Devon, Marissa, Robert and even Devon‘s girlfriend Sierra.

Jessica wasn’t able to ski so she stayed back at the cabin. 

The rest of us had a blast skiing. Mark Robert and Betsy skied together. Devon and Sierra skied together but Sierra hurt her toe so she didn’t get the ski that much. Tate and Marissa decided to snowboard and had a blast. Tate thought Marissa a new technique.

Betsy was thrilled that she had not lost her touch. The slopes were amazing, but a bunch of them were closed. Park city did not have that much snow this year so the next day everybody went to Snowbird.