Surprise Mother's Day trip to Disneyland

We were surprised on Easter by the Giving Grinch with a 3 day trip to California and Disneyland for Mother's Day. It was so nice to be able to go on a vacation with our little family and spend time making memories together. It was also so nice to have a vacation that I didn't have to do all the planning and financing for and that we could just go and enjoy our trip.

On our way to California decked out in Disney attire!

After we got off the airplane in Long Beach we stopped by Huntington Beach to play in the ocean and hear the peaceful waves. The girls were in heaven, even though it was pretty windy.

Jeff and Aubrie found lots of sand dollars near the pier. They were lucky to find them since sand dollars only have a certain season that they can be found.

Brynnley and Mommy's toes in the sand.

Heading to our first day at Disneyland and so excited!

Jungle Cruise:

We wanted to make sure the girls got the chance to meet and get signatures and pictures from the Princesses and characters. We only had to wait about an hour to see Tinker Bell ;)

                                 

Space Mountain! Aubrie even rode on it but wasn't a big fan of it.

Princess Meet and Greet: (of course Brynnley fell asleep and missed meeting all the Princesses)

Storybook Land Ride:

Alice and Wonderland:

The girls favorite ride was Small World.....We rode it every day we were there and it was so cute to see and hear the girls singing the song.

Day 2 at Disneyland:

We got there early in the morning and took advantage of getting pictures with our Photo Pass without a ton of people in the park yet.

Minnie and Friends Breakfast:

The best part of the breakfast is the yummy french toast with banana caramel sauce....yum!

We played at California Adventure the 2nd day.

Monster Inc:

Day 3 at Disneyland was Mother's Day and the girls were excited to give me a flower they had for all the moms.

I love my little girls and couldn't have asked for a better time and place to be with them at this time!

Playing in Toon Town:

Brynnley was so excited to see Dad's huge turkey leg and her eyes got so big!

Dumbo: This was one of the first times I remember riding this ride since the wait is always so long!

Small world ride was a hit!

We got to sit (due to my disability pass) to watch the World of Color show which was awesome!

Giving Grinch Surprise

We came home from church on Easter Sunday to find our entire kitchen and family room filled with tons of people, news cameras and tons of Disney princesses along with Easter eggs and candy all over.

I was so surprised to see Sheena (our daycare director) and her charity the Giving Grinch at our home. We were given a golden egg that had a message about us going to Disneyland next month with all expenses paid! One of my favorite places to be is Disneyland and Sheena knew that I have only so long left due to my recurrence of cancer and wanted me to spend time with my girls in the happiest place.

Here is the news story: (not 100% accurate though):

GRINCH SURPRISE STORY
SOUTH JORDAN, Utah -- A local woman is giving the Grinch a new look by giving back.
Sheena Rose started the non-profit "The Giving Grinch” more than 20 years ago, but this time the family she's giving back to holds a special place in her heart.
Rose loves dressing up as the Grinch to give back to local families, but her day job is running a daycare.
"The 4-year-old came to me and told me that her mom's going to heaven," Rose said.
When Rose learned the mom of two kids she takes care of every day had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, she knew she had to do something.
So while they were at church Sunday, she called up some Disney princesses with a plan to surprise the Bath family.
The princesses came armed with candy and Easter eggs, but that was just the appetizer. In four gold eggs was the surprise of a lifetime. The Giving Grinch planned a week-long, all expenses paid trip to Disneyland for the Bath family.
"To be able to spend time at Disneyland and just see the happiness on their faces, and it’s one of my favorite places, it will be just be really amazing," McKinzy Bath said.
Since she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, the only thing Mckinzy Bath has wanted to do is spend as much time as possible with her husband and two little girls.
"It’s really hard news to hear that I don't have a lot left, a lot of time left with my family,” she said.
What better place to do that, than the happiest place on earth?
"It’s just such a blessing to spend time with them and be somewhere together as a family, and just getting that one-on-one time together, being in a really happy place and making really good memories," Bath said.
A place where there is no sickness or sadness because love, family, and fun rule in the magical kingdom.
"I want them to remember all the good times we had," Bath said.

Another news story:

The Giving Grinch brings magical news to Utah family hit with terrible news

Posted: Apr 09, 2017 06:19 PM MDT

SOUTH JORDAN, Utah (ABC4 Utah) – Emotion was high in a South Jordan neighborhood on Sunday. A day filled with joy, sadness and lots of tears.

A 31 year old mom dying from cancer, her husband and their two little girls, find out they're going to Disneyland to spend her last time on earth, all together.While the Bath family were at church, loving neighbors prepared the big surprise. Good friend Sheena Rose found out about the terminal cancer from the dying moms daughter. Rose says, “The 4 year old came to me and told me that her mom was going to heaven. So that's when I knew I had to step in.”

There was dead silence as the family walked in from church. In shock were Mom, 31 year old, Kenzie Bath, with just months to live, husband Jeff, 4 year old Aubrey and 19 month old Brynnly. Kenzie read the gift. A trip to Disneyland. Kenzie told us, “One of my last big things I want in my life is to spend time with my kids they just mean the world to me and to be able to spend time at Disneyland. To see the happiness on their faces and its one of my favorite places. It’s amazing, It’s a lot of work to put this together and I’m so grateful. It’ll be really good memories “

https://www.facebook.com/1432469793634386/videos/1899951713552856/   3.2 thousand views

3 thousand views of grinch at christmas 2016  https://www.facebook.com/1432469793634386/videos/1899951713552856/

April Easter

We decided it was time to take a little vacation and wanted to go somewhere different. We booked a few days at Lava Hot Springs with my family and celebrated Easter up there. The kids loved sitting in the hot pots and it felt so good on my ankle and knee pain. It was quite cold though and even snowed!

Happy Easter!

                   
Grandpa's Fireman Easter Egg hunt in the Snow!

Brynnley was so excited about opening all the chocolate candy

Easter Sunday and Easter church dresses.

Lava Hot Springs Easter Egg Hunt:

The kids got to visit the Logan Temple on our way to Lava Hot Springs

We took a special trip to Build a Bear workshop to make each girl a special memory of Mommy. This was a very difficult time for me since I had just received news of my Cancer growth and unknown future. Each girl got to pick out their favorite animal and dress it up and then I recorded my voice saying that I love them and put it in the animal. The girls were both having a hard time dealing with my health and Jeff had even told Aubrie that I am going to die and go to Heaven. She had a lot of difficulty with hearing this news, which she didn't fully understand, and she went to a counselor to ease her mind.

The girls love visiting Papa Matt at the firestation.

Brynnley thinks she is so funny wearing Dad's hat backwards!

March Cancer Update

I have had lots of friends and family ask how I am doing with my cancer journey lately, so here is a little update.

I wish I had better news to share at this time, but unfortunately the cancer tumors are not responding to the estrogen blocking medication as we had hoped. Last week I had a CT scan that showed 3 tumors that have all doubled in size in the past 3 months.

I was given a few options to choose from: 1: surgery to remove the tumors 2: targeted medication that could help stop the mutation in new cancer cells (that is basically a chemo pill with all the chemo side effects) or 3: participate in a trial that is in it's first phase and is too new to know if it will do anything.

Today I met with my oncology surgeon to discuss the option of surgery. I thought that having surgery would be a good option to quickly remove the tumors before they grew more, but after having 7 surgeries in the past year and a half, I learned why this is not a good choice. Due to the location of one of my tumors near my colon and already having to have 12 inches of colon removed a few months ago, if we had surgery I would have a permanent colostomy bag (poop bag) and would still have microscopic cancer cells left in my body.

After meeting with my doctors and lots of prayers to decide the best option, I have decided to pursue option #2 and try a new medication that will hopefully block the cancer cells from reproducing. This medication is not approved for Ovarian cancer since it is such a new drug and getting it approved is very challenging. Oh, and it only costs around $11,000/month! If approved, my doctor will try to help me get assistance for the medication.

Another downside to this medication is that is a chemo pill, so I would experience hair loss, low white blood cell count (so I couldn't be around people due to low immunity), neuropathy- loss of sensation in hands and feet, nausea and fatigue. I figure it can't be as bad as the aggressive chemo that was pumped directly in my abdomen before, so BRING IT ON! I am not giving up and will not let cancer take over my life!

My Oncologists have been wonderful in giving me the few options left to try. They have encouraged me to spend as much time with my family due to not knowing how much time I have left and poor response to previous treatments.

As difficult as this information has been for both me and my family, I continue to seek out the positive in life. I am working as a physical therapist and focusing on getting a certification for hand therapy (which is a lot of work, studying, and hours required) and helping my patients heal from their pain.

Yes, I am exhausted both physically and mentally every day from working, being a mom to 2 busy little girls, and trying to kick Cancer out of my way by eating clean and staying active.

I appreciate all the prayers and fasts that have been done on my behalf. I know that I would not have the comfort from the spirit that I feel now without them!

As medical bills continue to pile up, we are grateful for everyone who has donated money to help assist in my medical debt and cancer treatments. Thank you all for your love and support as well as encouraging words! I will not give up on fighting this terrible disease

Jan hair

 Feb hair

 March

March happenings

I had a CT scan in March with not the best results. I had started taking Femara(Letrozole) in December and found out that it was not working as well as we had hoped. It is an estrogen blocking medication with not many side effects, just hot flashes. The next blog post is all about those results and what the next plan is.  

Aubrie took swim lessons (which she absolutely loves being in the water, even if it is freezing!)

Brynnley at 1 year old waiting for Aubrie at swim lessons.

Brynnley and Miss Sheena at Lotsa Tots

It was nice weather so we decided to have some fun and get some energy out at the park by our house. We had 70 deg temperatures for a week and then it snowed the following week....that is Utah weather for ya.

Some funny things about Brynnley:
-  loves to go outside
-  loves chocolate and had a tantrum and banged doors when she couldn't have dad's chocolate
   birthday cake
-  loves to play in sandbox with sister and swing
-  loves Sheriff Callie tv show on Disney Jr
- gets so excited and loves seeing dogs
- loves playing with cousin Ady
- very picky eater

Funny things about Aubrie:
- loves going to school
- doesn't like going to dance class at Elite but is always happy when she gets out
- says funny things like taco doodle doo
- loves trolls movie, Moana and sings and memorizes movie lines
- loves playing with her barbies
- can write her own name by herself