At the Park

Heat Wave: 

Yesterday our outdoor temp hit 50 degrees for the first time since we got home in January, so we celebrated by going to the park. The kids were SO happy to be outside.

Joe and Tammy's visit: part one

This weekend we had some very special visitors: Joe and Tammy! Lucas' brother Joe and his new bride Tammy left sunny California to come to not-so-sunny Idaho, and we are SO glad they did! We spent most of our time hanging out at home: you know, that situation that is sort of boring and simultaneously not-so-boring (a.k.a. chaotic) when you have little ones around. We had such a special visit... AND Tammy experienced her first trip to a WalMart Supercenter. This is exciting stuff, folks. Here are a few shots of our fun times:

Joe wrote a special song for Maggie. She LOVED it! Joe also wrote a song for Max when he was a baby. Such special gifts.

Max was in heaven with his Uncle Joe here. They played a lot of "soldiers" and "Star Wars guys."

Joe and Tammy's visit: part two

On Sunday, we decided to trek up the mountains of Idaho to Bogus Basin ski area. Maggie had been sick and sooooo cranky all weekend, and she usually loves the car, so we thought the drive might give us a chance to visit better and then enjoy the beautiful snowy mountain and let Max play in the snow a bit. In retrospect, a couple of things we didn't account for:

1. Bogus Basin is a bit farther than we thought, so it was a little longer of a drive than we anticipated. That would have been fine, if not for #2:

2. Winding mountain roads + sick baby + car seat in the very back of the car = not a good idea.  Let's just say that not once, but twice, we cleaned up an obscene amount of vomit in the car. 

3. It was so brutally cold on the top of the mountain, that it was really too cold to even play out in the snow with Max. This was disturbing on a deeply personal level to Max. Fortunately, Uncle Joe manned up and took him out to play for about 3 minutes. The rest of us were way too wussy.

4. Our car does not do that great on ice and snow. It's something about how the weight is distributed. Joe ended up pushing us out of the parking lot when we were spinning our wheels, and we did some slipping and sliding on the way down the mountain that made me a little nervous... until the barfing began and I got distracted by that.

Even given these little obstacles, we had a fun and adventurous day. We heart Joe and Tammy.

Tammy in the cutest stocking cap ever made.

Max the abominable snow boy.

Don't let this face fool you. 

Hanging out at the lodge.

Ahhhh.... they're so cute!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hard News About Mom

Most of you have probably seen/heard by now about how mom's scan reports came back yesterday. The cancer has definitely moved into her brain, and requires immediate and aggressive treatment. She will most likely begin 15-18 straight days of whole brain radiation within the next 4 days. Her oncologist is very optimistic that this will take care of the immediate problems of the cancer in her brain and give her the potential of some more good days.

The worst news from yesterday (and I suppose I've reached a new low, when cancer in my mom's brain is not the worst news of the day.....) is that the progression of cancer to her brain means that she can no longer participate in the clinical trial for the drug RAD001. We really believe that this drug is probably one of the primary things God has used to give her these days of temporary remission. Many other patients with small cell lung cancer do not have the weeks and months that she has had of feeling so great before the cancer begins to progress again. We think that the RAD is most likely what has enabled that remission.

But we've known from the beginning that she would have to go off the RAD as soon as cancer progressed anywhere in her body. So now we are moving on to praying that radiation will not be too hard on her, and that she will have many more days of feeling good ahead after she completes this next round of treatment.

If you would like more details, visit http://vickidees.blogspot.com

Wanna see something C-R-A-Z-Y?

See this DVD cover? Yeah, that's my brother Tyler's and sis-in-law Meagan's bodies connected to Greg Kinnear and Radha Mitchell's heads.

Tyler and Meagan were asked by this fantastic photographer to do a photo shoot about a year and a half ago. They signed releases for the photographer to sell the images as stock photography in exchange for getting to keep all the images for their personal use. Well.... these images have sold tens of thousands of times, and now we see them in product packaging, on websites, everywhere. I have to admit that this DVD cover takes the cake, though. It is pretty weird to see my brother's body connected to the head of someone famous!

An Important Day

Tomorrow is an important day for my mom. She will have a full set of MRI scans and CT scans to see what is happening with her cancer. Her oncologist saw some spots on her last set of MRIs that led him to think it's possible that the cancer has spread into her brain. That was 3 weeks ago, and tomorrow's tests will confirm whether or not that is the case. 

If you think about it, will you pray about this with us? We are of course hoping and praying for clear scans tomorrow. But as my mom is so good at reminding us, whatever happens, we know this is all in the hands of a loving and sovereign Lord. 

For Grandpa and Abuelita and all the party people at Uncle Raul's!

Say hi to everyone at the party for us, Grandpa and Abuelita!

                                            We love you, Grandpa Chaney and Abuelita!

California Friends: Don't Miss the World Premiere of Coyote County Loser!

To buy tickets to the World Premiere on February 19 in Southern California, click here. If you're anywhere within 1,000 miles, you won't want to miss it!

We're so proud of Jacob and Laura and all of their hard work to see this huge endeavor through to completion!

And the Winner is....

Announcing the winner of the Precious Girls Club Giveaway:

Comment #29: The Buki Family!

Congrats, Buki Family! Thanks everyone for entering!

(Winner selected using Random.org.)

Get $10 of free stuff from QVC

Hey, friends. Just wanted to let you in on a deal I found today: click here to sign up for a free account with QVC, and they will automatically put $10 credit in your account. 

You can choose anything on their site that costs $10 or less (there's tons of stuff to choose from!), and it will be free to you. The $10 will also cover shipping costs, so if you choose something that costs $10 or less including shipping, you won't have to pay anything at all.

Once you’ve registered, QVC will display a page that contains your account number …SAVE the account number. At the prompt, sign in with your QVC account number and pin (don’t sign in with your email address). The $10 discount will automatically be applied to your account, and you can begin shopping immediately.

QVC also has a referral program, so once you’ve registered, send your personal referral link to all of your friends…you’ll each receive $10 in QVC credit!

Happy Friday! Enjoy free shopping!

I'm Getting in on the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival!

Hello friends, old and new! Have I got a great giveaway for you! 

Several weeks ago, MomSelect sent me a great prize package of items from the Precious Girls Club to give away to readers of my blog. I've been waiting for the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival as the perfect opportunity to host this giveaway!

This Precious Girls Club includes a book, a plush puppy, a bracelet-making kit, a ring, a necklace and a pink canvas bag/backpack for carrying all of your Precious Girls loot! Perfect fun for all your little princesses. 

And, to make sure that everyone is a winner, here's another little something for you: If you go the website www.preciousgirlsclub.com and enter the code 8137-KTQ1-NZCG, your little girls will get a free premium month Rainbow membership on site, which will  give your girls access to exclusive site features like games, quizzes, and crafts. Enjoy!

To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment and a way to contact you: e-mail address or blog site. Good luck, everyone, and thanks, MomSelect for the sending me this great prize package for the giveaway!

The giveaway will be open until Saturday, Jan. 31 at midnight, MST, after which time I will randomly choose a winner. Good luck!

Find more great giveaways at the Bloggy Giveaway Carnival!

 

Influenced by Coyote County

This is a little post for Uncle Jake and Aunt Laura, and anyone who got to see the screening of Coyote County Loser, their movie:

The other day I pulled out some cereal and told Max I had something new for him, a cereal called Smart Start.

He gasped and said, "Did you say, 'Heart Smart' like in Uncle Jake's movie??'"

He was very disappointed to learn that this new cereal did not, in fact, have anything to do with Coyote County. :-)

The Gospel and My Son

Recently I have found the Gospel presenting itself at every turn in little Maximus' life. I am praying that God uses these seeds to begin whispering His love to my son. Here is how the Gospel wove its way into our day from the first moment of the morning, when I went in to get him out of bed:

Maximus: Mommy, Mommy! Come look at this! Come look outside!

(He pulls back the curtains by his bed) It's almost a little bit light outside!

Cherissa: You're right. It's almost morning. Are you ready to get up? Hop out of bed.

(Maximus climbs out of bed and begins running toward the bedroom door, only to freeze and turn around to tell me one more thing.)

Maximus: There was light coming out of the dark night.

His words caught me off guard, and I was overwhelmed by the simplicity and beauty of what he just said and how it so vividly pointed to Jesus.

Cherissa: Maximus, those words you just said reminded me about Jesus! He said, "I am the Light of the World." The world was a dark place because there were so many dark and bad hearts. But Jesus came into the world to take away those dark hearts and make a way for us to be friends with God. He was the Light coming into the darkness.

He listened and then happily jogged out of the room. About thirty minutes later while I was making breakfast, I was surprised to find that our little conversation was still on his mind.

Cherissa: Let's turn on some music and worship God.

Maximus: Let's worship Him for the Light coming into the dark night.

And even though I thought my task for the morning was to point my little one to Jesus, I realized that God had used his little child's heart to remind me of the power of the Gospel this morning.

A Sunday Tradition Continues

It's been nice to be home and getting back to our "normal" family life... including Sunday afternoons at Arctic Circle, our little local hamburger joint. They have a great indoor playground that is a perfect way to let the kids work off some energy during cold Idaho winter days.

Today was our first day back to Arctic Circle since we got back from Arkansas... and we were surprised at how much Maggie has grown since we were here two months ago! For the first time today, she walked right into the park area, followed Max up the stairs and then went down the slide all by herself over and over again.

We're going to have to watch out for this little gal... she is a thrill seeker. :-) But I couldn't help but smile as I heard her squeal with delight today!

Around our House

Anyone else out there with toddlers ever feel like this? This was mine and Lucas' most meaningful conversation of the day:

(When walking in the door after the marathon otherwise known as making it to church with both kids on Sunday morning, we looked around at the disaster zone of our home.)

Lucas: Sweetheart, our kids are human tornadoes.

Cherissa: Yeah, tell me about it.

But we were smiling, because we both really love those little rascals.

Saying Goodbye to Grandpapa and Grandmama

We are really thankful to be settled back into our own home after 7 weeks "on the road" with Max and Maggie. We had an incredible visit with my parents in Arkansas– precious time that I wouldn't trade for anything.

Even though we are glad to be home, it was hard to say goodbye to my parents. Maximus and Maggie both got pretty attached to them during our stay. And from my parents' perspective: "These little ones just have a way of weaving themselves into your heart," as my mom put it.  It was hard for mom and dad to see us go, too, although I know they must be happy to have their home back to themselves!

Here are a few pics of our last night in Arkansas. Maggie was already asleep, but I let Max stay up extra late to visit with Grandpapa when he got home from work.

Thank you, Dad and Mom, for the wonderful and selfless way that you hosted us for such a long visit. We love you!

Max tells Grandpapa goodnight.

Grandpapa shows Maximus pictures from our trip to the "Ocean Blue."

Grandmama and Max draw one more picture together.

Almost time for bed! We had so many fun memories from these holidays in Arkansas!

Maggie's First Haircut

I promise that I will soon be posting a bunch of pictures of our cruise soon, but if you are anxious to get a sneak peak, check out my parents' blog here. In the meantime, here are a few shots of Maggie's first haircut!

The big moment. Maggie didn't exactly enjoy the process, but at least she didn't follow in her brother's footsteps of barfing whenever the haircutting scissors come out!

So beautiful!

I didn't really think Maggie needed a haircut, but Grandmama was convinced it was a necessity. And whatever Grandmama says goes! :-) I'm glad mom convinced me to get Maggie's hair cut– it really does look less scraggly now.

Our friend Marie did the honors of the first haircut. Thanks, Marie!

A Little Maggie Dance

For anyone who could use a little smile from Maggie today. :-)

Home, Sweet Home

After 7 wonderful weeks in Arkansas, we are HOME! We came home to even more Christmas cheer- lots of wonderful gifts from Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents for the kids to open. What a treat! As you can see from the pics below, the kids were pretty thrilled with their new treasures:

Woo-hoo! They love the new programmable Wall•e from Uncle Keith, Aunt Erin, Uncle Joe and Aunt Tammy. Max said, "Whoa- that is a BIG HEAVY present!"

"Hey, Maggie, check this out. He sings. He dances. He does laundry." (I only wish on the laundry part. We are swimming in it around here!

Max's first real Legos. Thanks, Gramma and Pops!

Maggie's perfect purse from Gramma and Pops!

Puppets!

Max playing with Lucas' birthday present: a 25th anniversary Optimus Prime transformer from his mom and Tony. Max was sure glad his Dad was in a sharing mood. :-)

Thank you, everyone for the great Christmas gifts you sent to us in Arkansas and Idaho. We felt so loved by all your generosity!! 

We'll do our best to get the blog caught up while we get settled back into "normal" life here. We have so many adventures to blog about from our awesome time with my family this winter. SO many priceless moments.

First Theatrical Screening: Coyote County Loser

Many of you know that Lucas' twin brother Jacob has been producing an independent feature film for the past 18 months. The work he and Laura have put into Coyote County Loser is extraordinary! Lucas has done quite a bit of work on the film, too, mostly in the screenwriting part of the project.

On Friday, Jacob hosted the first theatrical screening of the film (a pre-release screening, because the film still has a little work that needs to be done on it) at the Siloam Springs 6 theater. The day was a big success! The audience really enjoyed the film, and we got to see lots of wonderful friends and family. I was so proud of Jacob and Lucas and all they've done with this film.

If you're interested in seeing Coyote County Loser and you live in Northwest Arkansas, you can purchase a ticket to see it at Siloam Springs 6 theater on  this Thursday evening, Jan. 8 at 7 p.m. Don't miss it- I know you'll enjoy it!!

We're on our way!

We drove all day yesterday to get to the outskirts of New Orleans, where we will embark on our cruise! We've already had so much fun together, and we haven't even made it to the ship yet! the last time we went on a family road trip like this was when Mitch and I were in high school.

This is probably the last time I'll have internet access on our trip, so I'll see you back our blog when we return! 

P.S. For those of you who have been praying (THANK YOU!), the kids are doing great! Maggie's not even going to want to see me when we get back, she's already so attached to Laura.

The Big Blue Yonder

We are packing late into the night tonight, trying to get all the last-minute details prepared for our family trip. My mom and dad are taking all of their children and our spouses on a week-long cruise to Guatemala, Belize, and Costa Maya and Cozumel. We are looking forward to a really special time with each other!

The kids are staying behind. Gulp. Lucas and I have never spent a single night away from the kids together since Maximus was born three years ago. So leaving them for more than a week AND being completely out of phone/computer contact for most of that time is pretty tough for us. Will you pray for us and our kids, that everyone will stay healthy and happy and safe? We are so thankful that Jacob and Laura have given us the monumental gift of keeping the kids for the week. Max and Maggie couldn't be in better hands.

Bon Voyage! 

Hello, 2009.

Goodbye, 2008. Hello, 2009. 

We spent New Year's Eve with the fabulous Johnson crew. We enjoyed dinner and a crazy impromptu dance party for the kids... but then our clock struck midnight closer to 8 p.m. when the kids were finished for the night. We concluded that even though we didn't make it to midnight, our evening together was a massive success, especially considering the Johnsons were there with the precious 16-day-old Malakai in tow. What a fun night. Thanks, Johnsons!