December 29, 2004

This is a day that is etched in my brain. I forget a lot of stuff, but every detail of this day, along with all of the emotions, are still fresh. For those of you who have walked through the last four years with us, I hope this will serve as a reminder for you, as it does for me, of how amazing and full of grace our God is. A verse in Psalms that we claimed for Carson says, "I will not die but live and proclaim what the Lord has done." I want to do that for Carson today; I want to proclaim what God has done, not only with the amazing healing that happened in his life, but also the amazing changes that took place in us as his parents, in his family, and in all that know him and traveled this path with him. We praise God for this hard time in our lives, not because we liked it, but because of what we have learned about our God through it.

Here is my attempt at getting a Christmas picture of the boys at the Christmas Eve Service tonight. It didn't work.

Merry Christmas

A quick post to say Merry Christmas to everyone. We had our family Christmas on Monday morning. We wanted the boys...and Joey and I too...to have time to enjoy Christmas before the craziness of our first service and traveling came. We have had a wonderful week so far celebrating the birth of Jesus, playing with our new toys, and working our tails off for the service tonight. We fly out for Texas EARLY in the morning, and I haven't even begun to pack yet! We can't wait to get home to family!

Corban was my gift wrapping helper this year. Most of our packages looked like this, but this one was my favorite.
And here are a couple of pictures of the boys. Corban FINALLY got to open a present. He was mad after he had opened all of his...he wanted to open more!
And the other two on their trampoline - we surprised them with this one!

Update

Yesterday we went to Carson's monthly clinic appointment. They are supposed to be monthly, but we haven't been since summer. He had a really hard time with the bloodwork. He has gotten out of the habit of being poked all of the time. I'm glad that is not a normal thing for him anymore. I will take a kicking fighting boy any day over one who gets poked so much that it is just a way of life. I realized yesterday just how big he has gotten. I could not get him to cooperate just by physical force. I finally stood up and somehow picked him up and sat with my arms wrapped around him long enough to calm him down so we could talk. He handled the arm poke really well after he finally allowed it to happen. All of his counts were great. We are now one year out from treatment, so appointments spread out to every other month.

Caden went to his third Bird Care and Training class last weekend. We are now ready to begin fostering and eventually adopt a bird. We are (hopefully) getting a Umbrella Cockatoo this week from the Parrot Rehabilitation Society. This is the bird we have wanted to get since we first began the classes.

Corban finally learned to say his brothers names. He has always called them Bubba. If he is talking about them both, he says "bubbas". Now he says "Sarsen" and "Daden". It is really cute, and Caden and Carson think it is the greatest.

Joey is in his church planting groove. I love to see him working hard and loving what he is doing. God has definitly given him a gift and a passion for church planting. Our launch team is meeting weekly; making plans for Christmas Eve and for our Preview Services.

I have been doing the ususal. We shifted grears with our homeschool curriculum - the boys are enjoying the change. I have also been helping Joey with church stuff - designing cards, posters, and programs. And, for fun, some picture taking. I have started putting my photography on a different blog. So, for those of you who like to look at pictures of random people like I do, here is the link.

Home Again

Our Wish Trip was amazing. I would love to tell you all about the entire week, but there is just too much. I must say that Give Kids the World Village is an amazing place. It was founded by a man named Henri Landwirth. He is a Holocaust survivor who came to America at the age of 18. He worked his way up through the hotel business, and became the owner of many hotels in the Orlando area. An experience with a wish child changed his life, and he decided to create a Village so that any child who had the wish to go to Disney World would not be denied or delayed. That dream has grown into a resort that houses, feeds, loves and pampers 7,500 families each year. There are only 150 paid staff there, and 11,00 volunteers come through there each week to serve the kids and their families. They took wonderful care of us and provided us with an amazing "home" during our trip. We left there feeling so blessed. We endured three years of cancer, but many of these families are in the midst of a life time of heartache with their child.

After Florida, the boys and I headed to Texas for a few days. We were able to spend some Thanksgiving time with all of our family. Now we are back in San Diego and gearing up for StoneLake Church. We started this past weekend with a booth at a local Christmas festival. We have had a great response from the community so far.

On a completely different note, Corban drank a glass of vinegar this weekend. It was horrible. I had some glasses soaking on the counter, trying to remove some water spot. He climbs up on the stool and starts drinking one before I could stop him. Let's just say that nothing stays down after a couple of gulps of vinegar. I had the phone in my hand dialing Papa (we call him for EVERY medical emergency) when I decided I would spare him from being awaken and wait it out for a few minutes. Corban was fine, of course, but I think he will be more careful about what glass he picks up next time.

Wish Trip - Day 3 & 4

More fun. Yesterday we spent the day at Epcot.
Last night was Christmas at the Village, complete with Santa, presents, story-reading elves and a hug from Mrs. Clause.Today we went to Disney Hollywood Studios, then a quick trip over the Animal Kingdom for the bird show, and then back to the Magic Kingdom for a last stop at a couple of favorites.

Wish Trip - Day 1 & 2

Our 5:00 AM limo ride came early yesterday morning. We made it to the airport, on the plane, changed planes in Denver, and then to Orlando all with no problems. Corban slept for a while on the second flight. He even used the potty on the plane!
We are staying at Give Kids the World Village. An amazing place just for Wish Kids and their families. It has a small paid staff, but is run by 1,100 volunteers each week. Today we went to the Magic Kingdom. The boys had so much fun....and Joey and I did too. Their favorite ride was Buzz Lightyear.
And...here is my Wish Kid!

Update

We had a quick beach trip this week. We went to a small beach on the bay side for the first time. The clear water and small waves made it great for the boys to play. They found snails, crabs, and shells.

Saturday night and Sunday, we had our first Vision Meetings for StoneLake Church. One of our sponsoring churches, who has many attenders from Lakeside, brought us in to briefly explain the vision of the church after each of their services to anyone who was interested in helping. God has blessed us with 24 new members for our launch team. That was huge growth....from five to 29!! We are praising God for the added people, as well as the added excitement and enthusiasm that new people bring. We are planning our first event for December 6th and our first service for Christmas Eve.

And....tomorrow we leave for the biggest, coolest, most amazing trip of our family's lives. It is our long awaited Make-a-Wish trip. A limo will be picking us up at 5:00 in the morning, and we will fly out to Florida. We will spend 6 days doing all things Disney. We will update you and post some pictures during the week.

This past week marked one year since Carson's final chemo treatment. The testing and surgeries weren't over for 6 more months...but the chemo was finished. God has brought us through so many trials and hurts over the past several years...and through it all there have been even more amazing moments of seeing His hand at work in each situation. We are so blessed, and continue to be blessed. Thank you God for you grace.

My Kitchen Helper

Corban has become my official kitchen helper lately. He carries in groceries from the car. (Last night he carried in the eggs after a Costco run, brought them just inside the door, and threw them down. We had some scrambled eggs as a before bed snack because of his helpfulness.) He puts everything in the fridge or freezer for me, and I mean everything. After he leaves the kitchen, I have to go back and take everything out. He also loves to help cook. Doesn't these pictures make you want to come eat at my house?? We were making cornbread to go along with the soup that we were taking over to our new neighbor who just had a baby. I decided to leave the cornbread at home after seeing Corban digging in.

Corban and Blankie

Pictures

I used some birthday money to get a fun new lens for my camera. It is a 50mm 1.8 for you technical people. I finally got a chance to play with it today. There is an old truck here at the new house that the owners haven't moved yet. So, I put the boys on top of it today for some pics. When I put Corban up there he started screaming. I told him that as soon as he smiled for one picture I would get him down. He made a valiant effort! The last picture shows part of our view. The mountains are so beautiful.

All Moved In

We did it. We are officially moved. It definitly proved to be a crazy week. We still have boxes everywhere. We have had to get on with life and put unpacking on hold for a while. We did finally find Joey's shoes yesterday and my phone charger today. I had a birthday over the weekend also...

We have already met our neighbors across the street. He brought over his remote control helicopter and flew it for Joey and the boys to watch. He and Joey had a great conversation. We are excited about getting to know them.

Our first service for StoneLake Church will be on Christmas Eve. We hope it will be a great first opportunity to introduce Jesus and our new church to the community.

Cleaning Day

Today was Day 1 of Crazy Week. We have until this Friday to be moved out of this house and into the next one. Today was spent cleaning the new house. The lady who is moving out of the house had lived there for a LONG time...and she left behind a lifetime of dirt! We brought in a cleaning crew made up of me, my mom, Joey, the boys, and four of the Karen women. It was a fun experience working with them today. Their English is so limited, so we were very creative in our communicating. The house is now clean. Thursday will be the day to move the big stuff. Between now and then, we need to pack, get some schoolwork done, and go to the beach of course. Corban's newest phrase is "I need beach!" We all need some beach this week!

Texas

We were in Texas for the past week and a half. Here are some of my highlights:

-Our amazing church in Texas, StoneWater, had its three year birthday!

-We all loved getting to spend time with family.

-Christmas cookies - Joey's mom makes the most amazing cookies, and since we love them so much, and since she loves us so much, we don't have to wait until Christmas every year to have them. But, they are still called Christmas cookies.

-Chocolate cake. Once again from Joey's mom. She totally spoils us.

-We all got to see our friends. The kids hung out with some old buddies (here's Carson watching a movie with his friend Madi).... and so did the adults. I even got to see some high school friends and experience....

-Texas High School Friday Night Football.

-A real Texas cold front, complete with a thunderstorm! In the blink of an eye, a warm fall day turned rainy and cold.

-I love getting to hug my 92 year old Nanny.

-The boys and I went out in the woods and pasture to play. So many memories.

-My mom made my absolute favorite homemade Banana Pudding. I literally ate the entire bowl.

-The boys and I took a drive through the East Texas Piney Woods to go on a train ride. It is so peaceful and beautiful there.

Indians

We now have a Teepee Village at the side of our house. Caden read a story in school this week about the different Indian structures and them immediately had the entire neighborhood involved in building a village. We had the Lakeside village in our yard and the Cattail village right across the back fence for the girls. The play has lasted all weekend and into this week.

Blue Angels

Several weeks ago, Carson received an invitation from Make-A-Wish to go to a special performance by the Blue Angels that took place last week. The base put on a party just for Make-A-Wish kids. The boys had such an awesome time. Not only were the Blue Angels amazing to watch, they also had great food for us, crafts, a prize drawing, lots of give-aways, and the chance to hang out with some real live heroes. We were blessed to be there on the base with these guys and girls who have committed to protect our freedom...and not only that, they also continue to give by doing things like this party for kids who have been through many medical issues.

Whenever we get an opportunity like this....there have been many since we have moved here and gotten connected to the San Diego Make-A-Wish chapter...Carson ALWAYS says, "Mom, are you kindof glad that I had cancer?" That question kills me. NO, no, no....a thousand times no. I don't think I could ever say that I am glad. Of course, Carson goes on to say, "But if I didn't have cancer then all those people wouldn't have come to church and heard about Jesus. And we get to go to ________ (fill in the blank with Chargers game, Disneyworld, Blue Angels show...). I can't argue with that. We always have the same discussion. "No, I am not glad you had cancer, but I am so glad that God can use something as bad as cancer to change people's lives. And since you had cancer, we are going to have so much fun going to _______.

Blue Angels Air Show

Corban was so excited to go see the airplanes. He is all about transportation these days - cars, trains, airplanes, buses, trollies. We rode a bus onto the base, which was very exciting for a two year old. Then we are walking up to the tent to see the air show and a jet goes right over our heads. It was so super loud! Corban screams and screams - totally scared to death. We get him calmed down and earplugs in his ears. We are watching the planes and all is good until I set him down to take a picture. Here comes another plane.....SCREAM!!! I got the picture though.

the new White House

Well....actually it's blue. Here is a picture of our new home. We will be moving in three short weeks. The owners still have a lot of work to do in clearing their stuff out, but this will give you an idea. You can't tell in the pic, but we have a beautiful view of the mountains. The house sits on the side of a hill on 1.25 acres. Caden already has a list of all the animals he thinks we need to get when we move.

The First Box

Here it is. The first box to be packed.

When we moved here to San Diego in February, it was with the intention of starting many churches. We knew that it was likely that the next area God led us to plant in would require us to move, but I didn't think that would happen so soon. Mission Trails Church is doing great; Joey and I have almost worked ourselves out of a job, so the time has come. At the end of October, we will be moving to a community called Lakeside to begin StoneLake Church. It is about twenty minutes away from where we are now. I have stood back and watched in amazement as God has worked out the details of this move and new plant. We already have a beautiful meeting place at a community rec center, our previews and launch date are scheduled, and we (almost) have a house.

We will still be working with John and with Mission Trails Church, focusing on this strategy of planting many lasting churches. Joey and I are both very excited to be moving to this new area and starting a new ministry together. Thank you for all of your prayers and support over the last seven months. We have had 32 StoneWater people come out here to San Diego and help with the church since we have been here. There is ALWAYS plenty to do....so if you need an excuse to get away and go to the beach, come on out!!

White Belt No More part 2

Yesterday, Carson had his first section test in Kung Fu. Now he is also officially a First Section. Here he is after his test.

Also, here is a picture of Caden with Instructor Mario after receiving his belt Tuesday after class.

Growing Up

Corban seems to be growing up so quickly. Yesterday he "pooped on the potty" for the first time. That is a huge milestone for a little guy! Diapers are almost a thing of the past around here.

Go Chargers!

The boys were decked out in their Chargers gear from the time they woke up this morning. Even Corban knows the Chargers emblem and was asking for his shirt when he saw me wearing mine. The boys enjoyed watching the game on television tonight, especially since they won. Go Chargers!! We still love the Cowboys, but it is fun having a home team to cheer for.