Cancer Sucks-Part 2

I'm asking for prayers and positive thoughts today for my sister in law, Lisa.  She continues her battle again breast cancer today.  She will undergo a double mastectomy and have 20 lymph nodes removed sometime this morning.  Her attitude has remained positive and her chemo treatments have done the job the doctors hoped it would do to prepare for surgery.  It is still a difficult procedure, but her latest CT scan showed that the mass had shrunk and was not attached to the chest muscle which means the surgery will not be as extensive.

Lisa has continued to teach and head up her department at school and has continued with most, if not , all of everyday life activities.  Brian(my brother in law) has been a great support and has taken over housework, grocery shopping, and care for their 5 yr old son, Charles along with working full time.

My mother in law is with Lisa today and will be with her during her first part of this long recovery.  Brian is at home with Charles taking care of the home front.   We will get updates throughout the day.

Lisa's prognosis is good and we are all praying and hoping that with this procedure and a few more rounds of chemo and maybe radiation, that she will be cancer free.

Update-6:50pm
Lisa's surgery went well.  The lymph nodes were not enlarged, but they are going to check them anyway.  She was in recovery for a little over and hour and then moved to her own room.  As long as she is doing well, she will be discharged tomorrow and will return home Thursday.  As of now, she is sleeping and we are hoping that she and her mom can get some rest tonight.  We hope to talk to her soon, but for now want her to rest and start the recovery process.

Please pray for not only her physical recovery, but her emotional recovery.  And pray that with this procedure and the next round of chemo, the cancer will be gone and gone for good.

Surprise Visit

Here's one of Charles-anytime the kids were playing, he had at least one car in each hand. I still can't believe that my little nephew is 17 months old already. Look at that handsome little man.
Look at the concentration on that little face:)
We were playing tag with three cameras-Aunt Lisa with one, me behind another, and Henry has my other camera in hand and is taking pictures of Raddy.

Not only was the house full of people, but we had a house full of animals as well. Raddy(the puppy dog) and Lucky and Drew(two snakes). And then there was also Boots(our cat) and Buddy, BG, and Ella(the three lizards). None of the animals suffered from lack of attention and love.

We were in constant motion either here at the house or at the mall. So taking pictures was hard to do. I'll do better next time. You try getting two four year olds and a 17 month old to stay still and smile long enough to get a picture;)

Last week we had a kinda sorta surprise visit from Aunt Lisa, Uncle Brian, and cousin Charles. They live in Oklahoma and were hit by the ice storm. So after several days of living in one room off of generator power(rather expensive), they called and asked if they could come stay with us for a few days. so they drove down the next day and stayed with us for about a few days. And as usual, we had a wonderful time. I didn't get a family picture this time around, but I did get a few of the kids playing and the lot of us just hanging out.

B,L,and C's Visit

Uncle Brian, Aunt Lisa, and Cousin Charles came down for a visit from Oklahoma.
Emma, Aunt Lisa,Cousin Charles, Uncle Brian, Henry, and Raddy.
We all had the giggles for the family shot.
Emma styling Charles' hair. He thought his cousin was silly and started to laugh every time she turned on her play hairdryer.
The kids were racing in the living room Saturday night before we all went out to dinner. Look at that great little smile on Charlie's face!
Uncle Brian comes up with some great ways to entertain our kids and his. This game was, can you grab Uncle Brian's hat before he grabs you! They played this for a good 30 minutes I think and were laughing the whole time.
Henry "napping" with Raddy.

We had a great visit with Lisa, Brian, and Charles this past weekend. The kids played all over the house, running and laughing, and just having a good time together. The big kids had a chance to visit with each other throughout the weekend. We stayed home with the exception of dinner out Saturday night and the required Fry's Electronics trip for Jason and Brian. Always love having them come for a visit and always wish it could last longer.

Aunt Lisa, Uncle Brian, and cousin Charles Come for a Visit

Aunt Lisa, Uncle Brian, and cousin Charles came for a brief visit on their way up to see Granny and Grandpa Henriksen in Washington. We had a really good visit.
The three cousins. Emma was a little mommy while they were here-was a big helper. Henry enjoyed the time as well, but was a little jealous. In the end, the kids got along really well.

Happy Anniversary, Uncle Brian and Aunt Lisa!!!

Happy Anniversary to Uncle Brian and Aunt Lisa!!!!  We hope you have a wonderful day together and here's to many many more happy years together.  We love you and miss you:)

Happy Birthday, Aunt Lisa!!!

We hope you have a wonderful day!!! Sending lots of hugs and kisses:)
Love you and miss you!

Merry Christmas!!!-A Little Late:)

The traditional family picture.(I had some crazy hair that day)

Christmas morning before the kids went crazy!

Brian, Charles, and Lisa. We had such a great visit with the family. So glad they could come.

Brian,Lisa, and baby Charles getting ready to do some handy work!

Henry got the Diego Dinosaur Mountain from Grandpa. This was a biiig hit with the boy! It has gone to bed with him the last few nights.

Emma had been eyeing this for months at Target -Daddy and Uncle Brian put it together. This is her new kitchen and she has been cooking up a storm.

Both of the kids were really good with their cousin. Emma was a big helper. She and Charles were buddies. Here are a couple of shots of them together.

Our nephew, baby Charles-he is soooo CUTE!!!!

Aunt Lisa and baby Charles.

Wrestling(fighting-not really) and playing choo choo with Uncle Brian.

They LOVE their Uncle Brian! Henry was sharing his goldfish with him and having loads of fun!

Helping Uncle Brian with reloading the video camera.

One of my dearest friends, Stephen, came for a visit. So we got a few pics before he had to go.

Henry took this picture of his Aunt Lisa with my camera-not bad for a three year old:)

Henry borrowed the camera and took some pictures. This is a self portrait, complete with the "cheeese"!

We made a Cookie Tree from a kit yesterday and this is the end result. A leaning tower of icing...uhmm I mean tree:)

Lots of Catching Up...

Bright and happy with Granny.

Granny drawing for the kids. She's quite the artist!

Baby Charlie-Henry and Emma's new cousin and our new nephew. What a good looking boy!!!

Playing ponies with Granny.

Peek a boo on the monkey bars with Granny.

Emma giving Granny a push.

Emma kept losing her shoes climbing up the slide.

I was so proud of him-normally he insists on one of us walking across with him, but look at our big boy!!

On our nature walk with Granny. Watching the tractor work.

Emma meets her cousin Charlie.

Henry meets his cousin Charlie.

We've been busy. And the best way to catch everyone up is to post some pics with some details. And maybe write a little as well.

First, we decided to cancel our trip to the state fair because we got some exciting news a couple days earlier than expected and had to change plans. Granny flew in two days early(Sept.27th) because Aunt Lisa went into labor early. So we woke up really early, picked up Granny from the airport, and continued on to make a road trip to Altus, OK where Aunt Lisa and Uncle Brian live. The kids did great except for one little glitch-Henry got carsick:( He settled down enough to make a quick trip up to see Aunt Lisa and then we(Daddy,Mommy,Henry, and Emma) turned around and headed back home. We got Granny there just in time. Brian Charles Chaney II was born about an hour after we left. We got the news later that afternoon. And on our way home poor Henry got sick again. Both kids fell asleep during the last hour or so of the ride. And as soon as we got home, got Henry cleaned up. Granny stayed with Lisa and Brian for about 2 weeks and then we made a return trip back to meet our new cousin/nephew in person. Daddy's been extremely busy with work, so we could only go overnite. We had such a great visit. The kids did great and were very good with Charles and they loved seeing Lisa and Brian. Granny, Mommy, Henry, and Emma went on a nature walk-we were unexpectantly locked out of the playground. We had a great visit and hope that we helped a little. I vaguely remember those first days-it's all a blur now due to lack of sleep. So I feel for Lisa and Brian and the adjustments they are making. We headed back home later that day and went to bed.

Granny was able to stay with us for a few days before flying back to Washington. We went the next day for a trip down to the park with Granny while Daddy worked from home. The kids had so much fun with her and I did too. Along with playing at the park, we planted flowers for out on the front porch, got muddy, colored, and played and played. Granny is the greatest!!! And once the kids were down for the night-we got to visit. We were sad to see Granny go, but we'll see her again soon.

Along with our visits with Granny and Aunt Lisa, Uncle Brian, and cousin Charles we have been doing some other things at home. The kids have helped me pull down wallpaper in the kitchen and get it ready to paint and have helped me clear out the computer room/spare bedroom. They are learning how to play boardgames-Candyland, Chutes and Ladders, and Memory. They are talking, talking, talking. Some of the things they say are hilarious and others not so much. I'll have to post some of those again. Everyday is a new day to play until they drop. No more naps-it's a dirty word to them, sharing is coming along-they play well together, and bedtime is negotiatable in their opinion. Ah, three year olds:)

Welcome to the World, Cousin Charlie!!!!

Well, here he is, one perfect little bundle, Brian Charles Chaney II. born today at 12:04pm in Altus, Oklahoma to Aunt Lisa and Uncle Brian. We missed it by that much because we were already headed back home after taking Granny up there this morning. But we are Sooooo happy happy that he is here and will be even more happy and excited when we go up to visit in a week or so! Congratulations Lisa and Brian! He is one GOOD lookin' kiddo!!! We love you!!!

Happy Anniversary, Aunt Lisa and Uncle Brian!!!!

Today is Lisa and Brian's anniversary. We hope you have a wonderful day:) We have a card for you and will get it in the mail soon(forgot to pick up stamps). Anyway, please enjoy your day. And here's to many more happy years together! hugs and kisses to you both.

Happy Birthday Aunt Lisa!!!!

Today is Aunt Lisa's (one of Jason's younger sisters) birthday. We hope you have a wonderful day!!! We think of you often and hope everything is going well. Happy birthday!!! We're sending lots of hugs and kisses and tons of love your way!!!

(For those of you who don't know-Lisa is holding Henry in this picture)