Praise God!

I just wanted to update the blog and let everyone know that Cameron’s MRI today looked perfect; no signs of cancer recurrence!  What an amazing feeling when Dr. G came in and told us the incredible news.  Hebrews 10:23 says, “Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep His promise.”  God is so good.   

Home again, home again...

I’m trying a different layout, but I’m not sure if I like it, so I may change back. Feel free to comment yea or nay.

We made it home VERY late last night and the boxes from Mattel were all waiting for us when we arrived…which pretty much put an end to any thoughts of heading to bed. Both boys were able to relive the day with the Design Teams as we unpacked all the goodies they so graciously gave them. Pretty much all we’ve done today is remove all the toys from the packaging and play with everything. The local battery supply will be running low for a while as we get everything powered up and running. I’ll give a quick rundown of the week’s activities to catch everyone up.

Saturday

The limo picked us up around 9am and took us to the airport where we breezed through security and sat down to wait. The trip there went smoothly with all the luggage arriving…thankfully as we had seven things checked including Cam’s car seat. We checked into the hotel and pretty much crashed as we were all beat. LeAnn and I joked here we were in the big town of LA on a Saturday night and we’re asleep at 6pm…we’re so old.

Sunday

It was raining on that morning, so our plans to go to Universal Studios were put on hold as we didn’t want to be walking around all day in the rain. Instead, we hopped in the car and explored the coastline, stopping at the beach for a few minutes and then heading up past Malibu. The beaches there were so different from the beaches we’re accustomed to on the Atlantic side. They were very wide as it took us probably a good two or three minutes to get from the parking lot at the beginning of the sand down to the ocean. We spent the remainder of the day touring around Santa Monica and Hollywood seeing the many cool and unusual sights. The rain in the morning was probably a blessing in disguise as traffic getting to and from Hollywood was very light making the travel much easier.

Monday

The big day FINALLY arrived. Cam was absolutely beside himself he was so excited about the day’s activities. The local Make A Wish representative met us around 8am and the limo arrived shortly thereafter to take us to Mattel. When we arrived, we were met and then led to a room full of people from the different Design Teams who were all going to participate in Cam’s day. They had the table full of Hot Wheels cars which immediately made both boys very happy. From there, we had a quick breakfast and play time with some cool toys which were still in the development stages. After the play time was over, they took us on a tour of how toys were designed…which Le and I loved. We also were able to see the designer’s work area and they even gave the boys special cars which were not the typical production cars. LeAnn and I were both so touched at the generosity shown by everyone throughout the day. The next part was probably the most fun for the boys. We went back outside in the parking lot where they had the great intentions of setting up a track for the boys to race RC cars, including one which looked JUST LIKE the picture Cam drew of his Viper!! We were all surprised and amazed at how great it looked!! Oh...the reason I said good intentions is both boys used the rails which were supposed to be the boundaries as ramps instead and began launching cars instead of containing them. LeAnn and I were both beside ourselves as were so worried Cam was going to destroy his dream car…little did we know what else was in place for Cam. They probably spent the better part of an hour playing with many different RC cars and then we were able to take a VERY fast ride in the GTO Show Car, which ALL the boys loved, to see the other Show Cars…very, very, cool cars. Once we arrived back, lunch was waiting and it included all of Cam’s favorites…chicken tenders, Mac and cheese, and of course…ice cream. Before we sat down to eat, both boys were taken to a large picture display of cars. From the pictures, both boys picked their favorite car and they were told those cars will go into production. How cool is that?!?!? Once the cars hit the shelves, we’ll let everyone know what they are if you would like to pick one up. It just kept getting better after that. After we finished eating, they removed a cover from two chairs absolutely packed with various Hot Wheels, Speed Racer, and many other types of Mattel toys. Both boys, as well as LeAnn and I, were absolutely stunned by this mountain of toys. Then, each of the design teams presented Cam with a special gift based on his drawing. The first was a display of every different type of Viper, five small cars and one larger car, which have been made by Mattel with each painted to match Cam’s drawing. He immediately wanted to take the display apart and play with all of the cars, so that will be an interesting battle for a while to try to keep everything in the pristine condition it’s currently in. The next was another RC just like the one he had played with in the parking lot, but this one was in customized packaging with his picture, name, and story about him being a champion driver and even loving chicken nuggets!! Again, his first reaction was to want to open it, so luckily he has the other RC to play with which will make that battle a bit easier to win. There were so many gifts, we had to get the boys to choose a few to play with during the remainder of the trip and have the rest shipped back to NC. LeAnn and I both were so amazed, humbled, and so very touched by the time and effort the entire Mattel Team put into the day and especially into these gifts. While Cam doesn’t fully realize what it took to make this happen, LeAnn and I will most assuredly make sure he does in the months and years to come. Everyone who helped in that day, including the NC Make A Wish team who helped organize things, the LA Make A Wish rep who guided us through the day, and the entire Mattel team will never be forgotten and will be blessed for making a little boy and his big brother have the day of their lives. I could go on forever here and probably should, but I’ll finish up the week. Feel free to chat with Le or myself…we’ll keep bragging on everyone. ;-)

Tuesday

We finally made it to Universal Studios and had a blast on the rides and tours. We actually had to be quiet during a couple portions of the studio lot tour as they were filming Desperate Housewives while we were riding through. We made a quick swing back through Hollywood that afternoon, ate at Pink’s Hot Dog stand, and then sat in traffic for close to two hours trying to get back to the hotel. I guess to get the full effect of LA, it made sense to sit in traffic, so we’ll chalk it up to the overall experience.

Wednesday

We headed down to San Diego and checked into our hotel. The drive down was absolutely amazing with the mountains pretty much running straight into the ocean. Once there, we contacted a friend of one of the NC Make A Wish team who worked at the hotel and was blessed with San Diego Zoo tickets as well as an upgrade to our room from the standard room to a corner suite with an adjoining hospitality suite overlooking the ocean. Yet again, we were overwhelmed by the generosity of a stranger who simply wanted to make the trip as special as it could be for our family. Thank you so much Ms. Nicolle…you made our first trip to SD one we will never forget. The SD Zoo was very cool with all of the monkeys being Cam’s favorite.

Thursday

We woke up to an amazing breakfast thanks again to Ms. Nicolle and then spent almost the entire day at LegoLand with both boys’ favorite ride being the cars they could each drive. Connor was such the good big brother helping Cam get into his car and buckle him up before getting into his own car. The park was pretty empty, so they would run out the exit for the ride and then run right back in to be next in line after the people who were riding right after them. It was so touching to see Cam driving that car by himself, obeying the traffic lights and signs like the good little citizen. How far he’s come from that awful day a short nine months ago to be the strong little boy he is now…God is so good and so amazing.

Friday

We headed back to LA and took one last trip through Beverly Hills. LeAnn walked down Rodeo Drive and tried to not look like a hick from Georgia while the boys and I kept circling in the car. I SO wanted to get out and be all redneck to someone just to get their reaction, but didn’t want to spend a night in the Beverly Hills lockup. ;-)

Saturday

The trip home went almost as well as the trip out with the only kink being the person taking the boarding passes for our last leg of the flight giving us grief for having a pre-boarding pass when he felt we didn’t “qualify” for it. I won’t go into the details, but suffice it to say…"Mad Dog" took care of it. I know…shocker, huh?? The limo was waiting for us, so after we gathered almost all of our luggage, they lost Cam’s car seat, we hopped in the limo for the ride home. As I said earlier, the boxES, strongly emphasizing the plural, were waiting for us in the den, so the next hour or two was spent unpacking as much as we could and then playing until we could finally corral the boys towards bed.

So…there you have it. A week filled with so many different emotions from exhilarated, to blessed, to humbled, to absolutely tired, and finally to almost insane by the week’s end. ;-)

Cam's having his 9 month MRI today (Monday), so please be in prayer all will be clear. We'll post an update as soon as we know something.

Sorry for the delay, but we've been having a BLAST

We've been pretty slammed over the past few days, so I'm just getting a chance to post. Monday at Mattel was AMAZING to say the least. We jumped in the limo for the ride over to Mattel and just like the first time, Cam was all excited to be riding in such style. Once we arrived and signed in, we were met by Ms. Deborah from Mattel and she directed us back through the Design Center to a huge group of folks from Mattel who were waiting for us to arrive. We'll put more details once we get home, but they had SO much for Cam and Connor to play with including toys which were still in development, a "test area" where we all played with some really fast rechargeable cars, and then the coolest part for the boys...RC cars out in the parking lot. They made an RC model of the car Cam designed and let him test drive it...which was cool and scary at the same time as Cam pretty much only knows two ways to drive...stop or FULL SPEED. It was only a matter of minutes before he was crashing it causing both LeAnn and I to cringe as we could just see him destroying his "dream car" within a few minutes. They all were laughing at his crashes and kept telling us not to worry about it, but my heart was dropping with every crash. They probably spent close to an hour playing with many different RC cars and then we had the privilege to ride in a life size Hot Wheel GTO and he opened it up for us which both boys absolutely loved. The point of the ride was to take the boys to see the other Hot Wheels Show Cars which were also just as amazing.

When we arrived back, they had a HUGE lunch for us which included ALL of Cam's favorites...chicken strips/nuggets, Mac and cheese, hamburgers, Peppermint Patties, and the best...ICE CREAM! After lunch, they presented both boys with so many gifts, I think they were overwhelmed, but they also had two special presents for Cam. Another RC model based on his drawing in a custom designed package as well as a display of all the different Vipers they've ever made all painted to match Cam's design. Another special presentation they allowed both boys to take part in was for each of them to pick a car from a group of pictures and that car will actually go into production! How cool is that?!?!?!?!

We spent yesterday at Universal Studios Hollywood compliments of Make A Wish as well and had a great time there in the different shows as well as a few of the rides. We're walking out the door right now to head down to San Diego to see the Zoo and then hit LegoLand tomorrow, so our adventures are still going strong. I'll try to post again as soon as possible.

I'll throw a copule pictures up of the Mattel visit until we can get home and then we'll post more.

Day 1 went well

We woke up to a rainy morning yesterday, so we decided to hold off going to Universal Studios until either today after Mattel or tomorrow.  Instead we drove up the Pacific Coast Highway and made a quick stop to let the boys check out the beach and the Pacific Ocean.  We went up past Malibu and then came back to see what the local area had to offer.  We spent the afternoon touring around Hollywood and even went down Rodeo Drive if you can imagine our redneck family going down such a high falootin' area...wouldja please pass the jelly??  ;-)

 

I had heard of this hotdog stand called Pink's and we happened to drive by it on the way towards Hollywood.  Even though I had a hotdog for lunch, I had to stop, but the line for this place was CRAZY long, so I figured we'd try again on the way back.  No dice...it was still all the way around the building.  I'm not sure if it was other tourists like me who had heard of it or if it was locals, but it was crazy to see a line that long for a hotdog.

 

We've gone to bed around 6pm local time both nights and have been waking up around 4am, so obviously our internal clocks aren't adjusted yet.  But, I think I'd rather the boys stay on East Coast time so we don't have to try to get them adjusted back once we get home.  LeAnn and I had to laugh though...Saturday night in the big city of LA and we're in the bed and sound asleep at 6pm...too funny.

 

The limo comes at 8:10am this morning, so we're all starting to get ready this morning.  We're not allowed to video at Mattel which is a bit disappointing, but we'll take as many pictures as possible to capture the day.

 

Ernest