Malachi Chavez

so...most close friends know i used to be a little thug. its been a long time, and the Lords brought me so far but nevertheless...its true.

i grew up in a town called nipomo, a super small town with nothing to do but get into trouble. i ran with a few guys some doing the same ol stuff, some of which now are dead, some gone from drugs, some in jail for drugs or in jail for murder. the lord brought me out it seems right before i could have ruined or ended my life forever.

the group i hung out with looked up to a lot of guys, one in particular named michael chavez. we looked up to him cause he was scared of no one. he could buy or get anything he wanted, sold drugs, had drugs and had a way with the ladies. the epitome of that lifestyle. when i left nipomo i would try to keep up with people to see where people were, what happened to so and so and what not, but i never knew what happened to michael chavez.

skip forward 10 years to about one week ago. i was working at my job and a couple walk in to ask about their cell phones. as i begin talking to them i find out they are from nipomo, and that their last name is chavez. his name is malachi. more questioning revealed he was cousins with michael chavez and his cousins were my good friends back in the day. as we continued talking he asked me if i have heard of reality carpinteria. come to find out him and his wife are christians and go to reality...our church! we hit it off and began talking alot about the lord, about nipomo and what not. as we said goodbye that night he told me..."man there is so much more to tell you." i was excited to have met someone from my town who was redeemed from that lifestyle, besides myself. i was ecstatic about my new friend.

last sunday i was dropping parker off in his sunday school class and i spot malachi dropping off one of his kids. we start rappin and i introduce him to jenn. as we begin to talk again he stops me and put his hand on my shoulder...he says "i have something to tell you". i said "oh yeah, whats up?" he looked at me dead in my eyes and with all glee he said..."i am michael chavez, i am michael chavez!" i could not believe it. i grabbed him squeezed him and told him over and over again that i had prayed for him. it was like a soap opera i mean...ridiculous.

turns out, he got saved about 8 years ago in san luis obispo, since then he has had some serious stuff go down but layer upon layer the lord has peeled off. somewhere along the line he felt like the lord wanted him to change his name, to be done with the old man and set aside the lifestyle and street acclaim the name michael chavez had accumulated. his name now malachi means message and if you meet him, he will tell you his message. his story is amazing and praise the lord he gets to tell it. i feel like i have a new brother over night.

we went out to pizza today with our families and we got to really hang out and let our families mingle. it was amazing. i plan on hanging out with them alot...it is such a blessing.

we will definitely be praying for nipomo and for the salvation of his family still there.

-chris

Before and After

I just couldn't take it anymore. So while Chris was gone I took it upon myself to hook Silas up with a haircut.

Jo Jo's Birthday Party

On Saturday I got to go to my niece Joelle's birthday party. She is officially 1 year old. It was great to hang out with the Larsons and even get to see some of my cousins that I hadn't seen in a really long time. Chris and the boys didn't come because they were all snot nosed.

Our Christmas Tree

I have been such a slacker at blogs, but honestly I haven't taken any pictures. And come on who wants to just read a blog post anyway? We all want to see pictures! So without further ado here are our Christmas tree pictures. We went to Target and picked up a nice $20 tree. After of course dining on the fine cuisine at In-N-Out! It was a fun and LONG night. Now that our tree is up and has been "decorated" all the ornaments are now ONLY at the top three feet of the tree. It's pretty funny. Silas who is almost 2 is Mr. Destruction this year! Maybe a prettier tree with well placed ornaments next year. Kids at Christmas is like the best thing ever!

Naughty Kids

A couple days ago I was busier then a one armed paper hanger! I had opened the sliding glass door to get in some fresh air since the oven had been on all morning. While I was finally in the bathroom getting ready and enjoying some silence I noticed it was TOO quiet. So I came out in the living room to see what was going on and this is what I found. Both boys, fully clothed (with the exception of Silas having NO SHOES ON), had gone through the screen (which they had destroyed) and were stomping and playing in the pouring rain. They were SO happy with themselves. I obviously couldn't get mad. They were soaking wet and then came in for a nice warm bath. Raising boys is a very tiring job! But look at these faces... they are so worth it!

Thanksgiving

This year Chris and I got to have Thanksgiving at our place with just my dad, mom (Karin) and my Nana. It was a fun time. My Nana showed me the ropes of making a full blown Thanksgiving feast. They came on Wednesday which was my mom's birthday and we ate some taco salad and had a little bday celebration for her and then laughed our butts off playing Mad Libs. Then in the morning me and Nana got to it. Chris, the folks and the boys headed out to the zoo for the bounce house and fun while Nana and I chopped, chatted and got ready. Then we ate around 4:30, went around the table saying what we were thankful for (tradition) and then chatted some more before they headed out about 8 pm. It was a super nice chill Thanksgiving with good company :0)

Random Larson Visit

Last Saturday I woke up and called my sister Jessica. I thought I would just ask her if by any chance she could come up for the day and she did! It was so fun! We just chilled here at the house while the big girls took on Parker and Silas and Joelle napped. It was great. I wish that was the status quo for all Saturdays.

Chub's Pirate Birthday Party

Tonight was Parker's best buds birthday party... pirate style. It was good times. We ate pizza, dressed as pirates, and the kids ran around like mad men. It was awesome. It great birthday party for sure!

The Coolest Walk Ever!!!

This morning Parker came up to us with jeans, a shirt, socks and his hat and said "let's get in the wagon and go to the blue park with dad". It was pretty cute so we all got dressed, loaded up the wagon and headed out to blue park. However on the way there we saw a bunch of fire trucks at an empty building next to the gas station over here. We knew they had been doing training there over the past few days and thought we could ride up close and get a first hand look. Much to our surprise they firefighters were on a break and they were stoked to see Parker. The invited us in to have a closer look and that we did! They let Parker hold a real fire axe and other tools, sit in the pumper truck driver seat, wear the captains helmet, let he and Chris wear the walkie talkie head phones and talk to one another, and watch the firefighter get dressed up in the oxygen tank and mask. It was AWESOME! Parker was in heaven! When we got home we were talking to him about it and asked him "what was the firefighters name?" to which he replied "I don't know I was just too excited". Here are some pictures of the glorious event taken from Chris's camera phone.
P.S. Parker was so star struck.. he was trying to hold in his smile the WHOLE time

baby Maggie

I have been a total boob at posting lately... sorry. There just really hasn't been anything too much to report about and what there has been to report I have been lazy about downloading from my camera to my computer. But alas I am back with some fresh posts! Last weekend Jessica, Myles and baby Maggie came to visit. Man she's cute. She's a total lady even at two weeks old! It was strange to hold a baby girl again (and to know that holding one of my own is nothing I will ever experience). She is small and petite and precious is every way. Silas was infatuated with her. He would have spent the whole time kissing her if he could. Parker loved her too and even asked for a sister... sorry pal. Jessica was so brave and made the drive on a whim all by herself with BOTH kids and only stayed for like a couple hours. It was sooo nice to meet our new little family princess.

Update on Andie

Thanks everyone who was praying for Andie (Chris's cousins daughter). She went to the pediatric cardiologist and he gave good news! The small holes he says will all close up and the larger hole has a flap over it that he is confident will adhere to the hole. She will go back to the cardiologist in two months to make sure. But all in all great news! No surgery! Her little staph infection is better and the jaundice is gone. Praise the Lord, right?!

"Trick or Treating"

Of course yesterday was Halloween and to start off the day Parker had a costume parade at school an then got to take home a pumpkin. Then last night was our first trick or treating experience. It was hilarious! Every door that Parker went up to he said "trick or treating"... instead of the usual "trick or treat". He couldn't believe that people were giving him candy... neither could Silas. Silas was so excited to be outside walking and being dressed up. We only went for a few blocks because Chris had a show last night (which 10 kids got saved) and because we had plans with the Smiths. After trick or treating we went to Troy and Lindsey's for homemade sloppy joes, homemade carmel corn and Aladdin. It was a FUN Halloween!!!!

Please Pray for Andie Love

Chris's cousin Michelle and her hubbie Wes welcomed their newest daughter Andie into our family two weeks ago. Since then she has had jaundice, and they found a heart murmur. Today they found out that baby Andie has a staph infection and the that the murmur is actually much worse then they thought. She actually has a lot of holes in her heart and is headed out to Children's Hospital in Fresno first thing tomorrow. Please pray for her!!! As well as for Wes, Michelle, and their other daughter Elliot. Thanks everyone!

Silas's Sneaky Toe Jammies

I love these jammies for this very reason.

Parker's Birthday (Phase 2)

Last night we had a truck birthday party for Parker. It was great fun! Cousin Myles, Chubs, Selah, Solomon, Silas and Parker partied hard. We ate pizza, cupcakes, played pin the car on the tow truck, opened presents and played with new cars, trucks and more until about 9 pm. Park's birthday isn't officially over though... he still has a present coming in the mail from Aunt Steph... picture of that to come :0)

Reunited And it Feels SOOO Good!!!

Amanda and I haven't seen each other in 3 long years!!!!!! Yet we still managed to pick up right where we left off. I sure love this girl. Her love for the Lord and passion for her family and people in general.. I swear I want to be like this girl. We laughed hard, ate BBQ chips and chocolate soda in the middle of the night, got matching mani and pedis, watched the sunset over the ocean and did I mention laugh our butts off? It was so great. What I wouldn't give to have this girl live closet to me. Her baby shower was a hit! I can't believe how much booty baby Noah got. It was an awesome awesome awesome time!!!!!

Happy Birthday Parker James (phase 1)

Friday was Parker's birthday. Our little preemie boy is officially 4!!!!! That morning he was in our bed because he got scared at about 5:45 and came in bed with us. So we woke him up singing happy birthday. Then I said "Parker time to get up and get donuts" to which he replied "NO, I want you to go to the donut store and bring them home". But then he realized what the crap he was actually saying and popped out of bed and get ready for school and donuts. The Ballis (minus Dom) met us for donuts and then he was off to preschool. There he made a birthday crown and got to ring the bell for circle time, AND pick the first song of the day. Then Chris, Silas and I came with a snack for all the kids and they all sang happy birthday and gave him four BIG claps. It was so cute. More to come about his birthday because tomorrow is his party :0)

Maggie Matea Jenkins

She's here ya'll!!!! Jessica and Nick welcomed Maggie into the family on Thursday the 23rd at 11:36 at night. She weighed in at 7lbs and 8 oz and 19 3/4 inches. She is home now and nursing well. I hear she looks like Myles but with black hair. I can totally see it. I can't wait to meet her!!! They are getting settled in and looking forward to discovering who she is and how their family will adjust to being FOUR!!! Here are some pictures that Chris's mom sent.

JESUS WALKS

K...so i am usually not the hiking/climbing/outdoorsie type. But yesterday me and my younger brother Nick decided that today we would set out on a real live HIKE. We chose to scale Bishop's Peak. A descent size rocky peak rising above San Luis Obispo. Besides the weezing and the probable poison oak...(so far so good), we had an awesome time. Our intention was to get away with our bibles, sit atop a mountain and seek to commune with the Lord. And that we did, and the Lord was gracious enough to meet us there, no earthquakes no mighty wind...but good ol fashioned Jesus Juice. Word.

Daddy's Fun Day Off

Yesterday Chris had the day off so we decided to take the kids to Solvang to go apple picking and then up to Avila Farms to go to the pumpkin patch. It was super fun... HOT but fun. I wanted to hold out until it got really cold, but I in California on the central coast... I decided not to hold my breath. After picking apples we decided to go to Avila Farm with the Nick Jenkins family and pick out a pumpkin. The kids loved it! Jessica is still pregnant for those who might be wondering... Maggie is due on Tuesday and she is VERY ready to deliver so pray she comes soon :0) After the outdoor activities we went to Nick and Jess's house for Silas's nap and then to Chris's parents for some tacos. It was an awesome day outside and with family. Now tonight we get to carve our pumpkin... more pictures to come :0)