Home again. Home Again Jiggety Jig!

Noble and Shay playing Hacky Sac.

Dane fighting with the sword in his favorite shirtless way.

Well we got back from St. Jude and right into the business of it all. Thursday we flew in and Todd was home sick and stayed home the next day because that was his furlough day. The lovely day he has to take off without getting paid once a month.

On Friday I was not feeling very well either. It takes it out of me to fly to St. Jude's and not have my own bed and the 2 hour time change there and then back, my body has a hard time. The air in the Target House is on all of the time, blowing at your face either cold or hot. I just can't hardly sleep. But it was a good trip and everything was positive except for a couple of things. Devree really wanted to get her leg braces off. Her right foot needs lots more motion to let her drive. She has some new exercises where she needs to visualize with her mind for her to move her foot. She is supposed to put a cloth under her feet and wrinkle it with her toes. Driving is a high motivator for Devree and I figure if she can tell her brain to move her toes, she should also visualize her ear hearing, her right side of her face showing expression, like raising the eyebrows, squinting her right eye and smiling with both sides of her face. She is feeling really well and eating wonderfully, so now it is time to work on these things that bug her. Todd said maybe she should start massaging her scalp and telling her brain to grow hair too! It is a matter of faith too. So we will all work on that.

Todd and I had to talk in sacrament meeting today. Lots of people told us they enjoyed it. We had to talk about "Lifting where we stand" and accepting callings and magnifying our callings. Mine was telling experiences of my past which were more humorous and that my kids didn't even know. Todd was more spiritual and talked about Gideon in the bible that magnified his calling to get rid of the Medionites. (spelling?)

As we were having our Sunday dinner today Dane started singing "Feel me up...Princess Buttercup." I started laughing because we had just watched "Princess Bride" and the words are really "BUILD ME UP...Buttercup." When we explained to Dane what "Feel me up " means, he became sickened. So we reminded him of the real words so he wouldn't make that mistake.

Have a glorious week and I hope the weather brings us spring. I did see some buds just about to burst so we can start singing "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot tree".

3rd Day of 2nd checkup.

Tayzia's car is the big potato but Devree's is just potato wheels. Jackson enjoying G-Force. He can smile but he can't take his eyes off the screen.

Devree and I went to eat at Olive Garden last night. The last time we took her here she smelled the food and didn't eat. Last night she had 2 helpings of salad, 2 breadsticks and half of her main course.

Then Devree went to the Mutual activity where they raced potatos. Devree said she had fun and it was good to see The Germantown ward youth.

Jackson and I played Go Fish and then he wanted to watch G-Force. Kallie was not feeling well so she stayed in her room.

Today I am anxiously awaiting to see if Devree's physical therapy assesment will let her have her braces off and allow her to get ready to drive. Devree really wants to drive and wear cute shoes. Well the news was not what we wanted. She will not be able to get off her braces for awhile. She doesn't have reflexes or movement enough to drive a car on the right side. Terry did tell us about some exercises to improve her muscles that she lost due to chemotherapy. It is disappointing though. She really wanted to be able to get out of her braces.

The endocrinologist sent his nurse and she was much more pleasant and we did have good news there. After her blood work, we were able to see that Devree's hormone levels are getting much better than the last check up and we are encouraged that once Devree gets more weight that she will start to cycle again and she may still be able to have children some day. That is our hope and what we are having faith for.

We are excited to fly home today. I really missed out this time because Noble had his Honor Jazz concert last night. Todd drove to Lovelock to see it but I haven't heard the report because the concert got over so late, in Memphis time. Looking forward to seeing all of our boys in a few more hours.

Today is

2nd day of 2nd checkup

Devree and Celest at lunch.

Ethel and Brenda joined us for lunch at the cafeteria.

Today is Wednesday and that means tomorrow we fly back home. We had a wonderful dinner and game night at Breck and Celest's. Celest fixed us a luscious meal and it was still wonderful even though Devree and I got lost for an hour trying to pick up Breck from work. We really need a GPS for this city. We saw a billboard that told us "God Loves Memphis" and we were glad... because at that moment we did not.

Jackson had us playing "Hi Ho Cherrio". I am not a good player for any game that makes you go back to the beginning. But I was a good sport. We played "Catch Phrase" and then we had to get back to Target House 2 before curfew.

Here we sit for the endocrinologist. He is the doctor that said it will be unlikely that Devree will be able to have children. That is why we don't like him.

Dr. Armstrong just called us and said that the Lumbar Puncture came back clean. He did take a close look at her MRI's and said that her spine is "spiney" and there is a bulge. This is common in patients that have had the radiation like Devree. Dr. Armstrong said exactly what our Ortho doctor said and that when she has pain, Devree will have to get shots and she needs to continue to exercise. Also he said it was too early to know if Devree will get more hair.

Today we will have lunch with Brenda, Ethel and Celest here at the hospital. Devree is seeing the "Alien" eye doctor as Devree calls her. She thinks she is an alien because she never smiles and her eyes are big and slanty like an alien. Also Devree will be seeing her Psychologist Elizabeth who she loves and the Endocrinologist. We don't like that guy either. He has nothing but bad news for us. We will try to stay positve for today though.

Devree had her Occpational Therapy Assesment yesterday and we won't probably have that again till another 6 months. We had to reschedule her Physical Therapy appointment till tomorrow because they scheduled her right after waking from anesthesia yesterday after her lumbar puncture. Devree is hoping they will let her not have braces anymore. She is looking forward to wearing "Pretty" shoes and DRIVING!

Life is good and wonderful no matter what and we are going to focus on the good, the excellent, the superior and the miracles. We are going to remain hopeful, positve and FAITHFUL! May you also focus on the good things of life.

First Day of 2nd Checkup

Devree happy to be in a "flowery" room instead of "Bob the Builder".

Well here we are back at St. Jude's. We had both of our flights delayed. So Devree and I were starving because we didn't get lunch and it was past dinner by the time we arrived. Celest had made signs with the kids and Breck were all at the airport to greet us. Celest had a bag of valentines and goodies for us. What would we do without Celest's thoughtfulness?

We rushed straight to the hospital and went to the Medicine room for them to measure, weigh, do vitals and bloodwork. Today we started the MRI's at 6:45 am this morning. For those of you in the West that means I go up at 3:30 AM Nevada time. There was no room in the inn (Grizzly House) so they put us in Target House 2 again for our stay. That kind of bites if you don't have a car because it was too late for the shuttle to get there last night and it was too early to get to the hospital this morning for the MRI. So Thanks again Ethel and Brenda for the car. It is wonderful to have wheels. We have no food in the apartment so I need to go shopping. But there are no dishes so I guess we will eat out. I like that. Devree says she is up for Olive Garden. YEA!

Today is the busiest day for appointments and tomorrow will not be so bad. Still waiting for the results of everything.

Finally the MRI's are clean and clear.

Dad/Grandpa's funeral

Matthew doesn't ever smile for our camera but he is pretty smiley the rest of the time.

3 Boys playing the Wii Sport at Uncle John's and Aunt Mary.

Chris Richards fixing Jeff Hamblin's laptop.

3 Cute boys playing on the computer starting from the left, Tyson, Noah and Jackson told us he is wearing "The I love Devree t-shirt". Isn't that adorable?

The Voekel family at the viewing. Janae, Ben, Daila, Linda and Anna.

Sitting at the back Nancy and Jerry Hatch with Scott, Tamara, Lafi and Wendy up front at the viewing.

Linda and Anna sitting with Jacob, Jessica, Jeff and Becky Hamblin at the viewing.

The Pall bearers bringing the casket. It was soo beautiful and bright that afternoon.

The Marine, the flag and the casket.

Playing taps.

The gun salute that was really loud and scary!

The folding of the flag.

The final salute after folding the flag.

Presenting the flag to Mom.

At the Huge feast that the Sullivan Branch fed us after the funeral.

David, Amanda, Ethan and Dave's friend Jordan.

The Brown cousins with Wendy holding Katies cutey Maddie. Such a smiley, happy little girl.

Kenneth Hendricks in his military outfit. He brought his cutest red haired 2 year old named Logan.

Matthew saying "Jello is awfully good".

Uncle Bill and Aunt Kathy Mackley.

Becky scrubbing up after the kids.

Daila posing before the funeral.

80+ people came to eat at John and Mary's house.

The pile of shoes is immense! How will we ever find our shoes?

Karyn and Uncle Earl Brown then Bobbi Birge in the red next to Mary looking out of the window. sitting on the couch.

A few of the many on Sunday after church eating again at John and Mary's.

Mom posing with Lafi.

Uncle Eldon and Aunt Donna Hatch. Never could get them to look at me at the same time. Oh well.

This is our lay over hotel in Denver. Awesome 4 star we would recommend to anyone called "The Renaissance".

Devree's cake that she decorated at Young Women's that has a rose in the center with fondant icing and rose.

We flew out on Thursday and it seemed we got to wear our same Sunday clothes for 3 days straight. It was a glorious reunion with getting to see people in the family that I haven't seen for many years. It was a great time to catch up and reminisce and see what is going on in a lot of our cousins lives. We definitely want to get more reunions going for the Hamblin side and the Mackley side. Enjoy the pictures.

Oh one really important note that I forgot. We did get the results back from Devree's "hot spot". She has arthritis in her spine. According to the Ortho doctor here. They gave me a 10 lb package of all of her CT scans and MRI's and I will be taking them to St. Jude's next week to get their opinion also. But we are happy and relieved!

I have one funny story. As I was walking our little dog on Tuesday morning, a huge dog came with teeth showing and growling and lunged at Low Rider our dog. I didn't have time to pick up our dog so I swung him high around in a circle by his leash trying to yell "NO!" to the big dog. Finally the owner came and got his dog (who was loose) but the big dog lunged again! This time I had picked up Low Rider so he could breathe and finally the big dog got taken away by the owner who was apologizing. As soon as Low Rider could breathe again he started growling. The big dog could've eaten him in one bite!

A Looooong Week!

Well Todd flew back to MO last Friday and he flies home this Monday. I have had a challenging time to be the Dad, the Mom and all of the in between. This week was so filled with events I couldn't hardly catch my breath! It was one of those weeks where I had to be in two places just about every night.

I love my kids! On Monday I hurried over to Olsons' to have Ron help me scan some photos to send to Amanda (my sister-in-law) for a slide show of Dad Hamblin's life. While I was gone the kids made the rest of the Valentine Cookies, decorated and made homemade valentines for the 5 missionaries that we know. Noble, Devree, Shay and Dane did it ALL! I was so happy. I was able to put the packages together and send them off.

Tuesday was New Beginnings for Devree. It was a wonderful dinner and slide presentation of the girls and their Mom's. The YW presidency presented the program and had the Mom's and daughter's commit to one project. Devree is finishing her "Virtue" project and then she will receive her medallion. I am so very proud of her and I am glad she got an early start because it would have been too difficult for her to finish with all of her sickness. Dane also had a basketball game. Thank you Obarr's for taking Dane. I had to make sure Todd's Scout breakfast stuff was given to the right person, which got handed back to me 4 times. The Scout office wants $160. per scout. Well that isn't going to happen this year for our family of 3 scouts.

Wednesday was Devree's appointment with the Gastro guy. We found out that Devree is down to 97lbs and that her stomach is not emptying well. The doctor prescribed a 1/2 pill of an antibiotic to basically give her diarhea so she can eliminate and Megaze to stimulate her appetite. She seems to be eliminating much better and eating better. Dane had cub scouts while Devree and I were at the appointment. Thank you EVANS for taking Dane and Obarrs for bringing Dane home. Noble's Northern Nevada Honor Band in Fallon was Wednesday night.I had forgotten my camara but it was so wonderful. I really like the variety of music they picked this year with some definitely difficult peices. I was proud of Noble and I thoroughly enjoyed the music. It was also another basketball game for Dane. THANK YOU OBARR'S AGAIN for taking Dane.

Thursday night was the self defense class at the church. It was very informative and I loved how Brother Hughes made it fun and informative. I was laughing at some of the women when they punched. It was sissy like with no power behind the punch while others were way into it. I really appreciated how Travis told us to "Be Smart" and listen to the voice, to make sure you don't go into places you shouldn't.

Friday was getting Shay off to snowboarding with 3 other kids at 6:30am and then to see Emma win 2nd place in the County Spelling Bee. It was very exciting. I was so happy for Emma. Then I had a marvelous lunch/talk with my good buddy Cyndi. That night was when I needed to be 2 people again because of a missionary discussion for Shay to sit in on and a meeting with 5 other families to discuss our Senior's graduation party coming up in June.

Saturday first thing was to get to the Scout breakfast. I took Dane on a Mom/Dane date. Then to Hannah's baptism. We had to go pick up the huge camp stove for Todd for the scouts. It weighs 90 lbs! Dane got his "blizzard" at DQ. He and I had a discussion about girls and how they are silly and not logical except his buddy Kirsche who is the smartest girl he knows. Now Devree and I will go see Katrina in "The Wiz". We didn' get to see the Wiz. We brought the wrong car and it was snowing heavilly so our car wouldn't go up those steep streets of VC.

Tomorrow is my Sunday lesson. So you can see what week it has been! But isn't life wonderful? Devree's meds have already started helping her. She isn't slowing down because she is trying out for the new play, singing the National anthem at the basketball game and she was almost up to singing a solo at a competition today! Whew!!! Have a great week.