Hamblin's Happenings

Last Day at St. Jude's Jan 25, 2012

2012-01-25T09:33:00.000-08:00

Ethel and Brenda came to St. Jude's to have lunch with us. They are so kind and good and generous. They both have loaned cars to us while in Memphis. Celest came also and we had a nice chat after lunch too. Celest is so kind and gracious to have everything ready for us to stay at her home.

We went to the bad part of Memphis to enjoy the famous "Jerry's snowcones". There was Breck, Celest, Taylor (Tayzia's boy friend), Tayzia, Talon and Kallie. Of course Devree and I were there.

Devree got a rubber bracelet in rememberance and we tried FRIED pickles. They were both kinds of hot but very good. Devs got a kiwi strawberry but they had lots of flavors and it was freezing outside too.

Taylor took a picture of all of us. We had dessert first and went home to a delicous chicken dinner.

Devree is very excited to get a new device that makes her hearing aids into headphones. It will be waiting when we get home. We are excited to fly home even if it is way too early in the morning. We met one boy today that has been here basically the whole time since we left in 2009. He was allowed to go home to South Carolina for a short visit and then back to therapy. He got a bone marrow transplant but his body is not doing too well. His name is Chase and he has this shirt that he wore again today. "Bald Chicks ar Hot!" Chase has graduated from high school and his life is just waiting to find out if he is going to be cured. Three years here would be INSANE or it would drive me insane. I guess you have to be thankful for the challenges that you have been given. We saw Season and Chase Burch. Chase is about 2 years younger than Devree and is going to celebrate 5 years since diagnosis in March. Season is the one that told me to get Devree to St. Jude's. I am eternally grateful for Season.

St. Judes 2nd day Jan. 24, 2012

2012-01-24T07:33:00.000-08:00

After our delicious dinner of Taco Soup from Celest. Tayzia, Celest and Breck doing the dishes.

Talon, Jackson covering his eyes (the stinker) and Kallie not feeling so well.

We got Jackson not covering his eyes. THANK YOU TALON!

A new feature of the "NO" clinic (Neuro Oncology) there is a IPOD player. Devree is loving to rock out on her own music. She is DANCING to "Shake it" by Metro Station. You know the song...."Shake shake, shake shake shake it". It makes you want to dance. NOw we don't mind having to wait an ETERNITY in the clinic room.

Yesterday at the end of the day we got good/bad news. The bad news first. Devree is loosing more sight in her right eye because of the paralysis. The good news is that St. Jude's has given an offer to a ONCOLGIST/FERTILITY specialist. We are very excited for this, because that means they could harvest sperm/eggs from those cancer patients that are going to be heavily radiated like Devree was and find solutions for after cancer treatment. We are lucky that Devs has a fertility specialist back home in Carson that is treating her for future fertility. But St. Jude's will find other solutions also.

We have the unofficial of the brain scan. Everything looks GOOD!

Now on to the rest of the long day. HAVE A GREAT DAY!

January 2012 St. Jude's Checkup

2012-01-23T12:41:00.000-08:00

We have already got lots of new prizes for Devree since we have been here. She got a "Cars" T-shirt and 2 new hats and some other clothes from a lady in the ward.

You see the purple Fedora above and then she got this leopard wrap. She is still struggling with the infection from her eye brow lift on the top of her head. The surgery had healed but the skin keeps getting irritated because of wigs etc rubbing it and it got a bad infection.

Devree had to get 2 IV's today. The first nurse poked her arm. Devree convinced her to find another spot after the nurse tried to "milk" her arm. Then she put in her wrist. It was hurting and she let the blood coagulate for the tests so then we saw one of our favorite nurses "Ebony" and she put in a really good IV in the other hand. Ebony is the nurse that joined in singing "Here comes the Sun"with us, when the sun finally came out in Memphis February 2009. We had been in Memphis for 3 weeks and it finally showed its face! Ebony laughed with us when we reminisced back.

We are so blessed to celebrate 3 years since Devree's brain cancer diagnosis. Devree asked "Why don't we celebrate that day?" To me it was one of the worst days of my life and I told her "We are going to celebrate when you hit the 6 year mark of being cancer free!" She is doing great and has reached the point after this check up she will not have an MRI of the spine or a lumbar puncture. We have had lots of excitement as the Brices picked us up. The Breck Rices nick name that Shay gave them. They were all at the airport and had signs and a lovely dinner waiting for us. Then we had tornado warnings for an hour with the most amazing lightning show that lasted for a half hour. I have never seen lightning strike all at once like the finale at a fireworks show. I should've got pictures. We are safe and no tornados that we saw.

Have you been thankful for your blessings today?

Trip to Utah

2012-01-07T18:02:00.000-08:00

Shay holding Zachary. Zach is a mellow little boy. He warmed up to us pretty fast.

Devree and Zach.

Todd, Koe, Dane and Craig behind. Koe and Craig were so nice to let us stay with them.

A good one of Koe and Craig.

Me and Todd at the Church Museum. This was in the Tribal room with some great paintings.

Devree and Shay standing in front of the quilt "Arise and Shine Forth".

Todd lifting the 90 lb Gold Plates in the Book of Mormon exhibit.

Koe, Kylee, Zach by the chickens that would make noises.

Kylee put her skirt on to dance to the music.

Devree putting on her skirt and head peice to dance.

Devree watches the girl on the video screen to dance the right way.

Shay and Dane liked building the wall that Samuel the Lamanite stood on.

Devree's pose.

Shay and Dane and their design.

Fishing on Nephi's ship.

Sitting in the truck.

Shay cannot quite fit. But this was Zach's favorite.

Posing on the bride portrait place.

All of us.

This was on our tour of the Conference center. We got a private tour and it was wonderful.

The Christus.

I got to visit with Sister Baggett that I trained 30 years ago on our missions in Eufala, Alabama. Barb has beat cancer 3 times.

This is her chemo hat. It is a bed pan that measures your excrement all glittered up on the outside with all of the other paraphenelia of getting chemo.

This is Me, Wanda, Cherie and Pat. We joined up for dinner to celebrate 25 years since we were all in the American Fork Singles Ward.

Devree and Aunt Mary. We had a BRUNCH with the Browns and Hatch's. We had a FUN time.

Katie, Jared and Wendy. Thanks Wendy and Shane for getting everything ready at the church.

Maddy, Katie and Jared's daughter.

Alicia and Chip.

Cute girls.

Hailey giving her best smile.

Todd and Heidi Jones.

Caitlyn and all of the Jones family.

Todd with Aunt Donna with Andrea, Uncle Eldon and Mainette in the back.

Scott and Jill came. YEA!

Cameron and Erica Quist that we were able to attend their Open House.

Theron and Jaime Quist, Todd's cousins from Ohio, the parents of Cameron.

Bos with his best smile. We are so sad we didn't get Vance. He went to bed already. But both sweet and fun boys!

Emily in her new home.

Kamon said he needed to keep his hat on because his hair was not combed. Then he said he needed to not show his double chin.

What a wonderful trip to Utah. We loved seeing everyone. It was great and we look forward to General Conference and seeing everyone then too!

Christmas 2011

2012-01-01T19:01:00.001-08:00

The eve before Christmas Eve we went to Fernley to a wedding reception. The girl we knew, Heather was a babysitter for Noble and Devree when they were very small. Heather met and married a young returned missionary she met at BYU in Provo. The young man was from Visalia, CA and was known by my brother Ky and sister-in-law in Visalia. These are two of Heather's brothers acting silly with her parasol. Nathan is Noble's age with the parasol and Chris is watching by.

This is Dane's face of surprise to get a new beach cruiser bike for Christmas.

It is fancy and rides like the wind. Very fast. You can see before the bike a big yellow box. That is what Shay got and it is a target for a crossbow because crossbow "bolts" go through things and you have to have a special target.

Shay is happy because he knows he is getting a crossbow sometime soon.

Devree is very happy because she got a laptop. A very nice one that was bought on Black Thursday at Walmart for $200. It is a very fast, big HP and I like typing on it too! Devree and is preparing for college and this laptop will be a great addition for her.

Shay opened his crossbow present. It has a scope and looks alot like a rifle. It has a 150 lb draw so it is difficult to pull back. He brought home his target and he learned pretty fast how to shoot it by the marks he made.

We went on a bike ride with Dane and his new bike. I was riding my pink one and Todd is riding the beach cruiser he has had since he was 12 years old.

We had to stop and smile for the camera. I beat them, because my bike is the fastest.

Another pose.

As you can see we were very blessed this Christmas. Todd got some nice things and I did too but it is mostly about the kids and what they get. I have decided to get totally organized in my kitchen and other places. So Todd gave me kitchen bowls and some new dishes. It was a glorious Christmas season and we enjoyed the 12 days of Christmas that some family did for us. It was always exciting to see what they would give us each night. We had many opportunities to help and serve others. We received lots of goodies and gave lots of goodies. It was a glorious time and we didn't miss Noble by keeping ourselves busy and trying to serve others.

Skyping Noble

2012-01-01T18:58:00.000-08:00

Skyping Noble. We did for over 2 hours and loved every minute of it.

We all hovered around the computer and only lost the connection 3 times. Merry Christmas Noble and Happy 20th Birthday! We look forward to seeing/hearing from you again on Mothers Day!

Before Christmas

2012-01-01T18:41:00.000-08:00

Dane and Madsen's 5th grade class had a family history project. Combined with the other 5th grade class they had to write a report that included your family origin, map, recipe, geneology and history. Everyone brought food from a favorite family recipe. We loved it all and then we looked at each students project on a table. It was an awesome project.

We had the annual Christmas concert and here is Zac Smith and William Fitch in the trombone section.

Shay was looking cool in the trumpet section. The Concert Band sounded awesome that night.

Shay looking attentive. He is thinking about going into Jazz band too, next semester.

Devree posing before her concert. She chose festive Christmas socks that have big Santa fur on the top. She wore her new necklace she got at our Cookie Lee jewelry fundraiser.

Now you can see the "BLING" around her neck better. It really is a beautiful necklace.Manny came with his new girl friend.

Paul and Todd had a chat before the concert.

The cub scouts sang Christmas carols with the Achievement Day Girls. Jason and Madsen are with Dane by the door. The girls went and sang at their own houses and the boys sang at their own houses. It was humorous. One man insisted on paying us. We tried to tell him the cookies were not for sale, but we got money anyway.

Our last Cancer Christmas Party

2011-12-26T12:31:00.001-08:00

Our last Cancer Christmas party at the El Dorado hotel in Reno.

We always love going to the party for all of the kids of Northern Nevada that have and had cancer.

A beautiful acapella choir from Galena sang Christmas carols to us while we waited.

They asked Devree to sing with them too.

Dane and Shay messing around.

Devree got her hand painted.

The cast from Peter Pan came and talked with us. Shay got his face paiinted like usual.

Dane is happy to show his Nanobot he got as his gift. He is showing his prize with Angus the brother of Jessie that is in Danes class at school and had a rare bone disorder that they included in the cancer group.

Captain Hook really looking the part.

The Northern Nevada Childrens Cancer Group is having trouble with funding and do not invite everyone anymore. Some of the staff said that if the group does not get a big donation the will continue to cut down guests after so many years from diagnosis. This is our last year and Devree has been accepted to BYUI and she will be going next year. She is trying to see if she can get into BYUH where it will be a lot warmer. But she is excited to go to BYUI too.

Family Portrait 2011

2011-12-11T17:19:00.000-08:00

Click on the pictures if you want to see a larger version of them.
The place where the pictures were taken is 5 minutes from our house.

December 11, 2011 2 weeks till Christmas!

2011-12-11T16:38:00.000-08:00

Devree in front of the Young Women in Excellence.

They did a hillarious version of "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" but it was Jill and Red's adventure through the Book of Mormon. Devree had to step in as Red at the last second. It was so funny and they did a great job.

Shay had the dog all tucked into bed with him just with his paws out but he moved when I went to take the picture.

That is how our dog Low Rider says he is ready for bed.

Shay lets him sleep with him some of the time.

As we sat down to our Sunday dinner, Shay came without a shirt. I told him to get a shirt on. Then he tried to sneak back without pants. I told him to put pants on. He didn't want to. He came back wearing a shirt on the top and a shirt on the bottom. He said "I won!" I told him if he thought that was winning...okay then.

Our Christmas tree we got from the Boy Scouts. We couldn't face cutting our own without Noble.

Dane showing a package he wrapped by himself.

This is our Nativity flag on our front porch. We put lights over it so it doesn't blow away and in the daytime you can see it well and at night you see the lights.

Devree showing how she keeps up the Advent Nativity scene that Aunt Paula gave us so many years ago.

Shay on top of the house. He put up the lights this year with Dad and then alot by himself.

Standing on top of the house where he actually did white icicle lights then blue on top. It looks good when the breaker doesn't go off.

Here are some odds and ends of pictures. We have been busy but we haven't always got our camera out to take pictures. For example the Ward Christmas Breakfast was fantastic yesterday but I didn't take one picture. We had lots of fun and did some service afterward of making quilts and several people made beautiful cards for Noble that I will send to him on his mission in the Philippines. Many families wrote really wonderful things to Noble. I know it will cheer him up. We are enjoying this wonderful joyous season and celebrating Christ's birth. I love Christmas. Don't you?

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-11-27T19:18:00.000-08:00

Devree made a turkey shaped cheese ball.

She used brocolli for the eyes, red pepper for the gobbler and almonds for the beak.

Sitting around the table telling what we are thankful for.

Uncle Ky and Aunt Tammie

Shay

Megan and Devree watching "The Perfect Man".

Locey not wanting his picture taken.

The Urgent care here in Dayton would not take out Devree's stitches. She had some on top of her head that her doctor said "A Monkey could take out those". Todd took them all out and he did a fantastic job. Devree went to church and everything.

Ky riding his motorcycle. He brought up his 2 motorcycles and one quad and we went riding for 3 days! There are so many trails so close to us and everybody had a great time.

Spencer showing off his truck he got for his 16th birthday! A very nice 2005 Toyota Tacoma.

Shay and Skyla riding.

Spencer getting ready to ride. Where is your helmet? We always wear a helmet.

Dane getting ready to go.

Todd really enjoyed the small motorcycle of Tammies. He thinks he would like to get one.

Buckle that helmet on good.

We are so happy that the Ky Rice's could come and celebrate Thanksgiving with us. It was so wonderful and fun and we saw movies and went Black Friday shopping, got pedicures, watched lots of movies, played games and had a ton of delicious food. Thanks for coming everyone. The next time we get together will be for Kolten's homecoming.

The Rest of Boston

2011-11-27T18:11:00.000-08:00

This is a quilt that hung in the Cambridge Stake Center where we went to church in Boston.

Isn't it amazing?

Someone wanted to take our picture with it.

We also got to see the "Pompei" exhibit at the Museum of Science in Boston on Saturday. Our lovely lady host used her museum membership to get us great discounts. These are actual "shin guards" that the ancient people of Pompei used. They were in a glass case. We wanted Noble to see these.

This is a helmet.
The Pompei exhibit was extraordiary with hundreds of artifacts including frescos, jewelry, medical equipment, cooking utensils, and even the plumbing from the ancient city and also there were 2 films explaining how they lived and how the volcano covered the city and there was even a time elapse to show you how long it took to bury the city in ash. There were several plaster molds of victims including a pig and a dog. It was heart breaking to think about how this city became a history exhibit.

The parallels between their society and ours is very similar. I think we might be ripe for destruction when I saw how our world is so much like Pompei. Just an awesome insight into what the future might hold.

First Smile Procedure

2011-11-16T04:43:00.000-08:00

Devree is getting her surgery right now. She is going to get an eye brow lift, an eyelid weight and a lower lid tuck along with her nerve transplant and tunneled on her upper lip from the good side to the bad.

We had a hard time getting to Boston. When we got on the plane in Reno, it backed up and discovered one of the engines was not firing. We had to be rerouted on another carrier and didn't get to Boston till almost midnight. Then woke up early for our first appointment to check in with the doctor. Because we got in so late, our hospitality host called us and told us we needed to stay in a hotel. We called a Holiday Inn that is 1/3 mile from the hospital. We ate at Legal Seafood and the waitress asked about Devree's story and Devree's meal was complimentary. Todd loved the Boston Cream Pie we ate FIRST and then he had coconut shrimp and I had a lobster roll. DELICIOUS!

Our Hospitality Host is wonderful. She lives about 4 miles from the hospital and we were able to get to her by the "T" the subway and bus system for Boston. She lives in a lovely 200 year old house and has been offering her house to out of town patients for years. She is a retired nurse. What a wonderful person she is.

Just heard from Dr. Hadlock. Everything went perfectly. She found a good nerve and was able to transplant. The doctor said she will have alot of bruising because it was a lot of incisions. We can't wait to see our Devree girl.
***

Devree with her, "Here I am!", look. I feel like hamburger. It kind of makes me think of Miss Piggy in Muppets From Space. She is on the losing end of a karate fight. She says, "Is that all ya got!" "Is that all ya got." "Is that all ya got..."

Straight Face

Smiling Face

Dr. Hadlock lifted the left eye up a bit so it will match the right on the right. A brow lift that the scar will be up in the hairline. Then a platinum weight in the crease of her right eye to help it close better and the right bottom lid with a tuck so it doesn't droop in the middle. The nerve was put in the inside of her right cheek and tunneled through to the good side inside her mouth, so no scars to see.

Our Day in Boston -Before Devree's 1st Surgery

2011-11-15T18:07:00.000-08:00

We Are in Boston!!!

We have to tell you it was an accomplishment. When you get up at 4 AM in the morning and get on the plane by 6 AM, we felt like we had made an accomplishment. Then at 6:15 AM the pilot informed us that we would not be taking off because of an engine failure. (We thought hmmm... we would rather find out now, rather than later in the air.)

At 8 AM we were told that a part was being flown in and that the plane would probably be repaired by 1:30 PM. Our wonderful travel agent Shana had already been checking on other flight arrangements. She found a new flight for us. (Yay!!!) It would arrive at midnight. (Boo!!!) Actually we were overjoyed that we would make it to Boston in time to make all of our doctor appointments the next day.

A clock tower was one of the sights along the Freedom Trail through Boston.

Another neat looking building. A lot of our pictures are like this one. It is a random snapshot to give you an idea of the architecture of the buildings in Boston.

I just love our Hamblin girls!

"Legal Seafood" is an unusual name for a restaurant. We tried the Coconut Shrimp, Seafood Salad Sandwhich, and a Chicken Sandwich. Devree ordered the Chicken Sandwich because, "Fish are friends, not food!!!" (Devree's favorite Nemo quote.)

Our waitress asked what brought us to Boston, and was very interested in Devree's story. She heard all about it, then she kept coming back to check on us and ask a few more questions. When she brought us our bill, she said that Devree's lunch and a Boston Cream Pie were a treat from the restaurant. (How wonderful and kind they were!)

Oh! WE LOVE Boston Cream Pie!!!

The roof top of this building is crenulated like the walls of an old time castle.

We are happy to be in Boston!

Beautiful Fall Colors at the "Boston Common" park.

More beautiful Fall colors along the docks.

The streets were very charming. Do you know how old Boston is? Benjamin Franklin's house is here. We saw the church that they met in before Paul Revere made his famous ride. The street lights behind Devree & Shana are gas flame lamps. Cute and kind of fun.

Shana had to roll her eyes at all of the things that I took pictures of. I thought the old wrought iron fire escape ladders were fascinating. I felt like we had gone back in time.

Now THAT is a narrow little alley way!

You can click on this picture once to look at the details on this sign. It says that the Movie Twilight is playing at their IMAX theatre. Devree says, "I WANT TO PLAY!!!"

All of the buildings were close together like this. Like a typical guy, I had to tell the girls that I could almost picture Spiderman swinging from building to building. Shana said, "No. That was New York!" The pictures just don't capture what it feels like when you are standing amidst these city streets.

Devree was very patient about posing in all of the pictures I wanted to take.

We were all impressed with the Boston subway system. They call it "The 'T' ". The 'T' is for transit. This blurry picture illustrates how the subway travelers go 3 stories beneath the city streets to ride.

Devree and Shana waiting for the next subway train to come.

We are now experts at riding the subway. So just ask us and we can tell you all about it.

I wish we could have taken a panoramic view of how big it is down here. Multiple subway lines converge to create a big underground train station.

We got tips from a mother and her twins about how the subway system worked. Her cute little twin boys tipped us off that the subway train was coming. They didn't say a word, they just covered their ears with their cute little hands.

As you can see, Todd loves Boston as much as Devree and I do. He took a whole lot of pictures but he had to only put on the best even though some of them are blurry. Sorry.

SNOW!!!

2011-11-06T15:44:00.000-08:00

This is John, (Todd's brother) and Mary and their 7 dwarfs for Halloween. We loved this picture so much we had to share it with everyone.

At my birthday lunch with Dane showing his new retainer. The retainer is to push his 2 top front teeth out behind his bottom front teeth. This retainer stays on 24/7 while he eats etc. His teeth are supposed to move out rather quickly and then he will just wear the retainer at night.

We had lunch at the Green Papaya, a Thai restaurant and we ordered 1 Thai Banana split first because we always order the dessert first for special occassions. This was delicious with a thick sweet sticky rice under the ice cream. It was a half day of school so I took off from teaching the Autistic Class and took Devree to one doctor appointment and Dane to get his retainer. So it was just the 3 of us. That night Todd grilled the most delicious steaks for my birthday dinner. I spent the rest of the day shopping for ME! I got a lot of nice clothes for me and some neato warm boots that go above my knees.

It snowed today. This is our car with it melting rapidly.

Ready for church with the snow on the lawn. We have our Thanksgiving turkey flag up and our house ready for the next holiday.

Todd got in to the spirit of snow by wearing his snowman tie. Someone at church said he should be wearing a turkey tie, and not a Christmas tie. But he was not thinking of Christmas, just of the snow.

As we get into the spirit of Thanksgiving, we are thankful for many things. We continue to receive money for Devree's operation next week. Our ward, the Comstock ward, the stake and the community have been very generous. There are 11 year-old girl twins in Minden who read about Devree in the paper and put a collection jar at their school. They just sent $200 to Devree. The bus driver that knew and liked Noble since his freshman year in high school, read about Devree and is getting a collection together for Devree. The bus driver is matching what the other bus drivers donate. We heard this from someone in our ward that overheard the bus drivers. We are excited to get to Boston next Monday for the first operation on Devree's face. We will blog about that next week. This is truly a time of Thanksgiving. We hope you think about all of the blessings you are thankful for.

Colby's Homecoming

2011-10-30T19:28:00.000-07:00

Colby came home from his mission in Washington, D.C. Colby is over a year older than Noble and we were all at his farewell. He gave a great talk with his father and his brother Spencer. We also had a good time seeing old friends from Fernley. It is great to go back and visit.

Shay got done with soccer this week and with marching band. He should have his life back. We mentioned this to Shay and Shay started singing from Fiddler on the Roof, ''To Life, to Life, Lachiam". We all started laughing.

This last week I have been substituting a class of 5 autistic boys. We have had some big challenges with several things and I am sure it is because the boys have been missing their teacher Stephanie who had to have knee surgery. Stephanie is a good friend of mine so I have been calling her to get some help. We have been trying to reward good behavior every minute or so to help the boys to act appropriately. I can really tell the difference in only a couple of days. It looks like I will be teaching in this class till we go to Boston for Devree's surgery. These are adorable little boys.

Tomorrow is October 31st so Happy Halloween Everybody!

Devree's speech and Hamblins Halloween 2011

2011-10-23T18:15:00.000-07:00

St. Jude's emailed last week and asked if we could speak in Sacramento. Devree was happy to do it. St. Jude's booked our hotel and we went up on Wednesday night. We went and saw Cheryl a friend that lived close by and I have known since before we each got married. She is a returned missionary too and a little younger and she got married first. She has the opposite of me. She had 3 girls and 1 boy. While we have 3 boys and 1 girl. Cheryl's oldest daughter is already married.

Cheryl and I in her lovely home.

Cheryl, Brady, Kylie, Devree and I.

We think her 3rd daughter would be a good match for Shay. Kylie is the same age.

Well it was really sad to think about having our annual Halloween party without Noble here. We have been having an annual Halloween party for about 15 years and this is the first year without Noble. We decided to do something different and have the party at the disk golf park close to our house. We asked everyone to bring a lantern or flashlights but many people did not. At 7:30pm it was ao dark you could hardly see your hand in front of your face. We played games and ate some great food. We think next year it might be back to our house.

Todd and I dressed as Hoops and Yoyo. Many people did not know that they are the famous characters of greeting cards. We always buy Hoops and YoYo cards.

Todd is the green bunny and I am the pink cat.
Josh is a pirate.
Zack is a biker and Harry was a bottle of ketchup. Harry won the costume contest and then another boy that got a mohawk just for the night to be a "scary" teenager. It was fun.

Devree's Choir Concert TOFW! or Time Out for Women

2011-10-16T17:51:00.000-07:00

Devree, Kacey, Chris Belcher, Chelsey, Kalene and Erin meeting one of our favorite speakers. Chris has battled cancer almost her whole life.

She is totally blind but people want her to autograph everything.

Ready for Friday night session of TOFW to begin.

After Saturday's session, Erin gave us a tour of UNR. There are many roses on campus and it is a $1,000. fine if you cut/pick any rose.

We found a beautiful backdrop of fall colored vines. This is Erin and Kacey.

Kalene and Kacey with the back drop of the Truckee river.

The Walker Women pose! My 3 nieces that were able to attend: Erin, Chelsey and Kacey

Erin by the river.

Chelsey not wanting her picture taken.

Chelsey picking up her Mom, Kalene but only getting the top half for the looks on their faces.

The Petronella pose says she isn't happy with her picture being taken.

We LOVE YOU Chelsey even if you didn't want your picture taken.

Erin treated us to Chinese Food for lunch.

Walking away with the "Choose to Become" theme going in our minds after the conference.

We are modeling our free tote bags that we got.

My brother-in-law Cody called a while back and he wanted to surprise my sister and their 2 daughters and 2 daughter-in-laws to Time Out for Women in Reno. He wanted to see if they could stay with us. I was very excited and it was also Time Out for Girls so I bought the tickets for Devree and I. I was so happy to see that one of the speakers was Chris Belcher. She is a woman that has battled cancer and numerous operations most of her life. Wow what an inspiration to hear her speak. My neice Kacey had got her to sign her book back when Devree was in treatment and Chris wrote a note in it for Devree. The book was fabulous also. Oh we had so much fun just us girls.

They came late Thursday night and we stayed up till 2 am talking.
Friday, Erin treated us to Chinese Food and then we went shopping. Everyone of us got something.

Friday night was the first part of the conference and we got some decadent desserts after the program. Saturday started way early and we drove back to the Reno Convention Center. Devree had her own meeting while we had ours. We shopped at the conference and found Christmas presents. I ran into 2 friends from Fernley. That was so awesome! I cried and laughed through all of the presentations. Kalene treated us to a delicious buffet and Cody had asked each husband to write a special letter to each of their wives. We read them at lunch and a few of us got tears at how beautiful our husbands wrote their words of love. We ended the day by walking by Truckee River and Erin gave us a tour of UNR- University, Reno. Then home to eat BBQ and play some games. I didn't play games because I was exhausted and was worried about my Sunday School lesson. All of the girls left Sunday morning. But we have already decided we are doing it again next year. There is one in Las Vegas and some in Utah because we want Emily (the niece that couldn't come) to be able to join us.

Devree had an Advanced Choir Performance on Monday. There is no better way to have a Family Home Evening to go and hear one of your children perform.

The Advanced Choir sang so prettily, tears came to our eyes.

Devree... our little song bird. She is the section leader for the Sopranos. Devree, we are so proud of all of your talents.

Raspberries,Pumpkins and Band!

2011-10-09T17:24:00.000-07:00

We went to Latin Farms and got some raspberries and PUMPKINS!
Dane likes his little pumpkin.

We loved this little baby obstacle course.

This was called "The Cow Train" and they buzzed around the lawn behind a quad. They went fairly fast. The 50 gallon drums were painted like brown cows and Holsteins.

This is the famous tree that Louis fell out of and broke both his wrists. Dane is posing.

Dane loves the camera.

Shay was at Galena performing in their first Band Competition of the season. It was a beautiful 70 degrees. Shay said his hat is a "Sweat Bucket".

Here is Shay on the left with his "perfect" form. The formations were good but the trumpets music dropped out in one section. We don't know what their rating was. We picked up Shay to go Halloween shopping.
So it is that time of year again. Favorite Fall with the cooler temperatures, the beautiful colors and Shay begging me to let him get down all of the Halloween stuff. He gets it from me. I love Halloween and I passed it on to him. The house is decorated. The party is on the calendar and now it is time to prepare the many other things that need to be done in the fall. Canning raspberry jam tomorrow is one of them. Isn't life DELICIOUS?

Chase's Wedding

2011-10-02T18:38:00.000-07:00

The new couple, Chase and Erin.

Had fun with the car.

First comes Love, then comes marraige, then comes a baby carraige.

The culprits making the car look good.

All of the adults and Carson went to dinner after the General Relief Society Meeting and Reception. Todd, Josh and Chelsey at our end of the table.

Carson at the other end with Kamon on one side and Emily holding Vance on the other.
Emily holding Vance. Vance is such a sweet, cuddly baby. He even let me hold him for a long time and snuggled in.

Chelsey made the cake and was the Maid of Honor. Josh was the best man.

Tammie and Chelsey trying to have a chat at the reception. Ben holding Kloe who wanted to crawl everywhere and Cody and Kalene.

Kalene and Kyran having an intense conversation.

Before the wedding begins.

Todd said Emily is so photogenic holding Bos who is being a little shy.

Vance and Grandma Kalene.

Carson and Josh.

Bos holding on to Grandpa Cody.

Ben holding Kloe playing with her beautiful dress.

Kyree found a unique rock.

Kalene was such a good helper with Bos who was the ring bearer. Kyree was on one side and Kalene on the other as flower girls but Kalene had her hand behind Bos' back to help him along. They were the cutest thing about the whole wedding. Later Bos asked Cody why they didn't use his rings that he brought on the pillow. It was adorable.

Two beautiful girls. The wedding party before the wedding. Kacey was the photographer so I didn't get very many pictures of her.

Bill came with his wife and two adorable boys. It was "Rock Day" at school. Devree made her wig with a pony tail Mohawk down the center. Shay had me apply eye liner. At seminary another boy saw Shay and wanted to do his own eyes with eyeliner.

Sorry Noble. Shay found your Stix shirt and Devree is posing in her eyeball socks. See O'Barrs? Your socks are still in use.

Todd and I had lots of fun going to Las Vegas for Chase's wedding. We met Ky and Tammie there without any of our kids and stayed in some condos that were very nice with a jacuzzi bath tub and even a fireplace. We went out to dinner and enjoyed the hot tub too. It was a fast, relaxing vacation. It was great to see all of the Walkers, Petronellas and Bassetts. I love to see all of my grand neices and grand nephews too. I love mini-family reunions and I am really looking forward to the big RICE REUNION next year.

Dane being a Webelo, Dayton High Band

2011-10-01T21:07:00.000-07:00

Julie, the cub master and Dane getting his first 3 pins.

Playing the iceberg game where the kids had to jump on each iceberg and it kept getting smaller.

Now the treat part.

Shay getting ready to march. This is the first time putting on the uniform. No feathers today because there was a chance of rain.

Already to go.

It takes 2 people to get dressed because the zippers are in the back.

Getting stuff out of all the cars.

Nica before she has to carry the quad. The design of the uniform with the cross over in the front and all hair inside the hat makes it hard to know if it is a girl or boy. I made the sad mistake of calling a boy a girl. I hope he forgives me.

As you can see from the shadows we arrived at 8:30am for the Dayton Valley Days Parade at 10 am.

William striking a trombone pose.

Jackson trying to get that hair up in the hat. Shay grinning behind thinking "I am glad I don't have to worry about that."

There were a lot of different strategies trying to get the hair out of the way.

We had a beautiful, clear, rather warm day.

Mrs. Bum making some final touches.

The flag girls hanging out ready to go.

At ease, marcher!

Girls and boys trying to get that hair up!

Looking Sharp.

Anna is serious about being a drum major. Samantha not so serious.

Getting ready to line up.

Zack puffing out those cheeks!

DIS band came too. Nolan is chilling with his horn.

Finally got his hair pinned up. Now it is time for the hat.

Yes I got my hair up, but I'm not happy about it!

Shay talking with his buddies from DIS. Stephen's sax looks as big as him.

Lining up and getting into position.

At attention...almost everyone.

Makayla and Heidi's first year in DIS Marching Band.

Almost everyone ready.

Dancing around while the DIS band warms up and plays a tune.

Now everyone is ready.

Hey Shay you are not supposed to look at your Mom. You are supposed to look forward.

Josh ready and playing.

Nica with the quad on.

Yes Stephen that instrument is bigger than you!

Reno Ballon Races 2011

2011-09-10T10:18:00.000-07:00

Todd, Shana, and Dane were the only ones willing to get up at 5 AM to travel an hour for the 48th annual Reno Balloon Races.

The sound system was pretty good! They played the national anthem and we all paid our respect to the flag and this great country in which we live.
I actually had tears in my eyes when the flag rose in the air with the sun shining through.
Our service men and women were also honored by the military flying 5 planes in different formations. There was a "Missing Man" formation and there was an accapella choir that sang to the different service groups.

They told us that 100 balloons would be launched this day. It was so much that we were only able to capture a small portion of what went on.

First all of the balloons were laid out flat in the fields. Just like the balloon on the ground behind Dane and Todd. This was done before we arrived.

A large gas powered fan is then used to inflate the balloon. Shana got a wonderful picture of inside the balloon by standing behind the fan.

We loved this picture of the moon blowing out a breath full of stars. The picture is on the very top of the balloon, so you would never see it if you were not there for the launch.

Once the balloon has been inflated with the enormous fan, a huge flame is shot into the balloon to heat the air inside.

There were about 70 hot air balloon teams that were going through these steps. ALL AT THE SAME TIME!!! In this picture you can only see 5, that gives you an idea of how much was going on and how little we were able to show you.

It was truly and awe inspiring sight to see these vibrantly colored balloons quickly fill with air, and raise to tower over you. I would say that the average launch time took about 20 - 40 minutes. So some of the balloons went from laying flat on the ground waiting for the flag ceremony... To be launched and in the air within just over 20 minutes. The remaining balloons were filled with air and waiting anchored as hand held radios and other supplies were loaded in the baskets. Talk about a festive fun atmosphere.

As we walked back to the car we captured this picture of 26 balloons. We counted just over 70 and saw that the remaining balloon teams were going out to launch their balloons. WOW!!! What a fun event!

We loved all of the specialty balloons! This panda was one of the first balloons to depart. They filled the main balloon with hot air so the balloon floated to a vertical position. Then a couple of ropes were pulled and the hot air began to fill up the nose.

This panda's nose is no longer flat. He actually turned out pretty well. There was also a big balloon for Wells Fargo that was in the shape of a stagecoach. It was about twice as wide as the panda.

Darth Vader turned out pretty cool too!

There was a little bridge over this irrigation ditch. It was kind of pretty seeing the balloons reflected in its glassy surface. We couldn't capture the whole effect, but at least you can get the idea of what it was like.

End Of Summer FUN!!!

2011-09-06T19:30:00.000-07:00

Jumping off the rocks at Lake Tahoe.

Todd enjoying his day off he took from work so he could enjoy our last hurrah at Lake Tahoe.

Dane loving the lake.

Megan came with her family.
Jace came.

Kolten came. They have a tube that has Voigtlaenders name still on it. I miss going to the Lake with them. But they are having an adventure in Belgium.

Michelle was a brave mom and came with her twin boys, Issac and Noah.

Riley and Anna enjoying just floating along.

Devree getting some sun.

The first day of School. Dane is a 5th grader, Shay a freshman and Devree a senior! My my time has flown.

Shay is on the soccer team. They had a tournament in Fallon so we went to see him play.

Carnival fun at the "Hearts of Gold Cantalope Festival"

We are having FUN!

Isaac and his parents joined us at the Festival.

Shay riding the bull.

Right before he fell off.

Isaac is loosing it.

Dane thinks he has a method to stay on...but he falls too.

Todd tries and falls too. But it was a good laugh.

We had to spin before we ate. I just watched. I know the vomit flies if I spin.

On Labor Day we went shooting the BB gun and quading and swimming in the river. No we didn't shoot the toilet.

Dane turns 10!

2011-09-04T20:33:00.000-07:00

Breakfast in bed for the Baby that is now a decade.

Devree made a hand made "Hoops and YoYo card.

Dane requested to eat Chinese food so we tried the "Golden Dragon 2". It is a new restaurnat here and it was very good.

Dane was excited to get his presents.

Here is the family card of Hoops and Yoyo about a Piratey Treasure. He listened to it several times to hear all of the jokes.

He got a DVD called "The Black Cauldron" a Disney movie.

Finally he opened his real gift the Bey Blade Stadium that he asked for to have competitons between his Bey Blades which are like tops.

He was very excited to get it.

So this is the cake that I decorated for Dane. I was very proud of it but the boys said it looked like a ship or a bear. If you turn the picture it is a PENGUIN because we had a PENGUIN Party!

Here the boys are having a race to be Daddy Penguins and hold the eggs (water balloons between their legs. It was hilarious because the water balloons kept getting higher and higher instead of down between their ankles like they were supposed to be.

Madsen holding his "egg".

Jason holding his egg.

Kobe holding his egg.

Andrew holding his egg in his crotch. That is where all of the boys ended up holding the eggs so they could run to the finish line.

Andrew still racing.

We also tossed the water balloons and they actually got pretty far away before they popped. We did all this and then we went and saw "Mr. Poppers Penguins"

Water balloon toss. The boys did really good and far.

Low Rider hiding in the shade.

The boys just enjoyed being together and jumping on the trampoline together.

They enjoyed playing "BeyBlade" too.

Dane was happy to get some money as gifts.

Blowing out the candles. He ended up having two girl friends.

Trying to figure out if the cake is a boat, bear or what it is. I finally told them it was a penguin.

Dane is my extra special surprise. After loosing a baby, Todd had to talk me into having one more. We really wanted a girl but as soon as we found out we were pregnant we were laying on our bed thinking about having another girl. Dane's spirit was so strong it came to Todd and I together we looked at each other and said "I am a BOY!" Out of all my pregnancies that is the only time we had the feeling so strongly that we should never make plans for a girl. Dane is a sweet boy, good friend, very tolerant of his big bully brother and loves math and baseball. I am very happy he is our caboose because he is becoming a wonderful person and one that I have always enjoyed being around. Happy 10th Birthday Dane!

4Wheel Fun!

2011-08-14T17:11:00.000-07:00

Shay and Isaac wanted to be "Mermaids" sunning themselves in the middle of Scott's lake.

Low Rider did not want to be out of eyesight of Todd. He does not get along well with other dogs but finally was able to play with Hydro (Spaniel). He almost got eaten by Lady though (Golden Retriever)

There is still snow up on the mountain. "Cccccome on in. It's not ccccccold"

Ron and Gary watching the 2 Retreivers swim and swim aand swim. There were 2 Garter snakes swimming in the water where Ron is.

Low Rider trying to be like the big dogs.

Sariah was having a hard day. First she screamed about the garter snakes in the water than a bug flew in her hair and then she didn't want to swim back from the Mermaid rock so Shay carried her in.

Leslie never stood still unless we played games. We played games and had a ton of fun!

Talking over our broken trailer. The fridge wouldn't work. The water lines are leaking.....then when we came home we broke the door. Alas so many things to repair.

Devree declares "Camping means no hair".

The four that went quading the most. They just didn't want to ever get off.

Shay drove and Dane got to drive. THANK YOU RON and LESLIE for letting us borrow helmets.

Becca came (Gary and Pam's granddaughter). She has a crush on Shay. They were often seen together.

So fun to find some beautiful free camping in California that is close to our home. We really had a great time getting away from cell phones, regular phones and all of the hectic life at home.

Shay started Band Camp this week so he is gone from 8-4:30. Thank goodness Band camp was not going on Friday. This week Shay will juggle Soccer practice and Band Camp. He is going to have to really be good about his schedule.

Devree and I are planning and planning her fund raiser on the Saturday at the end of this month. "Help Devree Smile" is still getting donations for her rummage sale. We have been so blessed and impressed by so many people and their generosity.

We want to share more of our philosophy on this blog too. Our family has a good attitude throughout the many trials we have faced. Our new family motto is "The Hamblins adapt and overcome". We wanted to have a motto because we learned it from my neice and nephew what they tell their 3 little daughters. "Bassetts do hard things". We know we can still have a good attitude and adapt and overcome through even brain cancer. How can we do this? Through our faith and religion. Reading our scriptures everyday helps our family stay close in spirit and keep on loving each other. It helps us face our daily challenges and our really DIFFICULT on going challenges. We do this by reading the bible and the Book of Mormon. Here is a link. http://mormon.org/book-of-mormon

Newspaper Article on Devree Hamblin

2011-08-07T17:17:00.000-07:00

If you click this picture once it will magnify 1x. Once the image has increased to 1x, click the image once again. The image should then be large enough to read the newspaper article.

BOSTON!

2011-07-31T20:05:00.000-07:00

This is the Trolley we went around on for 2 days.

See the cobblestone streets and the beautiful architecture? This is close to the Wharf.

This is Paul Revere's house. It is from the 1700's!

This is the entrance to Paul Revere's house.

This is one of the bells that Paul Revere made. He did many jobs in his life but working with different types of metal was his specialty.

This was a unique war memorial. It represents dog tags of those fallen in wars.

This is a statue of Paul Revere.

I loved the different architecture. So fancy and embellished. It is nothing like we have in the West.

This is the Old State House. This balcony was where the Declaration of Independence was read.

Devree liked this roof embellishment of a Unicorn.

I just had to get a picture of a mounted policeman in Boston Commons, the huge park. He was texting on his smart phone.

The Swan Boats have been run by the same family since the late 18oo's. The boats are powered by PEDALS. Yes 1 person sits and pedals like a bike the 20 or so people around the lake.

Here we are ready to go on our cruise.

More of the outskirts of the park.

There were only 2 real swans on the pond.

There were many ducks and turtles. The ducks had their own island and a little ramp to get up on their island.

A church getting renovated. So elaborate.

They have green ways everywhere and there were fountains and splash parks everywhere for kids to play in.

Devree and I ordered a small Boston Cream Pie to share. It was soooo delicious. We also ordered a little cup of clam chowder to eat for dinner and it was heavenly. I wished I had them to eat RIGHT NOW!

There are some sad things that happened in Boston too. Many people were put in the stocks and don't forget all of the people that were hung for witches. One lady was trying to preach freedom of religion and was hung in the park back in the 1600's.

This is a coffin which is another part of the display to see the "Scary" parts of Boston at night. They take you where the last "Boston Strangler" victim was found. The guy that confessed to all of the murders was murdered in jail waiting for his trial. He was defended by none other than the same group of attornies that defended O.J. Simpson. Too bad the same thing did not happen again.

The harbor cruise we took.

The Skyline of Boston.

The USS Constitution. A ship that has been around since the late 1700's. Think "Master and Commander" or the other name of the ship is "Old Iron Sides".

There were rows of cannons on deck and rows of cannons below deck. One person said "It looked like the cannons just bounced of the hull.

This was a little stand that college students had. I thought it was hillarious how they made President Obama into Hitler. Uncle Ky would like this.

This one even has Obama with "crazy eyes".

This is a statue of the famous Bobby Orr, the Hockey player. I remember hearing about him when I was young. He played for Boston Bruins.

Devree and I saw these "Forgiveness signs alot. We thought it was interesting. They said "
Forgiveness is the way."

This is actually when we are on the USS Constitution.

You will see many people dressed up to give tours on the "Freedom Trail".

Devree is pointing to the place of where the "Declaration of Independence" was proclaimed.

This is the parade for a saint in Little Italy. We were lucky to be waiting in line to get to the famous "Giacomos" where Rachel Ray filmed $40. per day. It is tiny. There was only enough room for about 20 people!

This is the statue of the Saint and they try to get more money on him by having the parade.

This is the band in traditional costume.

This is the article of Rachel Ray eating at the restaurant.

This Chad and Jessica M with their two adorable twin daughters that are 8 months old. We had a lovely dinner after waiting about an hour. The girls were great dinner guests and did not make a peep! Chad is a cousin of Todd's and Chad and Jessica just moved to Boston.

My first impression of Boston was that it was a very clean city. Most people were very dressed up. We are talking suits, ties and nylons for the ladies. You could tell who was a tourist because we were dressed very casually. Even our Shuttle driver wore a tie.

The reason we went to Boston is to see Dr. Tess Hadlock. Our bishop's parents live in Utah and they know a boy that had medulloblastoma too. He went to Dr. Hadlock and had the procedure done to help him smile. I only talked to the boys mother on the phone, but I had a really good feeling that this was a doctor we needed to see. The first doctor in North Carolina took 4 months to get back to us. After one phone call with Dr. Hadlock's office and we had an appointment and been pre approved by insurance. We did pray about it also. It is interesting because when we visited St. Jude's this time, the first doctor seems to have retired. Dr. Hadlock wants to do some in office procedures and then 2 hospitalized operations. We are thinking this will be good for Devree. She talked to Devree face to face and was very personable. She wants to do botox in the good side to make it more slack. Then bring up the right eyebrow, put in a platinum weight in the crease of Devree's eyelid to help it close better and then tuck up the lower lid. She wants to bring Devree's nose over so it is more in alignment. Devree also has to do some exercises and physical therapy for her face. The doctor will send a letter detailing everything plus hopefully the cost, so we can make a firm decision.

So we flew in on Wednesday and I booked us into a Comfort Inn that had a shuttle from the airport. The Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmiry sent a list of hotels that offer discounts to patients. They were all $300 per night and up. So the Comfort Inn was in an industrial area and too far from the "T" or subway system. We did find a trolley that came by our hotel and took us on tours of Boston and free entrances to some museums. The trolley worked out perfectly because we went into downtown at 9 am and could get off and on the trolley all day and then ride it back to our hotel at 5:30 pm. The hotel had a great breakfast but their Mexican restaurant for dinner was not good. We were in awe of Boston. We visited Paul Revere's house, the Old North Church, Little Italy, Chinatown where we had lunch, rode the swan boats in Boston Commons and saw Fenway Pahk. (That is how one of the signs spelled it because that is how they talk.) It is tinier than the Reno Aces park and I wondered why there are so many baseball fans of a team that has only won RARELY! But Boston was fabulous for seeing where our nation began. We had clam chowder and Boston Cream pie that was to die for it was so YUMMY! That was only the first day.
The next day we went on a Boston Harbor Cruise, toured the USS Constitution or "Old Iron Sides", went to our Doctors Appointment, visited The Old State House where the Declaration of Independence was signed and had dinner in Little Italy that Rachel Ray ate at. Oh I also had a lobster roll at the cafeteria at the MEEI (MA eye and ear Infirmary) and lobster ravioli at dinner. We had a wonderful time meeting Chad and Jessica M. at Giacomos in Little Italy with their adorable 8 month old twin daughters. While we were waiting in line to get in there was a parade for a saint and some real Italian music and dancers dressed in traditional clothing.

Boy we had a wonderful time in Boston and can't wait to go back. The doctor is going to be sending us a letter and hopefully outlining the cost of all of this.

Scans are Clean and Great!

2011-07-26T12:37:00.000-07:00

We just got the news that both scans are good and we are ready to leave at 6am for Boston for the next part of our journey. Dr. Armstrong here at St. Jude's wants to know how that procedure goes because another doctor retired that was doing the nerve transplant operations.

Yesterday as Devree and I were walking in the halls we ran into Dr. Gajarr. I said "Devree it is the famous Dr. Gajarr and he is the reason we came to St. Jude's and he is the one that published his protocol and allowed you your life." He gave Devree a big hug and we told him it has been 2 years since the end of his protocol a nd THANK YOU! Dr. Gajarr had 65% recovery rate for this protocol for medulloblastoma and now it is past 85% recovery from this cancer. We owe him a great deal.

Devree wasn't able to get her new hearing aids today. They didn't come soon enough but they don't have to be fitted so they will be sent in the mail and we can just hook them in her ear. Johnnie Bass is Devs audiologist and she said that she appreciates Devree being a good guinea pig to try out these new lighter, tinier, less intrusive hearing aids. I think hallelujah! We are blessed beyond measure! I hope you feel blessed today too!

Back to St. Judes for a check up.

2011-07-25T19:00:00.000-07:00

Devree did the craft at the Grizzly House. We braided yarn to make bracelets and anklets. It was quite funny to hear the Asian man talk so Southern. He said he "Grew up in Arkansas and when I crossed the river they made me buy shoes!" He was hilarious. Just another volunteer here at St. Judes.
We flew in on Sunday because we had to get blood samples etc before our appointments on Monday. That meant we had to go to the Medicine Room and see all of our buddies that only work on Sundays in the Medicine room. It was great! 5 nurses came and hugged and said hello and were so happy to see how well Devree is doing. She weighed in at 120 lbs! She hasn't weighed that since January 2009.
The eye doctor says she still needs to add more eye drops per day. She needs to apply them hourly. Also he told her she is not allowed to wear eye makeup on her right eye because her eye cannot feel it when makeup gets in her eye. Devree was a little ticked at that and would not look at the doctor very much.
The Audiologist wants Devree to try a new kind of hearing aid. She ordered them and we should get them tomorrow. We will let you know.

Bron and Carrie

2011-07-25T18:35:00.000-07:00

On the way home from the reunion we stopped by Bron and Carrie's house. This is Ruby who is named after Grandma Ruby.

Ruby without her pacifier and Carrie holding Zoey.

This is Fiona. I haven't seen Fiona since she was a baby.

Carrie and Bron with cousins and girls.

Zoey let us all hold her. She would wrinkle up her nose so cute too.

Ry came home and he is turning into a big 9 year old.

All of us look pretty tired after the Mackley Reunion. It was so good to stop in and see Bron and Carrie. Bron gave Todd an orchid book because he used to grow orchids. We had a lovely chat and their kids are all so cute and lovable. Thanks Bron and Carrie for being such wonderful hosts. Sorry we couldn't stay long enough to see Teril and Coy. Maybe next time.

Mackley Reunion

2011-07-25T17:29:00.000-07:00

We had the Mackley Family Reunion in Island Park, Idaho this year. I was very excited to go since last time (2009) Devree were at St. Jude's.

Little Natalie Hamblin, getting bigger and bigger. We were there when she was born in April and she learned how to roll over while at the reunion.

Matthew Hamblin turned 4 years old on the first day of the reunion and he got 4 cakes. He is pointing to all of his cakes. Aunt Jan was in charge this year and she did a great job.

Chris and Tricia helped their Mom a lot at the reunion. Wendy and Linda enjoying a meal.

Kaylun and Dane eating together with some little cousins.

Chris, Tamara, Chip, Aunt Jan and Brandon

Aunt Kathy, Kaylee and the back of Devree at one of the meals.

Lafi, Uncle Earl, Aunt Mary, Alicia on one side talking to Uncle Bill on the other side of the table.

Karyn and John talking with Uncle Brownie.

We went to lower and Upper Mesa Falls. It was very gorgeous.

Wendy cheesecaking it.

Todd and Karyn looking at the falls.

Wendy and Shane

Aunt Mary, Lafi talking with Chip

Hailey riding on Aunt Tamara's shoulders.

Fightened by the bear on the wall.

Devree's a good poser.

More Fall pictures.

I likeAlicia's t-shirt. She is an "Amazin Sight". The opposite side of the falls was so green from all of the spray while the cliffs under the green were a stark white and black with sometimes orange lichen growing.

Devree doing a "I like the mist" pose.

Tina came with us to the falls. She was "THE" camara person for the reunion. Thanks Tina for all of your awesome pictures.

They were awesome falls and an awesome reunion. Looking forward to the next Mackley reunion in 2013. Noble will get to go to that one hopefully. I love all of you Mackley's and thank you for all of your generous donations to "Help Devree Smile". You contributed enough for 1 round trip ticket to Boston. But like Mary Hamblin quoted "Oh I've never been to Boston in the Faaaallll". But Devree and I will be there in the summer and I'm sure in the Fall too.

Going to Idaho

2011-07-25T08:02:00.001-07:00

We visited the Fauvells that used to live in Fernley many years ago.

We had lovely chats and a comfortable bed and delishous breakfast the next morning. Thank you Deb and Dan.

We stopped by the Butikofers and they fed us lunch. It is always nice to see what adventures they have been up to. They moved to Dayton when we first moved there.

Reese has been busy devoping his talents and he learned how to sculpt bears with chainsaws.

These are some of the sayings on the bears.

It is so nice to drop in on friends that you haven't seen for years and years. It is nice to visit with people that have still kept their testimonies and covenants and have become even stronger. Thank you friends for being great hosts and great examples.

Waterfall with Brices!

2011-07-25T07:37:00.000-07:00

Talon, Jackson and Kallie standing on rocks at our make do picnic.

Shay and Dane fooling around.

Celest, Breck and Tayzia.

Shay is KING of the Rock but Talon and Jackson will soon be up.

We hiked up about 3 miles to the beautiful waterfalls by Grover Hot Springs.

They were bigger farther up but I started back down to the car to get our towels etc for Grover Hot Springs.

The boys admiring the falls.

The sad part is we went over to the Hot Springs and the parks people said it would be an hour before we could get in because they don't let too many people in at a time. So we were starving for dinner and went back home to eat a BBQ and make homemade strawberry ice cream.

This post is called the "Brices" because to distinguish between the "Ky" Rices and the "Breck" Rices, Dane nicknamed them the "Brices". I asked, What shall we call the Ky Rices? The Krices?" We had a laugh about that. It was a little sad because the only time the Breck and Celest's family could come is the Friday night before the EARLY Sunday we had to leave for the Mackley Reunion in Idaho. Devree was gone to girls camp till late Saturday so she missed out on the hike and was probably glad because she was a Youth Camp Counselor for the girls.

Breck and Celest were able to stay at our house till Wednesday before they left to go to Southern Nevada and visit more family. Celest left the house ULTRA clean for us by washing all of the sheets and cleaning everything spotless. Thank you so much Celest.

Devree's 17th Birthday and 4th of July camping

2011-07-10T17:14:00.000-07:00

We camped up by Camp Fleischmann. This is the special place where they do Order of the Arrow. Devree said WWW must stand for World Wide Web. Ha! Ha!

Hiking around the Lassen National Forest.

Traveling to go to the little RV park in Chester.

Devree got her Hoops and YoYo card. It was very funny.

Devree requested Pineapple Upside Down Cake for her Birthday cake. We celebrated with the Olson's.

At Lassen Volcanic National Park and the snow is still very DEEP.

In front of the Lassen Volcanic Park Visitors Center.

Makayla in front of the Volcano replica. Mallory thought it would be too scary to go through the little hole.

Devree crawling through and giving us a smile with both sides of her face. She has to have help with the right side so she pushes it up with her finger.

Mallory finally got brave to go through the hole.

There was a huge snow pile out the back door. I started a snowball fight with the boys.

Shay, Isaac and Dane loved running on top of the huge snow bank up by the bubbling mud pots.

There was only 1 boiling mud pot. It smelled like sulphur really strong. It was not comparable to all that you see in Yellowstone. We did see many steam vents though. We were using walkie talkies back and forth between the cars and Todd quoted "Shrek" and said "I know what I smelt and it wasn't no brimstone". Then a stranger gets on our channel and said "Mel is that you?" We died laughing because Todd just told a stranger the line.

We went to Lake Almanor and we found a beautiful park. It was only for the residents and guests of the upper scale neighborhood. We figured we were guests. It was a perfect place to eat our lunch, sit in the shade, play on the playground, play in the mud or swim in the lake. The sad part was there were no dogs allowed so we had to have someone stay in the cars with the dogs. We took turns.

We stayed at an RV park right on Main street of Chester. On the 4th of July there was a parade and we just walked out of our trailer and placed our chairs to watch. This teeny town had an awesome restaurant that served HUGE banana splits and sundaes. We went over and had a few. The grocery store was across the street and bread was $5. a loaf!

This was a Church and they were playing the loudest rock music with a bunch of people that were at least in their 50's or 60's.

It was a really fun time playing games and eating and camping with the Olsons. Their trailer is a like a big castle compared to our trailer and our trailer broke a few more things so now we might have to put some money into it if we want to camp very much anymore. Oh well it was a very Happy 4th of July. We went to Virginia City that night and watched fireworks off the edge of the hill. It is pretty cool to listen to the church bells play patriotic songs while the fireworks go off. Virginia City has a very good display.

Shay's Birthday 2011

2011-06-26T19:00:00.000-07:00

We got a good picture of Spencer.

What do teenage girls do? Yep that's right. They lay in bed and text. That is why they have those grins that say "You caught us!"

Uncle Ky and Devree are eating delicious corn on the cob. We reminisced how Ky grew wonderful corn a few years ago.

We caught Skyla as she was trying to get in the fridge.

Locey being his self.

Dane went to a Cub Scout 3 day camp called "Frontier Fun". Each boy got a 'coon skin cap. He had lots of fun and I got to be with him for one day.

Happy 14th Birthday Shay! It seems like yesterday he was our Shayby Baby!

He is bleary eyed but he loves his breakfast in bed and his Hoops and YoYo card.

Here is the card.

He is excited to get his MP4 player. He lost his one that he got for Christmas. This is bigger and fancier.
Shay got ordained to a teacher today. We are so proud that he is making good choices and even if he didn't win the Freshman election, he is turning out to be an outstanding young man. We love you Shay and are so proud of you.

Shay wanted his friends to come to the church to celebrate his birthday. He is sad because Preston beat him at chess.

We had a few families join us for some games and cake and ice cream. Shay requested a chocolate cake with cream cheese filling frosted with chocolate frosting. It turned out pretty good but the cake was a little bit crumbly. I like my cake very moist.

Shay messing with my camera. His "self portrait".

Dane took a close up of Devree.

Shay playing his game.

Devree practicing a FULL smile.

Dane's self portrait.

We went to Lake Tahoe yesterday with Todd because he went up with the Scouts. The water was so FREEZING but what a beautiful day with the clear blue sky and bright sun surrounded by snow capped mountains. Shay and Isaac still jumped off the rocks into that FREEZING COLD WATER. As soon as we got there, one scout came over with blue lips and goose bumps on top of goose bumps and said "Oh if you go on the other side, the water is warmer!" I almost laughed at him. Devree stuck in her toes and that was it. I waded in but that was it for me. Everytime we go to Lake Tahoe, I cannot get over how truly beautiful it is. There is just no other place like it on this earth. Our family truly enjoy all of the seasons that Lake Tahoe has to show us. This week challenge yourself to do something truly "summerish". It is, afterall, the 4th of July weekend!

EFY at Fresno

2011-06-19T12:52:00.000-07:00

Dane and I went to a Fresno Grizzly baseball game.

We went to Yosemite where the falls have not been this good with the snowpack since the 1960's. This is Bridal Veil Falls from several miles away.

A picture from the tunnels.

The falls were all amazing. Too many people there though.

From the parking lot. Dane and I got so wet just from the spray.

So wet!

We went to see a cute little family that moved from Dayton. Lily is not too sure.

Leah, Brian and Lily in their beautiful backyard. It was lovely to have a visit with them.

Playing in the cousins pool at 7AM!

Uncle Ky found out about a free scuba class so Shay, Skyla and Dane got a class in a 12 foot pool.

Dane was like a fish and loved it. Shay was an old pro. Skyla loved it too but had trouble with her ears not popping in the deep end.

Shay and Devree got to go to a stay-at-home Especially for Youth in Fresno. We were hoping to go with cousins but the cousins had a Youth Conference at the same time. Stay-at-home means from Monday-Friday the kids are at the conference from 9am and get picked up at 9pm every night. The EFY took place right at the temple/stake grounds in Fresno. We came to see cousins in Visalia on Monday night but decided to stay in a close by hotel in Fresno for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights.

Shay's 8th Grade Promotion

2011-06-19T12:40:00.001-07:00

Father and Son activity to fix the broken truck.

Still smiling inspite of the hours to fix it.

Devree busy doing homework.

Shay quickly trying to have dinner so that he can get in line to promote.

A better view of where the area is set up next to the track at the Middle school. We got there early and brought our comfy lawn double seater because as we told others that saw our set up "This is our 3rd time around for this".

Shay coming down the the aisle to "Pomp and Circumstance" with a lot of High School band members helping out the 6th and 7th graders.

Afterward Shay is happy and Mason is happy too.

So our final picture of Shay's promotion. We are really proud of you Shay. You are an awesome kid, son and brother and we look forward to your high school career because we know you will be unique in all you do.

Memorial day onward into June

2011-06-05T14:26:00.000-07:00

On Memorial Day, many in the ward met to have a Bowling party. It was very fun.

Brian, Julie and Jessica played. I didn't get a shot of Cameron, Andrew and Sam. They were too busy playing.

Hannah, Josh and Krista played.

Katrina, Preston, Issac and Shay all got hungry and so it was dollar day for fries!

Sariah, Madsen and Dane having fun with Leslie peeking behind.

Devree, Dane and I played next to the Evans. Our team of 8 included the Larkins and the Ericksons. Maple who is 4 years old came in 2nd at 105 points while Devree whipped us all at 115 points. We are so glad we had the bumper guards up!

Emily holding I think Connor. Todd played next to us with the Halvorsens and the Clarks.

Todd and Shay having a great time.

Alex and Sarah brought 2 friends. Monica hugging on Tyus. He was happy hugging on his mom and not running around. Tyus was one of the Early Childhood children that got lost for a short time at school. We finally found him on the playground.

The beloved Jones family are moving to Wyoming. Barry (with hat on looking down) is Todd's twin, or so we say. Because their birthdate is the same. But Barry always tells Todd, he is older. Wayne and Jen were the hosts in their beautiful back yard.

Brandon was not cooperating to have his picture taken sitting between Elder Humphrey and Elder Carlton who found out he really did break his leg about 5 months ago. Elder Carlton is finished with his mission and goes home in a few weeks to have surgery.

Jeanni, Vahndra and Glenda I was able to catch. Vahndra has a very nice camera.

Meghan came and joined her Mom. I asked Meghan and Dane's class to sing at the first of my Sunday School class today. All 7 of them sang "Scripture Power" so beautifully. I really appreciated it.

Laton tackling Dane on the trampoline at the party.

Wow Dane is still on the bottom but somehow Laton got "X"d out. Ha! Ha!

Ford, Oakley and Connor all hanging out in the back yard at the party.

Raquel, Jaidyn and Noah having fun.

Noah looks like he doesn't want to acknowledge that Jaidyn has her arm around him.

Travis is showing his new fashion called "The Cowboy Shorts".

More jumping on the trampoline. So much a blur.

Devree had a sleepover to celebrate her 17th birthday a month early. Because her birthday is July 3rd, many of her friends are not in town. One of her friends is allergic to gluten and so therefore we have the candles stuck into Rainbow Sherbet ice cream. I can't believe my only girl is turning 17!

She is getting a good blow on. Here is a great picture to show you how her face has been affected by the cancer. After 3 months, we heard from the doctor in North Carolina that says Devree would be a good candidate for his procedure to get her smile back. He warns us that it won't be as good as before. Now to find the funds to be able to do that. Some friends already are coming up with some good ideas for fund raisers.

Here are most of the girls that came to help Devree celebrate.

Manny dropped by too. He misses Noble and says he has 4 letters he has written to Noble and hasn't sent yet.

Rock Band was a big hit at the party.

More Rock band.

Elena and Devree got the red eye look as they were cheering on Rock Band.

Dane wanting to be part of the party.

Manny showing us that he wants to grow another beard.

Dane had his last official game and had a pizza party and trophies were handed out.

Gavin was a great little Giants player but he would not smile for me beside the cute cake.

One of Dane's great coaches. He and his father were always so positive and helped each of the players excel. The team has only lost one game and we don't keep score. Ha Ha!

As you can see our week has been fun filled. The going away party for the Jones' was at the same time as Devree's party. We are winding down school. This next week is our last week and boy are we having lots of things planned for summer. We still haven't found out about Shay's Freshman President campaign. Maybe when Shay promotes from 8th grade on Wednesday, they will announce who won. This next quote is exactly how I fell "Those who honor the calling of righteous parenthood will find their souls refined, their hearts purified, and their minds enlightened by the most important lessons of life." Elder Bruce D. Porter (of the seventy) Ensign, June 2011 Pg.12
We hope this week is a wonderful week for all of you.

Memorial Day and the week before!

2011-05-29T15:32:00.000-07:00

Devree had her final Advanced Choir concert for the year. She lettered in Choir for the second year. Her teacher put a sticky note on it that said I owe you a pin. But Devree says she still owes her a letter from last year too! Ha Ha! Devree was also voted by her peers as "Most Dedicated".

We visited Beth in the hospital. She was riding behind Jessica and they wrecked on an ATV. Beth lost conscienceness and was in ICU for one day until she woke up. Lots of bruises and bang ups but no broken bones.

This is the side that got banged up the worse. She didn't have a proper helmet to wear.

We were going to go camping this 3 day weekend but it is just so freezing, cold, windy, snowy etc. We decided to stay at home and camp. We didn't answer the phone and enjoyed just playing games and being together. We played Frisbee golf with the 1/2 of the "E" family. We walked down about 2 blocks to where they have put in a Frisbee golf place right next to the river. I am going to love to take the kids there for a picnic and swim later on in the summer. Anyone want to join us?

Good buddies! I have to tell you about these cute boys. I took them and 2 "L" boys to cub scouts on Wednesday. Dane has them starting to play the "Encore" game where you take a word and have to sing a song with that word in it. Dane has chosen "love" before and probably won the game because we have played it at home often. This time "M" chose "the" and his teamate was "JL". At first they started singing any song, but then Dane and his teamate started singing church songs. I was a team by myself and just sang Primary songs. I was impressed that those boys knew so many words to songs. What cute, good boys. I bet they are examples at school too.

These are the special Frisbees that Gary has. So basically you keep track of your color, but they are each special in different ways of how they fly.

Shay giving it a good flick of the wrist with a body umph! He has gloves in his pockets because he just got done with his Saturday job of dog poop and mowing the grass for one of his jobs in the neighborhood.

Ron and Leslie took us out to dinner in appreciation for taking Isaac to seminary this last school year. Seminary is now over but we still have 2 weeks of school. The kids need to be out. They are done. Next year we will see how this 4 day school week will turn out. Me as a Mom is going to like it. But what will happen with seminary among other things?

Devree had Dane pinned on the fold out couch yesterday and I didn't get a picture. So I wanted them to recreate it but Dane was not being too cooperative.

We are thankful to have a 3 day weekend to regroup before another busy week. Todd has had fun trying out some new dutch oven recipes here at home. We made this one that is a meatloaf that you put in a circle around the edges and then cook some vegetables in the center. We cooked asparagus, carrots and potatos. It turned out delicious and we can't wait to let Grandpa Rice taste it sometime. Today Todd is trying out this Chocolate Black Forest Cherry cake. My mouth is watering just thinking of it. We are truly blessed with all of our many many blessings.

Little Red is DEAD

2011-05-21T16:09:00.000-07:00

You know... we might have to see if our home owner's insurance can help us with this problem. "Sometimes Life Comes At You Fast!!!"

***

Is it difficult to take out two garage door panels and replace them? This problem might be bigger than a little fixit job!!!

***

I could replace the 2x6 but it doesn't match at the bottom. So I believe that the main support on the corner got pushed out about 1 1/2 inches.

***

Such a bad crunch. We are not sure how far the bumper and radiator got pushed back into the engine. Our family is used to having "Dad" fix it. I have looked at it enough to realize that this is beyond my capabilities to repair.

***

"Little Red" has almost been like a family member. It is so sad to see him like this.
Posted by Todd. We bought this truck brand new in 1996. It has 276,000 miles on it.
Shay had his 8th grade band concert on Wednesday. He was voted by his teacher the 8th grade student with the most "Excelence". He was very excited because he got a medal too. (hanging out of his mouth).

A nice blurry picture. But they are smiling!

We still haven't heard if Shay won Freshman Class president yet. We had to end our blog on a good note. I guess I will be contacting insurance companies this week. Fun! Fun!

The funniest thing was getting the standard letter from Noble's mission president saying how our missionary had arrived safely to the mission. How we aren't supposed to send too many packages and not extra money or send money to any other families in the Philippines because that is what Fast Offerings are for. Anyway I am so excited to see the standard picture of our missionary with his Mission President and his wife and...IT isn't even our missionary!!!! I laughed and laughed. So maybe our missionary didn't make it safely there. This is a very tall Elder with reddish hair. So I mailed a letter back with the picture and said "This is not our missionary. Our missionary is about 5'10" with black hair, glasses and an easy smile.

Dane said the funniest thing too. Dane got to go to his good buddy's 10th birthday party. I had to get the gift without Dane again. The gift I got was a snorkel. I asked Dane if his friend liked the present. He said he liked it so much he started wearing it. Then I told Dane. "Hey your mom scored because that means 2 years in a row, that your friend liked the gift that I bought." Solemnly Dane said "Mom you have the gift."

So Busy! Did I remember to breathe?

2011-05-15T16:56:00.000-07:00

Dane had his first piano recital.

He played with confidence. Bunny Hop and Traffic Jam were his pieces.

Here is his piano teacher. Thank you Mrs. S. This same night was Shay's Freshman Orientation at the High School. I didn't find him till the end, so I didn't get Shay's picture. This day I also substituted 4th graders and "one of the longest hours of my life" in the 5th grade. Todd immediately went home to prepare for the Scout Camporee.

We had Teacher Appreciation Dinner and this is Miss D. with Devree. Earlier this day was the Talent show at the Middle School where Shay was the MC. I got there late so I didn't get any pictures. I was substituting Early Childhood.

Devree gave a speech about how important knowledge is. She gave such a great talk that they asked her to speak again during church.

More of the Appreciation Dinner.

Another of Devree's Teacher's. Thank you Mrs. F.

Devree did a play on Monday. It was "Northwood's Nonsense". It was a comedy and Devree played a newscaster. DHS did a really good job with speaking loud enough and the acting.

Dear Red Eye, I don't like you. But possibly I will learn someday how to get rid of you. Or maybe get a better camera.

These are some of the posters that everyone has been commenting on for Shay's Freshman class President. Hopefully we find out tomorrow, Monday. We will let all of you know. The following pictures are all of the posters we made last week and one of Low Rider. Shay wore his suit many days and gave out stickers for the students.

What a needy dog! As busy as we are and he still demands attention! He drives me crazy.

So besides the pictures there was a baseball game for Dane on Tuesday with a hearing aid appointment for Devree and a vignette practice for me for the Stake Women's Conference. I subbed 3 days, had to get ready for the Scout campout for Todd and Shay. Devree also volunteered for a conserve water booth at Oodles of Noodles on Saturday. Devree also went to "Oaklahoma" with the Young Women on Friday night. I actually sat at home all by myself on Friday night. I was feeling a little lonely but then I got a phone call. A lady I visit teach lost her brother to suicide that day. Being at home gave me the time to make the necessary phone calls.

Saturday I dropped off Devree at 7:30 am to do her service and I drove to Women's Conference so we could run through the vignette's. Stake Women's Conference was so awe inspiring. It is exactly what I needed to get excited about making positive changes. I loved the many speakers and the conversation with friends.

That afternoon, I picked up Devree, came home and made dinner to deliver to the family and visited. Todd and the boys came home about 7:30pm. Dane had to go with Todd because there was no way we could leave him home through all of these other activities. He missed a baseball game but he had lots of fun and is looking forward to becoming a boy scout.

Sunday is finally a day of much needed REST...after my Sunday School lesson! We are anxiously waiting to hear from Noble. It is his P-Day already.

This week I look forward to exercising regularly, preparing my yard and getting ready to plant a garden. I might even make some bread, and cinnamon rolls are on order from the family. I am only scheduled to substitute 1 day this week and with my new exercise appointments, that is about all I can do. As I learned yesterday, "ENJOY LIFE- This is not a dress rehearsal".

Mother's Day Week

2011-05-08T17:17:00.000-07:00

This week I got to be with Dane on a field trip to University of Nevada Reno (UNR) where we went to the Geology Museum and the Seismology Lab. It was very interesting.

Some of the boys in Dane's class had to get in on the picture.

This is a replica of some dinosaur bones found. This is a dinosaur that lived in water because the feet are like paddles.

As you can see, these 4th graders are all sizes.

This is part of the silver collection by the famous Mackey family that made their fortune in Silver in Virginia City. This was specially made for the Mackey's by Tiffany's in New York.

These are special minerals that glow in the dark or show up well in the black light.

There is a whole museum filled with people's personal geological finds from all over the world that have donated their collections to UNR.

This is the antique replicas of the old style way to record earthquakes. Everything is done digitally now.

Eating lunch in the quad.

With Dane's good buddy's Madsen and Jason. Two friends that he has known since we moved to Dayton.

Devree got inducted into the National Honor Society. Out of the 10 students, 5 were L.D.S. and 4 were from our ward. Congratulations to Devree, Ali, Elena and Katrina.

The 5 L.D.S. girls inducted into the National Honor Society

We rushed over to see Shay get his Star Scout award. He finally found his book and now we are just waiting for the time to fulfill his Life Scout requirement because he has enough merit badges. He is closer to getting his Eagle. I told him the scenario that he is so close that it would be like he walked to Smith's (about 4 miles away) and didn't go in to buy his favorite candy. I hope that helps him through the grueling looooong merit badges and project left. I really think Mom's should get more than a pin when their Eagle Scout gets his award.

Here I am pinning 3 pins.

A blurry picture of Stephen pinning his mom. Stephen got his Star rank too.

The Elders came over for dinner on Saturday. Elder Humphrey and Elder Carleton are great missionaries.

Mother's Day breakfast in bed. It was a lovely omelet, bacon and a blueberry muffin. Todd had written a beautiful letter for my Mother's Day. He also gave me a beautiful orchid plant.

Shay is running for Freshman Class President. We took photos to put on his posters for school and these are some of the slogans that Todd, Devree, Shay and I thought up. He added stars for his eyes and his slogan is "Only SERVICE can make YOU a STAR!

More stars on his eyes "Only Shay will make your Day!"

"Our future's so BRIGHT, I gotta wear Shades!

" You won't be Gamblin if you vote for HAMBLIN"! That is a slogan borrowed from Grandpa Hamblin when he ran for Senior Class President in Overton, NV. By the way, Grandpa won.

" Only YOU can vote for Shay!"

Shay says "It's COOL to serve our SCHOOL!

Super Shay will save the day!

This is the beautiful orchid and our beautiful Devree.
Devree calls this "Dane being a HAPPY Anime Super Hero". I guess his super power is sleeping since he is wearing my sleeping mask upside down.

Shay was a bit upset about working very hard to earn $60. for his part of Scout camp. Scout Camp is $240. and we had a fundraiser thatching and aerating yards. Each scout had to earn $60 to complete the amount. Devree was bragging that girls camp is only $60. and there is free time, a rock climbing wall, lake, canoes, zip line and GREAT FOOD! The girls were able to pay for all of their camp by the one fundraiser of thatching and aerating. Shay thought about all of the years that there has been crappy food at scout camp and he stated "I'm going to Girls Camp. They have lots more fun, GOOD FOOD and lots of GIRLS!

Hopefully your Mother's Day was wonderful. I know mine was and we still get to talk to Noble in a few more hours. I miss our Missionary.

Last Day in Columbus

2011-05-01T19:59:00.000-07:00

We went to the COSI (Center of Science and Industry) and it is the top Science Center of the U.S. It was very interesting. We visited the Water attraction first. These are Water bells and as you can tell, Hallie, Alyssa and Kalene loved it.

We all had fun experimenting with the water bells.

More water fun.

Todd and the boys lifted a car up.

Shay rode on the unicycle. It was so high up, I knew I didn't want to try it.

Shay said it was kind of freaky being that high up. The boys loved a ride that was like a carnival ride where the floor drops out after spinning fast. There was a lovely play area for under kindergarten, and we saw rats play basketball and an electricity show. There was a fascinating exhibit on geckos too. We could've spent all day there but we had to get to the indoor water park.

We were amazed at the small space that so many indoor water activities were crammed in. Devree was relaxing here.

Ben and Khloe enjoying the Lazy river.

Dane and Shay loved this pool where you try to get across on the floating discs. It was sort of like Lily Pads but you can hold onto the ropes above to help you across.

Dane showing us how it is done.

Todd and Shay going down the Lazy River. You could go down a 3 story slide with the double tube and end up going down the river.

This is the jacuzzi for Mom's and little kids. It wasn't quite as hot as the adult jacuzzi. The whole place was warm enough even for Devree. When you got out of the water it was not cold and the water was all very nice and warm.

Ben and Kalene just came down the big bucket splash/activity place. Kalene loved the blue slide behind them.

Shay showing us how it is done.

Todd going down the smallest slide with Khloe that later we found out we weren't supposed to do. Khloe didn't even mind getting splashed in the face either.

Good natured Khloe after going down.

She is one happy baby.

We had so much fun with Ben, Kacey and their darling 3 girls. We miss that wonderful family. The O'Barrs didn't get to come because it was the Pinewood Derby for Tanner. It is his last Pinewood Derby because he will turn 11 in November. We told them how fun and economical it was to go too.

It was really hard to say goodbye to everyone. Alyssa made Shay feel good by making 2 big hearts. Then she declared "Shay I love you and I'm going to marry you!" Shay didn't know what to say. So Shay has his first marraige proposal by a 4 year-old.

As you can see our Spring Break was a whilrlwind of activity. We need to recover at home, but boy was it a wonderful time getting to see so much family and friends. We love them all dearly and look forward to the next time we can see them. Thanks to everyone for your wonderful hospitality.

Kirtland

2011-05-01T18:41:00.000-07:00

Tanner and Shay outside the Visitors Center at Kirtland.

Khloe was asleep.

Kyree, Kacey and Kalene by the sign. The first area inside was a special introduction by 2 sister missionaries with a big photo of the Kirtland temple and a large bust of Christ. The sisters said "Listen to these scriptures." A deep voice started speaking from the above speakers. Kalene told Kacey "That is Jesus speaking." Little Hallie that doesn't turn 2 years old for a few weeks was running around and when the voice started she stopped and looked at the ceiling and said "Jesus". It never ceases to amaze me how children know. It was a very spiritual experience when we saw the movie made about early Kirtland.

A Group picture that the Sister Missionaries were kind enough to take for us outside the famous Newell K. Whitney store. The Missionaries told us that the doors we walked through were the origianl doors and the same doors that the Prophet Joseph Smith walked through to ask Mr. Whitney "You prayed me here, now what would you have me do?"

Khloe woke up.

Hallie, Tanner, Alyssa, Emma and Aubrey at the store.

Looking inside the store where we were told not to touch anything. Every child there obeyed completely.

Listening intently to the missionaries where the Smith's lived upstairs of the store. Khloe giving us a big smile.

Sister Spring telling us some of the revelations received here.

We went to the Kirtland temple where the tour was guided by the Community of Christ member.

The temple has been well preserved with most everything as it was originally. We were not allowed to take pictures inside but as we toured inside Shay asked me "Is this where Christ appeared?" I told him "Yes along with Moses and Elijah". It was a very wonderful feeling to be that close to this special place.

The Original green doors with some original kids in front!

Khloe snuggled next to Todd and Todd put her to sleep. We are looking forward to being Grandparents, but we can wait for the right time.

We found a park overlooking Lake Erie. The second great lake was a big brown ocean too!

Kyree did not want to go. We had a 3 hour drive back too.

There was a cross down by the water that had a big sign "No Swimming" Connie went down to look. It did not say how the person died, but there were 2 boys still down by the water swimming where the sign was.

Alyssa was the perfect host while Kacey and Ben's girls stayed at her house. Kyree was dressed up and wearing jewelry that Alyssa shared before we even left for dinner.

Connie I almost got you out of the picture! You are like me and you never like your picture taken. The adults went out to dinner. It was Todd and I's 21st anniversary so we found this really wonderful East Indian Food and it was a buffet that night. We tried lots of things we have never eaten before. There was a dessert that we called "The eyeball" but all of us agreed it was quite delicious. It was an enjoyable evening. When I see this picture it makes me a little sad. I miss these wonderful people. My family and my dear friends live too far away. But we are already planning to go and see them again soon.

On to Columbus, Ohio

2011-05-01T17:23:00.000-07:00

We drove down to see Lake Michigan on our way to Ohio. This was a charming town outside of Chicago that looked like it belonged to Europe.

We saw Lake Michigan and we forgot to take pictures. It looked like a big brown ocean with waves and everything. The kids were impressed by the vastness. These are windmills in Indiana. They were at least 100 feet tall and they went on for miles with hundreds in each direction.

Kyree and Kalene at their clubhouse where they lived. Kacey had prepared a big BBQ for us and our friends.

Kacey holding Kloe. Kloe is such a chubby baby and Kalene who is not quite three years-old calls her "Doughy" because Kalene doesn't say "K" sounds. We think it is appropriate for this cuddly baby that smiles and lets anyone hold her.

Dan, Connie, Emma, Aubrey and Alyssa looking at the goodies. We are so happy that we could be all together.

Ben made a poplular Ohio game called "Corn Hole". He made the wood on this side to represent an Ohio football player with "We're Number 1" and Buckeye leaves above because their name is the "Buckeyes". It is a bean bag toss game with a hole at the top. There are certain rules for getting it on the sloping wood, knocking off an opponent and of course getting the bean bag in the hole. Kacey told us even though the leaves look like marajuana, they are supposed to be Buckeye leaves.

Tanner and Aubrey are playing on the "Big O" board side.

Emma wears contacts now.

We didn't get a picture of little Hallie, but boy she has grown and her hair is long now. She talks a mile a minute. It was wonderful to spend time with these 2 lovely families. How we miss them.

Easter Sunday and Cordells

2011-05-01T17:02:00.000-07:00

Easter Sunday was wonderful and little Natalie got blessed by her father and 5 uncles! She wasn't even 1 week old yet. She wore a beautiful crocheted gown made by her Aunt Karyn. But we didn't get a picture because she did what Shay did when he got blessed and pooped on her blessing dress. Shay did it all over his blessing clothes, Todd and I.

Uncle David took a nap and the kids put stuffed animals all over him.

Games were played with lots of talking and laughing after a huge BBQ and wonderful food by everyone.

Aunt Amanda finally got her turn to hold Natalie.
Monday we drove to Chicago and visited Cyndi and Dave. We were happy to see their beautiful home and talk to them about their new life. Cyndi fed us a lovely big Easter Dinner with ham and the works. We are so happy for the Cordell's.

Dave and Todd figured out the awning on the back of the house that needs some parts and repairs.

What a lovely time to catch up on all of the goings on at their home. They have already started working in the Chicago temple and Cyndi said she is working in the nursery at church. Cyndi also let me borrow a wonderful book on Kirtland. We will be visiting there next.

Builder's Emporium/ Emporer's Palace Buffet

2011-05-01T09:04:00.000-07:00

We got a picture of Noah finally. Another beloved cousin sitting with Devree, Shay holding Natalie next to Tyson.

Sweet baby girl.

We made a wrong turn on our way to the buffet and came across this gorgeous horse ranch. We had to take this picture of this fake horse for Uncle Ky. Uncle Ky would've loved this ranch.

Here is another picture.

Shay had a great idea to remember Grandpa. Grandpa Hamblin loved this place and we had eaten together at this buffet before Grandpa passed away. Grandpa called it the "Builder's Emporium" because he couldn't remember the name. It is the Emporer's Palace and everyone was happy with over a hundred food choices. Uncle John reserved the group area because there were 35 of us .

Kaylun invited his girl friend Grace too.

David came back from his turkey hunt so he could join us all. We all asked, but he didn't bring home a turkey.

Ethan would not smile for me.

Daila, Uncle Ben, Anna, Janae and Aunt Linda joined us too. More beloved cousins, Aunts and Uncles.

Almost everyone tried to eat with chop sticks and there was a lot of dessert FIRST! I missed my opportunity to get Jackson's big dessert that he ate first.

The Mongolian BBQ area was a big hit. You get to choose all of the ingredients that the chef cooks for you.Julia's pretty smile

Julia and Daila playing off in the corner. Who can eat when there are cousins to play with?

Daila just got her hair fixed by Anna. They decided to ride back with us so they could play with cousins for longer.

Dane has a tight grip on poor Natalie's head. He was worried about her flopping forward. But Natalie suffered through. She is such a good baby.

Janae never tired of holding baby Natalie.

Brothers getting their game playing in. They are playing "Empire Builder". Doesn't that sound like a game brothers would play? Is it just another version of King of the Mountain?

Mary was so wonderful to let us all party and stay at her house after having a baby just a few days ago. We had lots of fun just being together. Thanks again John and Mary for hosting all of the fun when we come!

Todd's Birthday in Missouri!

2011-05-01T07:46:00.000-07:00

Happy 46th Birthday Todd! Maci and Dane are in the picture too.

The Young Women had a spaghetti dinner for us on Todd's birthday too!

The Young Women wanted to earn money for camp so they worked all day getting ready for their garage sale and then put on the spaghetti dinner that night.

Julia and Kelsey are fun cousins. Shay could hardly stand the thought of leaving his fun-loving Kelsey.

The oldest of 7 children now and Kaylee is another beloved cousin.

Aunt Amanda working hard in the kitchen for the spaghetti feed.

Aunt Becky a little blurry and helping in the kitchen too. She is their ward's Camp Director.

We caught Jacob in the hall. Another beloved cousin that wouldn't hold still. But I got your picture anyway.

The youngest of his family. Trevor is another beloved cousin and it made me smile how Dane wanted to sit next to him at church.

Shay had to catch Ethan but we got a great picture. Ethan was the youngest cousin until baby Natalie. Another beloved cousin. Noble loves how Ethan loves Charlie Brown and would watch the DVD and ask Charlie "Is you okay?" everytime Charlie Brown gets knocked down.

Kaylee with Liz and two more beloved cousins.

Kelly with Devree, Jessica and Kelsey. More beloved cousins.

Jeff and Todd. Two of the 4 brothers.

John and Mary with lucky number 7, Natalie. She is only 5 days old here. Natalie let lots of people hold her and is such a good baby.

Devree, Grandma and Kaylun with me trying to fit in. We enjoyed the spaghetti dinner very much.

Lafi and Karyn came too.

Todd fitting in too. Yeah Todd didn't close his eyes!

Grandma joins in too!

It was hard to catch Tyson but we finally did with a bonk on his head. Tyson was a major helper to us when we needed to find things or put things away at his house. Tyson is another beloved cousin.

Playing music at David and Amanda's house after the dinner. Todd got music while Karyn and Lafi played on the new ukelele that Karyn got for her birthday. Even Grandma danced the jitter bug. Too bad we didn't get pictures.

Todd had a great birthday. He got a new stereo in his car. He loves it because you can put a memory stick in it and listen or he can plug in his Palm and listen to down loaded stories and when you listen to the radio it tells you the artist and title of the song.

Jaynie Richards, Mary's mom came over also. She brought two huge homemade cakes. One was carrot and one was white with chocolate frosting. She is such a sweet heart to always bring food over when we come to visit. Jaynie knows there is a HOUSE FULL when the Hamblin's get together.

Day 2 &3 at St.Jude's

2011-04-21T08:37:00.000-07:00

Lindsey and Susan came to visit us. Lindsey had a good report at her check up. She just graduated from BYUI in Nursing. Her hair grew in curly after her bone marrow transplant from her sister. Neither had curly hair before. It was fun to catch up with what is going on in their lives.

This is a new addition at the Target House. Larger than life JONAS BROS! Devree is making this picture her new status photo on Facebook.

UT Dental always serves up Chik Fillet at the Target House several times a year. Sorry Emma W. you were not here. Your mother said you bleed Chik Fillet because you love it so much.

I feel so bad that we didn't get any pictures at Breck and Celest's. We spent the night there and Celest served us a fancy dinner with the prom stuff still up for the dinner she made for 10 kids going to prom. Then we went to a baby shower for Amy in the Germantown ward that was finally able to adopt a precious little boy. Amy and her husband have had many heartaches waiting for little Tate. We are so happy for them. It was a fun, fast time.

We saw something that was totally outrageous here at the hospital today. A grandma that was taking care of her grandson lifts her t-shirt up to her chin and was stuffing her cell phone in her bra. She said "That's the only place I can hear it and get to it." FUNNY!

Today Dr. Armstrong told us the scans are all wonderful and the lumbar puncture is clean. That is the best news of all. We have to see the eye doctor for our last appointment. Then we get the rental car and off to MO to see the relatives. YEAH! We are excited.

Easter is EARLY!

2011-04-19T15:14:00.000-07:00

Dane is on the Giants this year for baseball. He has practiced in the snow, sleet, wind and rain. The boy must love it. He waved and smiled as he made the first run for his team this season.

Madsen giving his Dad the Bear pin. One of Dane's good buddies. Madsen and Dane have known each other since Nursery.

Dane pinning his Mother's Bear pin on me. Dane is an eager cub scout. I am proud of his persistance in getting the requirements done.

I watched Mallory and Sariah while their older sister Makayla went to the temple for the first time. They were so silly and cute playing in the chair while we watched Dane's baseball game. These girls are very creative and one of their favorite pretend games is playing "Princess Big Butt" where they stuff pillows in their pants and pretend to be Princess's. Talk about hillarious.

Meagan came over to talk and say "Hi" during the game. Here is another friend that Dane has known since Nursery. Her brother Jace is on the same team as Dane.

The Sunday before Easter, we celebrated. See those early morning faces? Devree and I had to fly to Memphis for another check up on Monday and Todd and the boys will meet up with us at the Hamblins in MO. We will celebrate Easter with most of the Hamblin side.

Devree had her early MRI of her brain and at "E" clinic she was decorating her Easter eggs on the board.
We were so lucky that Breck could come and join us for lunch at St. Jude's. I forgot to take his picture but we had a lovely catch up on the latest news.

We were so happy we ran into Emma Wilcox and her Mom, Catherine and David! David was a little baby when we all met at the very first of treatment back in January 2009. As you can see Emma is doing well.

Devree got fitted with her new hearing aid! It has already made a difference. We are so happy! I whispered in her right ear and she heard Me! So exciting. Devree is getting used to the funny feeling in her ear because it goes DEEP into the ear canal. She had a hearing test where the Dr. plugged her good ear and she could hear with her hearing aid at very low decibels. Another prayer answered.

Standing in front of the St. Jude statue with David being bored and Catherine. David is so adorable and so grown up. He has lost his baby looks. What a treat and joy to have a long chat with them. Devree and I couldn't be happier to see Emma well and happy along with her family. We hope your Tuesday has been as wonderful as our Tuesday!