Dec 16, THOR, The Office party, & Utah trip

This last week we had the office Christmas party at Jim's house. We had a nice dinner and a gift exchange. This year Stacy and I did a great gift for none other than thee one and only Tom Isaacson.  We found out that Glenda wanted to see the movie Thor because of Thor's great hair, but Tom wasn't crazy about taking her. So for a Christmas gift, we bought Tom a Thor wig and helmet. Now he can take here and look great!  It was so funny.  Tom was a great sport.  Allen also got a fake snake in his present. It was a fun night.

On Friday, after Megan and Sierra danced, we left for Utah to go to Stacy's grandpa's 93rd birthday party.  It was a nice event down in Draper at Stacy's cousin, Tammy and Kevin's house.  Many of her aunts, uncles, and cousins were there. Afterwards we went to see the lights at Temple Square. Apparently there was some sort of concert or something going on because it was crazy trying to find a place to park. The lights were nice to see, but there was hords of people.  There was so many people it was hard to enjoy the spirit of Christmas.  We were able to stay with Ryan and Michelle and spend a bit of time with most of Stacy's family.  All good stuff.

One more game left in Lindsey's YMCA basketball.  It has been a great season for her and her 5 teammates. Now Hunter has basketball, Lindsey has volleyball, Megan has junior high basketball, and Sierra has skiing and volleyball. Going to be an exciting 3 months as I get geared up for tax season. 

This morning at breakfast we were handing out the morning meds (not a few), commenting on the lovely prednisone and how is stunts Sierra and Lindsey's growth.  Lindsey is very sensitive to her height, or lack there of. Sierra had the quote of the day, "Well if it keeps me alive, I guess I am good with it", as she downs a huge hand full of meds.  Ya know, maybe we all complain about 'things' way too much! 

God bless the family of Dale Smith.  They still haven't found any remains of the plane. Our prayers are still the family.  What a sad, sad thing to happen.

Sierra has biopsy Jan 6, and Lindsey's biopsy is February 8.

Till next time, Merry Christmas

 

Grandpa Glen Hobbs. 93rd Birthday party. He is winding down in life, but he is and was a very good man. We sure love him.

Stacy's siblings and family at Temple Square

 

 Megan and Sierra performing the dance routines. They have fun with that stuff.

Yes, that is our high school gym. Go Badgers!

 

Our favorite picture. This is Tom (Thor) ready for the movies!!

Glenda, how can you resist?

 

Dec 7, Remembering Dale Smith

It's been a pretty basic week here. VERY cold. Highs in the teens and lows in the negatives. Lindsey is still playing YMCA basketball. Still amazes me how well she is doing and how hard she runs given where she was at a year ago.

Stacy picked up 2 night shifts this last week. That always wipes her out.  Had Range here for the weekend. He and Gage are best friends. They love to play 'cowboy' all day long. Range has the funniest cowboy talk for a 5 year old. "Aunt Stacy, Can I have a drink of water? I don't like eggs. In my house, my Dad puts the hot chocolate in the refrigerator to warm it up."  But you have to say it the way he does, loud and like a 5 year old cowboy.

We also had Lacy and Patience Wick here for the weekend.  Good kids that needed a place to go.  Megan and Sierra are doing a lot of babysitting.  They love doing it and are making a bit of money.

Finally got word from California regarding the next tests. Sierra and Lindsey have blood draws now. Sierra has IVIG and biopsy on January 6, and Lindsey has biopsy in early February.

But that not the real thing that has been weighing on my mind. Last week Dale Smith's small plane went down in Idaho. They have searched for 6+ days now and still haven't found any sign of him, his kids, or his aircraft. Dale was a very nice guy who lived in San Jose. He had given us rides through Angel Flight to Calif for biopsies and checkups. His parents live here in Baker City, so it worked out good for him to come and visit, then fly us to California.  We are still in shock over the loss of this good person. He was an excellent pilot, and we always looked forward to flying with him. Our prayers continue to be for him and his family.

Here are a few pictures of Dale Smith back in July when he gave us a ride to Calif.

Nov 25-30, Thanksgiving week

What an enjoyable Thanksgiving week. We had good family time, games, and visiting. On Wednesday Josh and Tara, and their 5 kids showed up. Hunter and Lindsey were sitting out by the road watching for them for well over an hour. They were convinced that Josh and Tara were broke down somewhere and we needed to help them. But all was well. Garrity and Seth and their new little baby John Thomas showed up late Wednesday. Jake and Wendy went to N. Dakota to her sister's place.

Thursday we did the 5K Turkey Trot in Baker City. All of us except Gage ran/walked it. Lindsey and Sierra walked most of it but did well.  Thanksgiving dinner was at our place this year. We had Mom & Dad, Justin & Emily, Garrity & Seth, Josh & Tara, and the Kymetics, a total of 27 counting kids.  We had the dinner in our cleaned out and newly insulated shop, it was a fun place to have it.  Later we had Nick & Hil, and Allen & Pam over for pies. We shot guns and played pinochle.  That night we had 14 cousins over for a sleep over. It was a living room of kids, pillows, blankets and lots of giggling!

Friday Josh and I cooked breakfast for all 14 kids while Stacy and Tara did the 'Black Friday' thing.  Josh and I definitely came out ahead on that one. Once the wives got back, we headed for the hills and cut 8 Christmas trees for various families. Then over to Justin's for more games, hot tub, and activities. It was then Justin's turn for all 14 cousins to stay the night.

Saturday after Josh and Tara, and Seth and Garrity we gone, we cleaned up, 'decked-the-halls', decorated the tree, and put out Christmas lights.

Regarding our kids medical needs (which are never far away), we are waiting to hear from Calif regarding Sierra's next IVIG. May be next week, may be in a month, still not sure. Gage is good till February for a checkup. Hunter, Megan, and Lindsey are due for checkup's with the Boise doctor.  They all seem to doing good, no major concerns at the moment.

It was a great week.  Stacy and I talked about all the things we are thankful for. We are grateful to be home, health kids, family around us, beautiful area, good job, and faith that keeps us together. We are excited and look forward to the Christmas season. God has truly blessed us.

Christmas decor

 Lindi and Gage in the shop for Thanksgiving dinner

 Thanksgiving in the shop

 Josh and I cookin breakfast

 Yah, Sierra and Lindsey doing the goofy hair.

 Lindsey putting up her 'Beads of Courage'. If you remember, for every poke, every night, the Berlin, the transplant, and many other things, she received a bead. We now use that string of beads as part of our Christmas tree décor.  The bead at the top of the tree is the 'Heart' bead.

 

Nov 24, Basketball

Kids had school, Stacy worked her 2 days, I have been busy at the office, and Lindsey has been playing basketball.  I have really enjoyed coaching her 3-4 grade girls YMCA game.  Our little team tries really hard, but we are still looking for our first win (which is a big deal to Lindsey). She wants a WIN, heart condition means nothing to her on the court.  Lindsey and I are thrilled to be out playing sports in our home town.  She is actually one of my fastest players on the team. Go figure.  We still don't take for granted that just 9 months ago she received her transplant. We have much to be grateful for this Thanksgiving.

Last Monday, Hunter and Megan were presented at the school board meeting as 'Students of the Quarter'. Hunter for the K-3 and Megan for the 6-8.  The teachers that presented the kids to the board said some really nice things about our kids. It was kinda hard not to be pretty proud of our kids. 

Then... just to finish the week strong, our three youngest kids got into a food fight, in our house, with one of Sierra's friends. It was more like them throwing spaghetti at her and her running for cover. I was out working in the shop and Stacy was in the other room. When Stacy got there, she was soooo mad! She came out to the shop to get me and said, "You need to come in right NOW, before I .........!" So naturally I did exactly what she said.  For the next several hours, Hunter, Lindsey and Gage cleaned, mopped, washed, scrubbed the house.  They were and still are in pretty big trouble.

Excited for Thanksgiving.  All the Bingham's, except Jake and Wendy, will be here. Should be a pretty fun weekend.

 A 'friendly' arm wrestling match. It got really serious a couple of times.

 Tuesday game at the YMCA. Lindsey is in the pink sweets and grey shirts.

 Hunter at his presentation with Mrs. Alderidge.

 Megan and Mrs. Miller, her math teacher.

A picture we took of Lindsey to prove to her that her swelling is going down. She still doesn't think it has dropped.

 

 More pictures from our trip. This is Stacy in the tube.

 Jeff.

 Yours truly. Me.

 Stacy, notice the good hand position

And me.

 

Nov 17, ifly Seattle

So on Saturday we did the Pike's Market thing. It's an old market that has been going since the early 1900's. It's a fun place to go if you are into that sort of thing. I mostly like seeing all the different walks of life that hang and graze around those big city markets.
That afternoon we went to ifly Seattle. It's a wind tunnel that allows you a skydiving experience without jumping out of a plane. This was a way of trying to soften Stacy up for a real jump next year. The Yecks and myself are ready to go, but Stacy will need some (a lot) of encouragement... stay tune for that! 
After that excitement we went to the Space Needle for an evening view of the city.
Today we had an enjoyable drive back to Oregon. During the drive, Jenny read the book The 5 Love Languages. That got some interesting conversation going.
It was a great vacation with our college friends. Next year will bring us a new adventure. Now it's back to life.

A typical 'Jeff' look



 Just after the 'flights'

 A view of Seattle from the Space Needle

This is one of those cheesy pictures they take of you. Then you select the back drop. It was free so what the heck.