Gresham Visit - April 2009

The kids are growing up so fast!

Skyler is the "serious" football player. He is fast and his teammates were calling him "Lightening".

Chloe did a great job playing indoor soccer and she is a good goalie.

Conner shown here using his blocking skills - always has a smile on his face.

All three kids still smiling after 3 games on Saturday.

We spent the weekend in Gresham with Kelly, Josh and the kids. On Saturday, Skyler and Conner had a flag-football game and Chloe had 2 indoor soccer games. It was fun to watch the kids play these particular sports for the first time. They all played real well and had fun doing so. It was good weather and we really enjoyed our visit. We LOVE spending time with our kids and grandkids!!

Terry & Quintin Mikkel (Philadelphia Eagles)

We went to the mall yesterday to get Skyler's & Conner's footballs signed by Quintin Mikkel - former BSU player and current Philadelphia Eagles player. The boys got the autographs and Terry got the picture!

Baby Boy Hamlin

Dusty and Kara found out yesterday that they are expecting a little baby boy! Here's his little profile.

Christmas 2008

We had a fun Christmas at Kelly & Josh's in Gresham, OR. It took us 10 hours (instead of the regular 6 1/2) to get there on Christmas Eve due to snow, ice and wind. We made it all the way without putting on chains, although we would have put them on if there had been any place to pull off on the side of the road to do it! Unfortunately, Oregon isn't into plowing the roads very regularly.

We played quite a bit of Mario Kart for Wii - although Josh and Skyler are really the pros. Kelly made some wonderful crepes on Christmas morning and we all went to the movies on Christmas afternoon. It was pretty snowy so we mainly stayed indoors and played with the new toys that the grandkids got. Dusty and Kara were suppose to drive down for the day from Seattle but with the weather they opted to stay put at Kara's parents' house.

We left on Saturday to drive home hoping to get ahead of another winter storm. Unfortunately, we only got as far as Pendleton, Oregon before the mountain pass was closed and we had to spend the night. We got up at 6:00 am on Sunday, started driving through high winds, snow and ice but finally made it home another 5 hours later. We wouldn't have missed Christmas with the kids for anything! It's a good thing that grandparents are more reliable that the postman (Kelly & Josh haven't had mail for 7 days!)

Thanksgiving 2008

We were so excited to spend the first Thanksgiving in 5 years at home in Boise with all our kids and grandkids present. Kelly, Josh and family arrived on Wednesday afternoon to spend the holiday and weekend with us, and with Dusty and Kara now living in Boise we had a fun family time. We spent Thanksgiving Day eating as usual and playing games, watching movies and playing outside. On Friday, the girls went to lunch at the Tea Cottage and to the mall while the boys headed to the Boise State football game. Saturday was spent with the kids swimming with Terry at the YMCA, relaxing, playing outside, going to the movies and watching football on TV. Kelly, Josh and the kids left Sunday morning at 5:30 am in order to arrive back home around lunch time and to get ready to start the usual week preparations for work and school. Terry and I had so much fun with our grandkids and they are at the age that is so much fun!! Now we just can't wait for Christmas which will be spent in Portland at Josh & Kelly's house.

Fall in Boise

The City of Boise - "The City of Trees" and Lucky Peak Reservoir outside of Boise - where we hang out in summer

Just wanted to share some pictures of Boise with you that were in the local newspaper. It's such a pretty time of year in the Northwest!

Here are a few things we are doing:

• Enjoying our BSU football season tickets - GO BRONCOS !!
• Raking leaves (if you've been to our house, we have lots of big trees).
• Going on bike rides or walking along the river enjoying the fall colors.
• Raking leaves
• Starting to Christmas shop (Skyler, Conner & Chloe have already given us their lists!)
• Yard, garden & flower bed cleanup before winter
• Raking leaves!

Geese at Kathryn Albertson Park, Boise and the backroads of Idaho

Visit to Portland

We were in Portland over the weekend visiting Josh & Kelly's family. While Josh and Kelly were at a Children's Ministries Conference in Seattle, we kept busy babysitting the kiddos. We got to take them to school and pick them up on Thursday and Friday, played games (Conner is really good at Battleship!), Terry rode bikes with them, read books w/ the kids, Sheri baked sugar cookies (which the kids shared with neighborhood friends), helped Skyler make a volcano for a school project, sang songs with Chloe (she LOVES to sing), went to 7/11 and had slurpees, watching football games (go BSU!) and lots of other fun things. Josh and Kelly came home Saturday night and Sunday was spent going to church and spending a couple hours in the afternoon playing at a park.

Skyler, Conner & Chloe have made lots of friends in their new neighborhood so they are enjoying riding bikes and playing. Kelly says that their friends are waiting to play everyday after school and it's hard to get them to come inside for the evening.

Dusty & Kara

We have really been busy helping Dusty and Kara out with the remodeling of their home here in Boise. Dusty moved over to Boise in July and has been working on his house (which has been a rental for the past 4 years). Kara will be moving over on September 27th. Dusty is teaching 2nd grade in Boise and Kara will continue to work for Boeing remotely. She will be in Boise 3 weeks and in Seattle 1 week each month. If you would like to check out their remodel pictures, log onto the link to their blogsite to the right of this column.

Sprint Triathlon

Terry and Dusty participated in their first Sprint Triathlon this weekend in Emmett, Idaho. It was a 500 meter swim, 14 mile bike ride and 3.2 mile run. Here they are getting ready to swim. There were approximately 200 in this Sprint - both Terry and Dusty said that they were kicked in the head and also did some kicking in the first leg of the swim! Terry and Dusty were in the first group to come out of the water according to Terry's brother Bob. Terry said that he actually swam faster than he had done practicing.

Terry came out of the water right behind Dusty. He looks like he is smiling as he comes out but he said that he was already tired before heading to the bike transition.

These pictures are Dusty (black) and Terry (white) as they complete their 14 mile bike ride and head to the running transition point.

Terry was looking good as he started his run. It was a hot morning and it had rained for about 15 minutes before the race began so it was humid also.

Dusty completed the race ahead of Terry and that's why he looks rested as Terry is trying to catch his breath after crossing the finish line. Dusty came in 7th in his age group and Terry came in 2nd in his. I asked Terry if he was ready to do it again next year and at the time he said "No Way" but a couple hours later they were both talking about how they were going to train for next year's race!Terry not only came in 2nd in his age group - but also qualified for the Senior Games in Palo Alto, California in 2009!!

We spent last weekend in Portland visiting Josh and Kelly's family and also attending the Hamlin reunion across the river in Washington. We all picked berries at a berry farm that Kelly has been frequently going to for the past few weeks. She is becoming a real pro at picking, freezing and making cobblers for her family. The farm lets the kids eat as much as they want so all 3 kids had berry stained clothes and faces! Terry and I brought blueberries, marionberries and boysenberries home to enjoy which are currently in the freezer to enjoy this winter.

Another family reunion for the extended Hamlin's was held over the August 1st weekend in Washogual, Washington. This is usually a large gathering of Hamlin's - usually around 75+ for a weekend of catching up on the past year's events, meeting new spouses, new babies (which there were quite a few) and lots of laughing. Kelly and Josh's family were in attendance at this reunion but Dusty and Kara were not as they were in Bend, Oregon with Kara's family. Terry's parents were able to come up thanks to sister-in-law Kathy and nieces Mindy and Clara accompanying them on AmTracfrom Davis, CA to Portland, OR. Skyler and Conner learned to play pickleball and Chloe had her net just in case she spotted a butterfly on our walks around the camp.