The Ultimate Catch-up!

It's been several months since I've updated our family blog. So, here's my attempt to give you a glimpse of what has been happening inside this Hamblin family.

Jim

Just before General Conference there was a reunion for Jim's mission with his mission president. It was fun to meet people from his mission, especially his mission president and his wife since he speaks so highly of them. Very fun evening.

The missionaries in attendance.

Jim with President and Sister Munns.

April 11 was Jim's 45 birthday! To celebrate, we bought him a Xbox golf game and a ukulele, both of which he loves and both get a bit of use now-a-days. Next time you see him, ask him to play "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" for you. You'll be impressed.

Elder Josh Hamblin

Josh is in the last 6 months of his mission. He has served in some beautiful areas and is currently a zone leader. Pictured is a special baptism he had. He's worked hard, but this was his first baptism and it was memorable.

Here's the baptismal story in Josh's words:

• A few weeks ago, we were on exchanges with the missionaries from Puerto Aysen. I went down there for the day while my comp was in our sector with the district leader. As I was down there with Elder Richan, a buddy from our MTC group, we taught one of their investigators who at that time had a baptismal date and was progressing towards that date. This lady is named Paulina. She is about 40 years old, has 3 kids, and has been struggling against some type of cancer for the last couple years. At this point in time she is doing well, has weekly treatments and has the whole thing pretty much under control. Due to the chemo and everything, she´s also lost her hair. I think you guys know how lady´s like that really hit my soft spot :) Anyways, we had a sweet lesson and we talked shortly about mom and the experience she had with cancer. The spirit was incredibly strong and I was so happy and priviledged to see this lady and the strength and desires she had to follow the gospel despite her sickness. But a couple weeks pass by, and Paulina was going to have her baptismal interview. Since I had never done one before, I was able to interview this lady to see how she had prepared herself for her baptism. The interview went well, and it was easy to tell that this lady was more than ready to get baptized. She answered every question with conviction and certainty that this was the church of Jesus Christ. So she passed it and we started filling out the baptismal form. We took care of all the address, birthday, phone stuff etc...Then she asked if she could ask me a question. She looked at me and said, ¨Elder Hamblin, I think that you know as well as I do the connection between a mother and her son. Knowing that, and hearing of the connection you have with your own mother, I think it would be really special if you were the one to baptize me.¨ .... I don´t even know how to explain the feeling that was there. I felt surprised, humbled, blessed, priviledged, and a million other things. Ha ah, with both of us holding back tears I told her I would be more than happy to. We had to check with Pres. Lovell first but he was more than fine with it. I don´t know that I could have asked for a cooler experience for my first time baptizing someone. I will remember this forever you guys. :)

The following picture is kind of cool. Seated next to Josh is another Elder from this area, Elder Rhett Nelson. Josh and he played baseball together for years. He even played a season of college ball before serving a mission. Great guy and serving a great mission.

Josh's mission president and his wife, the Lovell's, were recently released and Jim and I went to Heber to meet them. What wonderful, down to earth people. They couldn't speak higher of Josh and the work he's doing. It made us very proud and we were also so thankful to them for having such a lasting impression on Josh's life. He admires and respects them so much.

Hailey

Hailey has probably had the most going on of anyone in the family. In March she had the opportunity to go to Washington D.C. with students from her Orem High School. There was a teacher who arranged it and they had an absolute blast. Here are a few of the many photos taken.

Hailey also attended nearly every school dance while in high school. This is Jr. Prom with her date Shun. Handsome couple.

Seminary Graduation was next. Cute pic with the sisters,

Graduation from Orem High

Hailey and some of her friends

Hailey spoke at graduation, introducing the most inspirational senior. We were proud her for a job well done.

And here she is, walking through the golden "O". Her moment to shine.

The newest graduate of the family, Hailey Kate Hamblin. Pictured here are Jim, Hailey, Uncle Randy, Paula holding Emma, Grandma Lynne, Aunt Janet, Paige. Thanks to those who were able to attend.

Sisters - cute!

Hailey with some of her senior friends followed by her senior cake made by Paige and me.

One of her senior pictures - beautiful!

Paige

Though Paige hasn't had as many big things happening in life, she has been busy and involved. She finished her 9th grade year at Canyon View and will soon be an Orem Tiger. The summer began with a week of drivers ed. - all day long. She has been involved in soccer camps, basketball camps, and girls camp. She wonders where her summer has gone.

Here are a few pics of girls camp.

Emma

Emma continues to grow too fast and makes us laugh with many of the things she does. She is always happy, loves to jabber, loves to walk when you hold her hands, and has just learned to crawl.

Here is Emma and I on her first 4-wheeler ride. She loved it. The next ride she fell asleep.

Emma's most recent accomplishment is shown below. She is finally crawling! She started doing it just before she turned 10 months old.

Happy Easter! Thought his was a cute picture of the girls.

Trip to Idaho

In May we headed to Boise to see "Wicked". On the way, we took a detour and visited Murtaugh, the small town where Jim taught and coached for 7 years. Paige wasn't able to go, so we brought Hailey's friend Fran. It was fun to drive around and see places I had only heard about, but Jim and Hailey remembered. Hailey got so excited at each location and could tell a few memories she had. We had a great time seeing people and places from the past. Jim made a family video and posted on Facebook. If you haven't seen it, you should.

Hailey and Jim standing on the football field Jim coached on and helped plant the grass. In the far distance on the right, you can see the last home they lived in before moving to Utah. "Go Red Devils!"

Jim outside the high school he loved and had a great impact on.

Pictured are some of the people who stopped by to see us. L-R Jen (taught with Jim), Jim, parents of someone he coached, then Vonnie, someone he worked with. We stayed with Vonnie and she was a great hostess. After visiting the area and meeting some of the people, it became obvious why he loved being there so much.

Outside the last home they lived in before moving to Utah.

As we drove out of Murtaugh, we stopped to see Shoshone Falls. They were impressive because the amount of water we've had this year made the falls extra big. The are considered the Niagra of the West. Can you see why? Pretty cool.

The reason for the trip, "Wicked" at Boise State University. Great performance! This is Fran and Hailey showing showing us who the starts of the show would be. Exciting!

Family Reunions 2011

In a 2 week period we had 3 family reunions. First was the Gordon reunion followed the next weekend by the Buckner and Hamblin reunions in the same campground. I've realized that I didn't take many pictures at the Buckner reunion, but here are a few at the other ones.

Some of the Gordons went to Cascade Springs to hike and others went to Timpanogos Cave. We met afterwards for games and food. It was great. Below is the Cascade Springs group.

Dinner

Very cute picture of Hallie, Emma, and Lauren. Cousins.

Hamblin Reunion - The oldest and youngest grandchildren in attendance. "Sniffer" and Emma with a very proud Grandma.

Aunt Selena and Uncle Jack

Aunt Ellen and Aunt Julie

Aunt Ann and Aunt Lynn