Good-Bye Dad, Grampa, Great-Grampa

I know I've been very lax in my blogging, and this one won't be a long one or full of pictures. I just wanted to let family and friends know that my father, Waide Hamner, passed away last night. He was 81-years-old, and had survived much during his lifetime -- polio, tuberculosis, and several forms of cancer. The last few years he has been battling post-polio syndrome, another cancer, and Alzheimer's. The Lord, in his mercy, has called him home, and he no longer has to suffer physically. We all agree that it is a blessing, but he will be so greatly missed. Brent, Rachel, Jett, and I got to spend some time with him a couple of weeks ago. He wanted to hold "the little guy" and the picture is of him holding Jett on August 17th. Good-bye, Dad; I love you.

Granddaughters Weekend

On Saturday, I got to watch 5-week-old Oakley while Daniel and Whitney went out for a couple of hours. Oakley now looks around and watches things. While she does stay awake longer, I bored her by reading my abnormal psychology assignment to her. She looks adorable even when asleep.



From Oakley, I went to pick up Ady to come spend a couple of days with us. She is such a character! When I asked her if she wanted to come she said, "Go to Mama's house. Play with dog." (She really likes Fiona, and Fiona is very good with her.)

These pictures show her and Papa building a jewelry holder (one of Lowe's kid's kits). He would tell her to get a nail and show her where to put, and she would then either hold it for him or help him hammer it in. It was very cute to watch.

Happy New Year!

Meet Oakley Ryan Van Tassell. Born January 6th;
measured 18 inches and 7 lbs 6 oz.



Ady quite liked the gloves I was using to wash dishes.


Tyson was SO helpful putting the
desk and shelves together!



Hey! I like this Christmas stuff!

Another place, another grandkid (again!)

Thayne, Natalie, and Tyson joined us at Sam and Rachel's. We took the boys over to a park on Sunday evening. Even the big boys got in on the action!

Jett tours like his mother used to! (Only
she was a teenager when she'd go to sleep
while we went into museums!)

George Washington was quite the
innovator; he built "The Necessary"
(an outhouse) at his Mt. Vernon estate.
Here's Jett depositing his donation.

Ady and "mama" looking at the turtle on shore at the Place of Refuge.















Kasey helped Ady put on some lip gloss. Then Ady helped herself put on some mascara (boy! do you have to be fast to keep up with this one!)













We took a ride in a small airplane over the volcanoes and Hilo area.







While the volcano is still actively flowing, there is no safe viewing of the lava coming out. But we flew over Pu'u O'o and saw the steam close up.












You can kind of see the explosion that is made by the lava and the sea water when they meet; black sand is made instantly.











We thought this sign at the front desk of our hotel was quite funny.

Another city, another grandkid

While in Buffalo we went to Niagara Falls a couple of times. This year we went over to the Canadian side; it really is more impressive over there. In addition to catching rainbows over the mist, we also got to go down below and behind the falls. WOW! Talk about awesome!







One of the last things we did while in the Buffalo area was attend the Hill Cumorah pageant in Palmyra. Out of all of the thousands of people there, we were pleasantly surprised to run into Ben (our nephew) and his cute family.






Our favorite part, though, was getting to play with Tyson. He is such an adorable, fun little guy. He is really happy, and just loves playing outside. Gramma and Grampa both especially liked getting him up in the morning and just having him to ourselves for a little bit.

We left Natalie and Thayne's and went on to Rachel and Sam's (they're living in Landover, MD this summer). Washington, D. C., is such an absolutely amazing place! We've been to Ford's Theater, the Old Post Office (even clear up to the top of the tower to view the city from above), the National Archives, the Capitol, the Library of Congress, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Arlington Cemetery, and some of the Smithsonian museums. We are learning how to use the Metro system to get around; it's quite the system! Tomorrow we are going up to the top of the Washington Monument.

And, of course, the best part -- Jett! He still has lots of hair, but it is lighter underneath the dark tips. He's been a real trooper as we've hauled him around.

Buffalo!

So, here we are on our first stop of grandparent
heaven -- Buffalo, New York -- with Tyson (and
Natalie and Thayne). We went and picked straw-
berries with Tyson's play group the other day.
Walking down the uneven furrows with the straw
was a bit tough for Tyson, but it did provide
something fun to hold in his hands. He LOVES
strawberries, and fortunately, this place allows
the little kids to eat as they pick (some even
gets inside!).

The next two pictures are just to show
how he looked before and after the picking.

Brent actually started this trip out by
meeting Adam in Minnesota for a canoe
trip. It was a good trip -- although very
tiring! Brent then joined us in Buffalo
with this scruffy look:

Jett's Blessing

Today was Jett's blessing. Brent and I drove down to Cedar City this morning (it's about a three-hour drive) and Sam's parents and Jake (his oldest brother who lives in Colorado) and his family got there on Friday. Jett is now seven weeks old, and is getting cuter and cuter as he is responding to people around him.

We thought it looked really cute that he looked

like he was praying while he was sleeping.I was way excited that I got him to smile several times.

And now just some random cuteness.