To blog or not to blog?

I have been in a blog fog...should I blog or not? 

It has been a good summer...I have enjoyed meeting friends for lunch, caribou dates, bringing kids to camp, shopping for college "stuff," watching movies, weeding flower beds (gave up on that now...too hot), reading a few books, cleaning a few drawers, sorting some socks...you get the picture...:)
Troy was able to get away with the boys for a long fishing weekend, it was a fundraiser for my brother, Troy, who by the way is doing very well...he had blood work and a CT scan today...praying he continues to stay CANCER FREE. Our neighbor and my Dad also went on this fun fishing weekend. It was good for the "boys" to get away....us girls enjoyed some girl time too, we did movies, lunch, Taylor's Falls, pedicures and more!
The boys experienced, "Camp One Heartland," they had fun! Although it was the "week of heat." We are fortunate enough to have a camp like this close to us. For those of you not familiar with Camp One Heartland, it is a Camp that is located in Willow River, Mn. (They also have one in Malibu, CA). The focus is on HIV+ kids, kids of HIV parents and siblings of HIV siblings. Araya's Dr. has been recommending it for years, kids are flown in from all over the country. It was quite a diverse group. The boys did have a good week.
Other exciting things that have gone on at the Doble house are, 5 of our kids were baptized this summer!Morgan traveled to Belize with our church youth group. She had a wonderful time and I think she would go back in a minute! We have heard lot's of great stories and she has shed some tears this week, she met a lot of great kids and people. Now she is getting ready to head off to college in August..... I hope I am ready :) We have spent a few days on the lake tubing and swimming...loads of fun! The three girls continue to work at the local movie theatre and they love it! Corbin has been able to get together with some friends for overnights too! We were brave souls last week and had 6 boys for a camp-out...it was interesting and fun.



Troy is busy working hard in this heat, we are thankful for his job. I went back to work on Monday after having the month of July off. It is good to get into a routine again.

Morgan turned 18 and received many college goodies!

Seble (green dress) was able to go spend time with friends from Ethiopia!

Morgan in Belize...her smile says it all!

"Buddies in Belize"

Baptism Day!!



Araya and Syfah at Camp



3:00 a.m..heading to the airport..destination:  BELIZE!

my hollyhocks are in bloom!!

Boys night...camping!

Whew!

Well, let's just say...lot's going on in our crazy filled house!   Here is my top 10! 

1.  Brother Troy, bone marrow biopsy negative for cancer...Yeah!  Thank you Jesus!  We found out last week, he was able to share the great news with his fellow State Troopers at his fundraising dinner last Thursday night.  About 600-650 people attended the Dinner-Silent Auction...he was surprised by many relatives that traveled 4 hours for supper.  Another fun thing was that some young guys (now older) that he pulled over 10 years ago, saw his story on the news and they came to the dinner to show support...I want to know if he gave them a ticket or let him off easy?  Great night!

2.  May15, we celebrated Seble and Syfah joining our family...7 years ago!!  Wow!  Where has the time gone? They are growing up so fast!  They have blessed us!

3. "Live It To The Max,"  A musical-drama performed by the Cambridge Christian School 7th & 8th Graders...it was great!  Syfah was a Disc Jockey also known as "Coyote Man."  He was a natural and "howled" his way through the production.  Corbin was a "free spirit" advocating for "Save The Unicorns."  She was as ditzy as they come and had a great time.  It was a great play with a great message!
A few of the students provided the "intermission entertainment."  Shelby and Josh got the crowd going by singing, "Marry Me by Bruno Mars," ....it was hilarious and cute!

4. We only have 2 days left of school!! I am so not ready for........(see #7)

5.  "Pleased as Punch" at this girl of ours!  She received "WARRIOR OF THE YEAR" award along with Sarah Solomon at the Cambridge Christian School Sword Ceremony on Tuesday night!  Great Friends that deserve this honor!

6. Came home to a wet basement (just in the laundry room)...washer gasket has a whole...water came out the front-loading door....guess what!  Sears can't come out until June 14th...after a few phone calls and no satisfaction..I even whined about getting ready for an open house and I exaggerated as to how many kids we have...got no sympathy..."Romeo" the Sears man told me..."everyone has a story mam."  UGGGG   ....we resorted to...Guess...Guess....Guess.....DUCK (DUCT) TAPE...SO FAR SO GOOD... ONE LOAD DONE MANY MORE TO GO..  How can a family of 8  50 go without a washer for over 2 weeks...

7.  Planning an Open House has me a "little" stressed...Thank you Troy for doing the " never ending list" of things..Thanks to my Moms and Dad for helping too!  Thanks also to my children, we only have 5 more Open Houses after this one.....I am really trying to not be crabby!!

8. Araya's choir concert- he is so cute!  We had dr. day a few weeks ago..celebrated with.."ColdStone Creamery."

9. So excited to have JULY off of work!

10. Excited to see our little girl Graduate and begin her new life!...College life!!

Formal 2011

Friday night was the Cambridge Christian School Formal. Troy and I were asked to chaperone once again this year and it was fun!! It was fun to see our 3 oldest girls get ready, they were blessed to have their younger sister, Corbin, help them get ready. We went to The Refuge in Oak Grove, it was a beautiful place for dinner and dancing. The kids were great!

napkins for dresses!

Morgan and Charlie having some fun!

We had a great Easter!  Hoping you all did too! We spent the day going to a wonderful Easter service, then to my parents for a day of celebration! We ate too much, played softball (look closely at the picture below, some may say it was the highlight of the day....I disagree) road 4-wheeler, went on a major Easter egg hunt, followed by a trip to the movies! 
My brother was able to come home for Easter, which was wonderful!  He had what we hope proves to be his last chemo on April 18th.  He had a bone marrow biopsy (BMB) on the 19th.   On Friday, his nurse called and said that his BMB showed "necrosis."  Well for you fans of Google.....I am no longer a fan, sometimes it's just not a good thing. This left us somewhat "hanging" over the long Easter weekend...
Necrosis is death of body tissue. It occurs when there is not enough blood flowing to the tissue, whether from injury, radiation, or chemicals  After realizing that there is 2 kinds of "necrosis" of the bone marrow....one of them can occur before treatment ever starts (it's bad), the other can occur after treatment...  Since you are killing cells with chemo, it kills the good, the bad and everything in between!  Meaning that they just are able to get a good biopsy....Troy's Dr. called him today and said, the biopsy was probably done too close to the time of the chemo (within 24 hours.)  Tomorrow he will have a body scan and in about 3 weeks, he will do another BMB, then we will know what these cells are doing, hopefully only healthy ones will be seen!!! Thank you for your continued prayers for Troy, we have felt them.
We have been doing well, busy with planning Morgans graduation party, boys in baseball, finishing Wednesday night programs at church, worship team practice and just focusing on  finishing the school year! We have 3 girls going to the CCS (school) formal this year and once again Troy and I are chaperoning the kids, this will be our 4th year doing this and it is a lot of fun!

The Girls-Beach Blankets from Grandma and Grandpa!

Beach Towels for the Boys!

Troy and Morgan



Getting ready for the Easter Egg Hunt!



Do not laugh...that is me..on the ground....I am alive...I face- planted into the ground while running to catch a ball...I tripped in a gopher hole!  The rest of the family was laughing so hard...some had to run to the bathroom while others grabbed a camera!

Kids Against Hunger

On Saturday, about 25 of our kids from the youth group at First Baptist Church were able to pack food for, "Kids Against Hunger." We are lucky to have a satellite facility in Cambridge, the kids packed 13 boxes of food, which equals 36 bags/meals in each box and each bag feeds a family of 6...so, what that means is that 468 families had a healthy, satisfying meal of rice, chicken flavoring, dried vegetables and a soy mixture of vitamins and minerals. They were able to taste the food, the consensus was that they would have all been happy to eat it for a meal! Troy and the boys had a great time!

If you would like to read more about Kids Against Hunger, check it out!

http://kidsagainsthunger.org/who_we_are.shtml



Seble is Seventeen!

Last week we celebrated another birthday in the family!!  Seble is 17!  What a complete JOY she has been to all of us.  I (we) cannot even begin to imagine our lives without her.  In May we will celebrate 7 years together and I can in all honestly say that she feels like she has been my (our) daughter always!  We were just looking through pics the other day, she was a young shy girl, when she came to us at 10, now we celebrate the young lady that she is.  Her smile lights up the room and our world!
A special gift that Seble received was a sweater set that my my grandma (mom's mom) made, probably 25-30 years ago.  She had given it to my mom, my mom gave it to Seble.  It is special - so many times we talk about something someone had made or given the kids and we don't have those little things to talk about or look at with Seb, Araya and Syfah.  The other cute little gift was a little baby doll, from my parents, she is sleeping with her every night...we had some good laughs...what girl doesn't need a little doll or stuffed animal?  right?  We celebrated twice..once with Troy's mom, on Seble's birthday!  It was a fun night with Chinese food and cute pink cupcakes!  We celebrated with my parents the week before with Pizza, and chip- n-mint dessert. ( my parents were in Fargo with my brother on her birthday)  It was a great week!

Happy Birthday Seble!  You are a blessing to many!