Day at the beach by Noel.

Saturday, August 7, 2010

A day in Santa Barabara

Third or fourth time of chemo yesterday, all went well like usual and news will be coming back soon. My parents and baby sister drew blood, and all the nurses thought Emma was so brave so they gave her a new Barbie Doll! Was she ever so excited to not only be there and give blood, but to also receive a kind gift and love and adoration from everyone there. My parents got the gift of finding out that they possibly get to give more blood! Were they ecstatic or what. My grandparents came along with us too, and we all were rolling when my grandmother stuck a sticker on my grandpa's back. He walked around aimlessly for some odd time not knowing, until finally he came back in to the room bright red. A nice walk back to the hospital felt nice on my body as we went to eat lunch at the cafe. The weather in Santa Barbara was nice, and the walks were too. On our way home we stopped through Los Olivos and I fell in love. As soon as I can, I'm going back there to explore this cute town. So many thanks to the Perez family for making my family dinner last night. It was such a relief to come home later and have a huge delicious dinner cooked and ready to serve waiting for us. It made everything so much easier. Thank you very much.

18 comments:

  1. Our Dear Noel.....Thank you for the update from yesterday. I'm not surprised about Emma. She is very sweet and giving. She is probably going to want to go with you every time if she thinks she'll get such a nice gift! I'll bet grandpa drove. Sounds like something he would do driving through Los Olivos. It is a cute little town and fun to eat outside. You'll definitely have to explore it soon. You continue to be one amazing young lady...an inspiration to us all. Hope you'll be able to enjoy the outdoors again today....looks like another beautiful day. Lots of Love and Hugs, Valerie and Paul too

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  2. What a caring family u have! Give Emma a hug for me I'm so proud of her. I'm proud of your strength and courage too, keep it up girl. Call anytime, I'm here for ya! Love you.~ rilah

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  3. Hi Beautiful,
    That is so funny about Grandpa. Poor guy, Grandma has taught us all her honery side. Reminds me of our last trip to the river and Grandpa was napping on the bolder and you were dripping water on his head! He got up and chased you (of course he couldn't catch you) and filled up a bucket to throw on you but got side tracked and set the bucket down. Of course you got a hold of it, threw it on him and you both ended up in the river! Oh happy times! :) Thanks for sharing your journey, I know how people enjoy seeing your updates! I Love You.
    Aunt Sheila

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  4. I love to hear of all your laughter and good times with your family! You appreciated the smallest things in life that the rest of us seem to pass by. Thanks for all of your reflections and reminding us daily to be thankful for all that comes our way. God is ever present in our lives!!

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  5. OMG!!!
    The pictures are awesome. Poor Grandpa....
    Noel you are sooo cute!

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  6. I love the pictures your are so beautiful!!! I especially love the one of you and your gramma Diana, she looks so happy next to you!! Emma reminds me of Marley, that spazy, happy little sister! It's good to see all of you in the pic's (where is your dad? oh behind the camera right!) Tell your mom to take one of him while he's sleeping maybe put a hotdog next to him or something.... not that you guys would do that to ME or anything... lol... LOVE YOU... xoxo Megan

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  7. love love love the pictures! Emma reminds me so much of Marley in them lol. You look so cute i love it! Can't wait to see ya...i know sorry ive said that like a billion times ha but i do love you. :)
    ~Rilah<3

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  8. Noel~ I'm pretty sure that you couldn't ask for a more fun-loving, supportive family. Reading your blog today makes me realize how important family is in our lives, through the good times and the not so good times. I still love your spirit and your lil sister sounds like she is just as remarkable as you. <3 <3 Debbie <3 <3 :)

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  9. What did the sticker say or look like on Granpa's back? i want to know - those tricks that the Phillips play on eachother remind me of the early ones, Sheila used to play on Shawn, involoving warm water into the hand of a sleeping pre-teen -- poor Shawn!
    Thank you for sharing Noel -- everytime I wonder how you are doing, I check the blog - and poof! like Magic! I "get what's going on' in your new journey - thank you for inviting us all in. I am going to browse the pics now. As always - lifting you up in prayer -- you, and all that are pulling for you :).... with much love from shannon, JC, Mac, and thier bil ol Dad :) - John :)

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  10. Our Dear Courageous Noel....The pictures weren't up this AM when I read your blog....or I was still sleeping and missed them. Your dad did a GREAT job with them. I'm sure there aren't too many patients that smile as much as you do during treatment. Grandpa sure looks grumpy....you should have goosed him to make him smile. Love the pictures of you and grandma and sweet Emma. You look so cute!!! Take good care of yourself. Lots of Love, Valerie

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  11. Wow! You seem to be having so much fun through all this stuff. You are truly amazing and one wonderful neice! That's totally hillarious about Grandpa cruisin' around with that sticker! I'm still smilin'! Thanks for sharing. All I can say is wow! You are one awesome girl! Love you! Uncle Jeff. Emma's way awesome too!

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  12. I'm going to begin this post with a comment to Noel's adoring fans... It's true... Noel smiles all the time and she is so considerate and kind. When she was in the hospital during her original admittance she was smiling and charmed everyone there. She would even tell the staff thank you after they drew her blood!! Obviously she was a hit with them! Friday, when Noel graciously allowed Grandpa and I to come along with her to her appointment with Dr. Slomiony, was so good for us. The nurse in the picture is Debra,one of two oncology nurses that adores Noel. Pam, who typically sees Noel, was not there on Friday. Debra looked at me directly as she was preparing the chemotherapy and told me that Noel's attitude is so amazing and just is not typical of what you see in a teenage patient. She just shook her head in amazement. Debra also said that she wanted to stay with Noel during her treatment because she just really enjoyed being able to talk with her. And, of course, Emma was adorable and filled the room with her natural sunshine.

    The photo of our group with the pink walls... it's the elevator. Our hapless group stood inside there a very long time. No one had thought to press the up button....or any button for that matter. Finally Noel asked if anyone had pressed the button... which we hadn't!

    To Noel... I love your chipmunk cheeks. I can see the family resemblance. There are so many adjectives that people who are writing in use to describe you: amazing, wonderful, courageous, smiling, awesome, remarkable, thoughtful... WOW... they all know you so well!! You have touched so many people in your short span of fifteen years... God truly has a wonderful plan for you!!! I love you so much... Grandma Diana

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  13. I love gramma Diana! She keeps me rolling!! And very uplifted as well... thank You... xoxo

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  14. Thinking about you and your family....You're such an amazing young lady but I'm not surprised, you come from such an amazing family......

    Hugs and prayers to you and your family....:)

    Thank you for sharing,

    Kathy, D.J.& Ralph

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  15. you're so mature and inspiring noel
    miss you alot
    i love the pictures you put up sista <3

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  16. The pictures are awesome. Thank you Diana for sharing what was so funny, I was wondering, I knew it had to be good when you have that great laughing smile going on! We sure are sorry that we have to miss the family together. I know Shawn is just itching to stomp someone on air hockey. Better watch out Noel, Uncle Shawn used to play some mean air hockey, though he may be a bit rusty, it's been awhile. Noel you iook so beautiful in the pictures. You can see what a wonderful soul you have. God has great plans for you! We love you, hope to see everyone real soon. Aunt Nancy

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  17. Hi Noel, I heard about the Leukemia from Lori over at Cloud 9 on Friday. Glad to hear you've put yourself in God's hands and are taking things in stride. The pictures are great, that's just sooooo you - smiling every step of the way. :-) I know you'll do well. My prayers are with you.

    Russ Hanush

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  18. YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!!! LOVE YOU. - Marcy

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