Home Sweet Home To Me!

It is no secret that our family loves the Tennessee Volunteers and that we consider East Tennessee our second home.

At the beginning of September, we were asked if Beads of Courage could use one of Tucker's 4 year pictures in their campaign to encourage people to carry Beads when they compete. Of course we said yes and, after doing a little research, I decided that I would try to get the University of Tennessee to participate in the program.

I had a tremendous amount of luck in this effort and the UT athletic department was very interested in learning more and possibly having some players carry Beads of Courage.

Tennessee Team Beads of Courage

Fast forward to November, where Tucker was invited by Beads of Courage and the Vols football team to attend the last home game of the season as a representative of Beads of Courage. We didn't hesitate to pack our bags and head to Knoxville.

We arrived at Neyland Stadium after lunch on November 23rd for the game against Vanderbilt, the last home game of the year, senior day. We checked out some of the tailgate parties and Tucker danced to the music. About an hour and a half before kickoff, we made our way down to the stadium for the Vol Walk. We waited and watched as the coaches, players, cheerleaders, and band paraded past us ALL of them wearing Beads of Courage. Tucker got to "high-5" some of the players and coaches as they passed.

Tucker at the Vol Walk

After the Vol Walk, we were escorted through the player's tunnel and onto the field for pre-game warmups. We got to hang out on the sidelines while the players got ready for the game. There was music blaring and Tucker had a great time. He had a dance-off with Smokey, the Vols' mascot, and got to meet a few of the players. Michael Palardy, the kicker, came over and talked to Tucker for a few minutes during warmups. He knew Tucker by name and was awesome with him. Michael is definitely a favorite of ours from now on.
       

Tucker & Michael Palardy

Tucker telling Michael his age

We took a ton of pictures and made memories that will last a lifetime, doing something that not many people get to do. After warmups, we made our way to our seats to watch the game. It was a 7pm game and it was cold in Tennessee. By halftime, Tucker was very cold so we decided to watch the rest of the game from the hotel room. He was asleep before we left the parking garage. 

It was an amazing day for Tucker and for us. I don't think there is any doubt that Tucker is a Tennessee fan now and he sings "Rocky Top" almost daily.

The next day we traveled south to Whitwell, TN to see some of Dena's family. It was great to catch up with them and for Tucker to get to see where his Papa grew up.

It was a fast trip that covered a lot of miles, but it was worth every minute of it. We left Texas on Thursday afternoon and were back at home by Monday night.

We are very excited to know that every single Bead that was carried that night will give enCouragement to a child fighting CHD or cancer. Tucker's story helped make it happen and he continues to get to bless others.

Tucker meeting Smokey

Tucker & "The Real" Smokey

We are eternally grateful to Ashely from Beads of Courage and Antone Davis and the University of Tennessee Athletic Department for making it all possible. 

"Rocky Top will always be home sweet home to me!"

~Trent

Hamilton Family Vacation 2012

The Hamiltons, (Pops, Granny, Greg, Amelia, Trent, Dena, Maddie, Tucker, Beckett, & Finn) that is, took our annual family vacation this past week. We rented a lake house in Granbury, Texas and it was a great time! 

Granny & Pops with the grandkids!

We, mostly, just hung out around the lake house, which was literally steps from the water, but we did venture out for a few fun things.

Beckett is ready for the PGA tour!

On Thursday, we drove to Glen Rose to visit Dinosaur World and Dinosaur Valley State Park. At Dinosaur World, Maddie and Tucker got to dig for fossils and see "life-sized" replicas of about 30 different types of dinosaurs. They thoroughly enjoyed it! Tucker would run up to a dinosaur and growl at it, then he would run away saying, "Scary! He gonna eat me, daddy! Save me!" I don't think that he was really scared, he was just being dramatic and playing games because he would run up and growl at the next one on the walk. Next we went into Dinosaur Valley State Park to look for real dinosaur tracks in the Paluxy River. The water was too high to see the tracks, but Tucker and Beckett got to splash in the river and have some fun.

Tucker, in the mouth of a T-Rex

Maddie & Tucker, future paleontologists

Does he look scared to you?

Beckett & Tuck, enjoying the Paluxy river

 On Friday, we visited the Granbury city beach, which is awesome! The city sectioned off a portion of the lake from boat and fishing traffic. They also trucked in enough sand from South Padre Island to make a true beach and go out about 50 yards into the lake. It was the nicest lake beach that I have ever been to. The kids spent the day splashing, throwing sand, building sand castles, and "swimming". I think that Beckett had the most fun of all, splashing and swimming the entire time.

Granbury city beach

Beckett, the little fish!

Tucker, enjoying the water

We also spent some time attempting to catch fish. The lake house had a boat dock and a sun-deck above it. The dock was perfect for fishing and we saw lots of fish. After a day and a half of losing tons of bait, I realized that our hooks were too large. After a quick change of hooks, we started catching some fish. Maddie caught a perch, as did I, and Tucker caught a small catfish. They were so excited to catch the fish, but didn't want to touch them.

The view of Lake Granbury from the dock

Maddie, fishing woman

The sun deck

Tucker's whopper!

It was a short and simple trip, but we all had fun and were able to spend some quality time together!

Beckett giving Finn kisses

Oh, and yes, Finn was there too, but he pretty much slept the whole time!

See! I told you Finn was there!

~Trent

Orlando...minus the Disney!

Back in November I mentioned that I was working with the Whole Hearts Foundation. Since then, my involvement has greatly increased and my role has changed. I'm still answering emails that come into the foundation, but I'm not in charge of the facebook page anymore...praise the Lord! I loved communicating and connecting with the families on facebook, but I'm not a marketing or social media expert. I am so grateful that Whole Hearts was able to find someone who is doing such a great job in that capacity. I think the new person has updated more in the past 2 weeks than I did the entire time I was in charge of it.

I addition to my other roles, I have also been asked to begin working on developing a plan for local support through the foundation. This is a dream come true for me because I will have the opportunity to meet CHD families, provide support, connect them with other families, and assist in the development of new CHD support groups, like our own. I will be spending a great deal of my spare time working on this endeavour and I pray that God will bless my efforts and Whole Hearts will touch numerous lives. I am very thankful that Matt and the new President and VP of Whole Hearts are giving me this opportunity.

I also had the chance to travel to Orlando, FL to be a part of the first official Whole Hearts Foundation event this week. In hopes that we can begin to assist families and hospitals in the fight against CHDs, we have started a campaign to raise funds and awareness in several cities around the country. Each of our events correspond to the location of one of Matt's tour stops on the Winter Jam Tour with his band, Sanctus Real (http://www.jamtour.com/). Our first event was a luncheon in Orlando, which benefited the heart patients of Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children.

Before I left for Orlando, I met with the administration of Medical City Children's Hospital (our hospital) to discuss a partnership with them for the Whole Hearts Dallas event. I was really nervous about the meeting, even though I knew everyone at the meeting. It went really well and we hope to hear something from them this week about the event.

I left Dallas at 7pm on Wednesday night and arrived in Orlando at about 11:45pm (eastern time). I went right to bed, after getting to the hotel, because I had to be up at 5:15am. I met Matt and his wife, Sarah, in the lobby at 6:15am and we left for our first stop of the day, a radio interview. It was really great to finally meet Sarah, we've known Matt for almost 2 years and have talked to Sarah through email, but I hadn't had the opportunity to meet her yet. Matt did a radio interview with Z 88.3, the largest Christian radio station in Orlando at 7am, then we left for the hotel, where the luncheon would be held.

Matt doing his sound check

The hotel was something else! It was a one-of-a-kind! The owner built the hotel just to have a place to put all of the artwork that he had collected over the years. It looked like the Louvre! After arriving at the hotel, we had breakfast and Matt did another radio interview over the phone. Next we went upstairs so that we could see where the luncheon would take place and for Matt to do a sound check. We were all so surprised and impressed with how everything looked for the luncheon. We have been working on building Whole Hearts for a while and it just hit us that it was all becoming a reality. I looked at Matt and said, "It's real dude!" He responded with, "I know, I can't believe it!"

Sarah, Matt, Dr. Nykanen, & Me touring the hospital

From the hotel, we traveled a few miles down the road to the Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. We had a tour scheduled of the hospital and the Cardiovascular ICU. The hospital was really nice and everything seemed to be enhanced with a little bit of the Disney touch. The lobby was decorated by Disney and I am sure that the kids love it! I learned a lot during our tour and I picked up some ideas that I will be bringing back to our hospital. One of the coolest things that we saw was the Music Therapy room. Joey Fatone, from NSYNC, donated the money for the hospital to have the music therapy room and a full-time music therapist. Patients in the hospital can go to the room and play guitars and drums, they can sing and record songs, and they can even make a music video. The therapist can also take instruments to the rooms for the kids to play there.

Music Therapy room at the hospital

After the tour, we had to rush back over to the hotel for the lunch and fundraiser event. Andrea, the VP of Whole Hearts welcomed everyone to the event and shared a little about Whole Hearts. Then the Chief Cardiologist spoke about the hospital and about CHDs. Next, Matt shared about the creation of Whole Hearts and then he played "All of Me" and "Lead Me". Last, the president of the hospital shared about needs that the hospital has and urged the business people in attendance to support Whole Hearts and the hospital. I was amazed that the event went so well and that we had such a great turn-out, especially since Andrea only had 3 weeks to plan and put it together.

Matt, Sarah, & Me at the Whole Hearts luncheon

 

Matt performing at the event

By this point in the day, it was only 2pm, but it felt like we had already done enough for a whole day, after all, we had been up since 5:15. When the event was finished, I had to say my goodbyes, because I had to go to the airport to come home. Matt & Sarah continued on to the University of Central Florida arena for the Winter Jam concert. I left Orlando at 4:30pm and arrived back in Dallas at 7:45pm. It was surely a whirlwind trip, I was only gone for about 24 hours, but I did so much in that time!

It is so surreal to think that all of the work is paying off for the foundation. God gave Matt & Sarah the idea and the platform to pull this off, then he put Chris & Andrea in the leadership positions for the foundation, now he is making everything come together at just the right time for us to be successful.

The Whole Hearts Team - Me, Sarah, Matt, Andrea, & Dickson

I had so much fun on this trip and I learned even more, but I was definitely glad to be home and see Dena & Tucker. I don't know if there will be more of these trips for me in the future, but I sure hope there are!

If you haven't already done so, please go to the Whole Hearts Foundation facebook page and "like" it, http://www.facebook.com/WholeHearts. Also, check out the brand new Whole Hearts website. If you click on each of the links and stay on the main page long enough, you might see someone you know:  http://www.wholehearts.org/!

Thanks for reading about my journey! I hope that you will join me in praying for the future success of the Whole Hearts Foundation. Our success will mean that hundreds of kids and their families will be blessed, supported, and healed.

~Trent