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My uncle Richard was quirky and could tell you stories for days. He could tell you anything you could ever want to know about trains and loved to razz my dad about being being in the navy while, he, was a proud airforecman. He loved a good road trip and could tell you 8 different roads to get lost on for any given adventure. He was funny, and proud, and friendly, and kind. He made life fun. Just last week, for halloween, he told me he had painted his plants with glow in the dark paint for trick or treaters. He and his wonderful, warm, welcoming wife grew a big garden that he would give me updates on every year. He had a wicked hat collection. I don't know if it was a collection but every time I saw him he would be wearing a different hat. At my wedding he wore a tall traditional top hat. He would tell me about the family summer camp he took his kids to that i think he enjoyed more than they did. He told me about his recent trip to Ashland Oregon to go to the Shakespeare festival and how it rained on his legs at the outdoor theater one night because they sat halfway under the balcony. About 6 months ago he told me he knew I missed talking to my grandpa Jim who passed and asked if he could call me more often. We talked weekly and I saw him once a month when my dad and I visited my grandmother. He also was an artist when it came to leatherworking. He made beautiful leather bags and beaded them by hand. Last year he drove to see us and gifted me and my dad each a bag. They are covered in tassels and smell good. He loved that Sundance used to seek my bag out and sleep on it.

As much as I would have loved it, its been hard to spend time with my dads side of the family. We always kind of joke that we only see each other at funerals. Richard made sure that wasn't the case. He made an effort to visit and let us know he loved us. One of the last few visits, my grandma B, my dad, my uncle Joe, my uncle Richard and I were all sitting together for breakfast. My grandmother and 3 of her sons, and me. I had this feeling of seeing myself in them all in a way I dont think id ever felt with kin before. I saw my quirkiness in Richard, and... (continued in comments)

BRIEF NIC UPDATE! Great news from our world, another scan down and its still clear 🥹💕 looking back at this year so far:

January: Medi-cal stops covering Nic's seizure med and prescribes him the generic which has a different formula. We went on Nic's first ski trip early in the month and a week later he has his first seizure in 2 years.

February: He has an MRI and they find the cancerous tumor they removed 15 years prior, grew back. He celebrates his 40th bday. I sign my divorce papers after 5 years of working to get divorced.

March: He gets a craniotomy, brain surgery, to remove the tumor. Doug moves in for the next 5 months to help keep our business afloat and help our family.

April: Nic begins chemo and the newer IDH inhibitor drug. Chemo cycle 1 begins.

May: Nic is pretty wiped out from chemo cycles but is adjusting well. Cycle 2 begins.

June: Nic fully switches to UCSF. Nic and i get engaged 💍 OT dies 😢 Nics scans are still clear and hes adjusting to treatment. Cycle 3 begins.

July: Doug goes home (thank you Doug!) They find strange scar tissue but decide its not something to worry about yet. Cycle 4 begins.

August: Kids start school. Nic is status quo. Cycle 5 begins.

September: Nic is status quo. Cycle 6 begins. Chemo is half way done!

October: Nic is status quo. Cycle 7 begins.

November: Clear scans! And he starts cycle 8 next week! 😮‍💨❤️‍🩹👏

What a crazy year. We feel exhausted and absolutely blessed to have the support from every one of you guys. Thank you for following along on his health adventure! We will update, always, with any new news. And we are looking forward to the peace and joy the holidays bring. Remember I love you guys.

Pics from us in the city at UCSF today waiting for the scan results.

Colie's Creations Grooming Salon wishes you all a happy Halloween 🎃 Here are a few of our doggies from Spooky month! We are almost completely booked through the month of November 😱 so hit us up if you forgot to book we will try to squeek ya in!
707-322-9132

Halloween 2026 is in the bag 🎃👻💀👽 this was the first year Bee got to go door to door with his brother and we just watched from the sidewalk! Im proud of my boys 💕

This is one of my favorite Halloween traditions: the floating pumpkin patch 🎃 i swear even when the kids are too grown up for it ill continue to go. It kinda makes the true transition to fall. The last little flecks of summer, passing the torch to fall. Hope the start of fall is treating you all well!

On October 9th, my first born celebrated his golden birthday, turning 9 years old 🎉 how do you not go big on your golden birthday?!

My boy loves surprises and I take every advantage to plan things and keep them secret. On friday after school we picked him up with treats on his seat and told him that we had a long drive ahead of us. We made up a story that we were going to a discount party supply store to get used decorations for all of our birthdays for the next few years. We told him, yea they may be second hand or slightly broken but they are cheap 😉! After the first hour he was like, where is this store 😄 90 mins after that we pull into a middle school parking lot in west Sac and his cousins, aunt, and uncle were waiting to surprise him! Them alone being there would be a killer surprise as he loves going to see them.

That middle school held parking to an oktoberfest (our first ever), where they had traditional German dancing and food 💃

The next day we drove to Placerville and took part in one of my cousin Tasha's fall traditions and went to Apple Hill. For those not in the know (me lol) its like Art Trails here in sonoma county but for orchards! We feasted on apple doughnuts, apple shakes, pumpkin ice cream, you get the idea!

From there we took adrian to his birthday gift from us, a Cosmic Chili Peppers blacklight baseball game ⚾️

And finally we had his birthday party at the pumpkin patch with a BBQ to follow at our house. The kids swam in the corn pit, ate ribs till their fill, bobbed for doughnuts, and ran around like banshees.

Im exhausted but so grateful for every part of our trip. I am so very grateful for all of our friends and family who celebrated with us. I had this beautiful moment reflecting on how great it is trusting and loving your community. As people made it to our house post patch, we still hadn't arrived. We saw on the camera that they let themselves in and got comfy and I had that gratitude that I dont have to worry about who's in my home, just that people can come in and enjoy it. I get to have the safe space I've always wanted to be a part of.

What a gift. And what a gift my Muffin is. Happiest of birthdays to my special Muffin ❤️

Before we get lost in October if wanted to post a handful of our September pups 🐶🐶🐶we still have some room around the holidays but I encourage you to book now if you haven't already! A well as your family photos for those holiday cards! Ill add some photo content on my photography page Nicole Vantine so give that a follow to see more!

The last fleeting whisper of summer before the imminent rush of fall hits. Trader Joe's has pumpkins for purchase so you know summer is dead.

NIC UPDATE: Yesterday we had another MRI scan and it looked good! He is also in round 6 of 12 of chemo now meaning hes half way done with chemo (for now) 🎉

He has been looking and feeling way more like his old self but we are never taking for granted that he lives with an incurable disease. But for now hes doing well (all things considered) and right as the holiday season begins 🍂

Its been had to have time to sit and update so I apologize. For now, no news is great news.

Pics from our only camping trip this year. We had a great time. With all the medical stuff we didnt have time to do much camping. So this was much needed and brought us much joy. Other pics of some coast trips.

I love you all ❤️

Muffin started something new 🐎 ✨️ He hot riding lessons from my folks last year for his birthday and we only just got him in the arena!

I love watching him grow his relationships to animals ❤️ thanks Toby (the horse) and Cloverleaf Ranch for a great start!

Before we get too far away from these moments I wanted to post about our fair trip. I think its one of the most anticipated events for our family every year. An oasis of joy looms around the end of summer where for one evening we eat ask the gnarly fair snacks, ride all the rides, visit the critters, and watch out fellow Sonoma county residents enjoying the last stretch of summer together.

Quick nic update: he finished his 5th (i think) chemo cycle just last night. He is slowly but surely acclamating to the drug, with small set backs here and there concerning deficient white blood cell counts. Thankfully UCSF is watching him closely and he has blood drawn consistently to make sure his immune system is rebounding properly. We have been hiking and walking alot, a suggestion from his medical team. I walked so much i got sciatica with a bulging disc between L4&5 so i haven't been walking/standing at all since Thursday night 😅 🙃 but I have faith that I will be back soon... I just have to force myself to do the one thing I'm the worst at, resting 😱

Any ways we loved you all 💕 if you want to help nic and i on his continuous health adventure the link for donations is in bio or we would love company, friend visits, singers with yall, game nights, playtime! We love you all and THANK YOU for being in this journey with us 💕💕💕

If you would like to financially donate (and write off on taxes!) :
https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/when-life-gets-heavy-community-lifts-help-a-dad-recovering-from-brain-surgery?utm_source=ig&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link_in_bio&fbclid=PAb21jcAT6vYFwZG9mAmV4dG4DYWVtAjExAHNydGMGYXBwX2lkDzU2NzA2NzM0MzM1MjQyNwABpwhLi8chvPJlW2luHMUqC6URxHpwWffo97s12TK60PmEWLjzcnmHWCjvxXVf_aem_5DnPMKaRqdwu7T40NHHEkg

Or venmo: https://venmo.com/code?user_id=2334668875628544875&created=1787682443