Is it Christmas time again already? The saying "The days are long but the years are short" really seems to fit our stage of life right now. We can hardly believe 2011 is over. It was another year of transition and change for the Hamilton family, but they were good changes and we feel very blessed to be where we're at right now. In February, Jason accepted a job offer from the Forest Service as a budget analyst - stationed in Cedar City. In March, we moved from Heidi's parent's home in Murray (where we had been living for 10 months) to a twin home here in Cedar City. It has been hard to be farther from Heidi's family, but we did come up to see them quite a bit this year. And, it's been nice to be closer to Jason's family. We love that the temps are perfect here in the spring, summer & fall - and then when it gets cold here in the winter, we can always pop down to St. George for some warmth and family time. The scenery here is breathtaking and we have really enjoyed getting out for hikes & drives to see all the beauty that surrounds us. We also love the people here & have felt very welcomed in the neighborhood & ward. We started house-hunting in March, but after months of not finding what we wanted, we finally decided to build. We bought a couple lots in Enoch (a town just Northwest of Cedar) and hope to build our "dream home" next year :)
Our big trip this year was to Disneyland in April with Heidi's family. We started in San Diego & went to the beach & SeaWorld & then spent a few days in Disneyland & CA Adventures. We all had a wonderful time - and the girls especially loved the character dining & getting to be with their cousins. We bought a camping trailer this year & love it!! It's something we've wanted for a long time, so it has been nice to get it out and enjoy it. We are definitely a camping family! We had a death in the family in September. Heidi's Grandpa Tew passed away. We miss him a lot, but glad we got to spend time with him this year.
I've done a little section below for each member of our family, and then I've done a Smilebox slideshow at the end of that. I don't have enough memory left on blogger to upload pictures, so I figured that would be the easiest way :)
We hope you all have had a wonderful, blessed year. We are thankful to count you as family and friends and wish the very best for you in the coming year. Merry Christmas!!
From October 12, 2011
JASON: Jason is so thankful for his job. He really loves it! He loves the people he works with, he is good with the numbers, he loves the flexibility and benefits, and he loves that he can get out to do some site visits and start training to do some fires this next summer. He also is loving being closer to his family and getting to see all the scenery. He's also been working hard with Heidi to finalize our home plans so we can get to building. Jason is the 1st counselor in the Elder's Quorum and enjoys serving them. He does a lot of helping people move :) We've gotten a membership at the local aquatic center and Jason enjoys working out on the machines there. He also enjoys coming home for lunch once a week - sometimes meeting his girls at the park - sometimes having a warm lunch at home.
From October 12, 2011
HEIDI: Heidi is very thankful for Jason's job that allows her to stay at home with her three treasures. She is also thankful to be here in Cedar City and has loved getting to know the area and the people. She is the 1st counselor in the Young Women's and works with some pretty awesome leaders and girls. She loved going to camp, water-skiing, to a cabin, and doing lots of service projects and crafts. Heidi added a few more racing shirts to her collection this year, including the Salt Lake City half-marathon in April with her friend Chelsea, a quarter marathon in June - here in Cedar, a triathlon in Richfield (2nd woman overall) with her sis-in-law, and the Cedar half-marathon in September (1st in age division) where she got to see lots of friends! She loves being at home with her girls (most days :) and loves that they have opposite schdules (Ireland goes to preK in the morning & McKinley goes to afternoon Kindergarten) so she can spend 1-on-1 time with each girl. Heidi added quite a few books to her goodreads (www.goodreads.com) list. She still updates her blog regularly, so check it out if you get a chance :) http://jhhamiltonhappenings.blogspot.com/
McKINLEY: McKinley turned 6 this year and was BEYOND ready to go to Kindergarten. She is the oldest in her class (and - according to her teacher - the smartest). They have a hard time finding leveled books that are hard enough for McKinley to read. Her handwriting has vastly improved and she has made lots of friends! Some of her favorite Kindergarten friends are Addison, Jared, Elliot, and Kate - and she LOVES her teacher - Mrs. Jones. McKinley is still very inquisitive and loves making experiments and crafts. She is also a MAJOR note-writer and LOVES to write notes- to put in her daddy's lunch to surprise him, notes to say sorry, notes to say I love you, or notes just because. We love all her notes :) She loves camping, fishing, swimming, watching movies, riding her bike, paiting, coloring, cutting, and spending time with family & friends. Her favorite color is blue. Her favorite animal is a doggie, and she wants to be a school teacher or a clown when she grows up. :)
From October 12, 2011
IRELAND: Ireland is 4 and shows no signs of slowing down. She is still our go-getter, non-stop-action, excited-about-everything, full-of-life girl! She loves to run, swim, go camping, kick a ball, dance, draw and color, and play with her sisters and friends. She is in preK with Miss Melei three days a week and LOVES it! Her favorite preschool friends are Shaylee (we carpool with her), Aedel, Cambree, and Addison. She has an all-girl class! We bought the BOB books and are amazed at how her reading skills have improved. She is really getting good at sounding out 3-letter phonetically correct words. We are also working hard on getting her name down. She is left-handed and wants to write right to left. She has improved vastly, though, and we're sure she'll be ready for Kindergarten next year - even with being the youngest. Ireland would live in a leotard if we let her. Even in the winter, she changes in to a leotard the minute we get home from anywhere. We hope to put her into a dance class soon :) Her drawings are always very colorful, unique, and imaginative - and if you will listen to her for a minute or two, she will tell you stories from her family to her latest dream. She seems to have gotten over her shyness for the most part and will say hi to everybody we pass. She still takes a nap 2 or 3 days a week, which is nice for mom :) She still gets into trouble and seems to be a bit accident-prone, but she is growing up and turning into a beautiful little girl. Her favorite color is green. Her favorite animal is a big GIANT green elephant! And she wants to be a mom when she grows up. :)
KEZIA: Kezia is our bright-eyed, blonde-haired little girl. She turned 2 in October. She is full of energy and fun. She speaks really well and in full sentences. She loves to say the prayer, talk on the phone, run around, play with the dogs, sing songs, read books, and color. She also LOVES to make her sisters laugh. When we are at the table, she will pull any kind of funny face or noise or word that will get her sisters to crack up. If it's quiet & you go looking for Kezia, you will either find her getting into something she shouldn't - or a room reading a book. She still takes atenelol every 12 hours for her SVT, but we're hoping it won't be for too much longer. Kezia is now in a big-girl bed & takes an afternoon nap every day. She now shares her room with Ireland & has had fun being closer to her. Kezia is working on being a big girl - she's learning to take her bowl or plate to the sink after meal times and make her bed in the morning. She still gets into plenty of trouble - and she definitely knows how to whine and complain - but all-in-all, she is a good-tempered, beautiful little girl & we're loving to watch her grow & learn.
TUNDRA & SYDNEY: Our dogs have done well with the change of location. They have a decent backyard to run in & haven't been in a dog run, so they like to run to see everyone passing by. Tundra still takes medicine for his hypothyroidism & seems to have some arthritis in his hips. They love to come in and play, though, and LOVE to go camping with us. The girls love their doggies and play with them often.
