Little League 2009

Another year of baseball season has come and gone.  We get so excited for it to start and then again, so excited for it to end.  For two months we spend four nights a week down at the ball field for a ball game, on the off nights TJ usually would have practice.  But it was a fun and exciting season!  

It was TJ's first year playing Minors and he did a great job.  His team was excellent and ended the regular season tied for first place.  When the tournament came though, they had a bad game and lost, which put them out of the tournament, ending the season in third place.  We're so proud of how hard TJ worked and is really becoming a good ball player!

This was Josie's 2nd year playing T-ball. She really improved this year! She wanted to play infield rather than outfield, that way she could talk to the cute boys running the bases. We'll see how she likes baseball next year when she has to be on an all girls team!

Ries also enjoys going to the ball games! There's room to run and play and of course playing in the dirt!

Our New Puppy DAISY!!

We seem to be a home that lost dogs drift to.  TJ had found a little chihuahua in our yard.  So once again we took in a dog trying to find the owner.  This was the first dog that we weren't able to find it's home.  So after two weeks we took it to the Humane Society.  Our kids cried and cried and cried, they were so heart broken.  Since they did do a good job taking care of that dog and are getting older, we decided we'd start looking for our own dog.  We wanted a bigger dog that could be outside, one that the kids could throw a ball and play with and the kids wanted one that would swim with them in the pool.  So after a couple of months looking, we finally found a beautiful yellow lab puppy.  The kids named her Daisy.

  She's a sweet dog, very friendly and playful.  And she loves loves loves the swimming pool.  When the kids are swimming, she wants to join them and play.  The problem is she tries to climb on top of them in the pool.  So right now she can only swim when the kids are out of the pool, but she loves for them to throw a ball in the pool and she goes after it.  She is just a puppy, so the chewing is a little out of control.  She's chewed up our drip system in the back and torn everything out of my vegetable garden, even though we tried to put a fence around it.  She's torn up our rug outside and if she can get a hold of the beach towels, she tears them up too.  So we've still got some training to do, but she's learning fast.

The kids are still a little worried that she'll do something that will make me get rid of her.  But hopefully she'll actually be a family pet to last!!

JOELL'S VISIT

In March, Jimmy's sister, Joell, came to AZ with her kids to visit!  Jimmy's dad was celebrating his 70th Birthday and she wanted to surprise him!  It's always great when she comes, and this time it had been way too long since we had seen them!  Our kids are close in age and love each other so much!  It's amazing to me that they hadn't seen each other for a year and a half and soon as they're together they're all instant best friends again - I LOVE IT!!  It was a short visit but we had a great time together (my kids especially liked getting out of a few days of school too).  We enjoyed going to the zoo, the park, had bday party for Jim and swimming in our freezing pool.  We thought those thick blooded Michiganites wouldn't have a problem swimming in 68 degrees, but it turned out the Arizonans handled the cold water much better - go figure.  Thanks for a great time - We miss you guys tons!!

Battle of the Books

4th Grade has been a wonderful year for TJ.  His teacher, Mr. Collins, was the perfect fit for TJ.  The year was full of incentives and rewards for hard work, which was the only way to get TJ to try his best.  Every quarter they had a "4th Grade Challenge" where each class competed against each other in various activities.  The last one was the "Battle of the Books".  Each class chose a 3 member team to compete in a jeopardy style game, where they were asked trivia questions about many different books.  TJ was priveleged to be on his team of all boys.  The other teams were all girls.  TJ's team won the challenge!!!  Where they each received a t-shirt, a certificate and a book.  And the class received the trophy for winning the challenge.  This has been great motivation for TJ and he now FINALLY enjoys to read!  GOOD JOB TJ - WE'RE SO PROUD OF YOU!!

CUB SCOUTS!!!

After starting school, I was released from the primary and put into the cub scouts.  It's so fun to be with TJ and  the boys!  So we keep busy, a few things we've done lately.......

BLUE AND GOLD BANQUET

For Blue and Gold this year (which is the birthday celebration for Cub Scouts) we went to a farm in Lehi.  Everyone had a wonderful time! Petting the horses and playing around.  The awards and recognitions were held in a barn.

WIND CAVES

Every year we have a pack meeting where we go to Usary Park and hike up to the wind caves.  The boys love it.  The whole family is invited and after we hike, we bbq and the boys set off their bottle rockets they made.  All the siblings get a chance to set them off too, and they love getting wet as the rocket shoots in the air and the water in the bottle sprays all over.

I'm Still Around!!

So I've been on a five-month hiatus.  In January I went back to school after 10 years.  So my life these past few months have been extremely busy with no time for blogging.  But now it's summer vacation and it's time to update everyone of what's been happening with the Hamilton clan these past few months!

Christmas Morning

We had a quiet Christmas morning. The kids didn't wake up too early, around 7:00. We make them all come to our bedroom first and then Jim and I go out and turn on the treelights and get our cameras ready. That's my favorite part, seeing their first reaction at what's been left under the tree.

Ries wasn't quite sure what to expect but thought it was great fun anyway. He was happy with just one gift, wasn't interested in opening anymore.  They were able to open a couple gifts and then had to wait for  their grandparents.  We had both Jimmy and my parents over for breakfast and opening of presents.  It was really nice to have them and to be able to be at home.        Santa brought T.J. an electric scooter, Josie a pink Green Machine and Ries a pound puppy.  It was a great day!

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! We weren't able to get Christmas Cards out before Christmas this year - so here's my makeup.

As always the year flew by us.  Jim has had some ups and downs as we started to end 2008. His job with Advantus was cut to a part-time position, but then was offered a full-time position at Velocity Designs (John Worthen's company). He loves the variety of work he does there and decided that he doesn't mind not working from home. This past month Jim was very ill and we discovered he has Valley Fever. Now that he's on anti-fungal medication, he's doing a lot better and continues to improve everyday.

Terese has been busy as well running the kids around to their different places, volunteering at school and trying to keep up with Ries. I decided a few months ago that it was time for me to go back to school. So right now I'm taking one class and starting January 20th I will be a full-time student. My mother-in-law is a saint and has agreed to watch Ries while I go.

T.J. is growing so fast! From August to December, he's gone up two pant sizes and three shoe sizes. He's proud to tell everyone that his shoe size is an 8 Mens (emphasize on the mens). He's doing well in school and absolutely Loves his teacher (it's about time). T.J. likes to try everything and this year he's in student council and orchestra. He loves scouts and can't wait for baseball season to start.

Josie is such a firecracker. She loves to gross us all out (like putting a bug and other concoctions together and drinking it) and then makes us call her "Josie Grosie". (I don't know where she comes from.) She started Let's Play Music this year and really loves it. After lots of pondering, we decided to put her in 1st grade this year and she's doing great! She loves to play with her friends and to sing and dance.

Ries is also growing too fast! He's now 20 months, goes to nursery (at church) and thinks he's a toddler. He loves music! He likes to play and listen to music. He loves to turn Josie's radio on full blast and dance. He also absolutely loves dogs. It was his first word after mom and dad and goes crazy everytime he sees one, whether personally or on tv. He's such a sweetheart and loves to give hugs and kisses. If he could only stay this age forever!

We had a wonderful Christmas and always love the time to relect on our Savior and spend time with family!

Christmas Celebrations at School

The fourth graders have various competitions throughout the year. They call them the "Fourth Grade Challenge". Right before school got out, they put on a Christmas performance. Each class came up with something and they performed it for the 2nd graders and parents. The 2nd grade teachers then were the judges. One class stood and sang Christmas songs, one spelled "Merry Christmas" and said what each letter stood for. Another class changed the words to some Christmas songs, e.g. "Teacher got ran over my a school bus" (very cute). And T.J.'s class did a variety of things. They came out with all the lights off and each kid had a flashlight shining on the ceiling and then on their faces as they sang. They also had this tree, and as they sang they put ornaments on. Then some of the kids went behind and turned on their flashlights, which made it look as if the tree had real lights on. It's very good - definitely the best one - and they did in fact win. Which, means they have the trophy until the next challenge.  

I was able to go into Josie's classroom and help out while they made gingerbread houses. I think Josie had more fun eating everything than actually making it. Only half of her supplies got put on the house and then the house only lasted about a day.