My Apologies....

Well, the game of Life has taken me over! I cannot believe I haven't blogged since (GASP) our January trip to Disney! I will post the happenings over the past few months, but I apologize they will probably be out of order. Enough of the apology, I am going to get blogging!!!!

Special Birthday Gift for Bryce....DISNEY WORLD

It has been a dream of mine to take each of our kids to Disney World, individually, as a surprise for their 5th birthdays. Well, it's hard to believe that we have a 5 year old and was able to accomplish this dream.

After a year of planning this trip, I am so glad we waited to go and to take Bryce alone. Bryce had no idea what Disney World was. Sure he has heard his friends talk about it, but to him this was just imaginative play! Mickey Mouse wrote Bryce a letter the night before we left, to tell him he was going to where Mickey lived on a special birthday trip with mommy and daddy.

We spent 6 days and 5 nights at Disney World. Upon arriving a the airport in Orlando, we were whisked off by Disney's Magical Express (buses) and got right on to exploring our resort. Bryce loved the pool and water slide. We actually got to swim 2 days out of our trip, which was a nice break from the freezing temperatures in Indy. We stayed at Disney's Port Orleans-French Quarter and visited all four Disney Parks (Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdomw).

Bryce was amazed by EVERYTHING at Disney! You could literally see the wheels in his head turning constantly. He wanted to know how everything worked. He didn't believe in the "magic" at first. He asked a lot of questions; How fast does the ride go? Will I like it? Is the fire real? Are there people inside the characters? Nothing got by him.

By the 3rd day, it was nice to see him actually "get Disney". He had it figured out and by the 4th and 5th day he was choosing what HE wanted to do! His favorite rides were Astro Orbiter and the "Buzz Lightyear with the guns". He really enjoyed the shows, parades and fireworks. He never wanted to take a nap, but he sure did crash at night, hard!

We had the dining plan with our package, so had a character meal everyday. Bryce loves pirates, so he officially joined 'The Pirates League' (It's the thing they do for boys, like making the girls princess').

The best thing about the trip was getting to enjoy Bryce without any other distractions. We got to focus on him and only him having the time of his life. Just to remind you, Bryce's birthday is on mine and Jared's Anniversary. We have no problem sharing this day with him. This trip opened our eyes once again to the basic joys of life-experiences, memories, relationships, laughter and love.

Bryce was so alive on this trip and we could tell just how much he appreciated this trip, with just mommy and daddy!

Much love to our 5 year old......HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY BRYCE!!!!!

Enjoy the pictures, through this link....

Disney 2011

Two Birthday Parties (Together)….Conquered!

Well, we pulled it off. Having 2 children with birthdays 10 days apart, we decided to throw them a joint birthday party. Of course, they each had their own theme, own cakes, and their own guests. They were just thrown at the exact same time.



Bryce is very much into Legos, so a Lego themed birthday party it was.



Sadie is very girly, so of course hers was everything princess, Disney Princess’ specifically.

Christmas 2010 Pictures

We had such a great Christmas Break. It was so nice to spend so much time together without having to adhere to work, school, and activity schedules.

The Sunday before Christmas we were able to attend the annual Popa dinner (Jared's extended family), we had so much fun. We spent Christmas Eve with Jared's family. The kids had a blast together (as did the adults)!

The Hamilton's traveled to Portage for Christmas Day with the Reynolds' family. Ashley's Aunt Gayle and cousin, Christopher made the trip up from Carmel to join in the festivities.

The 2 days after Christmas we headed into Chicago to see the sights. We had hot chocolate at the Walnut Room at Macy's (formerly, Marshall Field's). We then went to Navy Pier for the Winter Wonderland fun! Bryce got to ice skate for the first time and really liked it! We then went to Zoo Lights at Lincoln Park Zoo. It was a bit cold, but the kids had fun! We spent the next day riding the South Shore train to go to the Museum of Science and Industry.

Enjoy the pictures!

Merry Christmas From The Hamilton Family...

You can definitely tell another year has gone by as our kids are growing up ever so quickly! This past year has been full of lots of fun, laughter and memories. If this is your first time to our blog, please look back on our past year and stay tuned for more fun adventures! We are nearing the kids’ 5th and 3rd birthdays in January. They are at such fun ages right now and are truly enjoying the Christmas happenings. Kids truly bring out the Christmas spirit!

Jared continues to work as an IT Security Consultant. His passion for Purdue sports continues. We just finished our 7th season of having season football tickets! We started the basketball season tickets this year. We are loyal fans, through thick and thin. Bryce has taken a liking to watching and playing sports with Jared as well! Jared had a milestone birthday this year, 30! We were fortunate that the two of us road tripped down to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina for a long weekend to celebrate!

Ashley has stepped back into a permanent nursing role and is working 2 nights (7p-7a) a week in the Neonatal ICU. She has kept her passion for babies over the past 7 years and is happy to be back in this role. The hours give her the time to be home with the kids more, participate in preschool carpool, and get the kids to their activities and play dates! Ashley also took part in the Indianapolis Mini Marathon this past year. What an experience that was! Her and Jared are signed up to run it this coming year and are beginning their training for it…wish us luck!

Bryce is in his last year of preschool. He attends school Monday-Thursday from 9-1. He is learning so much and we are amazed each and every day by him. He is a math whiz and our star athlete! He tried his hand at soccer in the spring, but wasn’t too fond of it as “he always got knocked down.” We let him choose his next sport and he chose gymnastics. He really enjoys gymnastics and has some natural talent! After 10 weeks, they asked him into an Invitation Only class! For those of you that know Bryce, you know he LOVES basketball! Well, he is in his first organized league and LOVES it!

Sadie attends school 1 day a week from 9-1. She is such a bubbly and joyous little girl. She is so full of energy and lights up a room with her smile! She is our little ballerina. Anytime Sadie hears music, she is dancing away. She has been enrolled in ballet/tap for the past year and would love to dance everyday if we let her! Sadie is definitely into all things girlie…jewelry, dress-up, princesses, dolls, tea party, etc.
We have so much to be thankful for and pray that God has bestowed these blessings upon all of you, our dear friends and family!

A Business Trip with Daddy

Jared had a conference in Orlando (specifically, right across the street from Downtown Disney). He thought it wouldn't be fair to go there and not have his family enjoy the scenery! So, Sadie and I ventured with him. You may be thinking we left Bryce out, but #1 He has been to this same area two times and #2 He is going on his special birthday trip in January, with just Jared and I.

We spent the first day we got there at Sea World. Sadie LOVED the rides. She even went on her first roller coaster...this girl is fearless!!! She really enjoyed the whale and dolphin shows, but by far she enjoyed the sea lion show the most.

We took her to a character dinner where she got to meet Rafiki and Timone from The Lion King. She fell in love with them and had to be sure to give them a hug before we left the restaurant.

Disney is such a magical place. We stayed at Downtown Disney and Sadie thought the statues of the characters were the greatest!

She keeps asking when we are going to work with Daddy again?!?!?

Lions, Tigers AND a CHICAGO BEAR, oh my!!!!

The Hamilton Family had a great time Trick-or Treating! The Lion and Tiger costumes, were mine and my brother's old costumes! Nana whipped up a Dorothy costume for me and we all followed the candy brick road!


My little tiger!


My cutie lion!

The kids had costume parties at school, so they chose different outfits for those...

Sadie with her Dance friends!


Bryce with his best friend, Connor!


Mommy and Sadie at her preschool party.


Bryce with his teacher, who LOVES Buzz Lightyear!