Christmas Greeting from The Hamilton's

We hope this post finds you and your family doing well. The Hamilton’s have had quite an eventful year and have so much to rejoice for.

We are still living in Carmel, Indiana (on the north-side of Indianapolis). We have been here for almost 6 years now and absolutely LOVE IT! We now call Indianapolis, HOME!

Jared continues to work as an IT Security Consultant. He had trials this year to overcome, medically, having 4 surgeries in a month period to correct a skin condition. We are so happy to report he is completely healed and doing great! He participated in the church softball league in the early fall and is looking at joining a basketball league for the winter. He still enjoys his fishing and began mountain biking this year. A joy in Jared’s life is our new family dog, Boiler! She is a black and tan dachshund.

Ashley is working two 12-hour night shifts, per week, in the Neonatal ICU and could not be happier to be back working with babies! The part-time schedule allows her to tend to all the kids school and extra-curricular activities. In her spare time, ha, she has managed to go back to school…completing her bachelors’ degree from Purdue University! Sometimes she is not sure if she is coming or going, if it’s night or day, but she wouldn’t have it any other way.

Bryce will be 6 years old in January, yikes! He is such a fun, loving, and active boy. He started kindergarten this year, going full-day five days a week and is LOVING it! Bryce is our super sports star. This year, he participated in swimming, gymnastics, baseball, flag-football, and basketball. He also learned how to ride a bike, without training wheels this year!

Sadie, our social butterfly, will turn 4 years old in January. She is taking an active roll in planning her birthday party this year, she has “specifics” that she wants for her party! She attends preschool two days a week from 9-1. She is always eager to go, mainly to see her little friends! She took swim lessons this year and really enjoyed it. She continues to do ballet and tap. This girl sways to the sound of music all day long! Sadie had 2 surgeries this year as well, earlier in the year for a new set of ear tubes and the second, just recently for sinus surgery and a fourth set of ear tubes. We had a bit of scare during surgery but happy to report ALL IS WELL!

With all the trials and chaos our family endured this year we found many things to be thankful for. We celebrated Bryce’s 5th birthday in Disney World! Jared and I were able to spend a week in Hawaii, with my brother Eric. We escaped to Brown County for 2 long weekends this year and thoroughly enjoyed just being a family! Of course, we are still die-hard Purdue football games, attending both football and basketball games.

We are so thankful to our loving family and friends (near and far) who have helped us through all our despair this year. The prayers, emails, calls, food, gifts and kind thoughts were much appreciated. We are beyond blessed!

Halloween Fun

The kids had a BLAST Trick-or-Treating this year. We had a cul-de-sac party before we ventured out. 10 families were in attendance. A group shot of all the kids will come later (I was in charge of keeping them focused on someone else's camera)! Bryce actually got more candy than we handed out!

Sadie had a costume party at school...

Bryce's school had a Fall Party.

Carving Pumpkins. Bryce LOVED scooping out his pumpkin. Sadie really didn't want to get messy!

Fall Break in Brown County

We headed down to Brown County for 3 nights in a cozy cabin. We had a lot of fun just being a family and just being away from the hustle and bustle of life. The boys went fishing at the pond, the kids played on the swing set and loved the hot tub. We spent each night around the campfire roasting marshmallows and giggling. The last night we played a game of hide and go seek (in the dark)...the kids LOVED IT!!!!

We spent a morning driving through the State Park and taking in the beauty. We also spent an afternoon horseback riding. We ventured into downtown Nashville for lunch and shopping.

We had a nice and relaxing time.....back to reality!

Visitors and ZooBoo!!!

Uncle Aaron and Aunt Ashley came down for a visit. They rode the MegaBus from Chicago and were pleasantly surprised with the experience and service. We packed the two days they were here with FUN!!!

On Friday, we all got up early and got Bryce on the bus to school. The rest of us went out for pancakes and then off to Conner Prairie.

On Saturday, we lounged around the house and enjoyed the sunshine then ventured down to the Indianapolis Zoo for ZooBoo! A fun time was had by ALL!

Life is GOOD

I am happy to report I have been absent from blogging due to being busy...in a good way!

Jared is fantastic! We are happy to put his surgeries behind us and move forward. He joined the church softball team and played games as his (and my) schedule allowed him to. He has also gotten in some rounds of golf. I am so happy to see him doing things he enjoys!

Bryce is an excellent student and is LOVING kindergarten! He is learning so much. I am in awe everyday of the things he is learning. He loves math or anything to do with numbers. He is a sports fanatic. He just finished his first season of flag football. He cannot wait to play tackle football! We have a few weeks off before he begins basketball. He is such a lively and fun loving little boy.

Sadie is a spunky 3 year old. She is out to conquer the world, on her own of course. She is into imaginative play. Everyday, she is a different princess and goes on many adventures. She attends school 2 days a week and would love to go more if I let her. She is quite the social butterfly. When she comes home from school she cannot stop talking about what she did with all of her friends. She is still enrolled in ballet and tap class and would not dare of quitting it! I think she has found her niche, she is a dancer!

I have gone back to school to complete by bachelors degree in nursing. A nurse has 3 different paths in which to become a registered nurse. After doing 2 years of undergraduate schooling for pre-pharmacy at Purdue, I switched my major to nursing. The waiting list was 3 years long, so I opted for a different route. I went to a diploma school, which teaches its nurses through clinical training. I am grateful for my training to become a registered nurse, but always wanted to finish my degree.

I have been working 2 nights a week (7pm-7am) in the neonatal ICU for the past year. I have been a NICU nurse for 7 1/2 years, but have only worked about one day a week since having Bryce and Sadie. With being back in the NICU, my work has a tuition reimbursement program to finish my bachelors degree. I am happy to report I am enrolled back at PURDUE to finish my degree.

As always, I apologize for the lack of postings. The Hamiltons' are doing well, correction, The Hamiltons' are doing FANTASTIC!!!!

We are BOILERMAKERS!!!!

Another Season of Purdue Football is upon us. This marks our eighth year with season tickets. It has become a family affair. The kids LOVE to go. My parents, Joe and Sally, are joining us again this year. Boilermakers....always loyal fans!

Preschool "Officially" Begins for Sadie

Sadie has done a PARENTS TIME OUT program the past two years at the same preschool Bryce went to, so not much as changed. This year she officially enters into the preschool program. Instead of one day a week, for four hours, she goes TWO days a week for FOUR hours. A total of EIGHT hours a week to myself (not really, volunteering and school work will take up this time, more on that later).

Sadie was SUPER excited to meet her new teachers and see her new classroom. She has many of her same friends from last year in her class, including her BEST FRIEND Lily!!! So, what did I do with my first day of "freedom"? I grabbed coffee with friends for an hour, then volunteered at Bryce's school for 2 hours, ran home and walked the dog and my 4 hours was up (don't worry I scheduled a massage for Thursday)!
Traditional Front Porch Photo
Proudly showing her "share card" for school (a collage of her favorite things-family, dog, stickers of princesses, drawings, and of course a picture with her best friend, Lily!)

The infamous Lily!

Ready for 3 year old preschool

It's hard to believe this is our 5th year at Carmel United Methodist Church Preschool. We absolutely LOVE it there!