Camera Fun

I'm sure I've mentioned that we got a new camera for Christmas and we are still learning how to use it but lately we've been trying to get out and really try to get some good shots. We also got a new lens recently to add some creativity to our photos. Gary has been doing a great job with the camera and editing the pictures. I've taken a few that turned out well but G is the one that does so well. We had a nice slide show made but I can't get it to post. I wanted to go ahead and post some of the pictures that some of you have already seen on facebook for those of you who aren't on there. So skip through or enjoy :)

Hope you're enjoying your summer and are able to get out of the heat and have some fun!

Time to Celebrate

This past week we had 2 reasons in our house to celebrate.
First of all Gary and I celebrated 8 years of marriage. Time has absolutely flown by these past 8 years. I guess the saying "time flies when you're having fun" is so true when you feel you've barely blinked and we've been married for 8 years. Just seems so crazy to me.
To celebrate we went to the lake with 3 other couples for the weekend. 2 out of the 3 were also celebrating anniversaries. We had an amazing time at the lake house where we took out the boat and seadoo. We boated, skied and soaked up some major sun. We prepared a delicious dinner and wonderful breakfast while there and enjoyed another trip around the lake before heading home Sunday. It was a great time to celebrate with such great friends.
When we got home we found our refrigerator had kicked the bucket so instead of treating each other to a gift we bought a new fridge. We got a great deal on a fancy french door model in hopes that it will live long enough to go in our house whenever we build. Not exactly how we planned to spend our savings but not a lot you can do about that. We still enjoyed a great dinner on our actual anniversary as a family. I made homemade shrimp alfredo, that even Cooper enjoyed.
God has definitely blessed us with a wonderful marriage and life together.

Here are a few shots from the lake.

CELEBRATION # 2

Cooper turned 2! Again time has certainly flown by. It seems like yesterday I was sitting on my toosh at the Ronald McDonald House trying to keep him in a little longer the next thing we know he's 2. He's talking up a storm, pretty much potty trained, counting to 10 and just being a BOY.

Here are several pictures of the birthday boy...

We had special pancakes that morning. Complete with strawberry eyes, chocolate chip eyebrows and nose and blueberry smile.  

He got to play and eat at chic-fil-a for lunch with Mac after we took Molly to the doctor.

We had an ice-cream cone after dinner and he thoroughly enjoyed it! As you can see it's ALL over his face. 

Here's a picture of pure trouble! These boys are going to give us a run for our money that's for sure. It was absolutely impossible to get them to all look up at the same time.

Here's all the kiddos.

Cooper, Coby, Mac

Atley, Risdon and Molly

All smiles.

He had a pretty good time at the party. During presents he was looking pretty tired but got a second wind and stayed up until 9:45 but slept until 8:30 and took an almost 4 hour nap. I was wondering who replaced my child with a sleeper!

He's decided that since he's 2 now he likes to sleep I suppose. NO COMPLAINTS HERE!!

We had a farm theme party. He had a barnyard (cupcakes), berry patch, veggie garden, pigs in a blanket, pig sty (smokies in bbq sauce), haystacks, chicken coop (bbq chicken legs), chicken feed, puppy chow and a corn field, and limeade.

Gram and Gi-Gi came to the party via skype. 

He of course loved his cake. He picked the chicken for his cupcake when I was decorating. I was glad because it was the easiest.

He clapped for us after we sang to him. I was very surprised he didn't sing because "Happy Day" is one of his favorite songs to shout.

Bapa and Granny got him a stick horse.  Here he is singing "BONANZA!!!!!!" with as much excitement as you can get out while singing. 

He gave rides on his horse to Uncle Brandon and Bapa. He will sing Bonanza for you while you're riding so you can get the full effect. He's been riding the stick horses with Bapa and Granny for months at Orschlens and just now discovered that the horse makes noise when you pinch it's ear. 

Thank you everyone for making his birthday such a special one!

(sorry for the long post with tons of pictures but I wanted to share our day with you)

Happy Memorial Day

So I know I'm late with the wishing of Happy Memorial Day but thought I'd still send out our wishes. We love and appreciate all our military friends and family active and retired.

We went to the lake over the weekend when Gary got home from turkey hunting in Kansas. We decided spur of the moment to go Sunday and spend the night so we'd have more time on the boat.  

Cooper had his very first boat ride and did great! As you can see he enjoyed himself. I believe we'll be getting a smaller life jacket before our next trip. It looked like it was going to pop off his head when he was sitting (although that didn't happen much).

Cooper and Parker had a good time together. Parker is so helpful with him and patient. 

This is your Captan Cooper speaking

Look at those beautiful locks! He got a hair cut this week so it's not as long but still has those sweet curls. This mama isn't ready to get rid of them yet!

Uncle Brandon hooked him up with a sweet pole equipped with a worm and everything (just not a hook). He throughly enjoyed having a fishing pole. I think he liked have something to splash in the water. We ate peanuts in the shell and he had to splash the shells over the side of the boat. It kept him occupied for quite some time actually. 

Yes that is a potty chair on the boat. That's how we roll! He's doing great with his potty training, I just didn't want him to not have an option if he needed to go. He loved going on the side of the boat, yet again getting to splash but it was the other we were worried about. He does a potty dance for about 30min before he goes in the potty but I didn't want to be stuck in the middle of the lake with no where to go. Enough about that I'm sure you don't care to read about our potty routine. But to brag a little he's done awesome! We've been to the zoo, and shopping and stayed dry in our real undies! He does great in the nursery at church as well. It was a tiring battle but one that I'm glad we did already since he's done so well. We still have our days and he still wears me out with his potty false alarms needing to go in stores on the side of the road but for the most part he's done well. I've tried not to post and bragging about it because I felt it may jinx us!

Serious fisherman

Uncle Brandon helping Coop catch a fish with the dip net.

Brandon and Aislynn soaking up some rays. 

We had beautiful weather. We have jumped into summer full swing even though it's not officially summer yet our temperatures have been. Hot and humid from the beginning. We will be utilizing friends pools, the sprinkler and the fountain water park near by.

Parker was brining in a good catch! 

Family Photo from our first lake trip. 

Always fun to have a self portrait!

Hope you are enjoying your summer days!

If you haven't read my CRAFTING FOR A CAUSE

PLEASE DO! And pass it along. I've gotten a few orders and would like to have more. What a wonderful way to help others.

CRAFTING FOR A CAUSE

My current mission is "CRAFTING FOR A CAUSE".
What is my cause you may ask? We have some dear friends Nathan and Megan who have recently began their adoption process after a long awaited answer on which direction to go for starting their family.

Read more on their story HERE

What is my craft you may ask? My craft is this: do I make something that you are willing and wanting to buy? Is it a pillowcase dress? Burp clothes, bibs, blankies, diaper pouches? An applique onsie or shirt? An embellished tank top? Handmade cards?… and so on…
I'm no master at crafting but I enjoy it and am excited to pass the joy on.
So here's the deal. IF there is something crafty that you've been wanting or needing or have someone in mind to give it to let me know. We'll see if there is something that we can come up with and the money will be donated to the adoption.
Nathan and Megan have decided to have a garage sale to raise money for their adoption read about that HERE the sale is June 17th and 18th.
Do you have something you'd like to donate? Items you'd like to sell for a great cause?
Do YOU craft and would like to get involved? If so we'll take it!!!!!!!
Maybe you make jewelry or sew or do some sort of artwork?
Maybe you have big items sitting in your basement needing a new home. Obviously not all my readers can donate their big items due to the distance. But some of you may be able to do that. Some of you maybe able to stick a few handmade things in the mail that they can set out at the garage sale.
If you answer yes to any of these then we are the people for you! "Send me a fax, send me a letter give me a call that would even be better." " Hey mister post man look and see, is there a letter, a letter for me?"
Send me a text, shoot me a message on facebook, send a telegram, you get the point. 
We need YOU to make this possible! We need YOU to help make a couples dream of becoming a family a reality. Whatever the case may be, if you the Lord lays it on your heart to help I know one family that will be more than happy to take it.

So here's what to do… leave a comment on the blog if you have something in mind, or email me at: [tammihamilton @ gmail DOT com]


PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD ABOUT THIS GREAT CAUSE AND THIS AWESOME COUPLE!!


Your prayers are more than appreciated as they go on this journey of adoption. 

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called‎ according to His purpose." Romans 8:28 

Blessings,
      T

Silver Dollar City

A few weeks ago Cooper and I got to go to Silver Dollar City with our good friends Barron and Betsy. We were excited this trip actually happened because we had been getting SO much rain and the forecast was calling for rain that day too. With a check of the radar and jacket in hand we headed out only to find it was sunny and 80 degrees for us when we got there!

We had a nice time walking around, sampling the saltwater taffy and eating kettle corn. 

Barron and Betsy wanted to see the Russian Circus while we were there but we weren't sure if Coop would sit through it or not. The sitting through it wasn't the issue it was the giant spot light cutting through the darkness near us that was the problem. He absolutely freaked out! He loves flash lights and any other kind of lights so it was much to our surprise when he began to freak out. I'm not sure if it was the dust particles in the air that he could see in the light or that the beginning of the show was really loud so it just started us off on the wrong foot or what but he was not a fan! So Coop and I endured the show standing up at the back behind the spot light. He would have been happy if I would have let him play on the stairs but little did he know those stairs lead to the sound booth AND spotlight! I didn't think they'd appreciate him playing around the equipment.  

We snapped a few shots of him in the jail. Betsy and Barron we so good to wait and let him do things or be slow at walking up hills. Barron even sat with him while Betsy and I rode a crazy disk ride. They sat and enjoyed a frozen lemonade while we spun around way up in the air!

Here are some shots of us on the buggies. He didn't quite know what to think I don't think. He surprisingly didn't want to push the button that made us go up so I took the controls and made sure he got the most of the ride.

Asking if he wanted to go UP

Trying to get him to put his arms up like we were on a roller coaster. 

All in all we had a good day and Coop did great even though he didn't have a nap. On our way home we stopped for pizza at a place called Pizza Chef. If I'm ever in Branson West again I'll be sure to stop here. We all really enjoyed it!

Thanks B&B for such a fun day at that City!!