Alex Goes on a Mission!!

March 7, 2009
My 2nd oldest sister Laura, and my nephew Alex

It is official, the oldest grandson on the Hamilton side of our family is a missionary. Alex was called to the Tallahassee, FL. mission. I am so excited for him, so I wanted to include a post about all the fun experiences we have had since he received his mission call. I am so proud Alex and his choice to go on a mission, and grateful for the example he is setting for all of the grand kids in our family.

First, I was able to attend the Jordan River Temple with Alex when he took out his endowments. What a neat experience it was to be there with him, and so many other members of my family. It was a great day! I am so grateful for the blessings the church brings to my life, and grateful I was worthy to be able to be in the temple with Alex. Thanks for letting me share in that special time with you Alex. Here is a picture of my family at the temple with Alex.

Ken, Wendy(sister), Lorrin(brother), Tahnee, My Mom, Alex, Me, Matt(brother), Liz & Nate(brother)

Alex & Grandma after attending the temple!

April 18 & 19, 2009

For Spring Break, we were able to travel to Wyoming for Alex's Farewell. I know Wyoming...for Spring Break? Actually the weather was beautiful while we were there! We lucked out. Alex gave a great talk at his farewell. He is going to be a great missionary. I have to admit I got a little sad, and teary eyed. I really was missing my Dad. I know he is so proud of Alex. I am sure he was with us that day!

While we were in Wyoming, we had a few "only in Wyoming" experiences! The first one was after his farewell, my sister Laura had a luncheon for everyone. The luncheon was held in their Elementary school...."only in Wyoming". It was very yummy, but I had to laugh that it was at the school. It was perfect, there was a lot of room for everyone to play and have fun! There was a rope to climb, jump ropes, flat scooters for the kids to ride around on, and last but not least the big fold out lunchroom tables to eat at. It really was great! I wonder if we can use our school for family get togethers, or if it really is an "only in Wyoming" thing?

All my family that attended the farewell!

Dawson & Mariah riding the flat scooters!

It was nice to have a big gym to play in!

My nephew Weston on the climbing rope!

Jada on the climbing rope!

My brother Lorrin's hands after climbing to the top of the rope, and sliding down!

My niece Elora jump roping with Franklin in her arms!

I had to post this picture of my sisters dog Franklin playing tug-o-war with Lorrin & Tahnee!

My family: Marlene, Matt, Lizzy, Becky, My Mom, Nate, Me, Lorrin & Laura
(Not pictured: Julie & Wendy)

Me & my sister Lizzy!
(She flew all the way from Tennessee for the farewell)

I had to have a family picture with the beautiful Wyoming landscape!

Dave & I with Elder Peterson

While we were in Wyoming we hung out at my brother Nate's house. He had many fun things to do. His home is were we experienced our next, "only in Wyoming" experience. He built a huge room above the garage at his house. It is equipped with a kitchen, bathroom, pool table, air hockey table, ping pong table, a basketball hoop that extends from a cabinet, and all kinds of game systems. The kids (and lets be honest the adults too) went crazy. Everyone had so much fun!

Dave, Dax, Lorrin & Tahnee playing pool

Lizzy, My Mom (Grandma), Me & Laura

You can't have a family get together, and not have ice cream sundaes!

Here it is the next "only in Wyoming"....Sit around and wait to watch a snake eat a vole (is that how you spell that?). My nephew Tannon has a pet snake, and all the kids wanted to see it eat. So Tannon caught a vole, and put it in with the snake. It was so funny, the snake would not eat it. We all sat there for about 20-25 minutes waiting for the big event, but all we witnessed was the snake licking the vole. We finally gave up.... ;/

We're waiting.....

Okay, even the adults wanted to see the snake eat the vole!

Onto the next "only in Wyoming"....Roof jumping! My brother was letting all the kids jump from the roof of his house to the trampoline. They had so much fun!

Daxton making the jump!

Dax gives the thumbs up...it was great!

The kids would pile tons of blankets & pillows up on the trampoline for the big plunge!

Aiden & Brayden trying to decide if they should jump!

Brayden got brave and jumped!

Finally, what else would you do in Wyoming....play with guns, ride four wheelers, and collect coconucks? Yes, these were the adventures Dawson had while in Wyoming. He loves guns, so he instantly found a toy gun to play with. Then he found a pine cone which he informed me was called a coconuck. He carried that thing around for 3 days! He was asleep when we got home from Wyoming, so I left the coconuck in the car. The next morning he was freaking out because he had lost it. When I got it out of the car, all was well in Dawsons world! He finally cut it into pieces with a set of keys, and had Daxton tape the pieces of the coconuck to his bike. It was so funny!

Should I be scared by how much Dawson loves guns?

Aiden, Dawson, Mariah & Brayden

Dawson with his "Coconuck", Gotta love the face, it is so Dawson!

One final "only in Wyoming".....check out this sunset! It was incredible.

Now I know why my brother & sisters families love to live in Wyoming...not to mention the peace & quiet!

We had such a great time together. It was so nice to spend some time with Alex before he left.

April 22, 2009

Finally, Alex entered the MTC on April, 22.

My sister Laura, and her family at the MTC!

Since it took me so long to post this, there have been some changes in Alex's mission plans. The first week in the MTC, Alex injured his knee playing basketball. He had x-rays which revealed 2 masses in his leg. So after catscans, bone scans & MRI's, they figured out there were 2 tumors in his leg. He had surgery a little over a week ago and they removed 1 tumor, and said the other one could stay in until after his mission, because it would make his recovery much worse. Well after a few days he was not feeling better. They realized the 2nd tumor was different from the first, and that it was something the doctors had never seen before. A week after the first surgery, they did a second to remove the other tumor. They removed a large portion of bone from Alex's leg. Now they have released him from his mission for a while. He will have to recover for about 4-8 weeks.

I know this must be so frustrating for Alex, and very scarey for my sister Laura. They are both troopers, and seem to be doing pretty good. I want them to know we are all praying for them, and for Alex's speedy recovery. We can not wait for you to be able to continue your mission Alex. I have to say I am so proud of my sister Laura! She has been through many trials in her life, and has done an amazing job raising 4 boys on her own. I love you guys!!