Summer adventures are here

Things have been going really well at the Hamstra household! We finished up the school year and have made it through our first week of summer. Lots of pajamas and lounging have been going on which is pretty amazing that our first weeks didn’t include any Riley trips. Woohoo!

Over Memorial I wasn’t brave enough to stay overnight anywhere yet so we did a lot of day traveling and got to spend time with both sides of our family and also our good friends :)



Everyone ended up the school year on a great note. Emma kept her straight A average and worked really hard to achieve that. Jackson did really great as well and has been working hard at baseball and got to have his private baseball lessons that he got for his birthday and LOVED that. I had an end of the year conference with RJ’s teacher and she has so impressed with how well he did. It has been amazing to see him learn new things and watch things click in his mind. He absolutely loves school and was sad that the year had to end. That is amazing for how difficult it is for him.

Laila’s health has been great! We haven’t had one night of crying since we started her on the muscle relaxant. She seems happy and healthy and is even gaining strength back each time we are at therapy. I continued just taking her in to visit at school until the end of the year. I’m getting more and more comfortable with her new “bells and whistles” and think by the start of the year I will feel comfortable sending her back to school. She had a lot of fun at her end of the year field day. Mrs.Hooper and I had a little fun too ;)

“Who’s excited for the houseboat?!!” is all we have heard for the past week from Laila as she raises her hand high in the air. :) We have been planning and saving for a houseboat vacation for the past two years and it is finally here. Everyone is beside themselves excited. It has been a little more complicated to think about and pack for with all the things that have happened in the past few months but I think we are ready. My sister always jokes with me because I am totally a last minute packer. She always texts me and asks if I’ve started packing yet when I’m going on a trip and of course the answer is usually no. Well, I’ve been list making and packing for several days for this trip. There are SO many more supplies and things to think about this time. There were lots of phone calls to make and things to coordinate, but I did it! It would be so much easier to stay at home and never go anywhere than have to do all of this but what is the fun in that. Life is an adventure and this whole clan deserves to live it to the fullest. I threw on my mommy hat and got it all worked out and I know we’ll have a blast. And hey, I broke my packing procrastination habit April!! ;)

Looking forward to many pictures and reports from our adventures after the trip is over!
2 Tim 1:7 God gave us his Spirit. And the Spirit doesn’t make us weak and fearful. Instead, the Spirit gives us power and love