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Tonya Hamill

@shinelikefreedom

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Creative Director of a life well-lived 🎬
Mom + Dad + 5 | UH Law ⚖️

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A few things I’ve noticed about Hawaii in general: Everyone is ultra nice here, particularly drivers. They Always let you pull out and change lanes. Very kind/considerate. The streetlights are Really long lol. Wayne said they are on timers, so you can wait at a red light for forever, even if no cars are crossing lol. Everyone backs into parking spaces here. It’s the thing to do. Want a quick, cheap lunch? 7-11 for the win w/$2 spam musubi, chicken curry manapua, and all variety of strange/unique ice cream treat 🙌🏼.

Thank you to our wonderful friends at home who are keeping an eye on our house. We couldn’t do this without you too!! We miss you and are so grateful for you 🌿💕. Recently via one of our camera’s we noticed a leak in our basement that could have been disastrous and thankfully, a great friend saved the day! 🛠️

This has been quite the year! Exactly 12 months ago, the older kids and I went to New York 🗽. In February, Wayne retired from Orem City Fire. In May, Malia graduated from high school and Ruby got baptized. In June, we explored Vietnam for a month 🇻🇳. Then we spent time in Washington 🌲🦀. Next, we had fun at Bear Lake ⛵️. In August, Malia, Oma, and I traveled to (and fell in love with) Paris 🇫🇷. Then immediately after Paris, we got to come here to Hawaii 🪸🌊🏖️! It was an especially joyous reunion for our family after being away from Wayne for 6 months while he was working on Oahu after he retired. We sure love our daddy and love finally being together again! 💕 by @shinelikefreedom

Hawaii has been a dream thus far 💫. We wake up every morning and look one direction out at the peaceful view toward Kaneohe Bay, and then the other direction toward the stunning tropical green mountains. I cannot get over the lush greenery. My drive to school and the courthouse feels like driving through paradise 🏝️. The green appears hyper colored at times. Same with the aqua blue water and pearly white sand at the Kailua beaches. The colors are insane. One of my favorite things to do is take the little ones to Kalamas Beach for an hour or two after school. I love living near the sea 🩵. One of my other favorite things is talking to my older boys on the “long” drives up to north shore. We talk about their experiences here and throughout this last summer, and how their perspective of the world has changed from seeing how people live and thrive in different places.

Yes, the mugginess is rough and it has rained a fair amount some days, but we are climatizing (and anything is better than cold lol). Every time I call Malia up at BYU-H, she is at the beach or out with friends, so she’s thriving socially (and I hope academically too? lol). Wayne and Leslie work at a small but often crazy busy ER. It is their dream come true to finally work together in the medical field 🩺💉. I love that they can carpool and talk and listen to scriptures on the drive to work, and then surf together after. I have been Loving school at UH Law ⚖️. I have the absolute best classmates, professors, admin . . . They push me to learn deeper, faster, better. Every single day I thank Heavenly Father for the privilege of being at this incredible school. Yes, law school can be hard and traumatizing (exams lol), but also fantastically exciting and rewarding. I am at the courthouse a lot this semester and dare I say, I love it??!! Eeek pinch me - I’m living a dream come true.

Continued in next post. . . by @shinelikefreedom

The Kaneohe 4th Ward has embraced us. Bishop Kimokeo and his family treat us like family, as does the rest of the ward. We went to the biggest potluck of my life at the church house for the homecoming of a Sister Missionary. Mind-blowing the quantity of amazing food! We also attended a Kailua ward for an inspiring missionary farewell, watched Conference in Kailua at the beautiful home of kind friends, and attended the Hawaii Kai ward where I grew up in Jr High. It was heartwarming to see familiar faces! So grateful for these long term family friends 💛.

The kids had a stellar week out of school for Fall Break. We kayaked out to and cliff jumped off the Mokulua Islands. We jumped off the wall at Waikiki. We jumped off the rock at Waimea. (I’m sensing a pattern lol.) The boys skated a lot downtown. In fact, they’ve been skating anywhere and everywhere. They have bus passes so they can ride the whole island. Thus far we have also adventured to the tide pools at Baby Makapuu, surfed White Plains where I got up a couple of times! Leslie and Wayne’s favorite surf spot is Rock Piles downtown 🏄🏼‍♀️🏄🏻. We fed the hungry fish and birds at Valley of the Temples. We saw the sharks at the aquarium. We screamed and laughed down the waterslides at Wet’n’Wild. We froze for a couple fun hours ice skating at Ice Palace lol. We had a successful shopping outing at the swap meet, and also many successful visits to Savers for cheap swim trunks & island clothes! We have snorkeled the stunning reef at Hanauma Bay 🐠🐟🐡 and attended the spectacular night show at the Polynesian Cultural Center 🌺🔥. We also got to do baptisms at the Temple which the boys were particularly excited about. Still on our bucket list are Pearl Harbor, Iolani Palace, lots of hikes. . .

Continued in next post. . . by @shinelikefreedom

Life update ☺️: Our family temporarily moved to Hawaii! We are all in school here except Wayne (who is working), so I’m calling this our “study abroad” experience 😉. Malia is at BYU-H 🌺. I am at UH Law, the boys are at Castle High in Kaneohe, and the little ones are at Reverend Ben Parker Elementary. It has been an absolute blast!!

Thank you x a million to Leslie & Jimmy & the fam who are beyond generous . . . not only are they allowing a family of 7 (minus one at BYU-H) to pack into their home, but also eat all their food, use all their appliances, park on their property, they help with elementary school carpool & watching our kids while I am in class & Wayne works, they constantly prepare delicious dinners & treats, they include us in their beautiful friend circle, they take us to the best places to surf, boogie board, cliff jump, snorkel, swim, fish, hike . . . they let us use their boards, kayaks, bikes. . . the list goes on and on. We are so blessed that they are so endlessly loving, patient, and welcoming. We could never do this otherwise, and we will be forever grateful for this precious time.

Ruby and Maverick have become island hunters and gatherers - constantly on the prowl for lizards 🦎 & stray coconuts 🌴🥥. They have the cutest little friends here. They are always swimming together and trading squishies, shells, candy, and Pokémon cards. The boys (Micah, 16, and Otto, 14) have loved hanging out with Nole & Iokua. The four are similar ages and create a fun boy group at the house and church and activities, always with kendamas in hand lol. They have been into building box speakers 🔊 together which Iokua is great at, and Nole has been sharing his expert fishing skills 🎣 . I am proud of my two for getting up at 5:40 every morning for 6:00 AM seminar🙏🏼 . They take it seriously and seem to really value it. Continued in next post. . .
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*I did not take the aerial pic, but wish I did! I’d give photo credit if I knew who it was! Just want to show the beautiful Waimea Bay where Malia hangs out a lot. by @shinelikefreedom

munchkin love 💕 by @shinelikefreedom

by @shinelikefreedom

This is my mom. She is the world’s best trip planner 🗺️✈️. She pulled off 2 major trips this summer ✌🏼- Vietnam 🇻🇳 + Paris 🇫🇷 back to back with a brief stint at Bear Lake in between ⛵️. I honestly don’t know how she did it. SO. MUCH. WORK. scheduling flights, reserving hotels, collecting tickets for boat rides in Ha Long Bay and river cruises in Paris, art museums, Buddhist temples, jazz clubs, the Eiffel Tower and Ba Na Hills… the list is endless. She knows the metro like a Parisian. She reads a map like a boss. She sets a physical pace that wears out young children and teens. She really is a traveling genius and we are lucky to be along for the ride. This summer she single-handedly made a lot of dreams come true, and helped us to create a million memories. These are the things of eternity. I love you so much mom. Thank you for EVERYTHING. by @shinelikefreedom

Oil painted clothing folds make me want to cry

Iykyk by @shinelikefreedom

Close ups that are everything.

DM me if you want to know artists by @shinelikefreedom

Mont Saint-Michel & the beautiful city of Rennes. Walking barefoot in the sand taking in that other-worldly stunning scene is one of my best memories of the trip 💎
No I did not take that first pic, but I wish I did! by @shinelikefreedom

Nortre Dame + Sainte-Chapelle
Exquisite by @shinelikefreedom

Palace life 💅🏻
Versailles by @shinelikefreedom