Meet the Hills

For my first real post, and because I am still trying to kill some time at work, I'm going to make a post introducing you to the Hill family. Likely many people who will read this will be family so these details may be well known, however for friends that perhaps just know Jada or myself hopefully this will provide some insight into the other member of the family.

Justin - This is me, I am a student in my fourth year at the University of Lethbridge where I am close to completing a Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in Environmental Science. Primarily my interests are biology and ecology of terrestrial mammals and wildlife management. I have spent my last 2 summers working in Waterton Lakes National Park on studies involving hair snag bear DNA, amphibians, ecology and survivorship of limber pine (Pinus flexilis) plus several others. I also work weekends from midnight to eight a.m. as a night time security guard for Group 4 Secuicor. I am a middle child number 3 of 5 in a family which hosts siblings all with names starting with the letter J. Coincidentally my wife Jada is also a number 3 of 5 with all her sibling also starting with J, hence the decision to keep the tradition and name our kids with J. This often leads to confusion, but as I have never met a sane Hill, confusion is our way of life.

Jada - Jada is definitely the glue that holds the family together. If anyone is deserving the title of "Super Mom" it is her. Jada is tough in every sense of the word. She is extremely strong willed and dedicated and when she sets her mind to something you can guarantee she will make it happen. Jada currently also works part time as a cashier at Walmart, which especially now as Christmas approaches is no easy feat. Our life is a juggling act between my school schedule, and both of our work schedules. Yet we still somehow manage to find time to be together as a family. Jada is the type of person who always does the right thing, not because it is expected of her, but because that is just how it is. Despite our crazy schedule she never misses her visiting teaching, or any opportunity to learn new parenting skills. With some of the challenges our family has faced Jada also finds time to go to doctors appointments, child behavioral classes, stay up to date with speech, and behavioral specialists that come to our home every couple weeks and anything else that might make life easier for our children. She is the most humble, hard working mother you will ever meet, and I am immensely grateful she is on my side.

Jaala - Jaala is our first born daughter. She recently turned 4 years old and in my extremely biased opinion is the cutest little girl to walk this planet. Jaala is extremely helpful and loves to help wash dishes and will always get involved in any repair job that needs to be under taken in our home. She recently started pre-school and is loving it. The school has been great for her to help her interact with other kids and develop social skills. Jaala loves animals, especially horses and unicorns and will hardly ever leave the house without one of her precious animals firmly in her grasp. Jaala is also extreamly smart, and is a very quick learner. She is already very adept at the computer and loves to play games on the treehouse and kids CBC websites.

Jayden - Jayden is the youngest of our two kids and turned 2 in August. Apparently Jayden didn't get the memo that the 2's are suppose to be "terrible". He is one of the happiest kids you will ever meet and has a hugely infectious laugh. While Jayden was still in the womb prior to being born he suffered what doctors believe to be a stroke, and as such was born with two holes in his brain and one in his heart. He spent his first two months of his life both in the hospital in Lethbridge and in Calgary where it was determined he has an Atrial Septal Defect of a moderate size. The holes in his brain are located in the basal ganglia region of the brain and has resulted in Jayden being slightly behind the norm of what is expected for kids of his age. His first two years were rough where Jayden had failure to thrive, E. Coli, any many other health related issues. The bright side is the kid couldn't be happier. Recently he has made remarkable gains and is rapidly catching up to where a normal 2 year old should be. The hole in his heart appears to be getting smaller as his heart grows but may still need to be corrected via open heart surgery. Hopefully we'll know more on that in a couple months when we see his cardiologist. Jayden is extremely polite and is very obedient. He says "thank you" when you put him to bed and is already an avid hockey fan. He plays with his hockey stick almost every waking moment of the day, and the first night after we bought it for him, he actually had to sleep with it beside him. Who is his favorite team? Just ask him and he'll reply "Oilers!"

As this blog grows in size, you will encounter more details about each of us. As like most Hills we are a delightfully quirky bunch whos insanity is about as wide as Janna's waist after a thanksgiving meal. (Sorry Janna).