Sunday, February 26, 2012

When it rains...

Maybe a more appropriate seasonal analogy would be when it snows, it blizzards. But, either way, the Hamilton household seems to have seen its fair share of trials lately.
I'm not going to elaborate too much, but here are some of the facts:
  • We got notice a few weeks ago that the owners of the twin home we are renting are in default & we're not sure how much longer we'll be able to stay here before the bank kicks us out.
  • Our lots in Enoch don't look like they're going to work out. Again, if you want the long answer, you can talk to me, but we are planning on putting them on the market... and coming up with a "plan b" for housing.
  • They're talking changes with Jason's job. Not sure exactly what this means for us - or when - but just another "what if" to add to the mix.
  • Lots of sickness in our home the past month. From ear infections to respiratory issues (Kezia had to use the nebulizer for a week or so) to sore throats, it seems like we have round after round of something or other.
There's also been a heartache of another kind that I'm not going to elaborate here, but let's just say that I've been on my knees a lot lately. I think I'm finally past the "why me?" stage - and I'm moving on to the "what am I supposed to learn from this experience?" stage. Still... it's hard - and I haven't come up with a lot of answers -- although - I DO know that most of my trials seem to try to teach me humility, trust that the Lord really does know what's best for me and my family, and patience. I apparently have a REALLY thick head - and heart - and I have to CONSTANTLY re-learn things.
One thing I am SURE of, though, is that I am loved. That God doesn't give us these things to make our lives harder. He gives them to us to make us stronger - and to learn what He has to teach us. Whenever I feel lost and I'm heading into a downward spiral, I try & remember that the Lord has never forsaken me or my family. And I know He never will.
Please pray for us. I know it will all work out. It always does & I'm trying to keep in my mind & heart the saying "Your future is as bright as your faith!!" by President Monson.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Five Scriptures That Will Help You Get through Almost Anything

In case you hadn't seen this article in the New Era in 2008 by John Bytheway. Really neat...


Friday, February 17, 2012

Slow Down

Really needed this today...

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Feelin' the Love

Happy Valentines Day everyone! The girls were so excited for Valentines this year. We have worked hard putting together Valentines for classes, family & friends. This morning started out with about 5 inches of snow for Jason to shovel. I don't mind the snow too much. I will definitely be ready for spring when it comes, but the snow is so beautiful and I love to watch my kids play in it - or just stay inside & cuddle with some books :)
Jason whipped up some pancake batter - adding a dash of pink for the occasion - and I proceeded to bust out some sweet heart & I {HEART} YOU pancakes. It was a lot of fun. We also watched this video during breakfast to set the mood. Then we got to open Grandma Devenish's gift & she gave us some yummy candy & everything to make some sugar cookies. Yay! Jason also opened the music card I got him & his chocolates & then he left for work. At least that's what he told us :) . After I started getting the girls ready, the doorbell rang & there was this dashingly handsome delivery guy with some white roses & pink balloons for the girls and a dozen roses and a card for me. SO sweet :)
After taking some pictures, Ireland left for her preschool party & I cleaned up while McKinley did some more Valentines (she wanted her teacher & bus driver to get extra special ones). After Ireland got home & showed us her "spoils", we made some sugar cookies and ate PB & honey sandwiches (heart-shaped :) It was such a great morning. Now I can't wait for my hot date tonight with my sweetheart!!!
I am truly thankful for my 3 treasures and my sweetheart that saturate my life with love. I am so blessed to have them - and so many wonderful family & friends - as part of my life adventure.



Wednesday, February 8, 2012

January Newsletter & Slideshow

Sorry so late!! I was in SLC at the end of Jan/beginning of February (to see my brand-new niece! Hooray!!), so I'm just getting around to posting this. Enjoy! (NOTE: If you see a random J, it's because I did a smiley face in Word - where I copy it from - and I'm not going to take the time to fix it here. Sorry!!)


FAMILY: Some family moments of January: Benson cabin, stopping in Richfield, Santa leaving a Wii under our tree for us to find when we got back!!, fun at Discovery Park and the Aquatic Center, dentist (McKinley had 3 cavities, Jason had 6), sleepover at the St. George Hamiltons, LOTS of calling, e-mailing, and meeting with sub-contractors, enjoying our new 9am church time, and at the end of the month going to SLC to be there to meet our new niece/cousin Madelyn Jane Checketts. She is beautiful & we are SO excited for the Checketts!!

From February 7, 2012
JASON: Jason learned some new things this month. Who knew he could re-wire the stereos in our vehicles?? He watched some youtube videos, ordered some parts & was able to install his Bluetooth stereo in his truck and add a AUX cord in the van so we could listen to our music on our phones. It’s been sure nice to have! Jason has also been busy at the gym & discovered that he can book it on the treadmill. He’s up to 2.5 miles & his wife is trying to convince him to run a 5k with her this year! He went to a safety meeting in SLC at the end of the month & was happy that it coincided with his family being up there. He got 83 on his OSHA test. Great job! In other job news, Jason’s boss, Wendy, is going to go on a detail in SLC for 4 months and Jason will move into her position during that time and get her GS pay level for about 5 pay periods. What a blessing!! Heidi & Jason also spent some time this month putting together input for the Legacy Estates HOA Bylaws – where we will be moving.

From February 7, 2012
HEIDI: It’s been quite busy trying to put everything together for the new house, but she is excited about her new cabinets, flooring, and front door! J In the beginning of the month, her YW played broom hockey with the YM and it was a blast! What a fun night! She’s still enjoying playing with and learning her new camera. Still has a LOT to learn! She read her sister’s friend’s book “The Vivatera” on the new Kindle and really enjoyed it. It was so nice to read while she worked out on the treadmill at the gym. She loved seeing her family at the end of the month & is overjoyed to get a new niece (the first in 10 years!).

From February 7, 2012
McKINLEY:

-One day the girls were making things to mail to their cousins & McKinley asked “Mom – what’s Joshua’s name?” Hmm… mom waited a minute for McKinley to clarify. She really wanted to know the spelling J

-Mom didn’t hear the entire conversation, but the girls were talking about people that had died. Mom heard McKinley say “Cuz they don’t celebrate birthdays in heaven!!”

-After church on Fast Sundays, we try to have a family testimony meeting. This month, McKinley said “…and I’m thankful for Jesus because without him, we wouldn’t have Santa!”

-McKinley still loves to write notes after she goes to bed. One night, she had the children’s songbook & wrote down a daddy song and a mommy song. For mom’s note, she wrote the words to “when we’re helping we’re happy” and on the back side was “tra la la la la la la tra la la la la la” J

-McKinley & her friends started a club that they do during recess. It’s called the “Heart Club.” They sit in a circle & pretend there’s a campfire & talk about things. They even have badges. In the club there’s McKinley, Addison, Elliot, Kate, and a new girl, Destiny.

-McKinley had 3 cavities this month, so she’s going to do better about brushing & flossing. She did really well at the Dentist’s, though, and didn’t cry and was really good while she waited for her daddy to get his teeth done. She had a bit of a crooked smile when she headed to school, though J

-One Sunday, McKinley found an empty jar and deemed it to be the “house savings jar.” She said every Sunday she and her sisters would put money in the jar to help pay for our new home. And she has for the past 2 Sundays. Her sisters, however, aren’t so cooperative.

-When we stayed at the St. George Hamilton’s over Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Camri was so cute & dressed McKinley up. She did her hair, put on a dress and make-up, and even did her nails! It was so cute. And Camri even let her keep the dress & shirt!

-This month, McKinley learned how to swallow vitamins. She was SOOO excited & has been swallowing vitamins every day now.

-McKinley had had a cough & runny nose & been complaining off & on about her ear. One night she woke up crying & the next day we took her in & she had an ear infection. She felt pretty proud that she could tell Dr. North to give her a prescription that she could swallow. J

-McKinley had testing in school this month & we’re waiting for the results, but she said she felt really good about it!

-McKinley was BEYOND excited when she found out that we were going to SLC to see her cousins THAT DAY! She was rushing around putting things in suitcases. She was quite a helper to get everything ready to go.

-McKinley’s had a hard time being excited about school lately. She says she wants to home school again. We told her we’d talk about it again in a month. We’re hoping it’s just a phase. She really does love all her friends & teachers at school.

From February 7, 2012
IRELAND:

- Mom asked Ireland what she wanted to do for a choice chore. She said “Watching Boz! (her new movie). That’s my choice chore! I promise!”

-One night at dinner we were talking about vegetables. Ireland asked “Dad – do you like peas in the pot?”

-We’ve been praying for Uncle Joseph since he got hurt in Afganistan. One night Ireland prayed for him to get better. Then she whispered “Maybe he needs a band-aid.”

-We were watching pictures on our screensaver & mom said “Look – there’s Grandpa Tew!” Ireland said “But where’s Grandpa Three?”

-Ireland has had a hard time accepting consequences lately. Here’s an example: Mom- “If you don’t sit in your chair, you will eat on the floor.” Ireland – “Then I will get back on my chair.” Mom – “then you will go in time-out.” Ireland – “then I will get out.”

-She also has been doing the “but what if…” thing. As in, mom says “Shaylee can’t play right now.” Ireland says “But what if she COULD play?”

-When we went to see Grandma Tew in St. George, Ireland asked where Grandpa Tew was. Mom reminded her that he was gone. Ireland said “but he will come back alive again!!” and she climbed right up on Grandma’s lap & put her hands on her face and said “your Grandpa Tew will come back alive again!” It was so sweet.

-Ireland did really great at the dentist – no cavities! She even got a certificate for a free cupcake. They did tell us to start her braces fund, though.

-After the dentist (Jason & McKinley had cavities), Jason was leaving for work one morning & Ireland said “don’t give your cavities to your workers!”

-One day Ireland wanted to go running through the sprinklers. Mom reminded her that it was wintertime & there was still snow outside & it was way too cold. Ireland said “But I’ll wear a coat!!”

-We were eating cookies & Ireland said to McKinley “But yours doesn’t have sprinklers on them!” (sprinkles J

-When the Johnsons were over, everyone seemed to need to use the bathroom at the same time. Ireland was dancing around & REALLY needed to go potty. She said “I’m starving!” Mom said “You’re starving?” Ireland said “Yeah! I’m starving to use the potty!”

-Ireland is still really enjoying preschool & all her pals there. She is finally starting to write her name all the time! It’s usually backwards (she starts her “I” on the right instead of left) – and her E is capital and she forgets her A, but it’s progress & we are so proud of her J

-Mom has been working with Ireland on her numbers & she is really good! She already recognizes all the numbers & can do some basic addition & subtraction.

- When we were at Grandma Potts’ home, Ireland put mom in time-out for 10 MINUTES for not being nice. About 3 minutes later she came over, put her hands on mom’s face & said "You gotta be nice. When kids want to have sleepovers, you let them have sleepovers. And when they don't want to have sleepovers, you don't let them. Do you understand?"
-Ireland said “
I really really want to be a fire girl when I grow up.” (she was playing with Joshua and was pretending to shoot fire from her hands).

From February 7, 2012
KEZIA:

-One afternoon while Ireland was saying the prayer, mom peeked & saw Kezia with her eyes squeezed shut and arms semi-folded while she kept reaching and grabbing goldfish crackers & putting them in her mouth.

-We had a rice dinner one night & Kezia said “Put the chocolate milk on!” We were confused & then realized she mean the soy sauce J

-Kezia is so cute when daddy goes to work. She says “Have a great day dad!”

-For about 10 days, Kezia had a really tough time sleeping. We kept coming back & putting her back in bed. Finally, we decided she needed to put herself back to sleep. It was a hard couple nights (one night she was up for 2 and a half hours screaming L), but after that she’s been a lot better. And therefore we’ve all been a lot better J

-When we put Kezia down for bed, she said “I love you too little bit!”

-The girls were playing dress-up & Kezia said “Daddy – I got my princess on. Do you have your princess on?”

-Kezia had a little scrape on her hand & she went to everyone in the house to kiss it better. She had mommy kiss it better & then wanted the Mickey Mouse on mommy’s shirt to kiss it better, too.

-We love it when Kezia comes into mommy & daddy’s room in the morning & says “Hi mommy!” or “Hi daddy” “good morning!”

-Kezia was trying to squeeze a grapefruit to suck out the juice it it squired on her. She said “It sneezed in my eye!”

-One day Kezia pulled a booger out of her nose. She held it out to mom & said “Here’s my booger, mom. Put it in your pocket.”

-Lately, Kezia has been ALL about doing things herself – getting her diaper on, putting her pants, socks, shoes on, getting in her car seat, putting toothpaste on her toothbrush. When she wants to do it herself, she says “I’m gonna!!”

-Kezia loves colors & has decided that her favorite color is yellow. So – whenever she sees yellow, she says “it’s my favorite color yellow!” She knows her sister’s favorite colors, too & will say the same thing – “it’s Ireland’s favorite color green!”

-Kezia did super-great for her doctor appointment in St. George. She held really still for the EKG & the pediatric cardiologist said she looked great & we could start weaning her off the atenolol J

-Kezia saw a picture of Jesus when we were at home & said “Jesus is coming to our house!”

-One day after pancakes, Kezia decided to pour the remainder of the syrup into the dog dish over their dog food. Mom thought about throwing it away, but gave it to the dogs & they loved it!

-Kezia has been very sick at the end of the month & is still sick. Runny nose, really high temperature (103+), terrible cough, and later an ear infection. She has some wheezing in her lungs as well & is going to have some breathing treatments along with antibiotics & steroids. We hope she gets better soon. We miss our happy, energetic 2-year-old!!

-Kezia has been screaming a lot lately when she doesn’t get her way & we’re working a lot with her on using her big girl voice.