Tuesday, November 4, 2014

October Newsletter & Slideshow - with 2014 Family Pictures

https://picasaweb.google.com/103753336633055957263/2014_10_Slideshow



https://picasaweb.google.com/103753336633055957263/2014FamilyPictures



Hamilton Newsletter
October 2014
FAMILY:  We enjoyed a wonderful October this year. It was amazing how good the weather was! The first weekend in October Uncle Burton came to buy our trailer. It was great to see him, meet his fiancĂ© Natalie, and see Stellar, Camilla, & Love. We are so sad to see our beloved trailer go, but hoping to get a new, smaller one that will still be fun J We also enjoyed listening to conference that weekend and driving down to St. George to see the finish of the St. George marathon. Heidi got to cheer an old college roommate from Alaska (who she hadn’t seen for over 10 years) & see her daughter. We also cheered on a few ladies from our ward who finished the marathon. We watched the 2nd session of conference at the Hamiltons and went to the park afterwards. It was a nice weekend! J The 2nd weekend in October, we had a yard sale! It’s the first yard sale we’ve ever done & we think it was a success! The weather was great and we made a couple hundred dollars. The Price family joined in and it was fun to hang out with them for the morning.  The 15th was the annual Wave of Light in honor of pregnancy and infant loss awareness month. The weather was a lot better this year and there was a beautiful song sung. Heidi shared Link’s story and we had hot chocolate & cookies & then let go of balloons. The next day – the 16th – we headed to Capitola, California!!! (we surprised the girls – they didn’t know till that morning) Heidi’s good friend & fellow SIDS mom, Anna Packard, told Heidi about her in-laws beach house there & they generously let us stay free of charge!! And it worked out well, because the girls ended up having a full week off from school for fall break. The drive there was long – 15 hours including driving up to Los Altos to get the key – but the girls were really good. McKinley helped out a lot with Noelle & we bought a new DVD player for the van (the old one was broken) and mom bought some new DVDs so they stayed pretty entertained. The Packards were wonderful to meet – so very sweet & generous (and fun to see watching the Giants game). We got to the beach house about 11pm on the 16th and had a good nights’ sleep & were ready for the beach the next day! Some fun memories from this amazing trip: Getting to hold a starfish that a woman found on the beach & let the girls handle before putting it back in the ocean, seeing sea otters, tiny crabs, and lots of birds, flying kites, playing in the waves for hours, building sand castles, making Ireland into a sand mermaid, picking up hundreds of seashells, seeing Noelle eat sand J, meeting other children there – including twin girls, staying up late to put together a 500 piece puzzle of cupcakes, watching a movie about a princess who helps endangered mythical creatures, playing with dominos, breakfast in bed, Jason & Heidi playing an 80’s quiz game, attending the Santa Cruz ward and enjoying meeting people and feeling the spirit, going on a walk out on the Capitola Wharf and then along a trail – enjoying and photographing flowers, spiders, birds, and beautiful homes and yards, going to Monterrey and playing at the Dennis the Menace Park and stopping by a fruit stand on the way back, going to Gayle’s bakery – way crowded but way yummy, watching all the surfers,  having root beer floats, more beach fun, eating ice cream cones from the shop on the corner (mom dropping hers in the sand), taking silhouette pictures by the waves as the sun went down on our last evening in Capitola. It was a wonderful vacation and one we think we’ll remember for a lifetime!! We can’t say thank you enough to the Packards for letting us stay. The drive back home was another long one, but we got home at 11 and were able to get up and ready for school the next day.  That weekend we worked in the side yard – cleaning out our garden and moving rocks. We had about 6 huge bowls FULL of tomatoes – mostly pear and cherry tomatoes, and about 10 watermelon and 10 pumpkins and a bunch of onions. We had to freeze a bunch of it and give lots away! Very yummy, though! And it was so neat to carve our very own pumpkins! That evening, the 25th, we headed to the Aquatic Center for their Spooktacular Event. The girls got to wear their costumes, play games & get lots of candy! The 26th was Kezia’s 5th birthday!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY KEZIA! See her section for details. That next Monday, the girls’ school had a Starry Starry Night event where they made siluette puppets, Moon Dough, and rockets – and they got to look at the moon through expensive telescopes!  At the end of the month we got to have some visitors passing through! Grandma Devenish, Aunt Deb & Aunt Lurae stopped by on their way to & from St. George for lunch and a visit and Grandma Potts & GG Tew also stopped by on the way to & from St. George! It was wonderful to see them! Halloween night was perfect for trick-or-treating! Daddy took the girls for 3 and a half hours! They had a great time and got LOTS of candy!

JASON:  Jason worked hard the time before our vacation to get everything done and enjoyed his time off in California with his family.  He is settling in more to the fleet position job and doing well. Jason had Columbus Day off work & spent time working in the yard & also enjoyed a lunch date with his bride at the Main Street Grill. He caught a cold at the end of the month & stayed home a day to recover & is feeling a bit better. Jason still likes to stay up & watch information on earthquakes, solar flares, etc J

 
HEIDI: With October being Pregnancy & Infant loss awareness month as well as SIDS awareness, Heidi felt strongly that she needed to write specifically about her experience with Link and the things she is changing for Noelle. She got a lot of positive feedback and over 16,000 views on her post. She really is thankful that her message is getting out. She enjoyed visiting with her old roommate after the St. George marathon – it was great to see her. Heidi started a new health “challenge” at the end of the month – called the Diet Game. Cindy decided to join in, too. It’s a lot more detailed than the 8-week challenge, and it’s based on teams, but so far Heidi is feeling pretty good about it, even though it’s hard. She has been running with Diane a couple times a week  in the mornings as well and has enjoyed that time. The beach vacation was exactly what Heidi needed at the time. It was relaxing and wonderful to make memories! Heidi was released from Primary this month. She misses Ireland & her class, but is also enjoying her time with Noelle & Jason in Sunday School. She is still in charge of publicity for Relief Society and enjoys putting together the posters and flyers. This month was a “make & take” night & she made a felt flower pillow and started some holiday blocks. 

McKINLEY:
-Some fun 4H activities McKinley did in October were a field trip to go bowling, glow in the dark games, and lego building. She really likes going!
-McKinley is still doing well in school & enjoying 3rd grade. She spends a lot of time at school with 4H as well!
-On the 15th, McKinley went to Aiden Anderson’s birthday party. It was Harry Potter themed and she came home with a cape, a wand, a book of spells, and treats.
-McKinley enjoyed the beach house and the beach. She loved to walk up and down the shore and find seashells. She also would bring her notebook so she could draw the things she saw – flowers, birds, etc. She was excited about the 500 piece cupcake puzzle at first, but then wanted to give up. It was hard! But after a break, she worked hard with her dad & mom & finished the whole thing!
-We took McKinley to the doctor’s this month for her allergies. She has also been saying she hasn’t been breathing well. Dr. Polson said they can be related & prescribed some medicine for her to take.
-It was red ribbon week at the end of the month and McKinley had fun wearing a mustache, getting to wear her pjs and making her hair crazy!
-McKinley was so sweet for Kezia’s birthday. She was up till 11pm – wrapping presents & making her a cute card. She gave her her Amercian Girl Doll & wanted to giver her her scooter. She also made scarf for her. So thoughtful!
-For Halloween, McKinley wore the costume that Tiarra gave us – she was a greek fairy. Lots of people thought she was an angel or a princess, but no matter what she was beautiful!
-One day mom was fixing her hair & she said it looked kind of “Kidly” – as in, not cool.

IRELAND:
-In the car on the way somewhere, Noelle was crying. Ireland said “MOM- Noelle is crying!” (she likes to inform her of this frequently). Mom said “yes, I know.” Ireland said “Well, fix it!!”
-One night the girls were not going to bed & there was fighting & Ireland came out crying. Mom asked what was wrong & Ireland said “I just know that Heavenly Father is so mad at me!” Mom talked to her & apparently, she had drawn poo.
-On the last Sunday that mom taught Ireland’s primary class, Ireland turned to mom & said “I will miss your lessons…” That made mom feel good & she was about to comfort her when Ireland continued “… you know, because you give out skittles.”
-One day “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga came on the radio. Ireland said “she has a language of her own.”
-Ireland LOVED the beach. She was really in her element. She would run and skip on the beach. She would dance in the waves. She would skip everywhere. She would yell at the ocean. She would dance and dance. We loved watching her. Unfortunately, we tried to be diligent about sunscreen, but she had a spot on her back that got pretty sunburned L
-For crazy hair day on red ribbon week, mom made Ireland’s hair into a Potato Head. Unfortunately, she was complaining about it hurting her head so we had to take it off right before she went to school.
-For Kezia’s birthday, Ireland gave her a random marker that didn’t have a lid.
-For Halloween, Ireland was a beautiful bride. But she wasn’t that happy about it. She said “This is gross. That means you have to kiss someone.” Mom told her she could be a dead bride & she replied “that’s even grosser!”


KEZI A:
-One day Noelle was playing with Kezia’s book order from preschool. Kezi said “You can’t let Noelle play with that!” Mom said “Never?” And Kezia said “not until Jesus comes again.”
-Another day one of her projects got ripped & she was really upset. Mom tried to comfort her & she said “Only money will make me feel better.” MmmmmHmmmm…
-Kezia was telling daddy that she kept finding pennies on our floor. Daddy said “really?” She said “Yeah!! Our house is like a wishing well!”
-Kezia bought something with her penny points and afterwards threw a HUGE fit because they didn’t give her a receipt! (she has some concept about receipts being worth something)
-We were taking Kezia’s friend, Adelaide, home and she sat on Kezia’s carseat. Kezia was NOT happy about that & started crying. Adelaide moved to Ireland’s car seat & Kezia looked at her & said “Now isn’t that refreshing to sit there?”
-When we made it to California & were at the beach, we warned the girls about the dangers of the ocean. Kezia does not like things that scare her, so for most of the first day, she just stayed way on the beach and gathered sea shells. Mom asked her why she wouldn’t even put her feet in the water & she said “it’s gonna wash me away!” But after that first day & she “got her feet wet,” she had lots of fun in the waves. And when mom said to come in, she said “But I don’t want to miss any of the waves!” J
-It was Kezia’s month for a lunch date & she chose Denny’s. Mom was talking with her about things & asked her what made her happy. She replied “My Birthday!.... (pause)… I mean, that God is all around us.”
-One day Kezi had a “store” for mom. She made lots of drawings &  put each one in an envelope & let mommy “buy them for free!”
-For the Aquatic Center Halloween party, Kezia wore the Queen dress that Ireland wore last year. We were running out the door & mom told Kezi to put shoes on. Well, when we got there, mom found out that Kezi had chose cowgirl boots to wear with her pretty queen outfit J
-HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY KEZIA!! Kezia’s birthday was on a Sunday this year, so it was pretty mellow, but she still had a wonderful time. For her meals, she wanted Krave cereal for breakfast, chicken nuggets for lunch, and homemade corn dogs for dinner. She got lots of Frozen gifts – nail polish, an activity book, a hat & gloves & her big gift – Elsa & Anna dresses! She was so excited. Mom even made her a Frozen cake & cupcakes with the rings she wanted. She got lots of Happy Birthday songs and she even wore a “birthday girl” ribbon to church J She also got a bike-riding Barbie from Grandma Devenish and a Hello Kitty bowling set from Aunt Keeley! In the evening, dad spent quite a lot of time making the Olaf Piniata that she wanted. It was fun to smash & eat candy!
-For Halloween, Kezia decided to wear her Elsa dress that she got for her birthday. She felt bad that she couldn’t wear it to preschool that day, but she did get to wear it to Walmart & people pointed & smiled & one girl said “Hi Elsa! I love your hair!” Kezia was a trooper & went the whole 3 and a half hours of trick-or-treating without complaining!


LINK:
It was neat to get the CD of pictures from our photoshoot last month & post them & tell people about the miracle of the rainbow. We can’t wait to print the pictures. We thought about you a lot on Halloween, wondering what we would have dressed you up as & how much you would have loved to go trick or treating & get candy. We love you & miss you forever.


NOELLE: -
-This girl is half a year already! She is truly SO much fun! She is so interactive and loves to GRAB GRAB GRAB!
-She is getting to be such a strong sitter – she hardly ever topples over. She has just started to reach forward while she’s sitting. We think she’ll get into crawling position soon!
-Noelle has started doing the cough-cry thing.
-She clearly will say dadadada or mmmmmmaaa when she’s tired or upset.
-One day mommy was making French toast & had Noelle in the Bumbo. Mom thought she was far enough away but suddenly Noelle cried out and mom realized she had burned the bottom of her little foot L We no longer are using the bumbo.
-We got the mirror/band/lights toy from the basement & Noelle has really taken to it. She hits the drums, piano and makes the guitar go, too. It’s so fun to watch her.
-Noelle continues to do very well with solids! She will usually eat an entire package during our meals!
-Noelle had her 6 –month wellness visit this month. She went from the 12th percentile to the 36th! (yup – she’s lovin’ those solids!) Her height is the 12th percentile & head is 100%. She had to get 3 shots L but did pretty good.
-Still no teeth, but she definitely acts in pain sometimes. We hope one pops through next month!
-Noelle still sleeps right next to us in the crib – strapped into the Guardian Sleeper and with the Snuza on. She is usually up at about 10pm for a feed & then at 3am.
-She still rolls over from her tummy to her back & from her back to her side, but not all the way from her back to her tummy yet. She is enjoying tummy time a LITTLE more & has started trying to get her bum up in the air.

-Noelle has really started to take notice of Sydney & other dogs. She gets excited when they come near & she likes to pet her fur :)