December Newsletter & Slideshow

https://picasaweb.google.com/103753336633055957263/2014_12_Slideshow

Hamilton Newsletter
December 2014

FAMILY: December is usually a busy month for the Hamiltons, but this year, it seemed to pass at breakneck speed! It might have something to do with all the traveling. Jason & Heidi were able to attend Heidi’s cousin, Cannon’s, first trip through the temple. It was at the Oquirrh Mountain Temple and it was so very joyful and wonderful. Afterwards we went to Village Inn for dinner. Thank you to Tiarra for watching the girls – especially Noelle who was not a happy camper L The next day, Sunday the 12^th, we headed up to Clifton, ID for Cannon’s missionary farewell. He is heading to Thiland and we are so happy for him! His farewell talk was wonderful & it was great to see so much family there. We headed back up north on the 19^th & stopped in Richfield for a nice dinner. Monday, the 20^th, was the Tew Christmas “Eve” party and it was at the Potts this year, so Heidi & the girls helped clean & prepare for everyone to come over to grandma’s. It was a full house! But – good food and good conversation. Then, on Christmas Eve morning, we all headed back up to Clifton for Burton & Natalie’s wedding. The girls all got to wear their brand new beautiful Christmas dresses from Grandma Devenish! We are so happy for the Tews! Then back to SLC for annual PJ opening, candle-lighting, and songs. We also watched  “A Christmas Story,” which was fun J Christmas Day was wonderful – we even got a white Christmas after so much warmth! It was awesome! Uncle Richard came about 11 and the rest of the family was there by noon. It was a wonderful, classic Christmas and we loved spending time with family – playing games, talking, resting, watching movies, etc.  We had a Christmas miracle when some packages were stolen from Grandma’s home, but we were able to find a couple tiny charms near a home up the street and then we found the missing necklace that it went with that Tiffany sent for us. We were so very thankful! That night, Kezia wasn’t feeling well & so we took her temperature. 103.8! We gave her a lukewarm bath & it came down, but thus started a two plus week bout of sickness for our family L We all got it except Ireland – headaches, fevers, cold sweats, coughing, runny noses, etc.  It’s lingered for 2 weeks now & we all still have coughs. Not a fun way to end the year – especially since we had to cancel plans with friends – but at the very least, we spent lots of time together & all got lots of rest. In between all the traveling, there was Christmas gift buying & making, gingerbread train making, story reading under the Christmas tree, going to North Elementary  (see McKinley’s section), the Elder’s Quarum Party, Jason’s work party, the ward party, and we hosted the Relief Society Christmas party at our home this year, so we probably had 50 women here. It was fun to see them and visit 

JASON: Jason is nearing the end of his fleet detail. They haven’t officially flown the permanent position, but he will apply when they do. Jason took a week off work after Christmas. Unfortunately, it was spent being sick L He continues to be our Mr. Fix it & we are so thankful! He fixed the freezer (the fan was broken) as well as the dishwasher (replacing the thermostat). He got a high capacity micro SD card for Christmas and has spent a lot of time going through all our songs so he can put them on his phone J Heidi gave him a tie bar for Christmas – it has “Link”s that go across & an “H” if you turn it sideways with a diamond at the end. One frustrating thing for Jason this month was his laptop. It was having issues and they had 3 different guys come to work on it, but it still wasn’t working & he had to use a loaner computer. His regular one still isn’t running right

HEIDI: Heidi was a bit stressed trying to get her house in great shape for the Relief Society Party. She finally decided to call a cleaning lady (Lydia) for help & was so glad! It took a lot of stress off her shoulders. She was also pretty stressed with gifts. She decided to finally make some new Christmas Calendars for everyone with personalized pictures. It did take quite a bit of time, but they were really nice in the end & she was glad she did it. It was no fun being sick at the end of the month (she had a 102 temp), but it makes her thankful to feel better & also to just spend time resting & enjoying her family. Santa brought Heidi a new CD (Calee Reed) and some afterlife books. Jason got her a NEW PHONE! We were done opening gifts & he said “you missed one!” It is a Samsung Galaxy s2 & it’s in great shape. Heidi was so surprised & excited to have a working phone that she can actually download apps and run multiple programs on!! 

McKINLEY:

-One of McKinley’s reflection entries won (in photography)! The family came to the award assembly and got to see her get her ribbons (she got an honorable mention, too)! GREAT JOB McKINLEY!! We are so proud of you! Her entry now goes to the district to be judged :)
-The 3^rd grade had a Christmas program this year and they did a sing along to the story of the little boy who gives his little coin and makes the bells ring in the church. It was really neat! Grandma & Grandpa Devenish came, too!
-One of McKinley’s 4H leaders, Kelsey, got engaged! McKinley was SO sad to see her go, but SO excited because her last name was going to change to Hamilton J
-One morning we woke up to find the table completely set & personalized tags for everyone. What a sweet, thoughtful act by McKinley!
-McKinley really wanted to make personalized gifts for everyone this year. She originally had the idea that she would cut out the first letter of each of her cousin’s names in cardboard and wrap it in yarn with their 3 favorite colors. It just wasn’t working out well and McKinley ran out of time, so she decided to make OHOs (popcicle sticks with yard wrapped around) for everyone. They were really cute & she did a good job. She also made Mrs. Hamilton & Mrs. Edwards necklaces for her teacher aunts. J
-McKinley says she likes to play with her friend, Lindsay, at recess, but lately she’s been running away from her L
-For Christmas, Santa brought McKinley a Bluetooth speaker, so she can walk around and listen to her music all around the house & not have to bring her tablet everywhere.  She also got a set of American Girl movies. From mom & dad she got 5 CDs (1 Girl Nation, Brave, and 3 Disney CDs), a game called Funglish

IRELAND:

-Ireland has had a hard time sleeping lately & is coming into mom & dad’s room more.
-Ireland’s thing lately has been to make SUPER silly faces in all our pictures – even our nice family pictures!
-One night, Ireland was having a hard time sleeping & came into mom. Mom rocked her on her rocking chair & Ireland talked to her about all that she was struggling with. She said that she always made bad choices & that she didn’t have friends at recess and she was lonely. Mom listened & tried to comfort her. She’s been praying extra hard that Ireland will find a good friend at school.
-For some reason, Ireland was being extra naughty right before Christmas. Mom warned about coal & she said “Well, if I get coal in my stocking, I’ll just save it for when we go camping & throw it in the fire!”
-Afer Burton’s wedding & we were headed home, Ireland said “Well, you guys have kissed a LOT because you’ve been married a long time, but Uncle Burton & Natalie are just learning how.” ;)
-For Christmas, Santa brought Ireland a Pearl Princess Barbie with an vanity. Mom & Dad got her a bow & arrow (a favorite of Christmas!), a fashion tracing set, and an outfit. From Aunt Tiffany, she got a Frozen book & craft purse.

KEZIA:
-Kezia colored pictures for each member of the family and put it in our stockings J
-After we got back from our party, Kezia asked “how was your corndog party?” (Elder’s Quarum) ;)
-The girls were looking at their birthday books one day, and mom overheard Kezia say to Ireland “that was the SUPEREST long time ago, right?”
- We were driving home from SLC & were playing a question game. The question was "What are you most worried about & why?" We talked about worries about finding good friends and safety and whatnot. Mom asked Kezia what her answer was & she replied "Bad manners." I said "you're most worried about having bad manners?" She said "Yes. Because I want to be respectable."
-Kezi was quite the little secret wrapper. She made 3 gifts for mom & 2 for dad. She would draw pictures and then run downstairs and wrap them up nicely with paper & ribbon & put them under the tree J She also made one for her preschool teacher.
-Kezia ran up to mom one day and said “I am going to do enough chores today to get a REAL diamond, okay? I’ll work ALL day long!”
-Santa brought Kezi a Frozen Razor scooter & from mom & dad she got a beautiful, nice music box, a Frozen outfit and an IKEA easel with TONS of crafty things to go with it (chalk, paint, markers, crayons, puff paint, etc). Aunt Tiffany got her a frozen book & a string lacing kit.
-After Kezia’s 103.8 temp, her temperature & condition fluctuated, but she still just wasn’t getting better. Finally, after about a week, mom took Kezia to the doctor. She had a wheezy cough & the dr. prescribed her some antibiotics and steroids. She still has a cough, but seems to be doing much better. She didn’t like her medicine, though! She took it the first time & said “It tastes like bubblegum!” and then after a second, she made a face & said “The end tastes yucky!”

LINK:
We sure missed our duder-dude this Christmas. We would have loved to fill his stocking and wrapped his boy gifts. We felt his love, though. On the way to Grandma Devenish’s there was a rainbow! In December! And we were blessed enough to find Heidi’s gift from Tiffany – a picture of her baby boy with some sweet charms like a rainbow and a forget-me-not. The Edwards also made a cute snowman that we brought to your grave. Also – Cannon’s time at the temple was a blessed time. We went through with family names and we felt so much joy. At the end, we noticed the “Links” on the ceiling & Heidi relized it must have been the Oquirrh Mountain Temple that she said the links on the celiling that made her want to name her son Link. It was a sweet, wonderful time. She also gave Cannon a tie with links on it & a letter about how proud she was of Cannon & Link & how they both are going to be awesome missionaries.

NOELLE:
-Noelle really loved the Christmas lights. She would sit and stare at them & try to grab at them.
-Noelle’s food tastes are really growing up! She still loves the baby food, but she really loves it when we give her the food we’re eating. And she’s getting good at drinking from her sippy cup! She also likes the small dissolvable treats, so it’s nice to have some portable food!
-Some of Noelle’s latest cutest tricks: waving bye-bye, clapping hands (SO CUTE!), and trying to blow kisses. She also still loves clicking her tongue and trying to “talk.”
-Noelle will “share” her binki if you say “ahh!”
-She’s started to shake her head. Not sure if she knows that it means no, but she’ll probably figure it out soon!
-Noelle has also got the jumping thing figured out. She gets in her exersaucer & jumps & jumps. It’s difficult to carry on conversations when she gets to jumping because it’s so loud! She also likes to jump in her jumper in mom’s room!
-Noelle is really cute  - sometimes when you dip your head forward, she will dip hers forward to “bump” you J
-Unfortunately, Noelle has turned into quite a mama’s girl. Like – she cries whenever mom is out of sight and fusses when others want to hold her. Mom has to hide so she won’t be upset & just cry for mom all the time.
-Santa brought Noelle a walker with some fun activities on it. She LOVES it!! She also got some blocks, balls, and a cute sweater dress. She also loved getting to suck on a sucker on Christmas day!
-Still no crawling! But she’s really starting to pull up on things and cruise around!
-Her sleep schedule was pretty good for a while, but with all the traveling & her getting sick at the end of the month, it’s not so great any more. She’s usually up 2-3 times at night L Unfortunately, she is still having coughing fits multiple times a night, too.