April Newsletter & Slideshow

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Hamilton Newsletter

April 2015

FAMILY:  This newsletter will most likely have some gaps. It's already the middle of May & I'm just sitting down to write this up! That tells you how crazy it's been! April was a busy, busy month! It started in SLC - finishing off our Spring Break by visiting Great Aunt Cindy in her care home, going out to eat at Denny's, & roller skating at Classic. Then daddy picked us up on his way back from his work meeting in Ogden and we headed to Richfield. The Hamiltons came, too, and we enjoyed a weekend full of family, time, General Conference and Easter festivities, including making chocolate easter nests, dying eggs with kool-aid, and going on an Easter egg hunt! The 8th was Noelle's 1st Birthday!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOELLE! See her section for more details about her special day. We are SO grateful - especially after losing Link - that she has made it to this milestone. She is such a joy & a light in our family. The girls put on a special play called "The Adoption" in our unfinished basement one Sunday, complete with a program, props, and costumes & we all thoroughly enjoyed it - so cute! :) On the 17th, the girls got a lateover with friends! McKinley invited Alyssa Lemarka from church, Ireland invited Mahina, & Kezia had Courtney Riddle over. They had fun playing the Dance Wii, making their own pizzas & eating caramel popcorn and watching the new Tinkerbell movie. On the 19th, we sang Families can be Together Forever and I am a Child of God in Sunday School as a family. We got word that Uncle Joe had passed away on Wednesday and we left for Texas Thursday, the 23rd. We drove to Albuquerque, NM that day & stayed overnight. Then on to Petrolia, TX. We got a hotel room at the Red Roof Inn in Wichita Falls, going back & forth from Petrolia. We really enjoyed our time in Texas! It had been 7 years since we'd last been down there & our girls didn't remember it at all, so it was wonderful to have them meet so many family members. Ireland especially enjoyed playing with Dustin's daughter, Cadence. They are the same age & Ireland was always excited to see her. We spent most of our time at Yvetta's & she was so hospitable. The kids had fun throwing around a football, flying kites, gathering acorns for the fairies, climbing trees, playing on Yvetta's swings, playing with Shane & Julie's dogs and jumping on their tramp, and being creative with the things Grandpa Bill & Ophie got them. Heidi & Jason enjoyed visiting with family. There was quite a bit of rain & even a tornado watch while we were there. Uncle Joe's funeral was Tuesday, the 28th. Aunt Kim & Uncle Jeff had flown in the day before. It was a wonderful graveside service at the Charlie Cemetery & we were grateful to be there to honor & remember Uncle Joe. We left after the funeral & again drove to Albuquerque & stayed the night. We got home Wednesday evening about 6:30pm. We are so thankful for safety in our travels and that the girls all did SO well during the long drive! Thursday morning, the 30th, we closed on our home. We are very grateful that we were able to sell our home so quickly & to wonderful people, the Marxx. We are also grateful that things have worked out to buy the Hatch home. It's a wonderful home & we are excite to be able to stay in the ward, but on a quieter street with more children. Now - MUCH MUCH MUCH to do!! :) One thing we were sad to miss while in Texas was the 5k we signed up for & trained for. We really did go on quite a few training runs, even amidst complaining & groaning. We were up to the 5k distance, so we're sad we missed the race, but hopefully we'll still get the shirts :)

JASON: Jason has been much busier than usual at work, with meetings almost every day. But family comes first & he was grateful to be able to take some time off to go see family in Texas. He enjoyed sharing memories of summers in Texas & he enjoyed seeing some of the sights along the way. He's also been very busy at home, packing & helping start to move. At the end of the month, Jason got a new calling at church. He is now the Elder's Quorum 1st consoler. He is sad to leave the scouts, especially with the fun upcoming trips this summer, but he is also looking forward to being in EQ again. One other major life event for Jason this month - after much peer pressure from his nieces, he finally shaved off his chin hair!!! :)

HEIDI: It's been so nice this month not to have showings to deal with. Now, she is tackling a bigger beast, though - moving! While it's such a short move & there are many things they don't have to take apart, it's still a huge job! Heidi continues to do her 8 week challenge as well as doing her triathlon training, though she hasn't gotten nearly the training in that she'd hoped. This month, Heidi worked with our local newspaper and radio stations to get the word out about the Share Walk in May. Heidi enjoyed going to Texas & really enjoyed spending some "girl time" with Julie & Rachel, going shopping & getting ice cream. During the drive, Heidi read to Jason a book she's been wanting to read for a while - "Unbroken." It was an amazing book & neat to be able to read it with Jason.

McKINLEY:

-A dream McKinley had this last month:  Family was doing a race. Short race. McKinley got done super-fast & then she was with her class on a field trip. She realized she was in a dream & had super powers. Then there was a pirate & they went into multiple doors & they twisted a girl that took them back in time. There was Braxton & Kida. Back to Lincoln's time & there was a mean guy that she remembered. He was pretending to be a dentist. She hid under the tablecloth & saw Mickey Mouse. They went to the library (it was labeled). The only books in the library were Narnia & a few others. So they went to the map & decided they wanted to go to George Washington's time to save endangered animals. Then she woke up :) Now, she wants to do a blog about endangered animals.

-McKinley really loved meeting family in Texas and she loved the art set that she got from Grandpa Bill & Ophie.

IRELAND:
-One day mom overheard Ireland asking McKinley "Have you ever caught a dust fairy before?"
-Ireland gave mom a super-cute invitation for a popcicle-poetry-picnic at school. Mom was a couple minutes late, but glad she came because she thoroughly enjoyed Ireland's poetry and getting to spend time with her.
-Mom also spent time with Ireland to finish her habitat assignment. She chose the savanna because the cheetah is her favorite animal. She did a great job on it! Unfortunately, we missed the Arts night this year because we were just getting back from Texas, so she didn't get to display it as school, but she did show her teacher after we got back.
-Ireland really loved her new friend Cadence who she got to play with in Texas. It took a few hours for her to warm up, but afterwards, they were pretty much inseparable. And she asked to go play with her whenever they were apart.

KEZIA:

-When we were in SLC, Aunt Cindy gave a lesson about being honest. Kezia must have really taken it to heart, because for a few weeks after that, she would come to mom about any indiscretion. Her confessions included opening her eyes during prayer, thinking about a movie during prayer, staining her shirt, & whining.
-We went to a carpet store one Saturday & the owner had a puppy. The puppy was excited and was chewing on everything. It chewed on Kezi's arm & a few minutes later, Kezia came to mom & said "Mom! Mom! I know why puppies like to chew on people's arms!" Mom asked why. She said "Cuz there's bones inside!"
-One day in the van we were talking about swear words. Kezia asked what swear words were & while mom was formulating a response, she said "Oh! Nevermind! I know - like pinky swears!"
-Kezi got to go to her friend, Hadley's, birthday party this month & had lots of fun!!
-At Aunt Yvetta's, Kezia found some red ants :( For some reason, they really like her!
-Kezi enjoyed Texas & liked to sleep in the hotel & watch movies in the hotel room with Ireland.

LINK:

On one of our training runs as a family, Ireland & mom saw a BEAUTIFUL purple bird fly past! We've never seen a bird like that & we knew that it was a love note from you & Tundra <3 font="" nbsp="">
It's been hard thinking about moving from the only home you ever lived in. Mom has had a few meltdowns just thinking about it. Please be close to us in our new home, baby boy. We love you & miss you more than you know.>

NOELLE:
-HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY NOELLE!!! We were all SO excited to celebrate your first birthday, baby girl! We got to buy a new birthday tablecloth, decorate a new birthday crown, and buy gifts for your special day! You loved playing with the doggie that sings & unwrapping your gifts! You were pretty spoiled this year, getting a new car seat and a tricycle with a handle on the back that we can push you around. You also got a happy birthday outfit and a new book. You seemed to really enjoy your birthday cake and ice cream. Mommy spent a lot of time on your birthday book, so hopefully one day you will enjoy it :) McKinley also spent a lot of time drawing a picture of you :) You are SO loved & are such a joy & light in our home, our sunrise baby girl. We love you!
-At the moment, Noelle still prefers crawling, but she has taken up to 18 steps! And she's started to walk from point A to point B if it's not far. Way to go girl!
-Noelle is learning more signs! She knows baby, ball, hot, all-done, and when "Signing Time" comes on, she says and signs "Signing Time!"
-Noelle can point to your nose!
-One afternoon, Noelle seemed especially entranced by Link's picture. She kept crawling over to it & reaching for it. Sure wish we could see what she sees!
-Noelle is dancing! If there is music, watch her shake up & down. So so so cute!!
-"Uh-oh" is still Noelle's favorite word, but she's added "Uh-oh! spagettios" :)
-She still loves Sydney and we have to pull her off of her sometimes because she will crawl all over her & she really likes to keep touching her nose.
-Noelle is getting good at rolling a ball, stacking blocks, and playing with puzzles! She also continues to LOVE books!
-We all were SO THANKFUL for how well Noelle did on our trip to Texas. From being 36 hours in the car, to having to sleep in a pack & play in 5 different places, she did amazingly well! As long as we had whitenoise, her doggy, her sleep sack & a binki, she usually went right to sleep.