Monday, April 4, 2016

March Newsletter & Slideshow

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Hamilton Family Newsletter
March 2016
FAMILY: What a fun, adventurous, busy month March was! Heidi’s birthday was on a Sunday this year and she was spoiled – see her section for more details. Aunt Tiffany was SO sweet and sent a HUGE bin full of girl clothes for Noelle & our new baby girl. They are so so cute & so fun to add new, fun clothes to their closets! The girls’ official spring break went from March 7-11, but since we knew the Bargers were coming, we just hung around Cedar & St. George & spring cleaned. We did go to the park in St. George & ate at Culvers and went Easter shopping. Also – the girls had friends over with tea parties and games. The Bargers – Dustin, Skyla, Kayla, Kaydence, Jacob & Aunt Yvetta – arrived late on Sunday, March 13th. We had so much fun with their family for our “bonus” spring break J We let the girls get out of school and we did the St. George park, the St. George Children’s Museum, the Pizza Factory, Pioneer Park, Zions National Park, the Parowan Gap, swimming, movie night, tubing at Brian Head, lunch at the Brick House, and a birthday dinner bash at our house for Yvetta, Dustin & Camri (16!). We were so sad to see them leave, but cherish all the memories we got to make with them. On the 24th, Jason took the morning off & we went down to St. George for our 20-week ultrasound. It was so neat to see our baby girl moving around and being active. In fact, the technician was a little frustrated trying to get some clear shots because she would not hold still. We are so thankful everything looks good & she is healthy. We celebrated with lunch at Kneaders – just daddy, mommy & Noelle. It was a wonderful morning. The 26th was Link’s angelversary. Things didn’t go as planned because Ireland ended up getting strep throat so we didn’t go to the temple. That evening we did go to the cemetery, out to eat & watched his slideshow. The 27th was Easter & the girls all donned their new dresses and new sandals and we took pictures before church. They also had fun checking out their Easter baskets J After church, we had an Easter egg hunt & a yummy Easter dinner, including ham, mashed potatoes, rolls, and asparagus. We also spent time on Easter watching inspirational videos and talking about our joy in the resurrection of our Savior, which we are truly, eternally thankful for.

JASON: Jason had a great time taking a week off to spend with some of his Texas family. He continues to stay busy with the detail he’s doing at work and his Elder’s Quorum calling. Jason has been growing out his hair to the chagrin of his wife J But at church he was told he looks like a young Tom Cruise, so he’s been keeping it!

HEIDI:  It was a roller coaster for Heidi this month – her 37th birthday (which included many thoughtful gifts from the girls, including a beautiful necklace from McKinley,  Jason making 3 different Pinterest recipes that Heidi sent to him J They all were very yummy , and Jason getting Heidi a Samsung watch – it was a great birthday!), getting the house ready for guests, enjoying all the activities with family, and also dealing with Link’s angelversary and the difficult memories that day brings. She took a few hours and read cards and notes from many people after Link died & she is also very thankful for all the love that was shown to our family after Link died. Thankfully, Heidi is past the really sick phase of her pregnancy. Still tired most of the time, but so much better than feeling sick. She is also so thankful that our new baby girl is healthy and it was so fun to see her on the ultrasound. She also read the When Calls the Heart series of books, which were good.

McKINLEY:
-McKinley was so sweet and spent $15 – all her allowance and more – on a birthday necklace for mom. It was 2 half-hearts that had sweet sayings on it about mom & daughter J
-McKinley made it to the leadership team at North Elementary School! We are so proud of her! She had to fill out an application and have interviews – and she did great and made the team. She was a welcomer to the groundbreaking of the new North Elementary school and she even got to shovel the first dirt with a golden shovel! Also –she was in the online newspaper! Way to go McKinley!
-Also this month was the Science Fair. McKinley did a project about ideas on making water boil faster, including salt, oil, Sprite, and a metal cylinder. It was interesting and fun and she got 2nd place in her grade! J
-One day we were running out the door & mom told McKinley it wasn’t cold enough for 2 coats, but as she got out of the van, she still had both coats. Mom asked why & McKinley said “because someone else might need it!” She is a sweet, thoughtful girl J
-McKinley had fun with the Bargers here, even though she was a bit worried about being too young to really hang out with Kayla. Still, Kayla was really nice to her and even taught her about drawing faces & McKinley enjoyed spending time with her & the rest of the family.

IRELAND:
-Ireland could hardly wait for her 2nd cousin, Kaydence, to get here. They have been pen pals for almost a year now, since we went to Texas for Uncle Joe’s funeral. She had so much fun getting to have sleepovers with her and do all the fun activities. We all talked about how much they looked alike with their brown hair and freckles. It was fun to watch them interact – and Ireland already has written her 2 letters and talks about going to see them.
-After many many months of “reminders” by Ireland, we finally took her in to get her orthodontia work started. First they put bands on her top & bottom molars and that really hurt. Ireland complained a lot & took ibprofin. Then they replaced the bands with metal toppers and put the expander in the top of her mouth and springs in the bottom. Every other day we use the “key” to force her expander out a little bit more. It has taken Ireland quite a bit of adjusting to get used to it – from the way she talks to the struggles of eating with it in, she has had to learn a lot, but she’s getting more used to it and is excited for her upcoming braces in the next year.
-Ireland’s science fair project was called “Potato Power.” Dad helped her with it & they tried to make potatoes produce enough power to light a bulb. Though they followed the instructions and bought all the items, they couldn’t get it to work, which was sad L, but they did learn a lot and Ireland had fun with dad.
-At the end of the month, Ireland got strep throat L

KEZIA:
-Kezi also had fun with her Texas cousins and getting to see so much of our St. George & Richfield cousins, too, was just so fun for her. She especially loved the tubing hill at Brian Head and getting to hang out with the big kids.
-Kezia got to meet her coach and teammates for the upcoming spring soccer season & she is excited to play!
-This month we went to a meeting for the dual immersion program at East Elementary. Though Kezia still doesn’t seem too excited to go to East, we are encouraging her & hoping it will prove to be a good experience and even fun. It will be neat to see her & her daddy have their own language and we found out her friend Macie signed up, too, so we are excited about that!
-Kezia has had LOTS of playdates this month, including Paige, Caroline, Ruby, and Macie! She has lots of fun friends in the neighborhood & her class. Her friend, Ruby, even wrote her a note with “10 things I like about you” & it included you’re nice, you’re beautiful, you’re happy, you can hide secrets, we can laugh together, you always smile, we make crafts, your friendly, you like me J
-Kezia has been sweet about “menus” lately. She will make a menu with what we have available to eat and give it to everyone so they can order, then she will go get it for you J it’s so sweet.
-Kezia used her OWN money to buy everyone in the family their favorite KING sized candy bars for Easter. What a sweetie!

LINK:
Our sweet son. It’s so hard to fathom that three years have passed since you left this earth. We have learned and grown so much and are so thankful for the time we spent with you, but we still miss you more than we can say. You still are such a huge part of our family. We are so sorry that family history work has fallen behind this last year. We ask for your forgiveness and also your help with it in the next year. That we can find more names and learn more and do more work. We love you eternally our duder-dude and pray that you continue to be with us to guide us and protect us.

NOELLE:
-This girl is almost 2 & she knows SO much! She is really speaking in sentences now and is pretty easy to have a little conversation with. We all LOVE her little voice!
-Noelle loved having our Texas family here – she just didn’t love her sleep schedule being changed. On the day we went to the St. George children’s museum, she was very ornery and we even thought she might have an ear infection. Then on the Zions day, she didn’t get a nap at all and about 5pm, she hit the wall. Literally. She was writing and screaming and banging her head on the cement. It wasn’t pretty L We were going to go out to eat afterwards, but ended up going straight home & putting her to bed. She slept from 5:30 on…
-She is just so adorable when she wakes her sisters & dad up in the morning – or when they come back from school or work. She gives the BEST hugs and says I love you!
-Noelle also says Hi a lot, as in “Hi Ireland!” and she won’t stop saying it until you say hi back.
-We are still working with Noelle ONLY writing on paper. She understands, but still has written on the couch, walls, her hands, and her clothes. Still, her coloring has gotten better – more circles and she knows probably half the colors now, too.
-She has learned to express her emotions more lately as well. She will say I’m MAD! And sometimes we sing the Daniel Tiger song and count down from four to help her feel better.
-Noelle has also been asking more questions lately. One of her favorites “why not?”
-Rain, snow, or shine, this girl LOVES to be outside. Mom has been known to bribe her sisters into taking her outside for a while just so she will quit asking all day long.
-Still waiting for the day when the doggie water or the toilet water doesn’t fascinate her!
-Noelle wants to know where everyone is all the time. Daddy at work! Ireland is at school!
-Noelle tells us pretty promptly when she needs a diaper change. She will come up to mom or dad and say “I got stinkers.” Mom will say “You have stinkers?” and she will reply “oooh, yeah.”
-Noelle still LOVES cars. We’re pretty sure her brother sent her here with that love J She usually has a car in each hand most of the day and she loves to go to homes where she can play with new cars. Every time we go to Link’s bench, she steals one or two!
-Noelle did really well on the Easter egg hunt! She found lots of eggs & even waited to open them! When we got them inside, she opened them one by one and said “surprise! Candy canes!”