Hamilton Newsletter
June 2017
FAMILY: Oh Summer, how we adore thee!! J Good times this month as we made, learned,
explored, and connected. For our make-it Mondays, we made lots of fairy house
things, including a hot glue gun waterfall, a fairy house, & a fairy sign.
For Taste-it Tuesday, we made jolly rancher suckers, homemade chaco tacos,
pineapple whip cream, sand pudding, homemade slushies, and jello aquariums. For
Water Wednesday, we went to the Tonaquint splash park (twice) J, we played in the backyard with water, and we
went to Hillcrest Park with our friends and played water balloon baseball,
which was so fun! For thinking Thursday, we’ve been to the park, had a Little
Women read-a-thon, and done some fun learning websites. And for Field Trip
Friday, we’ve been to St. George and Richfield J We hiked to Hidden Haven for Activity days on
the 6th & it was lovely as always! On the 10th, we
made a day trip out of visiting the Grand Canyon. It took a few hours to get
there, but we stopped for about an hour on the way there at Jakob’s Lake Lodge
& picked up a few yummy cookies. We stopped about 6 lookouts, and went on a
few short hikes. We had a picnic with a full view of the beautiful canyon and
we were all amazed at how enormous it is. It was a wonderful, full day full of
beauty and amazement and on the way home, we stopped in Alton to have a short
visit with the Barons. We got to see their goats, horses, cows, and chickens.
We didn’t get home till 11pm, but it was a great trip & we’re so glad we
went! The next day, the 11th, Jason & Heidi gave talks in church
on eternal families. It was a neat opportunity and we got to talk a lot about
our amazing son J On the 15th, we had a picnic at the Lake at the
Hills. We flew kites. We played in the water. Oaklyn ate sand J It was a perfect evening. We headed up north
the 3rd weekend in June. Saturday we spend half the day at the zoo.
The lions were so fun to watch & the weather was perfect. We all had a
great time. That evening McKinley & Michael watched the girls while Heidi
& Jason went to Heidi’s West Jordan High School 20 year class reunion. It
was good food and fun to reconnect with friends! Sunday was Father’s Day and we
made yummy food for Jason and everyone met at Silver Lake for a Father’s Day
BBQ. We loved seeing everyone & celebrating dads J On Monday during the day, we had a baby
shower for Trisha at GGs house, and that night, mom & dad watched the girls
while Heidi & Jason went to the Def Leppard concert that was Jason’s early
40th birthday present. We went out with Jeff & Keeley for dinner
beforehand & then we headed to the Usana Ampitheater. We also got to see
Joseph & Josie there. It was a great concert & we had a lot of fun! It
was a terrific weekend J The 3rd Sunday in June, the Kenelli’s had us over
for dinner on Sunday. It was great to meet their family & hang out! The 24th
(after Heidi & Jason spent the afternoon sweating in the heat while
putting in rock and stepping stones) was Jason’s semi J surprise party! He knew a little bit when the
girls were mentioning things, but when he got the notification that a “Recently
Upgraded to Version 40.0” shirt came in the mail, he knew. It was at mom &
dad’s in St. George & the Potts were there, Cindy & her boys, the
Devenishs, Jeff, Kim & her boys, the Bensons, the Sorensons, and the
Kestersons all came to honor the birthday boy. It was good food & fun.
Cindy made the “Crap You’re old” toilet cake and mom & the girls decorated
for 3 hours the day before the big event with tons of “over the hill” signs
& balloons. We also had the “40 sucks” suckers, “40 blows” bubblegum & “40
can kiss it kisses.” The Bensons stayed
till Monday and the Edwards stayed till Tuesday so it was a full house and we
enjoyed visiting. We also went to the Tonaquint splash park with all of them
while they were here. The other thing we were busy with this month was showing
the rental – whew! Lots of time & effort, but we’re glad we found someone. On
daddy’s birthday, the Strands stopped by! We had fun catching up with Jen, Anna
& Ella J
JASON: HAPPY 40th DADDY! We hope you know
how much we love you. With all the festivities (Def Leppard concert, surprise
40th party in St. George), his actual birthday was pretty mellow,
but we did all go out to Denny’s for dinner to celebrate. J His co-workers also decorated his office with
happy birthday signs, streamers, and even “p’d” everywhere (they put P post-its
everywhere) J We also enjoyed spoiling Jason for Father’s Day earlier in the
month with French toast for breakfast, Dr. Pepper Pork for lunch (along with 4
choices of chips), and dark chocolate bark for dessert. We made a cute homemade
monkey card for him & had fun going to Silver Lake with the other dads to
honor him J He is such a fantastic daddy!
HEIDI: June was a busy
month for Heidi with entertaining 5 children every day, prepping for Jason’s
party, arranging and showing the rental, adjusting to her new calling (Primary
Secretary), and getting the house ready for Joseph to come (though it didn’t
happen). She enjoyed seeing some classmates at her 20 year class reunion and
eating yummy food. She’s also been busy with Ireland’s birthday book.
McKINLEY:
-McKinley has been enjoyed the summer! She’s been going on walks with Karmiyah every morning and has also started taking some volleyball lessons with her, too!
-McKinley passed off her multiplication this summer & gets to have a date!
-McKinley’s goals for the summer are: to have Kezia’s baptism song down on the piano, read at least 2 books, have 2 songs down for cello, and practice volleyball. She has done well & will probably pass them all off by the time school starts J
-McKinley was in charge of games for Aunt Trisha’s baby shower & she did a great job! We played the “baby item written on a card and put on your back” game where you had to guess what it was and also the alphabet baby name game. So fun – thanks McKinley!
-McKinley has turned into a crazy baking machine this summer! From cookies to brownies to cake, she is almost as good as mom now! (and also really good at fractions, too) J
IRELAND:
-Ireland’s summer has been full of playdates with Elli and Adelaide Price, riding her bike, and many hours playing in the sandbox. J
-Big news for Ireland – no braces!! Her teeth look great and she loves to smile J She has a retainer at night now & chose zebra stripes J
-Ireland really likes Princess & the Frog and says Tiana is now her favorite princess.
-Mom took Ireland to Walmart one day and let her look at the options for studs. She’s so excited to get her ears pierced next month!
-Ireland’s summer goals this year are: Finish all levels of dance mat typing and memorize her multiplication. She did both!! WAY TO GO IRLEAND!! She gets a multiplication date now!
-Irleand finished her book Pegasus & really liked it!
-Ireland & Kezia went on a hike one morning with Mahina & Eric – it was hot, but they had fun!
-McKinley has been enjoyed the summer! She’s been going on walks with Karmiyah every morning and has also started taking some volleyball lessons with her, too!
-McKinley passed off her multiplication this summer & gets to have a date!
-McKinley’s goals for the summer are: to have Kezia’s baptism song down on the piano, read at least 2 books, have 2 songs down for cello, and practice volleyball. She has done well & will probably pass them all off by the time school starts J
-McKinley was in charge of games for Aunt Trisha’s baby shower & she did a great job! We played the “baby item written on a card and put on your back” game where you had to guess what it was and also the alphabet baby name game. So fun – thanks McKinley!
-McKinley has turned into a crazy baking machine this summer! From cookies to brownies to cake, she is almost as good as mom now! (and also really good at fractions, too) J
IRELAND:
-Ireland’s summer has been full of playdates with Elli and Adelaide Price, riding her bike, and many hours playing in the sandbox. J
-Big news for Ireland – no braces!! Her teeth look great and she loves to smile J She has a retainer at night now & chose zebra stripes J
-Ireland really likes Princess & the Frog and says Tiana is now her favorite princess.
-Mom took Ireland to Walmart one day and let her look at the options for studs. She’s so excited to get her ears pierced next month!
-Ireland’s summer goals this year are: Finish all levels of dance mat typing and memorize her multiplication. She did both!! WAY TO GO IRLEAND!! She gets a multiplication date now!
-Irleand finished her book Pegasus & really liked it!
-Ireland & Kezia went on a hike one morning with Mahina & Eric – it was hot, but they had fun!
KEZIA:
-Kezia’s been having a fun no-lessons summer this year and has enjoyed playing with Addi, Macie & Ruby.
-We have a famous daughter! J Kezia’s picture was in the newspaper this month for reading 100 books in school!
-Kezia’s summer goals this year are: spell supercalifragilisticexpialidocious, memorize multiplication up to 5, tie shoes, and work on typing.
-Kezia is tying her shoes all by herself now! WAY TO GO Kezia!
-Ireland & Kezia went on a hike one morning with Mahina & Eric – it was hot, but they had fun!
-It hasn’t been all the time, but Kezia has been trying to remember to speak Spanish. Hopefully she doesn’t forget too much before school starts again!
-Kezia signed up to be pen pals with a friend in Spain. We still haven’t heard from them, so we e-mailed her teacher in Spanish & she said they lost her luggage with the letters & just barely got it back, so looks like there will only be maybe one or two letters this summer L We are checking the mail daily!
-For one of our mommy & Kezia times, we did the disappearing eggshell trick. It was fun to see the eggshell disappear in the vinegar after a few days!
-Kezia is SO cute with her little sisters. She helps Noelle so much and was such a cheerleader when she was potty training. She made her a sticker chart & even used her own money to let her ride on the horsey at Walmart!!
LINK: We were so happy
to talk about you in our talks this month, our baby boy. Mommy shared a lot of
your story and many, many people commented, and even texted telling us how much
they enjoyed hearing your story. You have touched so many people and we hope to
continue to share the love we have for you!!
NOELLE:
-Our cute, cute Noelle-my-belle. Noelle is in such a fun stage. Though she is still plenty full of mischief, she says the funniest, cutest things. People still are amazed regularly that she is only 3. Such a big vocabulary!
-Noelle is loving having her sisters home all day! From helping her get dressed, to climbing over the gate at the top of the stairs, to playing in the sandbox with them, to playing with her sister’s friends, she is getting lots of attention and enjoying every minute J
-As daddy left to work one day, Noelle shouted out “Have a crunchy day!!” J Now, we all like to say that to each other as we leave for the day.
-Daddy did a FHE about family unity and he used popsicle sticks. He handed them out to everyone and Noelle looked forlornly at the stick and said “but where is the popsicle?”
-Mom was wearing her workout pants that are black with white dots of varying sizes. Noelle said “Mom, you are wearing your white noise pants today?”
-DANGER! Noelle now knows how to navigate mom’s phone! She doesn’t know the password yet, but once she’s in, she is everywhere!
-Whenever we have cereal, Noelle always wants the “Ice crispies!”
-One of Noelle’s current favorite phrases “What the heck?”
-It was chilly one days & Noelle said she needed her life jacket to go outside. We think she just meant jacket J
-Noelle FINALLY got her hair chopped this month! She probably got a foot taken off. It is chin-length now & SOOO cute! It fits her personality so well. Everyone keeps saying how cute it is & she says “I know!”
-Noelle loved the zoo! She hasn’t been since she was one and loved walking around in her zoo dress and seeing all the cool animals.
-We were at a friends’ house for dinner. Noelle had 2 buns in her hair and they called her baby Princess Leia. They let her use a light saber & she was slashing around, saying “Don’t touch it! My sword is super powery!”
-We had round 2 for potty training this month. She did really well the first couple days but after about 4 days, she was having lots of accidents & begging for pull-ups again. L
-One day we were having a treat & Noelle wanted some. Mom said she had to ask pretty please with a cherry on top. Noelle said “Pretty please with a… I don’t like cherries!”
-One day we were asking what Noelle wanted to be when she grew up. She said “a monkey doctor!”
-There was a fly in the house one day & Noelle angrily said “Shoo fly! Don’t father me!”
-One night while we were cuddling & mom was telling Noelle how much she loved her, Noelle said “Mom, I love you with all of my eyes. I love you with all of my eyebrows. I love you with all of my nose…” It was a whole lotta love <3 span="">J
-Noelle is SUPER close to being able to ride her tricycle all by herself!
-Noelle is really into play doh this month & wants to play almost every day.
-Our cute, cute Noelle-my-belle. Noelle is in such a fun stage. Though she is still plenty full of mischief, she says the funniest, cutest things. People still are amazed regularly that she is only 3. Such a big vocabulary!
-Noelle is loving having her sisters home all day! From helping her get dressed, to climbing over the gate at the top of the stairs, to playing in the sandbox with them, to playing with her sister’s friends, she is getting lots of attention and enjoying every minute J
-As daddy left to work one day, Noelle shouted out “Have a crunchy day!!” J Now, we all like to say that to each other as we leave for the day.
-Daddy did a FHE about family unity and he used popsicle sticks. He handed them out to everyone and Noelle looked forlornly at the stick and said “but where is the popsicle?”
-Mom was wearing her workout pants that are black with white dots of varying sizes. Noelle said “Mom, you are wearing your white noise pants today?”
-DANGER! Noelle now knows how to navigate mom’s phone! She doesn’t know the password yet, but once she’s in, she is everywhere!
-Whenever we have cereal, Noelle always wants the “Ice crispies!”
-One of Noelle’s current favorite phrases “What the heck?”
-It was chilly one days & Noelle said she needed her life jacket to go outside. We think she just meant jacket J
-Noelle FINALLY got her hair chopped this month! She probably got a foot taken off. It is chin-length now & SOOO cute! It fits her personality so well. Everyone keeps saying how cute it is & she says “I know!”
-Noelle loved the zoo! She hasn’t been since she was one and loved walking around in her zoo dress and seeing all the cool animals.
-We were at a friends’ house for dinner. Noelle had 2 buns in her hair and they called her baby Princess Leia. They let her use a light saber & she was slashing around, saying “Don’t touch it! My sword is super powery!”
-We had round 2 for potty training this month. She did really well the first couple days but after about 4 days, she was having lots of accidents & begging for pull-ups again. L
-One day we were having a treat & Noelle wanted some. Mom said she had to ask pretty please with a cherry on top. Noelle said “Pretty please with a… I don’t like cherries!”
-One day we were asking what Noelle wanted to be when she grew up. She said “a monkey doctor!”
-There was a fly in the house one day & Noelle angrily said “Shoo fly! Don’t father me!”
-One night while we were cuddling & mom was telling Noelle how much she loved her, Noelle said “Mom, I love you with all of my eyes. I love you with all of my eyebrows. I love you with all of my nose…” It was a whole lotta love <3 span="">J
-Noelle is SUPER close to being able to ride her tricycle all by herself!
-Noelle is really into play doh this month & wants to play almost every day.
OAKLYN:
-10 months old this month! And she is really starting to walk! She’s about 50/50 at this point. If she’s at point A & she wants to get to point B, she will crawl half the time (usually if she really needs to get there in a hurry) and walk half the time. She is so big!!
-FINALLY, finally, FINALLY Oaklyn’s teeth broke through! She is an original, though – her top one came through first (they were bulging for like 2 weeks), then her bottom one, then the other top one. Naturally, she’s been a bit fussy, but still such a good baby.
-Noelle’s favorite phrases lately – “Uh oh skettios!” and “Kezia”
-Poor Oaklyn had some nasty pink eye this month. We were hoping it was just viral & would go away, but after a few days her eye was so swollen and gunky that we finally took her in & got her some eye drops. Thankfully it cleared up really soon!
-Another favorite thing that Oaklyn is doing now – fishy kissy lips. SO CUTE!!
-Her favorite things to get into: the cup drawer, the plasticware cupboard, and the dishwasher!
-Oaklyn loves to hang out in the empty tub while mom does her hair J
