https://photos.app.goo.gl/snVeGyLChBk98JaI2
Hamilton Newsletter
December 2017
FAMILY: December was wonderful and hard! We had our
traditional bought of pukies, thankfully this year it went through all of us
the week BEFORE winter break, so at least we enjoyed the winter break a bit
more J
We had hardly ANY snow this year! Our first storm of the YEAR was 3 days before
Christmas. We were SO excited! On the 2nd, we took a whirlwind trip
up north for Logan’s baptism, and also so mom could go to a SIDS mom meeting.
It was quick, but good. On the 6th, Grandma & Grandpa Potts came
for the Homestead Pioneer Christmas, which we love. A bonus was that we got to
see Mahina perform. It was a fun night with hot cocoa, popcorn, caramel apples,
and visiting with Santa (Oaklyn was NOT a fan L
). The 9th was the big temple cultural celebration! We went to the
church to watch the broadcast and tried really hard to find McKinley among
3,600 youth who were there to celebrate our Cedar City temple with song and
dance. It was really awesome! McKinley was there ALL day and it was an amazing
experience for her! The 10th was the dedication and President
Eyring, Elder Holland, and other leaders were there to dedicate our temple. Dad
& Mom got to go with the 3 older girls while the 2 littles played at the
Petersens. It was a wonderful, special day and we are SO excited to be able to
go to our new temple! It is a blessing that we will never forget & always
be grateful for. It’s a Christmas memory to add to our special Christmases. We
got to brighten a couple family’s lives as we helped with the 12 days of
Christmas. We had fun dropping off our gifts & running away. As we were on
our way to one of the homes, we found an AMAZING light display on a house – set
to music and cool displays on outdoor TVs. It was a fun discovery. The 13th
was the Ward Christmas Party. Mom stayed home with the sick littles, but daddy
had fun with the olders, and McKinley played a musical number on the piano! The
girls and mom worked HARD this month to finish our homemade gifts – the girls
each made a story for one of the Checketts kids (Mc – Max, I – Maddy, K –
Grace), we laminated them & had them spiral-bound & they turned out SO
CUTE! Mom worked on an ancestor ABC book
& was so glad she got it done in time. The 17th was the last day
of school, and mom took them all ice skating, including Mahina. The olders had
a really fun time, and the littles played inside with mom (Noelle didn’t last
more than 2 mintues J)
After the snow came, we also such a fun afternoon sledding! And later on, we
made HOMEMADE Gingerbread houses – it was a lot of work, but fun, too! Christmas
Eve was on Sunday this year and the girls got to open their new dresses from
Grandma Devenish that morning – they were beautiful! They only had sacrament
meeting – and it was filled with wonderful music and the Christmas spirit. That
evening, we had our fancy meal – ham, mashed potatoes & gravy, rolls,
ceasar salad, frogeye salad, and chocolate pie. It was all very good & we
really enjoyed it. We watched a little Jesus movie, talked about our special
Christmases, and read the Christmas story, acting it out with the nativity set.
Christmas morning came bright and early as Oaklyn was up at 6am (she must have
known!), so we got the girls up at 7, and went downstairs to watch a Jesus
movie while daddy made a yummy breakfast upstairs. We came upstairs, ate the
yummy breakfast and opened our Santa presents. This year was extra fun because
Truly was here for it all J
We really had fun with our Santa gifts (our family gift was extra xbox
controllers and a charger) and played with them for a while before we opened
the sibling gifts (this year they drew names for each other), and mom and dad
gifts. We finished opening by about noon and for the next few hours, daddy
helped the girls find xbox games to get (they each got xbox gift certificates)
and mom helped Ireland with her MP4 player (that wouldn’t play mp4s).
Eventually, we packed up & left for SLC, getting there just after 7pm. We
enjoyed our evening with the Edwards & Potts & finished off Christmas
with loved ones. The Edwards had our name & Aunt Cindy did a cupcake
decorating class with the girls, complete with personalized aprons. And she
also crocheted them all custom hats and gloves! And she made Heidi & Jason
a scrabble decoration with LINKIN and all of our names in his. The next couple
days we hung out a lot at Aunt Trisha’s, went to see the Temple Square lights,
and Grandpa even took us to see the movie Ferdinand. We loved being with
family. Then it was off to Richfield to see some of daddy’s side of the family
for a little while before we headed home. The 19th, we celebrated
Truly’s half-birthday and enjoyed making & eating all her favorite foods. New Years Eve was Sunday again and we headed
down to St. George after church to spend time with GG & the Potts. We ate
yummy food, played games (we each got to choose one) and came home to put the
littles to bed. Mom read over an hour of Little Women (McKinley & Mom cried
when Beth died), and then it was midnight & we got to ring it in with our
loved ones. We are grateful for all our adventures and blessings in 2017, and
also excited for 2018!!
JASON: It’s been so nice having daddy home more this
month. He has enjoyed watching LOTR, Transformers, and playing our new Xbox
games. Jason was determined to get 100%
home teaching this month, so he and his EQ presidency made cookies for each
family! The girls helped him and he delivered them. Great job daddy!
HEIDI: Heidi loved having her children home for the
holidays, even with the extra messes J
She was driven this month to FINISH her
Ancestor ABC book, and she did. It was a LOT of work, but she learned so much
about her ancestors and is committed to do even more next year for family
history. At one point, she broke down in tears, full of gratitude for the amazing
lives & sacrifices of these people she is honored & blessed to be
related to. Heidi also spent A L O T of time with her primary calling this
month, updating classes, re-doing binders and rosters. Then, she did all the
bulletin boards in the primary room and next to the chapel doors. It was a ton
of work and glad the most stressful part is done!
McKINLEY:
-McKinley is still LOVING her dog, Daizy, and Daizy loves her J When McKinley opens the door, Daizy comes running & McKinley is ready! Daizy has already grown so much and is too big for her crate in McKinley’s room. We call her “Crazy Daizy” for a reason! When she gets upstairs or is let in from outside, she goes NUTS! Tail whacking, tongue licking, jumping up, she is a whirlwind! She loves to chew on our raspberry plants, paper, and cuddle with teddy bears. She has super-soft ears and is a beautiful puppy. We’re still working on potty training. She uses the doggy doors most of the time, but still has accidents (the front entry run, front room rug, and downstairs are her favorites. Not to mention mom’s wedding dress! McKinley (and all of us) love our crazy Daizy.
-McKinley got to be a part of the temple cultural celebration & it was amazing! She went at 8am & didn’t get home till after nine. She was exhausted, but so happy and she directly followed President Erying’s advice to write the experience in her journal.
-McKinley got a 4.0 for the 2nd quarter of middle school! Way to go McKinley J For her grades, and for finishing the Book of Mormon, mom & dad took McKinley out to Brody’s for dinner & then to Deseret Book , where she got the book “Cove.” We are so proud of her.
-McKinley had her holiday orchestra performance on Dec. 12th. Grandma & Grandpa Potts & Devenish came & she did wonderfully (especially for being so sick)
-McKinley finally turned in her Egypt book she’s been working on for so long – intricate colorings, patterns, designs and drawings. It was awesome!
-McKinley played the piano (Bring a torch Jannette, Isabella) for the ward Christmas Party – and did great!
-On the 14th, mom came to McKinley’s class and read a Christmas story from our Christmas book, called “the Christmas I remember best.” It was short, but meaningful, and mom got popcorn to put in all her classmates’ stockings. It was fun J
-For Christmas, Santa brought McKinley a Bluetooth speaker that she listens to in her room. She also got… a Joann’s gift card, a Wonder shirt, a studio C shirt, a locket to put Link’s picture in, Brandon Sanderson books, personalized buttons she can clip on her backpack, a reading pillow, and Kezia got her a puppy calendar & another Jacky Ha Ha book.
-McKinley is still LOVING her dog, Daizy, and Daizy loves her J When McKinley opens the door, Daizy comes running & McKinley is ready! Daizy has already grown so much and is too big for her crate in McKinley’s room. We call her “Crazy Daizy” for a reason! When she gets upstairs or is let in from outside, she goes NUTS! Tail whacking, tongue licking, jumping up, she is a whirlwind! She loves to chew on our raspberry plants, paper, and cuddle with teddy bears. She has super-soft ears and is a beautiful puppy. We’re still working on potty training. She uses the doggy doors most of the time, but still has accidents (the front entry run, front room rug, and downstairs are her favorites. Not to mention mom’s wedding dress! McKinley (and all of us) love our crazy Daizy.
-McKinley got to be a part of the temple cultural celebration & it was amazing! She went at 8am & didn’t get home till after nine. She was exhausted, but so happy and she directly followed President Erying’s advice to write the experience in her journal.
-McKinley got a 4.0 for the 2nd quarter of middle school! Way to go McKinley J For her grades, and for finishing the Book of Mormon, mom & dad took McKinley out to Brody’s for dinner & then to Deseret Book , where she got the book “Cove.” We are so proud of her.
-McKinley had her holiday orchestra performance on Dec. 12th. Grandma & Grandpa Potts & Devenish came & she did wonderfully (especially for being so sick)
-McKinley finally turned in her Egypt book she’s been working on for so long – intricate colorings, patterns, designs and drawings. It was awesome!
-McKinley played the piano (Bring a torch Jannette, Isabella) for the ward Christmas Party – and did great!
-On the 14th, mom came to McKinley’s class and read a Christmas story from our Christmas book, called “the Christmas I remember best.” It was short, but meaningful, and mom got popcorn to put in all her classmates’ stockings. It was fun J
-For Christmas, Santa brought McKinley a Bluetooth speaker that she listens to in her room. She also got… a Joann’s gift card, a Wonder shirt, a studio C shirt, a locket to put Link’s picture in, Brandon Sanderson books, personalized buttons she can clip on her backpack, a reading pillow, and Kezia got her a puppy calendar & another Jacky Ha Ha book.
IRELAND:
-Ireland got to move on to the next gymnastics level – 3!! We’re so proud of her J
-Ireland had some missing assignments but worked hard to get them done so she could go to the special waffle breakfast her teacher sponsored.
-We were watching a FHE showing a white, unblemished lamb ready for sacrifice. Ireland said “If I were a lamb, I would roll around in dirt and mud!”
-Ireland made tiny “ugly” sweater ornaments. In class. Only problem? They’re not ugly at all! Super cute!
-For Christmas, Santa got Ireland tons of earrings & 3 barbie movies. She also got an MP4 player (we had to return & get another one L) and nice headphones, a cute skirt, some personalized buttons, books 1-4 of Harry Potter, and a cool snitch necklace that tells the time.
KEZIA:
- Kezia got TWO SOAR cards completed, each punch for doing something awesome. She’s entered into a drawing for a really cool prize. Great job Kezi!
-Kezi was so sad this month L She worked hard to get ready for her Christmas program at school, but ended up being so sick with a high fever and throwing up L
-Kezia finally got her letter from her penpal in Spain, Manuela! She sent a super cute felt tree and a fun letter. She even sent her a video, too! It was so much fun to see her J
-For Christmas, she gave mom & dad a super-cute see-through ornament with her picture inside J
-Santa brought Kezia a Poloroid camera & some film! Kezia has had a lot of fun snapping pictures everywhere she goes J She also got a skirt, some personalized buttons, a Link locket necklace, Heidi Hecklebeck books, and a mermaid pillow (has sequins that she can make designs with). Ireland got her a pack of Poloroid camera film.
-Ireland got to move on to the next gymnastics level – 3!! We’re so proud of her J
-Ireland had some missing assignments but worked hard to get them done so she could go to the special waffle breakfast her teacher sponsored.
-We were watching a FHE showing a white, unblemished lamb ready for sacrifice. Ireland said “If I were a lamb, I would roll around in dirt and mud!”
-Ireland made tiny “ugly” sweater ornaments. In class. Only problem? They’re not ugly at all! Super cute!
-For Christmas, Santa got Ireland tons of earrings & 3 barbie movies. She also got an MP4 player (we had to return & get another one L) and nice headphones, a cute skirt, some personalized buttons, books 1-4 of Harry Potter, and a cool snitch necklace that tells the time.
KEZIA:
- Kezia got TWO SOAR cards completed, each punch for doing something awesome. She’s entered into a drawing for a really cool prize. Great job Kezi!
-Kezi was so sad this month L She worked hard to get ready for her Christmas program at school, but ended up being so sick with a high fever and throwing up L
-Kezia finally got her letter from her penpal in Spain, Manuela! She sent a super cute felt tree and a fun letter. She even sent her a video, too! It was so much fun to see her J
-For Christmas, she gave mom & dad a super-cute see-through ornament with her picture inside J
-Santa brought Kezia a Poloroid camera & some film! Kezia has had a lot of fun snapping pictures everywhere she goes J She also got a skirt, some personalized buttons, a Link locket necklace, Heidi Hecklebeck books, and a mermaid pillow (has sequins that she can make designs with). Ireland got her a pack of Poloroid camera film.
LINK: We always think of you so much in the Christmas
season and wish so much we could see your face light up and spoil you with
gifts. Instead, we talk of you… about that unforgettable year we surprised
everyone by taking you home. How we loved to hold you and cuddle you. We see
all the reminders on our Christmas tree of you – our Link bear heart ornaments,
your picture ornaments, tiny shoes, and every angel reminds us of you. We also
serve in your honor. We love and miss you, sweet boy.
NOELLE:
-When it was the Sunday of the Cedar City temple dedication, mom asked Noelle to say the prayer, and mom asked Noelle to say “please bless that the Holy Ghost will be at the dedication of the temple.” It came out as “And bless the… dedication… of the…ghost.” J
-Noelle LOVED Christmas this year! She exclaimed over all the decorations and loved to hear the songs, especially her NOELLE song J They each had an advent calendar this year, and Noelle, RIGHT when she woke up, would ask for her calendar to open. She was good to sit on Santa’s lap and asked him for a SUPER car and a SUPER plane!
-Santa delivered and brought her a bright orange remote control car, and a little fun quadcoptor to play with. We all loved playing with them! Santa also brought her an electric toothbrush and some watercolor paints. She also got a Dora outfit, a personalized quiet book, and a pack of safari animals! She also got some fun little gifts from her sisters as well.
-When it was the Sunday of the Cedar City temple dedication, mom asked Noelle to say the prayer, and mom asked Noelle to say “please bless that the Holy Ghost will be at the dedication of the temple.” It came out as “And bless the… dedication… of the…ghost.” J
-Noelle LOVED Christmas this year! She exclaimed over all the decorations and loved to hear the songs, especially her NOELLE song J They each had an advent calendar this year, and Noelle, RIGHT when she woke up, would ask for her calendar to open. She was good to sit on Santa’s lap and asked him for a SUPER car and a SUPER plane!
-Santa delivered and brought her a bright orange remote control car, and a little fun quadcoptor to play with. We all loved playing with them! Santa also brought her an electric toothbrush and some watercolor paints. She also got a Dora outfit, a personalized quiet book, and a pack of safari animals! She also got some fun little gifts from her sisters as well.
OAKLYN:
-Mom was grocery shopping at Smiths, when all the sudden AAAHH! Oaklyn puked all over mom, the cart, and the floor. Mom went to the bathroom cleaned up, and finished shopping. But Oaklyn was sick after that for a few days L She seems to have an awful immune system and gets sick if anyone within 30 feet of her is sick L
-Another strange thing that happened to Oaklyn was that her right hand fingers were super swollen. It looked like they had been smashed, but x-rays showed no bone damage, so they treated her for cellulitis with a lot of antibiotics. It was very sore, and she wouldn’t use her right hand for a couple weeks L After a few weeks, the swelling finally went down, and she didn’t act sore, but it started peeling.
-Oaklyn has started being a bit of a picky girl! She refuses much of what we give her to eat, and she doesn’t want you to hold her while you sit, she wants you to hold her while you STAND! She’ll say “nuh, nuh, nuh” and push it (or a person) away if she doesn’t want it.
-For Christmas, Santa got Oaklyn a mat she can draw on with water. She also got a cute purple jumpsuit outfit, some babylit books, and bath toys that are like tubes that she can connect. She also very much enjoyed all the candy J
-Mom was grocery shopping at Smiths, when all the sudden AAAHH! Oaklyn puked all over mom, the cart, and the floor. Mom went to the bathroom cleaned up, and finished shopping. But Oaklyn was sick after that for a few days L She seems to have an awful immune system and gets sick if anyone within 30 feet of her is sick L
-Another strange thing that happened to Oaklyn was that her right hand fingers were super swollen. It looked like they had been smashed, but x-rays showed no bone damage, so they treated her for cellulitis with a lot of antibiotics. It was very sore, and she wouldn’t use her right hand for a couple weeks L After a few weeks, the swelling finally went down, and she didn’t act sore, but it started peeling.
-Oaklyn has started being a bit of a picky girl! She refuses much of what we give her to eat, and she doesn’t want you to hold her while you sit, she wants you to hold her while you STAND! She’ll say “nuh, nuh, nuh” and push it (or a person) away if she doesn’t want it.
-For Christmas, Santa got Oaklyn a mat she can draw on with water. She also got a cute purple jumpsuit outfit, some babylit books, and bath toys that are like tubes that she can connect. She also very much enjoyed all the candy J
