Wednesday, June 20, 2018

May Newsletter & Slideshow



May 2018
Hamilton Newsletter
FAMILY: Yay for May!! It’s pretty hectic with all the girls’ assemblies, assignments, tests, field trips, and end-of-year wrap up stuff (see their sections for more details), but summer is so close we can taste it – and we’re SO excited! One sad part of May, though, was having to say good-bye to our downstairs renters, Truly & Zhane. We really love them & will miss then & hope they will always see us as family.  Saturday the 5th we went to see Kezia’s soccer game, got some Tiki Shack and a pizza & had a picnic at the Main Street Park, did some yard work and had a movie night. The 12th was a busy Saturday. That morning was the annual Share Walk and mom helped out more this year, going early to help set up. It was chilly, as usual, but neat and we’re glad we could be there to wear our Share shirts and remember our Link. After the walk, we headed over to Bicentennial Park to watch Jason coach Kezia’s last game. They won! And had a great season. The 12th was also Heidi & Jason’s 18th year anniversary, so they went to a temple session, and then out to eat at the Lighthouse. It was good food, though the service was slow. The 13th was Mother’s Day & mom got spoiled with everyone’s gifts. She wanted to spend the evening at the cemetery and we enjoyed walking around for a while & finding the oldest marker (1796!). Daddy fixed an amazing meal that night with marinated pork chops and loaded mashed potatoes. On the 18th, the Vogts invited us to the open house of their brand new church – the Sonrise Church. It was a beautiful building and we enjoyed worshipping with them that evening. It was a new experience and the girls learned a lot and enjoyed meeting new people. The 19th we spent time mouse-proofing our home (they are still trying to take up residence here), and get our water lines working (Daizy chewed them all up). We are so proud of all our girls and how hard they’ve worked in school this year – and we are excited for a summer of traveling & fun! The 23rd was the girls’ last day of school & they were so excited! It was also Camri’s graduation from HS, so we went down to St. George to celebrate her special day. On the 24th, Heidi & Kezi both got cute summer haircuts – yay! On the 26th, we headed to Mapleton. In waves.We had intended to take the van to Mapleton and then on to Minnesota, but there were issues getting the timing belt replaced, and the mechanic called us to tell us the bad news. So, we had to go to plan B – Heidi took the shuttle up to Springville where Grandpa picked her up and took her to Mapleton while Jason took the girls in the truck. Mapleton was good – we were tight in the tent with a cot and a pack & play, but it worked out well, and although it rained a bit, we stayed dry. It was great to visit with family. Monday we went to the Potts, got cleaned up and packed up and Tuesday morning we headed out for our grand adventure to Minnesota, us driving the Potts’ red car and them driving their silver car with Kezi & McKinley. The drive to MN was really great – the first day we stopped in Martins Cove for a couple hours, then on to our hotel in Casper WY, which was very fancy and had a great pool for littles. Also great breakfast! The next day we went to see Mount Rushmore! It was neat and we got to have lunch there and yummy ice cream. That night’s hotel wasn’t fancy but the view of the Missouri River was gorgeous! (funny story – there were water buckets above the pool and daddy turned them on, dumping all kinds of stale water and bugs into the pool with the girls) 😊 The third travel day we stopped for few hours in Walnut Grove, MN & got to eat at Nellie’s CafĂ© and go to the Laura Ingalls museum. Very very neat!! Heidi was in heaven. We got to the Checketts about 6pm and were greeted with hugs and kisses, yummy bbq, big hugs, treats bags for the girls, and yummy treats for the adults. We were SO happy to finally be there!

JASON : Jason had a great time coaching Kezia’s soccer team and they really loved him. They gave him a huge bag of Swedish Fish and signed a poster for him. He even threw them an end-of-year party at the bowling alley (one of the girls’ grandparents own it) and brought pizza, soda & ice cream for them. Heidi & Jason went to the Barn for the coach appreciation dinner & even won a shirt and a Subway gift card. It was fun to go, eat, visit and watch a slideshow of the soccer season. Jason also spent a good deal of time the past couple months with the contractors who are building a housing unit behind our SUU rental unit. He wanted to make sure it was all fair considering we were basically giving up our water shares to the canal water. They ended up agreeing to install a full sprinkler system at our rental, as well as put up a fence. One Thursday morning, Heidi surprised Jason by showing up at his work. Diane had the littles, so Heidi & Jason got a mini bonus date at Tropical Smoothie CafĂ© – and home. It was awesome J

HEIDI: Heidi is almost done with the 8-week challenge and hasn’t lost any weight J But feels healthy and continues to work on important goals, she’s almost done transcribing Grandpa Tew’s history. She also spent a good deal of time putting together an anniversary book. She only got to year 8, but it was so fun to see the pictures of our anniversary vacations and read old journals. She also made the banner for the Share Walk and she’s excited about the beginning of hiking season & has already done a couple hikes – the Red Hill and the East Canyon Trail. The flowers are so beautiful right now. Speaking of flowers, she did pick out her barrel flowers at  Ladybug Nursery and is excited about them – Lavender, Daisys, and Snowtopia Bacopa white trailing flowers. She also got some hanging flowers for our back patio and they all make her smile!! One frustrating, yet miraculous thing this month: Daizy chewed up one of Heidi’s new Chaco sandals’ straps. Heidi contacted Chaco, and ended up talking to multiple people, finally concluding that they would pay shipping, but we would have to pay $37 to have both Chacos fixed because they didn’t have the same webbing design. She was frustrated & posted about it, and someone dropped off a card at our home with $37 in cash with a card that said “for your Chacos” – amazing!! Heidi got pulled over this month for going 8 over, just a warning, thankfully!

McKINLEY:
-McKinley continued this month to put in long hours working on homework (some nights till midnight), missing temple trips, time with friends, and other fun things so she could finish up. Of course, she did amazing at got anther 4.0. We’re proud of your hard work McKinley!
-at the beginning of the month, McKinley put together a temple group, inviting everyone in her Sunday School class. Unfortunately only a couple could come, but we are so proud of her leadership and inclusion gifts. She is such a loving person.
-On May 8th, McKinley had her last Orchestra performance for intermediate orchestra (she made it to advanced orchestra next year!) and she did so well. It was fun to see her perform and Grandma & Grandpa Devenish came to watch, too J
-She did a book report for Time Jumpers  - doing an encyclopedia for each letter of the alphabet. It was fun to help her and she did a great job illustrating!
-McKinley got to go on a field trip to Veyo – she swam with her friends and looked for crawdads. She had a blast! The only bummer was that her bus broke down on the way back & they had to wait for another bus to pick them up.
-On the 11th, Jacie & Irene hosted a get-together at their house & invited McKinley. They all made slime and watched Greatest Showman, and played games.
-McKinley has been thinking about possibly joining Suzuki & focusing on cello instead of piano.
-At the end of the school year McKinley came home with her book of schoolwork. One of the last activities they did was passing around a paper where you wrote something you liked about that person. Here are a few things people wrote about McKinley: “you inspire me to work harder.” “You never give up.” “You are very smart” “You are a great friend” “”You are hilarious and make everyone smile.” But the most common sentiment was how KIND McKinley is. It makes us SO proud as parents to read these comments. More proud that any 4.0 she could ever get. We are so proud of her and so thankful for her amazing example at home and at school.
-McKinley had her second babysitting gig (though she did it for free) watching Sam Potter while his parents had a date.

IRELAND:
-The 7th was Ireland’s last STEAM night at North Elementary! It was fun to go there as a family and watch her sing and see all her artwork. Mom and dad let everyone have a dollar and pick something from the bake sale, and afterwards we made marshmallow bridges to test against an earthquake and played outside on their awesome playground. We’re going to miss coming to North Elementary and supporting our Polar Bears!
-Ireland was SO cute with the koala bear grandma & grandpa Potts gave her after they went to Australia. She made a full house for the Koala out of paper, cardboard and other items. There was a bed, a couch, a table and chairs. It was so cute!
-Ireland went on a bunch of fun field trips, including watching a movie, going bowling, and going swimming (twice!)  She’s had a lot of fun enjoying this last month of school with less schoolwork and more fun.
-Ireland got her middle school schedule – she has the exact same one as McKinley did this year! Mom & dad weren’t sure about having Mrs. Weeks again. We’re still praying about it, but right now it’s looking like she’ll give it a try. Sariah Bailey and Jenna Davies in our ward have her, too, so that’s good!
-We are so proud of Ireland! She was one of 4 students in her school to win the DARE essay contest. She got a medal and a gift certificate to Wal-mart. Great job Ireland!
-Ireland’s teacher, Mrs. Robyn Brown, sent a letter in the mail for us regarding Ireland. It talked about what a great student Ireland is and how she has loved having her in class. She said “Ireland is positive, hard working and caring towards the other students. Ireland is always on task and completes her assignments with ease. I am so happy to get to be her teacher.” We are SO proud to be Ireland’s parents and will also miss Mrs. Brown –she’s such an amazing teacher. Great job Ireland!
-On the 25th, Ireland got to go to a unicorn party at Mahina’s house – she made unicorn magnets, slime, and other fun crafts!
-Ireland got to hang out with a new girl in our ward, Sariah. They had a lot of fun!

KEZIA:
-Kezia is sad soccer is over, she wrote her dad a special thank-you note for being her coach. She did great this season – especially with being one of the younger girls and playing on a bigger field. She learned a lot, had fun, and made memories with her dad. Great job Kezi!
-Kezia REALLY spoiled mom this year for Mother’s Day, giving her about 20 different gifts, including beautiful artwork, poems, cards, flowers, and treats. Thank you Kezi!
-Kezi got to have a soccer team end-of-season party at the bowling alley – her daddy even let her play on the arcade machines and win some prizes.
-Kezia did awesome in 2nd grade! She has surpassed all her DIBELS test scores and is amazing. We are so proud of our Kezia!
-Kezi looks SO cute with her new summer haircut!

LINK:
In the electronic newspaper about the Share Walk, your beautiful new poster was front and center in one of the pictures. It made our hearts so happy to share your story with others. We love you SO much! Thank you for the ladybug that we got to hold and the beautiful flowers and hummingbirds and thank you for being in the temple with us. We love & miss you every day!

NOELLE:
-Mom was getting dressed one morning in her closet and Noelle came in and contemplated for a minute before asking “Why do you put those pumper on you?” – she was pointing at her bra J
-Noelle always wants to be the first one up in the morning (yet another reason she’s our sunrise girl). She will ask mom immediately upon waking, “was I the first one awake?” if Oaklyn beat her to the punch, apparently it’s already a sad day.
-One Saturday Noelle was standing by mom as she opened one of the doggie doors. It slipped from mom’s hadn & landed directly on the side of Noelle’s foot L Oh, how she screamed. It immediately swelled up like a golf ball & she had to wear flip flops for a few days. After the swelling went down, it turned into a huge bruise. Poor girl.
-We went to McKinley’s orchestra performance this month. By the end, Oaklyn had to go out, so mom took her outside. Noelle tagged along & they played in the small puddle outside the door. Mom went back in to take some pictures & when she came back out, Ireland who was watching them, exclaimed – in her most mortified tone – that Noelle had apparently decided she needed to go potty, and dropped her skirt and peed right there in the puddle as everyone was exiting the building J
-Noelle has been doing so well with her tricycle, but she isn’t good at staying to one side of the street. One time she was riding in the middle of the road & mom was on the other side when a vehicle came. Mom was shouting at her to hurry, and Noelle rode over to her and exclaimed “Well, that worked! I didn’t die!”
-One day Noelle’s stuffed frog must have been EXTRA bad, because Noelle told mommy “This frog was being bad so I’m having the Lamanites come to get him.”
-Noelle is doing so well with swinging!! She usually just needs one big push to start and she’s off!
-One day we were hiking & Noelle was coming down a pretty steep part. Mom told her to go slow & be careful. Noelle yelled “It’s okay mom! God will protect me!”
-Instead of saying “am not,” Noelle says “No I am’t mom!”
-Noelle still loves playing with friends, and usually has playdates at least 3 times a week. Usually Sam Potter, Kaitlin Bealer, Caleb Hillstead, or James Petersen.
-We found out this month that Noelle got into South Preschool next year with a grant – what a blessing! – and she’ll go 4 days a week in the afternoon.
OAKLYN:
-One day mom found Oaklyn in the bathroom. Dipping a comb in the toilet. Which had pee in it. And combing her hair with it.
-Oaklyn likes to sweep and mop!
-Oaklyn LOVES yogurt! We have yogurt almost every day. Mom has to really watch her or she’ll make a big mess. One day mom turned around and there she was, dipping her hands in the yogurt and “washing” her hair with it!
-One day mom saw Oaklyn in the pantry (uh-oh), but she had just found a matchbox car & put it in the mopping basket and was pushing down on the handle so it would spin around and around. It was so cute
J
-Oaklyn loves mommy’s hydroflask. She’ll take a good, long sip, and then say “Mommy’s turn!” Good thing she got her very own Hydroflask this month – red!
-Oaklyn loves playing outside in the front yard with the ride-on toys, but she really needs shoes. One day mom saw her toes and they were all bloody from her dragging them on the concrete – but she didn’t cry or anything!
-Oaklyn often says “look mom!” or “watch mom!” – she likes to show off her pictures or her hanging on things skills.
-Some more of Oaklyn’s regular sayings “why?” and “no!”
-Oaklyn is learning how to ask for help. She says “help mom!”
-Oaklyn’s 2-year-old molars are coming in and she has had a hard time sleeping at night
L
-Oaklyn is so cute with her prayers! She is really getting it now & repeating words & saying her own & still loves to say AMEN at the end!

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