November Newsletter & Slideshow

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November 2019

Hamilton Newsletter
FAMILY: November is the month of gratitude & thanksgiving and we find so many thousands of ways we are blessed every day. We are truly thankful for the mercy and love of our Savior. November was also another busy travel month for us. Great Aunt Cindy passed away on Halloween and her funeral was November 6th. It was wonderful to see so much family and celebrate the brave & faithful life of Great Aunt Cindy. Grandma & Grandpa Potts came from their mission to be there for a week and Heidi & the littles got to spend some time with them. We even went to the Family History Museum on Dia De Los Muertos and it was really a lot of fun! We had a great time learning about family history and being with grandma & grandpa. 2 more weekends and mom & McKinley & Ireland were back in SLC to watch Michael play Sebastian in The Little Mermaid. He did a fantastic job, as always! We also went to Kelly & Michael’s baby shower while we were up north, and it was great to see some people on daddy’s side of the family that we haven’t seen in a while. We got some seriously awesome snow at the end of the month! Just in time for Thanksgiving break! We went sledding, ice skating, and swimming, and we watched Christmas movies and drank ridiculous amounts of hot cocoa :) It was so nice to relax and not have to travel too far. Thanksgiving was at the Hamiltons in St. George this year and while the drive back was a bit scary, it was totally worth it to be with family and eat yummy food.

JASON : Jason took the older kids for our first trip to SLC, then the younger ones for the 2nd trip to SLC. He is such a great daddy & didn’t miss a beat taking Noelle to ballet (he even did buns in her hair!), and Kezia to an SUU day. He’s still busy at work with his employee retired, they still haven’t filled the job yet.

HEIDI: Heidi had some major miracles this month - one of them was her back. At the beginning of the month, she somehow threw it out and was in so much pain it literally hurt to breathe & she could hardly move. She worked patiently on icing and stretching and with so much gratitude, within a few days she was SO much more functional. Also, Heidi lost her wallet with over $100 in it, it was turned into Walmart & had all the money.  Heidi enjoyed seeing so much family this month - on both sides of our family. She was asked last minute to do Aunt Cindy’s slideshow, so that was a bit stressful, but she always enjoys seeing the old pictures & videos & it was neat to see some pictures of Aunt Cindy she’d never seen before. She also enjoyed visiting with her girls on the long drives. Heidi had a couple long drives rescuing Tiarra as her car broke down. Thankfully, it got towed, but worked when they got it there! Heidi read a book called These Broken Stars, which was good, and also listened to “The Faith of Mr. Rogers. That was short and good and inspirational.  She also did a slideshow for the YW in Excellence night & that was fun. Her ideal schedule (ha ha, rarely happens every week) M- Personal study, strength gym class, cleaning/mom & Oaklyn time, T/H - morning run with Kezi/Diane, (Thursdays - strength class) watch Shawn’s kids, Griffols. W- Personal study, yoga class. F - outside time - hike.

McKINLEY:
-We’re so proud of McKinley, she is working so hard on completing her personal progress for Young Women’s. She sewed a dress for her last project in Integrity, and only has about 7 experiences left to do. Way to go McKinley!
-McKinley brought home high school registration and it completely blind-sighted us! We had no idea we were going to have to think about any of this this soon! And now we need to make decisions! There wasn’t even any counselor involvement and with this being our first high-schooler, we have a lot of questions! In the end, she only had a half credit to choose an elective, with Orchestra and seminary. We want to make sure we set McKinley up in an advantageous way for college credits and her career, but we also want her to be able to stress less & enjoy high school. We still have a lot of questions, but they are slowly getting answered & with prayer we will get her set on the right track. We love you McKinley!
-McKinley also came home with information from the brand new Launch High School that they are starting in August. McKinley is very excited about it.
-McKinley enjoyed the break & got to go ice skating with Karmiyah & a couple walks too :)
-We almost have McKinley’s Alaska trip fully booked! Just a couple more excursions and we are all ready to party in August next year!


IRELAND:
-Ireland made a cool game in woodshop with pegs on a triangle. She designed a cool dolphin on the back, too!
-Mom loved watching Ireland jump on the tramp with Spencer at the Simons. She was helping him with his back handsprings and giving him lots of great tips.
-We continue to love hearing Ireland’s insights during Come Follow Me on Sundays.
-Ireland loved going ice skating with Sienna!


KEZIA:
-Kezia had a fun month! She won 1st place in the literary section of the Reflections contest and won a certificate and trophy of candy! We are so proud of her!
-Kezia also got another chinchilla! It worked out really well after the funeral in SLC, Kezia was able to use her money (with a little birthday money) and get a 2 year old male chinchilla. She now has Fox and Coyote. Coyote is really a sweetie and he’s very good natured. It’s fun to watch them run in the hallway and Coyote has made it no secret that he likes the grouchy Fox. We may have baby chinchillas in a few months! 
-Kezia had to miss ballet that day, but she did get to go to a really cool thing at SUU that lasted all day. She got to be with Macie and they went around with college girls and did STEM projects and ate there and she even “graduated” at the end of the day with a cap that she had made and a sweatshirt. She had a lot of fun!
-It was the 2nd to last time for Kezia’s primary program this month & she did a great job! We will sure miss when she graduated primary.
-Kezia LOVED going to the church Family History Museum! She took a bunch of pictures and videos and said she would even go for her birthday! It was Dia De Los Muertos and we got to watch some of Coco, color, eat Mexican food, and Kezia even got her face painted & it looked so cool!
-Kezia finally cashed in on her lateover this month. She had Addie Price, Macie Mitchell, Sophie, and Sarah Simmons over and they had a great time playing games, eating pizza, having lots of yummy treats with the chocolate fountain and watching part of a movie.


LINK:
This year was your golden/magical birthday - you would have turned 7 on the 7th. For the occasion, in addition to donating to the RMH homes in SLC & Philadelphia, we finally printed the picture that Jeff Brunson capture of a rainbow going to the Cedar City Temple. It is so special & now hangs above our piano to remind us of you and what really matters. We sent about 12 boys some fun things - a pocket microscope & invisible ink pen & candy - for your birthday. We hope you felt our love, sweet boy, even if the day didn’t turn out like we wanted, with sick kids. With Jason’s aunt and my aunt both passing away, you have more family up there to help you out on that side of the veil. We sure do miss you, our sweet boy and


NOELLE:
-Noelle is liking ballet (though not when she has to go without Kezia). She likes the pretty music and getting to dance :)
-Noelle has really gotten into PBSkids lately. It’s fun to see her master the games. She, however, is having a hard time getting off of them when she’s supposed to so we have to make sure it’s in moderation.
-Twice Noelle came home talking about McKai hurting her on the bus, so we finally called the bus garage and had them move seats so they don’t sit by each other. It seems like she’s happier and less stressed about school now, so we are grateful for that.
-Noelle’s Kindergarten class has a little Thanksgiving and they even made cute hats!
-Noelle has passed off ALL the Kindergarten sight words - great job Noelle! And she is bringing home books to read to us instead of having “lap books” to read to her. She is such a smartie!
-Noelle did SUCH a great job at the primary program - such an improvement from last year! She knew almost all of the songs and smiled & sang and did her part so well!
-One day Oaklyn had bit Noelle a couple times & finally mom got out the cayenne pepper for Oaklyn. Noelle cried & cried & said not to give it to Oaklyn, when mom had the pepper on her finger & was going to put it in Oaklyn’s mouth, Noelle stepped in front of her & stuck out her tongue. It was so sweet.
-Noelle loves to pamper Daizy! She gets out the book “Biscuit” and does all the things in that book - treats, blankets, dolls, hugs, kisses, etc. It’s super cute. She even brings her a bowl of food and water right where she’s laying.
-Mom went to a baby shower for her friend, Shawn, and Noelle was so cute with the gifts. Without being asked, she jumped right up there and handed Shawn present after present :)
-Noelle is SO good about helping in the mornings! If the table isn’t set, she jumps right in & gets the bowls, spoons, and even cereal (she has to climb on a stool). She’s such a big helper!

OAKLYN:
-Oaklyn is still super-cute, but she has had a bit of sassiness this month as well. She sure refused to go to some family members that saw this month and does a pretty good impression of Noelle’s grouchy, sassy face. Still, she was SO excited to see Grandma & Grandpa and kept saying “You’re my grandma/grandpa!” Oaklyn also had fun with Rachel :)
-A cute thing Oaklyn says whenever she’s lifting something heavy “I got my muscles!”
-Oaklyn still likes to fix hair and one day she was fixing daddy’s hair (which has gotten very long) and put a bow in it and she REALLY wanted him to wear it to work!
-For Oaklyn, almost everything that ever happened has happened on a Tuesday. It’s her favorite thing to say. “We went to the park on Tuesday!” “I saw Grandma on Tuesday!” “I was a baby on Tuesday!” :)
-Sad/scary thing happened this month. Oaklyn & mommy went to Costco and we got in the van and Oaklyn locked all the doors, then mom strapped her in her carseat and forgot to unlock the doors before she shut it. So, Oaklyn was strapped in and mom’s phone and wallet were in there with her. Mom had to go into Costco and call the Washington police. Thankfully they were fast and Oaklyn was happy in there. Mom, on the other hand, was a wreck! Not a fun time.
-Oaklyn had a strange puking streak this month. Only at night, she would wake up and puke. Like 3 or 4 nights in a row :( Then all day she was happy and fine.  We are still watching her closely to see if she’s allergic to something.

October Newsletter & Slideshow

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Hamilton Newsletter
FAMILY: October ended up being a busy travel month for the Hamilton family! But it started the first weekend in October with watching General Conference as a family. We had talked about going to Lagoon, but decided focusing on conference was more important. Family pictures were taken on the evening of the 4th. It was a chilly but gorgeous evening up by the “C” on the hill & she got some great shots. We got word that Margaret Ann had passed away on the morning of the 14th, and we headed out to TX the next morning at 6am. We drove through the night so we could be there for the funeral on Saturday. We got there at about 4:30am and the funeral was at 2. We were all a bit weary, but thankful we could be there to represent the Hamilton family. It was a wonderful service for Memaw, we will all miss her very much! We decided to stay till the next Wednesday & so did Bill. We enjoyed visiting with cousins, going to Bill’s Catfish restaurant with everyone, going to church, eating Texas waffles every morning for breakfast at the hotel, going to What a Burger & the mall, hanging out at Aunt Yvetta’s, going to the park, and daddy visiting with Lula Pearl (Grandma Hamilton’s sister), taking lots of pictures of pictures and arrange to have old reels turned in to digital files. We enjoyed out time there, it was warm and we were glad to be with family that we don’t see very often. On the way back we stopped at the Blue Hole, an 80 foot well of beautiful blue water. Then we went to the park and there was even a merry-go-round! While we were in TX, our renter Ivana got baptized! We are so happy for her & her roommate Brookelynn’s example. The day after we got back,  the Edwards came to visit for a couple days. We had fun visiting with them as well! On the 21st we went to the pumpkin patch to get some pumpkins. Unfortunately, because of the early freeze, most were pretty yucky but we still got a couple good ones and we had fun seeing the animals and playing in the sand. The 26th was Kezia’s 10th birthday! See her section for more details. Halloween was great - Chris Marxx, our neighbor, brought the girls some oreos and Count Chocula cereal, so we had that for breakfast, jack-o-lantern quesadillas for lunch, and pumpkin shaped pizza and butterbeer for dinner! This year it was mom’s turn to go out trick-or-treating with the littles - Noelle was a lion, Oaklyn was Minnie Mouse, and Kezia was Anne of Green Gables. Ireland also ended up throwing together a vampire costume so she could go trick-or-treating with her friends.  It was a cold night, but the girls had quite a load!

JASON : Jason loved getting to spend time with his Texas family. He always especially hates saying goodbye to his dad. We are thankful he could get time off work to make the trip out.

HEIDI: There were a lot of changes in conference that affected Heidi’s calling in the YW - they changed the theme, class make-ups, and the titles of Beehives, Mia Maids, & Laurels. On the 8th, Heidi got to have a girls night to celebrate Kim’s 50th birthday by going to When you Wish at the Tuacahn with DeeAnn, Keeley & Kim. We had dinner beforehand. It was a wonderful evening! Heidi enjoyed the trip to TX as well & was glad to see family. She also got time on the drive to listen to Harry Potter book 4 and read the novel A Heart Revealed.

McKINLEY:
-So, McKinley has educated mom lately about the new class of girl in middle school, called a Vsco girl. They wear scrunchies, drink from hydroflasks, are environmentally conscious, and say “and I oop!” and “sk, sk, sk.” McKinley doesn’t aspire to be a Vsco girl, but apparently they are pretty popular - even our relatives in TX were talking about them!
- McKinley also says “oof” a lot, similar to “oops.”
-McKinley got a 4.0!
-McKinley babysat for the Spigharelli’s again this month.
-For Halloween, McKinley stayed home & had a little party. They played games, watched movies & ate yummy food. Addison came the whole time. Karmiyah & Emma came for a little while but went trick-or-treating.

IRELAND:
-Ireland got a 4.0 her first quarter!
-Ireland got to go to 2 birthday parties this month! One for Paloma (at her house - they tie-dyed shirts & played games) & one for Sienna (they went bowling!)
-Ireland had a patriotic band concert this month & did great!
-Ireland was at the Halloween gymnastics party & was close to the wall & hit a window ledge & badly bruised her shin :(
-For Halloween, Ireland had to be creative & use the costumes we already had. She did pretty good coming up with a vampiress costume, complete with blood dripping.  Ireland met Hannah & Paloma at Mahina’s house & they went trick-or-treating together & had a lot of fun, but at the end of the night, they came here to warm their freezing hands!

KEZIA:
-Kezia’s SEP went great and they invited her to an SUU thing for only a few of the students. She is so excited to go!
-Kezia was complaining about her eye one day & we thought it was pink eye, so we went into the dr. It was pink eye, but it turned out to be viral. It turned into a headache/fever thing and she was pretty miserable for a few days. :(
-Kezia is still enjoying ballet & got to go to her first performance practice & had a great time!
-Kezi got a friendship award at school - way to go Kezia!
-HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY KEZIA!! Kezia got a huge bag of Krave for breakfast, went to Golden Corral with mom & dad for lunch, and had spaghetti mummy bread for dinner. She helped mom made a yummy chocolate/andes mint cake. Dalace & Jessie came for cake & ice cream! She had her first ballet performance practice on her birthday, too. Her gifts were a joke book, a crystal growing kit, a ballet outfit, her ears pierced (twice, they didn’t do a great job the first time & didn’t give her opals which she wanted), and 2 Chinchillas!! One named Fox, which we got here in Cedar. She’s about 2 and a half years old. A bit fiesty and sassy & barks a lot. And Coyote, which we got in West Valley. He’s about 2 and a half years old, too. Darker. Very sweet. It’s been fun to watch them interact.
-For Dia De Los Muertos, Kezia gave her teacher a picture of Link and a picture of Wolf to put on their class display shelves. :)
-Kezia worked hard to make her story “Dalace and the Unicorn” (a story about a girl named Dalace who believed in unicorns even though people made fun of her) and she turned it in for the Reflections contest this month. We barely got it in on the day of the deadline. We’re proud of her hard work & creativity!
-Kezia wasn’t sure what she wanted to be for Halloween, but finally decided on Anne of Green Gables. We found a pioneer dress for her, and a hat, and we ordered some orange hair wax. The reality was that the wax was VERY messy and ended up getting on her dress and coat, but it still looked great and she was a HIT on the Anne of Green Gables page, where mom posted her pictures. It got 937 likes and over 80 comments! Everyone said she was SO cute and was the perfect Anne :) She even made actual raspberry cordial the night before - and it was yummy!

LINK:
We sure missed you in Texas, our sweet son. We know you would have been running around with Jacob and Hudson, climbing trees and playing games. Thank you for sending a sweet ladybug on our journey home, who stayed with us for over a day!

NOELLE:
-Mom was with Noelle at the D.I. one day, mom was trying on clothes. Noelle was sitting down, looking in the mirror, when she yelled into it “Stop it Ireland!” Mom said “what are you doing Noelle?” Noelle replied “practicing my moods.”
-Noelle is doing SO well with reading and writing! She can write notes to people and we can (for the most part) sound them out & know what she’s saying!
-Noelle did pretty good on the long drive to Texas and sleeping in the hotel. She did struggle with being cooped up a bit & tended to be unkind to Oaklyn or just plain naughty & Aunt Yvetta had to keep her in line a couple times.
-Noelle: “Mom can I watch Odd Squat?” :) (squad)
-Noelle continues to be our pickiest eater. One evening mom had made some steak fajitas & Noelle just wasn’t having it. She gave mom a note that said “I can not hadl this food.” :) (handle)
-We were waiting for the bus one morning when Noelle commented “Mom, it looks like those pants are getting too small for you.” (they were workout capris) :)
-Noelle gave a talk on commandments in primary and compared them to street signs that keep us safe. Great job Noelle!
-Noelle wanted to be a lion for Halloween so she could match Daizy’s lion costume. We even painted a nose & whiskers on her and she looked SO cute! She loved her Halloween party in Kindergarten (she ate doughnuts) and loved to go trick or treating!

OAKLYN:
-Oaklyn really did well on the trip to TX. She was a favorite with Grandpa Bill (it was the first time they met!) and Aunt Yvetta. She LOVED getting to see and play with the Bargers’ baby, Haizley.
-Oaklyn’s goodnight routine has expanded from hugs & kisses & ugga muggas (rubbing noses) to “forehead!” (touching foreheads), eyes! (batting eyes against each other) & even “ears” (touching ears). It’s getting to take quite a while to say goodnight :)
-Oaklyn is really cute about recognizing the first letter of her name & will say often “Look! There’s an O!”
-Oaklyn has loved playing her caterpillar game she got for her birthday a lot. She will get it out & say “Mom, shovel (shuffle) these cards!”
-Oaklyn is getting more & more independent. She can dress herself most days & has even been strapping herself in her 5 point harness carseat!
-We were talking about Texas & all the driving. Ireland mentioned she’d barf if we drove all the way to SLC after that. Oaklyn yelled “You’ll barf your finger off!”
-speaking of barf, Oaklyn got sick a few days after we got back from TX & was feverish & throwing up. No fun :(
-Oaklyn’s been good about helping put the clean dishes away, but sometimes it’s not so helpful :) One day she ate a bunch of yogurt & had it all over her hands & then mom found her putting away the clean dishes :)
-Oaklyn was the CUTEST Minnie Mouse! We had to hide her costume or she wanted to wear it every day. She brought her stuffed Minnie Mouse around with her, too. She had fun at gym daycare and they gave her lots of prizes & treats. We ran into Charlotte when we were trick-or-treating & they had a lot of fun. Oaklyn was a tough girl & walked the entire hour & a half! And she would have gone more if mom wasn’t freezing & ready to call it quits. Thankfully, we got to many “candy houses” before we were finished!

September Newsletter & Slideshow

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Hamilton Newsletter
FAMILY: Happy September! The air is cooler and we are back into our school routines! Things are good :) We started off September in Pine Valley for Labor Day weekend - see August’s newsletter for more info on that. We had a great time! The 9th was McKinley’s 14th birthday! See her section for more details. We had our first teamwork ticket store this month & it was a success! The most popular items were lateovers and “mom buys your favorite cereal” coupons. Also, candy :)  On the 11th, we went to a special stake youth night where they talked about 9/11 and then had a color run and a dance afterwards. It was great! The 14th was a furry friends 5k at the Bicentennial Park to fundraise for the new animal shelter. We went with miss Daizy and had a great time! Kezia was even the first female across the finish line! That evening we had an impromptu BBQ with the Spigharellis at Hillcrest Park. It was a beautiful, fun evening! The 21st was our lemonade stand to raise money for our lagoon trip. It was successful and we made almost $70. The 27th was Forever Red and we went as a family and had a lot of fun! There were bouncy houses, yummy free food & drink and a fun live band :) The 28th we headed to Richfield (hitting Ideal Dairy as we got there:) ) for Aunt Kim’s 50th birthday BBQ. We enjoyed going to Aunt Kim’s ward and watching their primary program and finding out about the new youth program! We’re super excited! On the last day of the month, the 30th, we went to Fiddler’s Fun Center for the South Elementary fundraiser and we watched Toy Story 4 - it was cute and Oaklyn even sat through the whole thing - yay! We also had a fun movie night this month & invited the Bealers and ate a box of treats sent by Grandma & Grandpa Potts :) We bought a new desktop computer this month because the older girls are increasingly needing the internet to do their homework. It’s been nice to have another computer!

JASON : Things have picked up a bit for Jason now that his employee, Pam, retired. He’s hoping to get a replacement soon, but will be getting some extra hours in the meantime. He actually had 2 or 3 retirement parties to take care of this month. Jason has been busy taking care of home and car repairs this month - including replacing car handles and tail lights. 

HEIDI: Heidi has worked to get back into a good schedule for herself now that 4 of her kids are in school. She mostly spends time at the gym, hiking, Grifols, and watching others’ kids when she can. She’s enjoying listening to Harry Potter book 5 and reading the Last Unicorn (SO GOOD!) and a romance novel. Her back has been increasingly bothersome & she went to a Chiropractor. Unfortunately, it hasn’t helped. She’s trying to stay on top of icing & stretching right now. 

McKINLEY:

-Happy 14th Birthday McKinley! So crazy to have a 14-year-old! Her gifts this year were a mountain necklace, tons of earrings (Okay, some of them were WAY too big & mom had to confiscate a few ;)), a Yahtzee game, and her big gift was a cell phone! For her meals she got Reeses Puffs for breakfast, out to Golden Corral for lunch, and Lettuce Wraps for dinner. Grandma Devenish came & made it special! She chose a raspberry lemon cake for dessert & it was so yummy!

-McKinley is enjoying 8th grade! But maybe not quite as much as 7th :)  She still gets overwhelmed with her homework (especially after missing 2 days for Labor Day), but she overall likes her classes. It’s been fun to read what she’s writing about for her huge humanities book all about her! Her favorite teachers this year are Mrs. Rowland (Humanities & LA), and Mr. Black (Science).  She has been waking up earlier & we are proud of her!

-To pass off a personal progress goal, McKinley had to help plan, buy, and prepare meals for 2 full weeks! It was fun to have her help and she did a great job! 

-McKinley went with Micaela to Forever Red and had a fun time! She stayed till 10 & enjoyed live music & fireworks!

-McKinley’s SEPs went so well! Her advisor & orchestra teacher, Mrs. Carrigan, went on & on about what a great cellist & person McKinley is. We are so proud of her!

-McKinley’s homework has been mostly online this year. Unfortunately that is also distracting, since mom will often find her “working on her homework” with 4 different chats open at once! 

IRELAND:

-Ireland was so sweet! One evening she cleaned the whole kitchen & living room and then woke up the next day and made pancakes for the entire family!

-Ireland is back at it for gymnastics & is enjoying it and working on aerials :) 

-On the 17th, dad went to Ireland’s field trip to the Homestead Museum and he helped with the games! It was a hot day, but they had fun. 

-One night, Ireland & Kezia got a little on the crazy side, lip syncing to the bad lip reading songs like “Seagulls poke your knees” and “Hiding in the bushes of love.” With Ireland drawing a beard on her face & Kezia wearing all green like Yoda. You would have to watch the video for full effect :) 

-For a Beehive activity, we went to the new animal shelter and helped out. It was so neat to see the animals and we got to feed the kitties. Ireland had fun and of course wanted to take a dog or cat home :) 

-It was Ireland’s turn for a lunch date and she chose Pizza Cart! Mom got to go with her and we had a yummy good time! 

-One Sunday we were running late to church, we finally got everyone in the van, but it wouldn’t start. Dad tried about 3 times before Ireland suggested a prayer. She prayed aloud, and immediately afterwards, the van started right up. Thank you for your example of faith Ireland!

-Ireland’s SEP went so wonderful and mom was so proud. Her advisor, Mrs. Walquist, kept calling her a “rockstar” - espeically in math! Way to go Ireland!

KEZIA:

-Kezia & Noelle tried out for the ballet “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” this month. Neither have had any dance experience. Mom & Dad were so proud of them trying new things! Kezia started ballet lessons also this month & has enjoyed them! 

-Kezia’s class had a surprise tea party for Mrs. Ardsdale’s birthday & she even dressed up for it! 

-Kezia was determined to earn more reading awards this year & she worked so hard & read over an hour every day to earn her Golden Eagle! Great job Kezia! Mom went to her reading award assembly and we immediately went to Lin’s afterwards to redeem her & Macie’s free doughnuts!

-One night, Ireland & Kezia got a little on the crazy side, lip syncing to the bad lip reading songs like “Seagulls poke your knees” and “Hiding in the bushes of love.” With Ireland drawing a beard on her face & Kezia wearing all green like Yoda. You would have to watch the video for full effect :) 

-When we went to the Furry Friends 5k, Kezia said she wanted to run, so mom ran with her. She started pretty fast & mom was sure she would start walking after 5 or 10 minutes. But Kezi proved her wrong! She kept going and going and ended up being the first woman (2nd overall) across the finish line. Way to go Kezia!!! After that, Kezia has been running with mom on Tuesday mornings and has done well! It’s been fun to have a Tuesday running partner!

-September ended up being one of those really difficult months for Kezia. Wolf got out one day and was under the couch, but after trying to get her the couch was smashing Wolf and she was really hurt. Even though we took her to the vet and she got some pain medicine and we were hoping she’d perk up and start eating & drinking, she was just in too much pain. She died a few days later. It was a really hard day. We took ink foot and hand prints and made signs for everyone. She is buried in our backyard. We will all miss Wolf, but Kezia especially. She will never forget Wolf and how much joy she brought!

-Kezia decided to enter the reflections contest and wrote an awesome story about “Dalace and the Unicorn.” It was imaginative & thought-provoking! Great job Kezi!

-Kezia did a rock project this month on amethysts. She did a report and they even had a program after school where they sang “rock” songs :)

LINK:

Our beautiful baby boy, thank you for always watching over us, sending your love notes, and protecting us. We love and miss you every single day. 

NOELLE:

-A few days after we got back from the Pine Valley cabin, Noelle was petting Daizy and said with a worried voice “Mom! Daizy ate that spider! It’s probably making webs in her!” 

-Kezia & Noelle tried out for the ballet “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” this month. Neither have had any dance experience. Mom & Dad were so proud of them trying new things! Kezia started ballet lessons also this month & has enjoyed them! 

-Noelle wasn’t happy about having to leave the park one evening. Her friend from Kindergarten was there & she didn’t want to come back. When she got back home, she found a long skinny box and wrote pictures of the entire account, she drew a picture of them playing, and then pictures of mom making her leave and even a box where mom said NO! Maybe she’ll be a caroonist one day :) 

-The school nurse called saying Noelle still is only 20/50 in her right eye & recommended seeing an eye doctor. We got into see Dr. Albricht to make sure there wasn’t anything else going on. Thankfully, he said her prescription right now is good and her eyes will keep changing. He also said that contacts would be the best for her in the next few years!

-It’s no secret that Noelle has been my pickiest eater ever. There are only about 3 or 4 meals that she likes to eat. But mom had to laugh when she was encouraging her to eat a few bites of a meal and Noelle sighs in exasperation “Mom, your meals are ruining my life!” 

-At the SUU Forever Red night, we were all having a good time, and then dad asked where Noelle was. We all started looking for her. There were a LOT of people there and after 15-20 minutes we still couldn’t find her. Mom even talked to the police that were there. Finally she got a call from a strange number and it ended up being a college girl who had found her and she had told her mom’s #. Mom met up with her and was so thankful to have found Noelle. So thankful she remember her #. Mom called dad to tell him and he said that Ireland had just gotten up off her knees in prayer when mom called. So thankful Noelle was safe. 

-Noelle & McKai seemed to be good friends at school and even played at each other’s homes, but one day Noelle said that McKai told her not to sit by her on the bus and even said she hated her :( We’re not sure what happened, but now Noelle has really dreaded going on the bus home :( 

OAKLYN:

-Oaklyn LOVES the Barbie books we have and one in particular about where the little sister, Stacie, gets the chicken pox and has to stay in bed. Oaklyn wants that book almost every nap time and bed time. 

-Oaklyn still LOVES to help mommy with her chores. Mommy can’t sweep, mop, or vaccuum without Oaklyn pulling out her own miniature version & helping :) It’s so cute. 

-We had bacon for dinner last night & Oaklyn was sooooo happy! She kept saying “This is sooo good!”

-Oaklyn was sitting down, turning the pages of our big scripture book, and she was singing “It says I love you, It says I love you, It says I love you” :) She’s totally right! 

-You can’t let Oaklyn’s cuteness totally fool you. She is still a mischievous girl! One day mom walked in on her in the bathroom, having stuck a curling iron down into the toilet! 

-Oaklyn can swing herself now!

-Oaklyn has had some potty training regression this month. It usually happens on the weekends when everyone is home. Maybe she’s not getting enough attention? We’re hoping she gets back to her consistent self again soon!

-Oaklyn is funny about heights. Sometimes she has no problem getting up high - at the Main Street Park she climbs all the way to the very top and slides down, but when we went to the SUU party, she got halfway up climbing the inflatable slide, looked behind her and froze and started to cry. She wouldn’t go until mom came to help. 

-One day after another mess, Ireland said “Oaklyn, you’re mischievous! Can you say mischievous?” Oaklyn happily replied “Miss Genius!” :)

-Oaklyn has turned into a “creator” like her sister. She especially likes taking rolls of tape or toilet paper and streaming them all over the floor, chairs, and couch! 

-Oaklyn loves her light-up shoes and asked mom one day if she had some light-up shoes. Mommy said no. Oaklyn said “let’s go to the store and buy you light-up shoes mommy!”

-Oaklyn was using her princess bowl one time when mom asked her who her favorite princess is. Oaklyn said “Charlotte!” (her best friend :))

-Every time we ask Oaklyn (and many times she’ll tell us even when we don’t ask), she tells us that she dreamed of rainbows :)

August Newsletter & Slideshow

https://photos.app.goo.gl/o7qcUmCE5S745PfM7

August 2019

Hamilton Newsletter

FAMILY: August! It came whether we wanted it to or not! Mom was in denial for a while, but finally the week before school started, she went shopping with the girls & we got some basics. The 3rd was Oaklyn’s magical birthday - #3! See her section for more details. We did have some good times before school got back in session, we hiked Alpine Pond & Hidden Haven, had a picnic at Link’s bench, made frosty lemonade and strawberry puffs, Went to the St. George Children’s Museum and splash park, and read a lot - we finished The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe! It was wonderful, as always! The day before school started, mom let them pick what they wanted to do. McKinley went to walk around the temple, Ireland chose ice cream at Bulloch Drug, Kezia chose to go to the Dollar Store, and Noelle & Oaklyn decided to go to the park. It was a lot of fun! The day finally came :( This year we have a 8th grader (queen of middle school!), 7th grader, 4th grader & Kindergartener! Pretty crazy! Mommy & Oaklyn miss the big sisters every day, but we love to see them when they get home to hear all about their day! The weekends have mostly been spent working on rentals - We finished up airbnb-ing our SUU place. Overall it was a good experience - the girls were able to make $ cleaning, but we’re glad to have the girls moved in. We put in a closet, installed a shelf, put in a dresser, and put away the airbnb things. Then, in our basement room we finished up the outside entrance - finish work, painting, caulking, the stucco guys did the stucco on the outside, then we replaced the outlet in the makeshift kitchen so we could put a full-sized stove in there, and we put in the fridge and some cabinets that our friends were getting rid of. Also, the renters in Grandma & Grandpa’s St. George home left so we had to help find a replacement for that place.  So, lots of work! But Jason & Heidi still found time to go for a hike, finding the petroglyph cave in Rainbow Canyon. We took some crazy routes but finally made it :)  The 18th weekend, the Edwards came for a couple days to see Tiarra and they stayed with us. It was good to see them! On the 21st Heidi & the olders drove down to Tuacahn to watch The Little Mermaid at the Tuacahn. It was a lot of fun! Our basement renters moved in on the 22nd - Ivana from Pennsylvania and Brookelyn from the Lehi area. That weekend, the Schoppmann’s had a back-to-school root beer float social in their front yard. It was a wonderful, perfect evening & we loved visiting with the neighbors :)  The 24th, we had a backyard campfire and that was fun!  As a family, we also helped watch the Hillstead dogs and the Price dog. Good times :) We also have had fun as a family listening to the acapella group Inside Out, and especially their versions of the song Once there was a Snowman - and Give, Said the Little Stream. Another thing we’ve been doing as a family is trying out mom’s new healthy cookbook from Zonya. We have tried opening our minds & our mouths to new tastes & flavors! From fish (!) to brussel sprouts to squash to sweet potatoes, we have (most times not happily) tried new healthy foods! We also got to see some great people this month - we had the Bensons stop by and we also had Truly & Levi over for dessert! Our dishwasher broke this month :( :( Tried to fix it, but had to buy a new one :( On the 29th, we headed to the Pine Valley Guard Station for Labor Day weekend. We had a great time! Some memories include: Fishing at Pine Valley Reservoir (we caught at least 30 fish between all of us!), Veyo pool and Veyo Pies, many walks and bike rides on the Santa Clara Riverwalk, going to the Pine Valley Ranger building & doing lots of crafts, including leather, making books, and string art,  playing lots of Phase 10, Wacky 6, Uno, and Lunacy. Roasting hot dogs & s’mores. Lots of daddy long-leg spiders all over the cabin! Oaklyn climbing into bed with us every night. Irealnd throwing a huge amount of dry pine needles on the fire for a huge bonfire. Daizy chasing deer all over, and deer sometimes chasing her!

JASON : Jason has worked so hard with all the handyman stuff he’s had to do for the rentals, we are so grateful for all his hard work & we hope things will slow down :) Jason hasn’t been able to go on a fire this year & it’s not looking like he’ll be able to, which is good and bad, but we sure have enjoyed having him home. Jason took a half day off on the Friday before the girls went back to school so he could hike Hidden Haven with us & have a picnic at Link’s bench! We are so thankful for the way Jason honors and uses his priesthood to bless our family and others. He gave our family back-to-school blessings, as well as Shawn Cosper and her kids, and Cindy and her kids. We are so thankful for Jason!

HEIDI: Heidi is so sad to see the girls go back to school, she misses seeing their beautiful faces & she hates starting back with the morning military mom :( She enjoyed only one more week with Noelle before she went to Kindergarten. Now, it’s just Oaklyn and mommy in the mornings. So far they’ve stayed pretty busy, though, going back to the gym, running errands, watching Shawn Cosper’s kids, etc. Heidi also was very busy with the rentals this month & praying things calm down a bit :)  She also spent time working on Oaklyn’s birthday book! Mixbook wasn’t working so she had to completely start from scratch with Shutterfly, so that was frustrating, but she hopes it will be good in the long run. 

McKINLEY:

-McKinley has been really good about doing her hair lately. It takes her an hour to curl all her thick, long, hair and she sometimes makes us late to church (!), but it is really beautiful. She has also been trying out different braids & ponytails. 

-McKinley is liking 8th grade so far. She was worried because she was sad she didn’t get to be a teacher’s aid, and she didn’t think she’d like the other class. But, so far she’s really enjoyed her humanities class where she gets to make an autobiography book and learn all about her ancestors and herself. She doesn’t have any classes with Karmiyah, but she sees her at lunch. She does have a math class with Micaela!

-McKinley made first chair cello! Way to go McKinley!

-McKinley tested well in math & was one of 10 students to move ahead in math! Great job!

-McKinley has still spent a lot of time hanging out with Karmiyah & Emma. They like to walk around a lot, and one afternoon they went to Culvers. 

-McKinley & Ireland were in a drop-down, drag-out fight this month while mom & dad were gone :( 

IRELAND:

-Ireland has really been responsible since the school year started. At night, she lays out her clothes, backpack and folder. She wakes up at 5:30 most mornings to get ready and is ready to walk out the door before 7:30. We’re proud of you Ireland! 

-Ireland wasn’t really excited about going back to school, but so far she’s liking 7th grade more than 6th grade. :) She still sits by Mahina at lunch and walks to & from school with her. 

-Ireland hasn’t been a big fan of the new healthy cookbook. One night she was picking at her dinner & said “I think this is what they feed the prisoners”

-We LOVE how Ireland uses all kinds of big words. She’s just like Amy in Little Women. She doesn’t always use them correctly, or she often uses a word that is very close to another word that she means. Case in point: We were hiking & there were people coming. She yells back to us “We have customers!” We hope she never changes:)

-Ireland’s flute broke again :( $50 :(

-Ireland and McKinley got into a drop down drag out fight while mom & dad were gone. It was really sad & they both had consequences. Ireland’s was to not have screen time for an entire week. She struggled with that a lot, but by the end she was getting very creative! Mom found her in her bathroom shaving a barbie’s head with daddy’s electric razor. Then she took the barbie’s head off and hand-sewed white yard into her head. :)

-Ireland FINALLY got her new Gabb phone at the end of the month & she was so excited! And mom and dad are so excited that it only texts and calls - no internet or apps. It’s nice to be able to text her and call her! 

KEZIA:

-Kezia & Addie tried to sell some things at a neighbor’s yard sale, but didn’t make any money :(  They are hoping to try again. 

-Addie also came with us on the Hidden Haven hike. 

-4th Grade! Kezia was excited to go to school this year. We didn’t have a lot of money for extra clothes, especially since she already has a packed closet, so we told her she had $20 to spend on something. Of course she chose a shirt about a chinchilla :) It says “My Chinchilla ate my Homework” :) We gotta say that she was probably not in danger of anyone wearing her same outfit :)

-Kezia has been saving money to buy another chinchilla. She wanted to buy a boy chinchilla so she could sell the babies, which is a good way to make money considering they go for $150-250 each, but mom wanted her to see the realities of it, so we read some articles and watched some YouTube videos. Once she understood that Wolf could die in the birthing process, or she could kill her babies, or she might not feed them & we might have to hand-feed them, or any number of scenarios, she isn’t sure anymore. At any rate, they recommend they’re 1-2 years old before you breed them, so she’s decided to wait for 6 more months & reevaluate. 

-Kezia FINALLY got to do an Activity Days activity this month to pass off one of her Faith In God goals. She made cupcakes and did an object lesson about how it doesn’t matter what we look like on the outside, we should be sweet on the inside :)

-Kezia’s teacher (Mrs. Van Arsdale)  sent me a text this month: “I wanted to write you a quick message letting you know how well Kezia is doing. Her positivity is contagious, and she is always willing to help others.” Messages like don’t surprise us, but make us so happy & we are all so blessed to have Kezia in our lives. Always more than good grades, we appreciate knowing our children are kind :) 

-Kezia always loves going to the Back-to-School Luau at East. It was hot, but a lot of fun this year. Kezi & Macie won the 3-legged race again this year! 

LINK:

We loved our picnic at your bench this year. We love to talk about you, think about you and see your pictures and videos. 

NOELLE:

-When we were at the Children’s Museum, Noelle got lost :( Mom had to go to the front desk and get her and she was sobbing & terrified. Poor girl :(

-Noelle can’t wait to get an Alexa device in her bedroom. She REALLY likes to go to Alexa and have her sing “The Middle” or “Space Unicorns”

-Noelle has lately been praying for things she wants out loud in front of mom, like “Heavenly Father, thank you that I’ll get to sleep with Kezia tonight” or “thank you that mom will not see me using this sharp knife” :)

-Noelle was excited to meet her new teacher Mrs. Nakken. Her teacher did an assessment & talked about what a smart Kindergartner Noelle is! Later, someone asked Noelle who her teacher was. She said “Mrs. Napkins!”

-One night we were talking to Noelle about Joseph Smith. Mom said “Joseph Smith had a question, so what do you think he did?” Noelle replied “he checked his computer” 

-The day before Kindergarten started, we had a Safety Family Home evening (Bullying, swearing, not letting anyone see or touch the parts of your body that a swim suit covers, not going with anyone in their car, etc). .Noelle was terrified. She was in tears for fear of what could happen.We assured her that while we need to know there are some unkind and even bad  We also reminded her that her brother won't just be with her until she gets to her classroom, he will be with her and watch over her all day! <3she a="" also="" and="" back-to-school="" blessing="" day="" first="" got="" great="" had="" her="" of="" school="" span="">

-Mom only got one extra week after her sisters started school with her. She really enjoyed her time with Noelle & was sad to see her go, but Noelle was super excited! The first day of Kindergarten, mom took her and picked her up. After that she’s been riding the bus. She’s done great! All except one day when mom got a call from the bus garage saying that Noelle was crying & her tummy hurt. Mom went to go pick her up and Noelle was crying and mom asked if maybe she was just hungry? Noelle said yes :) We’re working on making sure she eats more at breakfast and has a snack in her bag.

-Noelle’s ward friends are all in a different class, but we know Noelle is going to make awesome friends in Kindergarten!

-One night, Noelle prayed “and please bless that Rainbow Truck can be playing with Tundra and riding on his back” 

-Noelle & Sam were playing with a cornhole & bean bags with Oaklyn and Thomas. Noelle said “We’re water, they’re love!” (blue and red)

OAKLYN:

-HAPPY MAGICAL BIRTHDAY OAKLYN!! #3! We just love Oaklyn and can’t believe she’s already 3! She wanted pancakes for breakfast - and even got a #3! She wanted quesadillas for lunch, and for dinner we went out to eat at IHOP with Grandma & Grandpa Devenish! She got a Hungry Caterpillar Game, Lincoln Logs, and a huge United States Puzzle! McKinley & Ireland gave her a cash register & Kezi got her fake food. She also got a cute dress & swim suit  from Grandma & Grandpa Devenish & Grandma & Grandpa Potts gave her a boogie board (drawing pad). She had so much fun finding & opening her presents and she kept saying “it’s my birthday!” 

-The Monday before her birthday, she said she didn’t want to wear pull-ups anymore. Heidi wasn’t quite ready for this, but we went for it! She has done really well with #1. #2 was harder to master, and we threw away probably 20 pair of panties, but she’s finally getting it and we haven’t bought diapers for almost a month! We’re so proud of you Oaklyn! Such a big girl!

-Oaklyn has gotten more and more into barbies. She plays with them downstairs, and she will bring them up to play with them downstairs, too :)

-Now that we walk Noelle to the bus stop in the morning, Oaklyn gets to see her BFF Charlotte, too with her older sister Addie. 

-One day after we got home from an errand, mom heard Oaklyn run to our Echo & say “Alexa, Noelle hit me!” 

-Oaklyn was wanting to be such a big helper at checkout and she was grabbing stuff out of the cart and running ahead of 2 people in line and putting our things on the conveyor belt with someone else’s groceries :) 

-Oaklyn got some mosquito bites when we were hiking and she is terrible at picking at the scabs :( It’s taken a long time for them to heal :( 

-Oaklyn really misses her sisters at school! But she & mom stay pretty busy at gym daycare, running errands, cleaning, and having mommy & Oaklyn time :)

July Newsletter & Slideshow

https://photos.app.goo.gl/3sCZvpNaaVup9vet9


July 2019
Hamilton Newsletter
FAMILY: July was our big travel month & BOY did we have a lot of fun! And BOY are we glad to be home! We left for Richfield on the 3rd, stopping by the Beaver creamery on the way for an ice cream cone :) We enjoyed visiting that night, going to the parade the next morning and then Heidi took the girls and  headed to SLC. Mom told the girls we were going to go visit Darla, who we had been praying for, which was true, but we didn’t tell them that Grandma & Grandpa would be there! They had been on their Missouri mission for the past 7 months but they came home to see Darla as she was on home hospice. It was so good to see them & Oaklyn especially was in heaven! It was neat to spend some time with Darla, too. It was the last time we saw her living as she passed away in August. We were going to go with the Edwards tonight to see the fireworks, but it was cold and rainy and we ended up just watching National Treasure & then heading back to Aunt Trisha’s & watching the fireworks in their backyard, which was neat! We ended up staying with the Simons for about 10 days! Friday, the 5th, was Ireland’s birthday & the family came over for dinner & to celebrate. Joseph even came & brought a snake and a Tegu! And it was so fun to have Grandma & Grandpa there, especially since they had to leave the next morning :( On Monday, McKinley left for Oakrest for the week and we hung out and had a ton of fun using our new Get Out Passes! We went to the kids climbing place in Lehi, SeaQuest aquarium in Layton, and Cowabunga Bay water park (not all on the same day, of course) :)  We also went on a hike up Millcreek Canyon where Heidi used to work. It was beautiful! Aunt Trisha gave the girls all their annual hair cuts while we stayed there, too! On Sunday we headed up to Lava Hot Springs for the Potts family retreat. It was a lot of fun! We went to the hot springs, to the huge Olympic swimming pool (some of us even jumped off the Olympic platforms!), on a fun horse-drawn wagon ride, complete with a nice dinner & live music (only sad part was Spencer having a severe allergic reaction), river tubing, and lots of movie-watching, game-playing, and playing outside. We loved being with family, especially the Checketts :) After Lava Hot Springs, we drove about 45 minutes south to Burton’s & stayed in his trailer. The girls had fun riding horses, playing with the dogs, and kitten, and jumping on the tramp. We even got to see Canon and his 22 pomsky and goldendoodle puppies (we were all in heaven!) and his 100-year-old house that he just bought. Friday morning we went to the lake with Burton and got to go boating/tubing for the first time in YEARS! We had a BLAST! We would have stayed longer but we hadn’t seen daddy in about 3 weeks and we MISSED HIM! So, we headed home in the afternoon & drove till 11pm & finally made it home after our long sojourn! Daizy and daddy were happy to see us & we were happy to see them! Once we got home, it was back to reality! And chores, and getting ready to go back to school! The 24th was breakfast at the Pavillion, the parade, and hand-washing dishes :) We also did a great amount of teamwork the last week of July - putting a paver pathway from the sidewalk to the top of the basement entrance stairs. It took 2 days and lots of sweat and teamwork but we got it done! Some of our activities this month: Make it Monday - Pipe Cleaner animals, Taste it Tuesday - Galaxy Cakes and Chocolate creations, Water Wednesday - splash park, Cowabunga Bay, and boating, Thinking Thursday - the library and making circles with pringles, and Forest Friday - a hike in Millcreek Canyon!

JASON : Daddy worked hard and played hard while we were gone! He worked on the airbnb and our downstairs rooms, and he got to go fishing and ride his dirt bike! He also got to spend lots of 1-on-1 time with Daizy :)

HEIDI: Heidi really enjoyed spending so much time with her family - especially seeing her parents and Trisha & her family. It is nice to be able to have meals together, exercise together & go to the temple together :) She also enjoyed her time with Cindy & helping out in her classroom. Heidi also got to get together with a few of the SIDS moms - Anna, Jen, and Alyssa. It was a wonderful evening of visiting.  The Potts Retreat was great and Heidi loved wakeboarding at the lake (It’s been SO LONG!) and thoroughly enjoyed watching the girls go tubing! Heidi has been listening to an autobiography called Angela’s Ashes, about a boy who had an Irish Catholic upbringing.She has really enjoyed that. Uncle Burton gave Heidi his grandpa’s missionary journal & it’s really neat! Heidi is in the process of getting it scanned so it can be uploaded for all to enjoy.

McKINLEY:
-While in SLC, McKinley was able to help GG on 2 different days so she could pass off one of her last Personal Progress projects! She helped GG scan a bunch of old newsletters and pictures, she even uploaded a couple to FamilySearch! Great job McKinley!
-McKinley had such a great time at Oakrest with Addison Bealer and hopefully made memories that will last a lifetime. Some of her favorites included: ziplining, all the songs (mom & McKinley stayed up really late singing the night she got back), Kacey (a man who had an accident and didn’t have legs who taught them they could do anything), Whisper Grove, her counselor Aspen and another counselor Sundance, and all the girls she got to hang out with in her cabin :)
-McKinley had fun traveling, especially talking with family and playing games. She also really enjoyed tubing down the river!
-Karmiyah and McKinley walked to Tropical Smoothie Cafe for a smoothie :)
- McKinley got to babysit & dog-sit this month!

IRELAND:
-Ireland come upstairs at 6am one morning looking for a bandaid. Mom asked why. Ireland said her legs were itchy. So she shaved them!
-HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY Ireland! We can hardly believe she’s 12. We were at Aunt Trisha’s for her birthday & she got Krave for breakfast, Papa Murphey’s for lunch, and pulled pork sandwiches for dinner. In the afternoon, she got to choose the activity and she chose a climbing gym in Lehi. It was so much fun. You just walked around with a harness & hooked up to all the fun climbing walls! At night, all the family came for the pulled pork, a Costco cake, and ice cream! For her gifts she got a loft bed (the week before), a book (Ranger’s Apprentice 2), and tons of earrings. Her sisters also got her make-up! Grandma got her a futon cover, Aunt Trisha got her a lip gloss kit, and Aunt Cindy bought her fairy lights.
-Now that Ireland can wear make-up, she doesn’t miss a day! It took her a little while to figure out how to clean under her eyes with the mascara, but now she has the hang of it and looks so grown up!
-Ireland did a lot of reading on the trip and read Flipped and Ella Enchanted.
-Ireland had a lot of fun on our long trip, especially hanging out with her cousins! She loved jumping on the tramp at Trisha’s (getting her backflips down!), getting a “manicure” from the rufa fish, going to IKEA to choose some decorations for her room, playing with her cousins outside at the airbnb, going river rafting, and going tubing (Uncle Burton called her a bull rider!)
-Ireland couldn’t wait to get back home to decorate her new loft bed! She now has 4 pillows on the futon, a futon cover, and fairy lights - with a remote!
-Ireland was SO sweet - after 2 hard days in the sun putting in the pathway to the basement entrance, mom sat down and Ireland brought over a bowl of water and washed & messaged mom’s feet, then painted her toenails. What a sweetheart!


KEZIA:
-Kezi was so cute and make a “Wheel of Fortune” insert for Wolf’s wheel. She would run on it till it landed on something like “Get one almond” or “3 chin rubs” or “100 pellets” or “Bankrupt” :) Too bad Wolf ended up destroying it, but it was fun while it lasted!!
-Kezia LOVED the bird encounter at SeaQuest! She went twice because she loved how they they just flocked on down to you and land everywhere and eat out of your hand.
-Kezia also loved sleeping on the tramp, going to Home Depot with her cousins and making a tow truck, and jumping off the HIGH platforms at the Olympic swimming pool! 
-Kezia also got to have a couple playdates with Hailee Packard, who she hadn’t seen for a year.


LINK:
It’s always hard to be with the Simons and know that if you were here, Spencer would have such adventures with you! But we know you were with us on our trip and we love you so much!

NOELLE:
-Noelle had a dream this month that she told us about at breakfast. She said Satan came to her and told her to join him and she said no. Mom asked what Satan looked like and Noelle said he had a mustache. Noelle said afterwards “Mom, maybe it was a vision!”
-Speaking of vision, Noelle’s vision has deteriorated since she lost her glasses. One evening, her right eye kept going cross-eyed. Mom couldn’t get her into a Cedar doctor before we went on our trip, so she saw an eye dr. in Salt Lake. She got a new prescription and he suggested doing some patching. So, she got TWO pairs of glasses (one pink, one purple) and some patches. We’re hoping she stays consistent and her eyesight gets better.
-Noelle got to go on a lunch date with daddy to Golden Corral this month!
-Noelle had fun going boating on the lake, but after getting knocked off a couple times, she never wanted to get back out there.
-Noelle is going to BUSY, BUSY, BUSY when she grows up! Just in the past month she says she wants to be a scientist, a firefighter, a builder, and an animal rescuer. And one time when we were in the van, Noelle said that when her kids are in bed at night she’s going to go do a concert and sing. Mom asked what she would do about sleep. She said she would go to sleep at 10:00 :)


OAKLYN:
-Oaklyn was SO excited to see Grandma! And Grandpa! We can’t believe they have been gone over 6 months and we’ll get to have them back in less than a year!
-It was so fun to see Oaklyn & Rachel playing together so much while we stayed at their house. Oaklyn often exclaims “Rachel is my cousin!”
-When we got back from our trip, daddy said Oaklyn grew up! And her clothes agree with that, we are moving up in sizes!
-Oaklyn at first didn’t want to get on the boat, but after she was in she enjoyed it. She did NOT like it when mommy when to wakeboard, though, and she would NOT even try to get on the tube.
-Oaklyn keeps saying “Did Sydney die?” “Why did Sydney die?”
-Oaklyn LOVED going to the parades this month and was so good at getting that candy really fast!
-Oaklyn is getting really good at doing her balance bike!

June Newsletter & Slideshow

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MuNPEsSBEUEKTrdd9

June 2019
Hamilton Newsletter
FAMILY:SUMMER, SUMMER! We love SUMMER! We have been soaking up these weeks of freedom and sun before all our traveling sojourns. On the 2nd, we had a school paper burning ceremony in the backyard and it took a long time to transform all those papers to ashes! Here is a taste of some of our activities this summer: Make-it-Monday: We’ve done cool drawings, water colors, melting cups, and squish balls. Taste-it Tuesday: Jello Fruit Watermelon (fail!), sand pudding, chaco tacos, and Jolly Rancher suckers. Water Wednesday: We went to Lake at the Hills, had a water balloon party, and went to the Aquatic Center. Thinking Thursday: The library (and ice cream afterwards at Hermies), penny boats, and read-a-thon, Forest Friday: Rainbow Canyon - twice! Once with just us, once with the Hillsteads, and we still need to find those petroglyphs! And Pioneer Park. On the 7th, we celebrated National Doughnut Day (thanks Alexa!) and stopped in Doughnutsville for some good stuff. On the 10th, they cut the hole in Ireland’s old room to make way for a door to the basement! It took about another month to finish the project (which wasn’t easy since we had a huge hole, we didn’t have a fence all that time, and our water lines were cut so we had to hand-water everything), but we now have an outside entrance to our basement - hooray!!! We had Truly over for breakfast on her birthday on the 15th & had fun celebrating. That night, Ireland, Kezi & Noelle slept in the back of the truck under the stars :) Dad took the olders to see Big Hero 6 at the main street park one night (we just happened to see a poster about it and it just happened to be a movie we were talking about seeing). It was a really chilly night, but they all had fun! The 16th was Father’s Day! We had fun spoiling dad - French Toast in the morning, homemade bread in the afternoon, and steak at night. He wanted to do a root beer tasting contest and we had fun tasting about 6 different brands. The Wal-mart brand was one of the favorites! Mom, McKinley & Ireland went to girls camp up Cedar Canyon the last week in June. It was Ireland’s first year! We had a good time & mom had fun with the olders while dad had fun with the youngers. He ended up going to Richfield for his birthday & getting spoiled by his momma :) Ireland’s birthday party was the Saturday after we all got back - in the morning we went to Fiddlers as a family & watched Dumbo, then picked up her gift (a loft bed), then back to Fiddlers with her friends for her party. Lots of fun! Another activity that consumed much of the last part of May and beginning of June was getting our SUU rental ready for Airbnb. MANY hours of researching, buying, and putting together finally came together & we were able to list it and get it out there. In June we had 2 bookings, and quite a few more booked for July, so we are so thankful to be able to get a little extra income that we wouldn’t have otherwise had. It keeps us busy with the cleaning & communication. We’ve also been trying to find people for our basement apartment, too. So - lots of extra busyness, but we still have found plenty of time to get outside and enjoy these summer days that fly by! One crazy/funny/annoying thing: Daizy the dog has figured out how to jump the fence between our yard and the Prices yard, wherein one of her best playmates, Rocky, lives. She can just pop over there anytime she wants now for a play date! (The wall is a good 4 feet tall on our side and another foot or so on their side!)

JASON : HAPPY BIRTHDAY daddy! We were so sad not to be there on his birthday, but Jason celebrated in Richfield with his family while we were at girls’ camp. Happy #42 daddy! Jason has worked hard on the rental and he’s busy at work. We’ve really hoped for some fires this year, but so far hasn’t happened :(

HEIDI: Heidi has spent a LOT of time with the rental, but hopes that things will streamline soon. It has been wonderful to spend more time outside and enjoy more time with her girls. Heidi enjoyed going on a trail run with Jason this month. What a wonderful morning! Heidi enjoyed going to girls’ camp. It’s been several years since she’s been in Young Women’s & gone to camp. She enjoyed getting to know the girls more and the leaders, too. And just being up in the TREES :) She did miss her hubby & littles, though :) Heidi went to Grifols this month. Thankfully donating is close and fast & she can do Come Follow Me while she’s donating, while she makes money! She’s already made over $300 with the bonuses :)

McKINLEY:
-McKinley didn’t like that she got Journalism for her elective (not any of the choices she requested), so we completed a paper to request for a schedule change. She did get changed over to humanities, so she’s glad for that, even though she’s sad she’s not doing student tutoring or teacher advising.
-McKinley has been hanging out a LOT with Karmiyah and Emma this summer. They come here, she goes there, they go on a walk with dogs or siblings, and sometimes have late-night fires and/or games.
-One day McKinley & Kezia were hanging out with Truly and she showed them the song “Riptide” on the guitar. McKinley decided to learn it & she’s done really well! It’s fun to hear her play!
-One Saturday night, mom went to bed exhausted & the kichen was a mess. She woke up on the Sabbath Day to find the kitchen cleaned, breakfast set out and “Happy Sabbath Day” on the kitchen table. It was such a sweet surprise & was so appreciated!
-McKinley had fun at girls camp. The Mia Maids were a pretty tight group and LOVED to stay up WAY too late!

IRELAND:
-Ireland’s best friend, Mahina, has been doing an SUU prep thing at the school this summer, so Ireland hasn’t had as much friend time as she’d like. Mom keeps finding her sneaking screen time :( But she did go to the temple with Sariah & had a great time!
-Ireland & Kezia were so sweet and had 3 spa nights for mom. One night was a nail night, one was a mask/facial night, and one night was a message night. It was so heavenly and appreciated!
-Ireland has been having a lot of fun with the Bop-It lately :) She’s gotten a high-score of 100! Wow!
-Ireland had fun at girls camp! There was some Beehive drama, with friends feelings getting hurt. Ireland is good at trying to stay out of it and above it while being kind. She didn’t love how late everyone stayed up, but she enjoyed it when she slept downstairs and got to keep the fire going.
-Ireland’s birthday party was so fun. Mahina Vogt, Sariah Bailey, Hannah Goodman, Izi Newbold, Ana Worth, Paloma, and her sisters all came to Fiddler’s Fun Center to celebrate. We had fun doing laser tag, then the arcades, then Dairy Queen for an ice cream cake. She got lots of fun gifts and she should feel very loved!
-Ireland had been asking about a loft bed for a long time so when we found one on blogshop with the twin mattress and futon, we jumped at the chance! We had to do quite a bit of touch-up spray painting, but it looks awesome in her room & she has big plans for some more fun things to make it fun & cute, including fairy lights, pillows, and tulle.
-Mom took Ireland & McKinley out for their lunch date to Golden Corral :)

KEZIA:
-Kezia had fun at a play date with Macie at Ruby’s house. She’s been wanting & trying to play with Ruby all summer, so it was a lot of fun!
-Kezia went on a date with dad to see The Secret Life of Pets 2. She loved it! She earned the date because she passed off all of her multiplication, great job Kez!
-Kezia and Macie had a lemonade stand (she had a sign that said “No Ducks Allowed” - per the song ) :) and made enough money to buy a running wheel for Wolf. She bought it on ebay. It’s pink and so cute. Wolf loves it!!
-Ireland & Kezia were so sweet and had 3 spa nights for mom. One night was a nail night, one was a mask/facial night, and one night was a message night. It was so heavenly and appreciated!
-We went on the trail by Walmart one morning & it was HOT! Noelle was whiney & complaining a lot on the way back. Kezia came back, put her on the back of her bike, and pedaled her up the hill in the heat all the way back to the van. What an amazing big sister, Noelle & Oaklyn are so blessed to have her!
-Ireland & Kezia were so sweet and had 3 spa nights for mom. One night was a nail night, one was a mask/facial night, and one night was a message night. It was so heavenly and appreciated!
-Addie Price hops the fence most days & comes in our back door to join our circus for the day. Kezi and Addie are very creative with their songs, dances, dressing up and baking!
-Kezia really thinks she might want to try ballet. We keep trying to find a time for her to come watch a class!

LINK:
Our sweet boy, how we love you! We KNOW you would have loved summertime and playing in the sandbox and swinging on the swing set and learning and growing. How we miss you. Thank you for constantly watching over us!

NOELLE:
-Noelle finished up swim lessons this month & had a great time! She thinks she might want to continue in the fall!
-Noelle often asks for melatonin at night. Mom says she has to wait 30 minutes. One night mom heard Noelle wake up and yell “It’s been 30 minutes! I want melatonin!” It was 2:00am.
-We were going to go swimming at the pool & Noelle kept asking when we were leaving & mom kept saying 3pm. Noelle tried to change the little alarm clock to be 3pm & showed mom :)


OAKLYN:
-Oaklyn is SUPER fond of running outside, stripping down naked, and play in the sandbox and use the “jet spray.” One day mom said “Oaklyn, you need to put your pull-up on!” She said “But it hurts my feelings!”
-Oaklyn is getting pretty picky about many things, but especially getting in her carseat, she hates it when someone else does it. She says “I do it myself!!”
-Oaklyn had super-fun getting into moms makup and putting maskara on a couple different times this month :)

May Newsletter & Slideshow

https://photos.app.goo.gl/QRD8Sdg7Uq1pcpeV7

May 2019
Hamilton Newsletter
FAMILY:WE SURVIVED MAY!! Really, there were moments when we wondered! (huge projects, concerts, field trips, etc) But YES, we are on the other side & SUMMER is here! :) On the 4th, Kezi had a soccer game, and it was the annual Share Walk. It was a beautiful morning, mom helped with the walk, and the olders helped run their bake sale. In the evening, mom & dad got to have a nice dinner for their 19th wedding anniversary at their favorite italian place. Mother’s Day was wonderful & mom enjoyed her time with her treasures & sweetheart.  The 18th was Truly & Levi’s wedding & it was just beautiful! Heidi got to be Truly’s escort for her endowment and on her wedding day. It was amazing! They also asked Jason to do the ring ceremony in the evening before their reception started, and he did a wonderful job. It had been cold & rainy, but the day of their wedding was beautiful and they were beautiful & we’re so happy for them! It was a long day, but the girls helped a lot and now they’re living in our SUU rental, so we get to see them :) The 22nd was the LAST DAY of school for the girls! Hooray! That day we headed up to SLC, stayed with Trisha that night, and headed to see Tiarra’s graduation at 9am the next morning. Then, her luncheon that afternoon. We made a crown and rings out of dollar bills for her, and we’re excited to see what the future brings for her! After the luncheon, we gathered our things from Trisha’s & headed to Richfield. We stayed with Grandma & went to Payson’s graduation the next day. We gave Payson a pizza box with “You can’t live on pizza alone, so here’s some dough” on the lid along with a bunch of dollar bills looking like a pizza. He also had a luncheon where we enjoyed visiting with Payson & family. The next day, we headed to Mapleton. We had to get a new tent because we couldn't find poles from our old tent and it was pretty much on it’s last leg anyway, so we set our our new quick set-up 9-person tent & enjoyed our moments with family. It was strange not having grandma & grandpa here this year! But we got to play with the Simons and the Tews and enjoyed eating yummy food, going for a hike, roasting s’mores and being together. The weather wasn’t too bad, either. We had quite a bit of rain on the last night, but our tent held up nicely :) After Mapleton, we drove to Vernal & checked into the Quality Inn where we had fun swimming & watching Disney Channel. Then to McDonald’s & Cafe Rio before bedtime. The next day was Jason’s Aunt LuRae’s funeral. It was good to see so many family members we hadn’t seen in so long! And remember sweet Aunt LuRae. It was a long drive home, but we made it & were thankful to sleep in our own beds after a week of being gone. After that, our summer really got started - extra chores (our home is so much cleaner!), but also lots of fun. We’ve already done churros and the library and drawing and a hike (the red hill). We are doing 2 reward programs this summer - teamwork tickets (for when they help out - to use in a fall store), and puff balls (to try & earn a Lagoon trip). So far they are working well & we’re excited to see how many they’ll get. It’s been a cold, wet month. We didn’t turn on the water or air conditioner at all this month!  The saddest part of this month was saying good-bye to our Sydney dog. She was really struggling while we were gone & she was ready to go. It was hard to say good-bye, but 16 years is a good long life for a dog and we loved our time with her.

JASON : Jason loved getting to see so much family & be back in Vernal, we haven’t been for probably 8 years or so. We hope it’s not that long till we can go again.

HEIDI: Heidi was feeling pretty overwhelmed at the beginning of the month - helping with the Young Women’s dinner while Jason was a lot of work ,and she also helped a lot with this years’ Share Walk, they added her to the Share board & are thinking about doing a 5k next year, so she’ll be involved in that. Both of these, along with helping the girls with all their end-of-school-year projects and assignments was stress inducing!  but even though we didn’t get to rest until a week or so after school let out with all the traveling, she’s SO glad that summer is finally here & intends to make the best use of the time with trail running, hiking, outside yoga, and just being outside with the kids :) Heidi really loved getting to be Truly’s escort for her endowments and wedding. It was TRULY ;) a privilege & honor. Heidi finished the book “Before we were Yours” which was horrifying, heartbreaking, and inspiring all at once. She also read Peter Pan, which she LOVED!

McKINLEY:
-McKinley was sick for a couple days in April & it seemed to throw everything off with her homework, and then the RISE testing started and they were pulling her out of classes for that and she was having SO much homework. Finally, we decided to pull her out of the RISE testing at the end because it was testing or grades and she chose grades. She did end up pulling a 4.0 for her whole 7th grade year - she got a plaque for that and also a trophy for math! Way to go McKinley!
-McKinley had lots of fun things the last weeks of school, too, including going to the movies & to the bowling alley!
-McKinley also went on a field trip to SUU to be a “college student for a day” - her favorite class - Chemistry!
-McKinley’s final orchestra concert for 7th grade was wonderful!
-McKinley got her schedule for 8th & was excited to get tutoring, but sad not to get teacher aide. She got journalism, which wasn’t on her list at all, so we’re hoping to change that!
-McKinley had a lot of fun at Mapleton with her cousins. She went for a long hike up to the snow with Michael, Tucker & Talon. And had a couple long games of Phase 10, too :)



IRELAND:
-We’re SO proud of Ireland - she finished all her huge projects this year, including becoming a “Queen” for her Quest medieval project, which included being able to watch a movie with popcorn, soda & candy. She also finished her ABC book report for Michael Vey, Battle of the Ampire (and got 100%), and also did her Switzerland country report. She got a 4.0 last quarter!
-Ireland had LOTS of fun end-of-school-year activities, including going to the movies, swimming in Veyo, swimming at the Aquatic Center, and Field day. So much fun!
-Ireland did terrific on her last concert for band - they have improved so much since the beginning of the year!
-We got some new flute music for Ireland to keep practicing this summer!
-Ireland has been reading Michael Vey and listening to Harry Potter this month.


KEZIA:
-Kezia is done with 3rd grade! Yay! She was sad, though, and is going to miss her teachers. She bought them candy and an American flag. She also wrote them very sweet letters.
-Kezia got LOTS of pesos this year from Senor Niles and was able to “buy” a jewelry dresser at the end of the year! And a toy and a lot of candy.
-It was cold & rainy, but Kezia still had fun at her 3rd grade field day, hula-hooping, basketball, bean-bag tossing, disc-throwing, batting caging, and 50 & 100-yard-dashing :)
-This was Kezia’s first year taking RISE testing, and she thought it was Meh. She liked the Math portion, though & felt she did good overall.
-Kezia got to be a lunch worker this month! She didn’t like her job (stacking trays), but she made it fun by saying to everyone that gave her their tray “Thank you for shopping at Wal-mart!”
-Kezia had her last soccer game on the 11th! They did great & Kezi scored some goals this month! She will miss her classmates/teammates and friends. When it was our turn to bring treats, Kezi was cute and tied them all up with ribbon!
-Kezia went to a birthday party at Del Taco this month for Amy. She had a lot of fun & got lots of Mexican candy!


LINK:
We always love remembering you & sharing your story at the Share walk every year, our sweet Link. This month we saw one of the brightest rainbows we’ve EVER seen! It was almost too bright to look at! We are so thankful for these sweet love notes.

NOELLE:
-Noelle had a field trip at the farm! She got to hold a lamb, see puppies, horses and cows! It was going to be chilly that day & Noelle’s teacher reminded them to wear a jacket & no sandals. Noelle kept reminding mom, but apparently that wasn’t enough because she told Alexa to remind us, too :)
-At preschool, Noelle made a shrinky dink of her hand and was SO excited to give it to mom for Mother’s Day. She even put it in a bag decorated with all kinds of dinosaur, flower & sparkly star stickers. She couldn’t stop talking about it for weeks :)
-Noelle finished preschool this month & her graduation was SO so cute! She sang the cutest songs & smiled so big. Jason was able to come from work and watch her & she even had a cap and awesome sunglasses. She is missing her teacher & friends, but is also loving all the time with her sisters at home, too :)
-Noelle went to James Petersen’s 5th birthday party this month and had a lot of fun. Mommy stayed to help & it was fun to watch her interact with all the boys. She didn’t like it when they didn’t let her be the boss ;)
-Noelle was apparently fascinated with sticks and she decided to see what would happen if she stuck one in our mailbox key slot. She admitted to what she’d done, and mom & dad both tried to get the tiny stick fibers out, but in the end they just got shoved in more and we had to end up paying $40 and waiting 2 weeks to get the lock changed :(
-One rare day, the littles and mom were just hanging out in mom’s room, sitting on the bed, listening to the rain & watching the wind blow the trees. Mom decided to have Alexa tell a story & she told a long story about King Arthur, Merlin, and the Knights of the round table. Later on, mom asked her what the story was about to see if she rememberd, and she said it was about the Lamanites :) (Laman-KNIGHTS)? :)
-At Aunt LuRae’s funeral luncheon, we were waiting in line for food & passed by cookies. Noelle liked a few & put them back!
-Noelle started swimming lessons at SUU this month - she is having a lot of fun! There’s even a girl in her class named Kezia

 OAKLYN:
-At McKinley’s orchestra concert, Oaklyn saw someone carrying a violin & said “mom - look at that little cello!”
-Oaklyn is happy to have her sisters home so much & mom is happy that her sisters can watch her while she runs errands or takes Noelle to her swimming lessons.
-Oaklyn still alternates between sleeping on the bed and sleeping on the floor, with the former being the preference lately. We don’t really care where she sleeps, but it is hard when she wakes in the middle of the night & wants us to help her move locations!
-Oaklyn REALLY hates it when Noelle gets ready for swimming lessons & she doesn’t get to go. The minute Noelle gets in her swim suit, Oaklyn gets in hers and we’ve had to resort to letting her “swim” in the bathtub a lot.
-Oaklyn calls the nose your BOOP a lot. She will point to your nose & say “that’s your boop!” One time at church she loudly said “I touched your boop!” But boop sounded like another word :)
-It FINALLY got warm enough to put our new hard tub in the backyard and now EVERY day after breakfast, Oaklyn runs outside, strips naked, and jumps in her little pool. Uncle Burton asked mom if Oaklyn’s Zodiak sign was one with water because she kept pushing the button on the water jugs, and mom is thinking it must be because she does LOVE water!
-When we were staying at Aunt Trisha’s, mom laid down with Oaklyn in bed, thinking she’d fall right asleep. Boy was mom wrong. Oaklyn stayed up and talked, and talked and TALKED! It would have been adorable if she wasn’t supposed to be asleep! One time she kept saying I love you, I love you! Mom said she loved her too. Oaklyn replied “Stop talking! Go to sleep!”
-Oaklyn has been having more playdates with Charlotte Price this month. It’s SO cute to see them together. It’s like they were best friends in the pre-mortal world. They sometimes fight, but they hug a LOT and talk about each other. It’s so cute!