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 :)
