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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 :)
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