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!
