July Newsletter and Slideshow

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Hamilton Newsletter

FAMILY: July was a hot month! No rain like we usually get! The 4th of July was a bit different this year. We still went to Richfield, but watched the parade online. (No candy this year, so the kids weren’t too excited ;) And the Johnsons didn’t come this year. Still, we had a wonderful time with family. We bought pizza for everyone to celebrate Jason’s new job and we are so thankful for his new opportunity! He starts on August 15th. It was great to see Sedona! We missed Camri, but she’ll be home soon! The girls had fun with their cousins - walking to the park,  playing outside in the water (lots of water balloon fun!), playing games inside, and doing sparklers. The older cousins, including McKinley, also went tubing in the Sevier River & had a lot of fun! The Jorgenson’s had a great firework show, as always, and the Richfield fireworks were awesome! Oakyn was so excited she just could not contain her excitement about how spectacular the fireworks were! That day, we had another spectacular, out-of-the-ordinary event - we got a new nephew/cousin! Austin James Simon was born on the 4th of July and we are so thankful he got here safely! The next day was Ireland’s 13th birthday! See her section for more details. All the girls (no deal on dad’s shoulder-length hair yet!) got haircuts at Evan’s beauty school. No one had extreme cuts, but it was nice to feel like we all looked a little less ragamuffin-ish : ) On the 8th, we had a lot of fun going to Lake at the Hills with the Rupert family. They are new in our ward and have 12 kids! It’s been fun to get to know them & wonderful they have kids our kids’ ages. They brought their kayaks and we all enjoyed getting to know their family more & playing in the water and sand. 2 days later, we went with them to the Alpine Trail. Mom got some of them lost! :) But we eventually met up and it was a fun morning. The beginning of July was a LOT of hard work, but like mom says “Hamiltons aren’t afraid of hard work!” :) We went out each day, usually for an hour or more and wheelbarrowed probably 100 loads or more of big rock to the front so someone could haul it away. Whew! We’re glad that part is over with! The 11th was a l o n g hot day full of digging. We worked on our trampoline hole until 5pm, and only got about halfway done. We dislodged some huge boulders, have lots more boulders to dislodge, more digging to do, and a water line to re-route (it’s running in the center of the hole!) We watched Tiarra’s dog, Zoe, for a few days & that was fun. Michael & Joshua were also in town and they stopped by to say hi & have sacrament with us.  Then, the BIG EVENT! Mom, dad & McKinley spent July 18-29th in Alaska for McKinley’s 14-year-old trip. We saw LOTS of wildlife (Bears, caribou, moose, orcas, humpback whales, puffins, etc), glaciers, and of course DENALI! It was a wonderful time - see McKinley’s section for more details. While we were away, the rest of the girls had a good time with Grandma & Grandpa Potts in St. George. They played games, did gummy bear toesses, played games, watched the birds in grandma’s backyard, had tea parties, made doughnuts, went hiking, and played at the park. Thank you mom & dad for watching them for 10 days! We were thankful to all be back together and at home. On the last day of the month, we hiked to Hidden Haven with the Ruperts. It was a wonderful morning! MIRACLES: We even got to go to AK with all the restrictions! And seeing Denali! And 7 new families moved into our ward! 

JASON : Jason has been on super-speed this month, wrapping things up with his current job, preparing for his new one, working downstairs and outside at home. He was thankful to take a well-deserved break and head with McKinley & Heidi to Alaska! He had fun fishing and seeing all the wildlife! 

HEIDI: Heidi decided to take the plunge this month and dye her own hair. It’s dark and red and she’s enjoyed it, though it’s taken some adjustment! Heidi enjoyed Alaska so much! She is SOO thankful they got to go, especially with all the uncertainty right now with traveling. It was just SUCH a heavenly hug to be able to go and have everything work out and be together with her oldest and her sweetheart on such an adventure! Heidi’s favorite parts were getting to see a bear in the wild (cross it off her bucket list!) and the Kenai Fjords cruise. She’s never seen an orca in the wild before, either, and was really not expecting to see any whales this time of year, so it was a total treat to get to see Orcas and humpback whales. She also LOVED her solo day in Homer while Jason & McKinley were fishing. She got to walk the beach, finish her book (the new version of The Message - it was wonderful), do personal study, take a nap and watch a movie! She missed her other girls like crazy, but they connected on the phone and through Marco Polo, so she’s thankful for that. 

McKINLEY: 

-McKinley was SO excited to go on her trip and see “her” mountain. She says her favorite parts were the Kenai Fjords Cruise (she loved seeing the glaciers, and the puffins were cute and funny and she loved seeing the orca), the Husky Homestead (getting to hold the puppies - cuteness! - and go in the ATV) and she loved seeing all the wildlife on the bus tour. She also thought the K2 plane ride was crazy-cool. Her dad also taught her how to play poker :) The things she didn’t love as much - wearing the mask for 10 hours on the way there & back (she was a good sport about it though), the mosquitos (we know why they’re called the state bird! One got McKinley right on the forehead!) the cold and wet and seasickness of the halibut fishing trip (she thought it was cool to catch a big fish, though!), and the freezing wind of the Kenai Cruise (can’t believe we left her nice coat in the car!). 

-Before and after her AK trip, McKinley made sure to spend lots of time with friends. She had Ella over a lot, and Karmiyah, too. We got some really, really sad news about Karmiyah this month. They are moving :( Probably over to Paragonah or Parowan. 

-McKinley went down the Sevier river with her cousins over the 4th! 

IRELAND:

-HAPPY #13 Ireland!!! Ireland was in Richfield for the morning of her birthday and she wanted crepes for her breakfast, so crepes it was! With ALL the toppings - strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, mini chocolate chips, nutella, etc. It was quite a spread! For lunch we were home and she chose subway sandwiches. We would have gone to actual subway, but it was Sunday. We  had quite a spread for the sandwich options, too, though! And for dinner, she chose spaghetti bread, but we had eaten lunch so late we saved that for the next day. Ireland got decorating tips for her birthday and she decorated her own cake (with Aunt Cindy video calling help) :)  For gifts, Ireland’s big gifts will be her new room when it’s done (with the lighting fixtures, rug, paint that she chooses), and maybe a puppy, but on her birthday she got an automatic hair curler, fairy lights, and Harry Potter book 6. Aunt Keeley got her a Ross gift card and she got money from both grandparents! So crazy we have 2 teenage girls now! 

-Ireland wins the HARDEST WORKER prize with clearing the rocks in the backyard. We are so thankful for her hard work! 

-Ireland got to do some fun things in St. George while we were in Alaska, including going to Fiesta Fun and having a day of play at home. She liked to call mom and dad at night with her phone. We are glad we got to stay in touch a lot. She was happy when we came home and were a family again : )

-We got some bad news this month about gymnastics :( Looks like they won’t be opening the gym for fall after all. And possibly not in the spring, either. We’re discussing other options to keep Ireland active. 

-More sad news: Mahina is doing online school :( Ireland is sad she won’t have her friend to walk to and from school with and sit with at lunch. We are praying for new, wonderful school friends this month!

KEZIA: 

-Kezia was getting her hair cut at Evans and was standing up when she turned sheet white and almost threw up. The hairdresser was concerned & mom went to go find her. Apparently, she hadn’t eaten any food that morning and we worked outside in the sun and she was feeling faint. Mom got her some food from the vending machine & she felt much better. 

-Kezia finally got to cash in on her date with mom and dad. She decided to go bowling! It was a lot of fun and we had ice cream afterwards. Then, she got to try her hand at the arcades. Mostly, she just wanted to try the risky games. She did finally get a little ball out of one!

-Kezia was SUCH a big helper with her little sisters while mom & dad & McKinley were gone. Grandma was very flourishing with her praise of Kezia’s peacemaking and assisting. THANK YOU Kezia! 

LINK: Mom finished “The Message” again this month, only this time Lance’s wife wrote about her experience after Lance’s death and each of his kids wrote about how their dad is still influencing their lives every day, too. It was so neat and I LOVED reading about it. I really hope your sisters can always remember how they have felt you in their lives, protecting them. Guiding them. Reminding them. Please keep doing so, we’re SO SO thankful for you! Thank you for sending rainbows in Alaska!!!! And the forget-me-nots!!!! <3 

NOELLE:

-We were at the Richfield park on the 4th. Kezia turned to Oaklyn and said “Oaklyn, do you want to swing?” and Noelle turned to Oaklyn and said “Oaklyn, do you want to eat some wood chips?” 

-Noelle prays, almost every single night, that we will go to heaven as a family. She also usually says as mom and dad are leaving the room “Mom - I hope we go to heaven as a family!!” and we always say “Me, too!” <3

-One day, Noelle said “Mom, would you rather your house burn down or your car? I would rather have my house burn down because I could just drive my car to a new house!” 

-Noelle says she wants to be a farmer when she grows up because she wants lots of animals. 

-Noelle is reading The Boxcar Children. Mom and dad listen while she reads, but she is reading it by herself! Great job Noelle! Noelle also reads the scriptures with us in the mornings and does a great job! 

-One day Noelle pointed to the indent under the nose and said “This is our booger line. That’s what it’s for.” 

-Noelle missed us while we were in Alaska, but had a lot of fun at Grandma and Grandpa’s - going to the splash parks and especially doing the gummy bear tosses :) 

-Noelle got ALL the way under the waterfall at Hidden Haven! 

OAKLYN:

-Oaklyn LOVED LOVED the fireworks! She had so much fun with the sparklers and when the big fireworks came at night, she just could NOT contain her excitement. She sat on mom’s lap and just kept saying “Wow!” “Mom! This is just so exciting! Mom - I’m so excited!” :) Her exclamations were as good as the fireworks :)

-Oaklyn is learning some handy tricks. One night Oaklyn said there was something on dad’s shirt and when he looked down, she bonked his nose :) 

-Oaklyn and Charlotte still spend a LOT of time together :) She says “Me and Charlotte are twinsies!” 

-Oaklyn has a GREAT dislike of ants. At our picnic at Woods Ranch, ants were on the ground and Oaklyn got on the table and said “Mom - if I put my foot on the ground, the ants will eat me up!” 

-One of mom’s FAVORITE Oaklyn-isms is when Oaklyn squeezes mom before bed and says “I want to hug you forever!” 

-We’re working on Oaklyn’s confidence levels. Often when she tries something new, she will say “I’m not very good at it!”

-More naughties - messes - wasted toothpaste, dumped cinnamon & sugar, choking Ireland, putting sunscreen on Daizy and cutting Daizy’s hair. 

-Oaklyn was being mean to Ireland and Ireland called her a bully. Oaklyn came running down the hall saying “MOM! Ireland just called me a BOY!” 

-When we went to Cedar Breaks overlook, Oaklyn looked down and said “What world is THAT?”

-Oaklyn said “this bonk bed is usually for bonking heads.” 

-Oaklyn missed mom and dad, too. One night, she was having a really hard time and Kezia called us and Oaklyn just cried & cried :( Overall, she did a great job, though, and enjoyed spending time with grandma and grandpa.