August Newsletter and Slideshow

August 2020 Hamilton Newsletter FAMILY: Last month of summer! The first weekend in August we had a Tew Retreat at Bear Lake. We all enjoyed it so much! It’s been so long since we’ve all lived in our swimsuits for a week straight, walking to the water, getting to ride on boats, go tubing and wakeboarding, playing in the sand, catching frogs, and just escaping regular chores and life. We enjoyed getting to be with the Tews and we had great times! Besides all the water fun, we played LOTS of card games, glow-in-the-dark games, played guitars, ate yummy food (including famous raspberry shakes), looked at the stars and huge moon at night (we saw so many shooting stars!), and fawning over our newest cousin/nephew Austin! We also celebrated 2 birthdays while we were there - Oaklyn & Caden! All-in-all, it was a wonderful, memory-filled trip! Even without air-conditioning in our rental (good thing they had LOTS of fans & it cooled down my midnight every night). After the Bear Lake trip, we took advantage of the extra 2 weeks the district gave us of summer. We attempted macaroons (not quite right, but they tasted good!), made silhouette strip cutouts, hiked to Hidden Haven, went to the splash park in St. George, participated in a neighborhood obstacle course fun, made forts, and spent time with friends. In between all of this, daddy did the electrical work with Colby, we insulated the downstairs, we paid for it to get sheetrocked, mom primed and painted (see the picture of her crazy painted hair!) and the girls and dad helped paint, too, and we did all the flooring downstairs. We got to meet our new renters, Bryn & McKay and her parents. They are great! We also did lots of back-to-school shopping for supplies and clothes. We even drove to Old Navy in St. George so the girls could try things on since very few shops are letting people try things on. We got lots of cute things! On the 14th, we had Oaklyn’s 4th birthday party! We rented a bouncy slide with water & lots of friends came and had fun. It was great! Monday, the 24th, was the last day of the girls’ summer break and we did our annual “pick something fun to do.” Noelle chose the animal shelter (cute kitties!), Oaklyn chose the park (we played in the stream and got muddy, and laid in the shade at East Canyon Park), mom chose our annual picnic at Link’s bench (daddy came), Ireland chose Bulloch Drug for ice cream (daddy came there, too!), McKinley chose window shopping (we had so much fun seeing all the cute stuff at the main street shops), and Kezia chose a random act of kindness (we bought 2 hugs bags of candy, divided them into smaller bags, and dropped them at neighbor’s homes and ran). Alas, the day finally came. SCHOOL! LOTS of changes for each girl this month. McKinley started 9th grade at Cedar High! Ireland is now queen of middle school in 8th grade, Kezia is queen of elementary school in 5th grade, but red group this year, Noelle is starting East Dual, and Oaklyn is starting preschool! So crazy! The other BIG CHANGE this month was dad starting his new job at APHIS! The younger 3 had extra fun this month at the Hillsteads for Kali’s birthday party, playing in their pool, and then at the Greggerson’s pool for the primary party. So much fun! In other big news and changes - CAMRI IS HOME! Yay! We went down the evening she got home and ate yummy food and enjoyed giving Camri hugs & welcoming her home :) MIRACLES! We found water for Oaklyn’s party, the hanging & mud & tape were done in 2 days, and we found Oaklyn! She was locked in the truck on a hot day :( So scary. JASON : Jason enjoyed the time at Bear Lake! He had his hands full afterwards, after being gone to Alaska and Bear Lake, to wrap things up with the Forest Service and prepare for his new job at APHIS. He started on August 17th and brought doughnuts for everyone. It’s been a bit of a transition. Even though the FS and APHIS are both under USDA, things are done very differently at APHIS and he’s having to re-learn a lot of things. Also, he doesn’t have access to the programs he needs to do his job yet, and his computer is pretty slow, so he doesn’t feel like he’s contributing a lot yet, but there are some great things about his new job, too. He really likes the people he works with. He isn’t a supervisor anymore. His new job is a little closer to home - he can get home in about 8 minutes flat - which is awesome. And they are also good about getting out of the office on time & he’s usually home before 5:30, which is great! Jason, of course, has also worked hard doing the electrical downstairs and helping with painting and flooring. He’s a busy guy and we are so thankful for him! Another big change for daddy, which we’re all excited about: HE CUT HIS HAIR!!! HEIDI: Heidi enjoyed her time at Bear Lake with her family. She also enjoyed our last couple weeks before summer break ended for the girls. It was great to spend time with them. Maybe a little too much, because she is so behind on memory things - Oaklyn’s birthday book is not done, McKinley’s isn’t started, and our Alaska book hasn’t been started, either! She’s looking forward to catching up after the basement is done & she’ll have a few kid-free hours a week! Even though mom didn’t go back to school, she’s had some learning opportunities, learning how to use a paint sprayer and lay LVP flooring! She listened to North and South, which she thought was a book about the Civil War, but ended up being a love story in England, kind of like Pride & Prejudice (which we also read!), and she listened to The Book of Three. She regularly walks with her friends Mandy and Carmen, and runs with Diane once a week. McKINLEY: -HIGH SCHOOL! Goodness, where has the time gone? Mom helped McKinley register and we were both walking all over the school trying to figure out where her classes were. It was entertaining! :) And we got lots of steps in! McKinley is sad to leave middle school, but excited for her classes and having A and B days. So far, she has really enjoyed high school, with her favorite classes being Seminary, Human Biology, Orchestra and math. Her least favorite class is P.E. - she has to wear a mask while exercising inside :( It’s been fun to be able to text her more during the day - especially lunch. Dad is taking her to school in the morning & Emma Beacham is taking her home. -McKinley had fun at Bear Lake. She loved hanging out with Michael, playing games with him, going boating and staying up late. -Mom, McKinley, and Ireland finished Pride & Prejudice this month! Yay for Mr. & Mrs. Darcy :) After we finished, we watched the 6-hour BBC version of the movie. It was great! -McKinley spent as much time as possible with Ella and Karmiyah before school started. Lots of playing guitar and talking in her room :( -McKinley isn’t especially fond of all the construction items in her room. Especially paint - some white paint got on her dark blue carpet. -McKinley scored a TON of clothes (3 garbage bags FULL) from Miss Camri! She also got quite a few cute back-to-school things at Old Navy & Ross. IRELAND: -Ireland is in 8th grade this year and looked so cute. She got lots of cute clothes this year at Ross. She wasn’t super excited about going since Mahina is homeschooling. It’s been hard to have to walk to school and home alone. She’s been sitting with Sam at lunch, but with social distancing, it makes it even harder. She is enjoying her classes, though. She’s excited to be in symphonic band and is learning 32 pages of music! She also loves her Chinese class and is learning a lot from her teacher, who is from Taiwan. She has most of McKinley’s teachers that she had last year & they have had fun talking about them together. -Ireland had a lot of fun at Bear Lake - she even got up on wakeboarding on her first time. Tubing was also a blast and she retains her title of being the hardest one to buck off! -Mom, McKinley, and Ireland finished Pride & Prejudice this month! Yay for Mr. & Mrs. Darcy :) After we finished, we watched the 6-hour BBC version of the movie. It was great! -Ireland really stressed about what color to paint her room. Mom was hoping she’d have some color & not just have a black, white & gray room in the basement, so she chose a blue-green shade. Unfortunately, when it was on the wall it looked very different than the sample. They even went back and re-shook it. We painted one wall with 2 coats, but after much back-and-forth, she decided to go with the same gray that Bryn chose for the apartment. It looks great! She also chose a SUPER cute crystal chandelier for her bedroom. It’s looking so cute! KEZIA: -Kezia had a hard time this year with going to 5th grade in a new group. Macie and most of her friends are in blue group and it has been difficult for her. She also was very much looking forward to having Senior Niles again, and she found out that he is not teaching at the school. We are proud that she is doing this hard thing and making the most of a hard situation. She got a bunch of cute clothes to add to her wardrobe from Mahina, and mom bought her a dress, a pineapple shirt, a Harry Potter shirt, and a Harry Potter dress. She also got brand-new white Converse! -Kezia and Love were attached at the hip at Bear Lake. They ran around all day, playing in the water, going on the boat, going tubing, catching frogs, playing games, and getting sunburned! Mom & Kezia enjoyed laying down on the dock and looking at the stars on the last night we were there - we saw like 10 shooting stars. One of them was like a comet - it was HUGE! -Mom was going over some of the road sign meanings with McKinley on the way to St. George. Mom asked her what the sign of a truck on a hill with a 6% meant. McKinley answered right. Kezia said that when she was young, she used to think that it meant that if you were driving a truck down that hill, you’d have a 6% chance that you’d be alive at the bottom of the hill. -Kezia and Addie figured out how to link their Alexas and now they drop in on each other frequently :) -Kezia was so cute. Mom and Dad were downstairs working on the insulation until very late one night. We came up to find a tray with tea and a cute note on our bed. THANK YOU sweet Kezia! -Kezia did the cutest activity time for Come Follow Me. It was from Helaman about building our foundations upon Jesus Christ. She set up multiple foundations - of cups, graham crackers, paper, an egg, etc. We all voted to see which foundations we thought would hold up to the wind (blow dryer) and rain (spray bottle). It was great! -Kezia made lots of yummy treats this month - including a chocolate heart sandwich. LINK: Link, thank you for sending us gorgeous shooting stars and breathtaking full moons this month. Thank you, thank you, thank you for watching over your little sister and alerting us when she was stuck in the truck in the heat. Thank you for giving us perspective when we feel overwhelmed and stressed about the small stuff of life. We love and miss you every single day! NOELLE: -1st grade all day! Noelle is really liking her teachers (though Senora Fernandez is still in Spain for now) and it seems like she is grasping Spanish! She also made 2 friends right away on the first day of school - one was a girl from her Kindergarten class. One is named Carolina Quarnberg, and she is the daughter of Kezia’s English teacher! The tough part about 1st grade for Noelle has been how long it is. She has struggled with the transition to full-day school and is often tired, grouchy, and unreasonable. She doesn’t like how long school is and how short her free time is when she gets home. One day mom was driving her home and she said “Mom, okay. I have the plan. When I am done with the first recess then you come and get me and take me home.” -Noelle LOVED Bear Lake. She is still talking about it a month later. She loved going tubing, she loved playing on the lily pad, she was really good at kayaking & could go all by herself, she loved hanging out with her cousins, she LOVED catching frogs, and she liked swimming out in the lake. She was truly in her swimsuit all day long! On the last night we were there, mom went out to lay on the dock and look at the stars with Noelle. It was such a sweet moment. -Noelle finished The Boxcar Children book! Mom and dad were with her, but she read all 160 pages by herself! Way to go Noelle!! :) She is getting to be such an amazing reader! OAKLYN: -HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY OAKLYN! It is crazy tha 4 whole years have passed since our sunshine girl has joined our family. We love her so much! She really got spoiled this year. Her birthday was on the day we traveled to Bear Lake. She got to have chocolate peanut butter cereal for breakfast and then we took off. In Richfield, Grandma Devenish had a cake and ice cream and the Reeds came to sing as well! Then after we got to Bear Lake, mom bought a cake & got some ice cream and we all sang to her there. Mom & Dad got her a soft personalized unicorn blanket, a personalized towel, a snow globe that sings her “you are my sunshine” song, and a voice-changing megaphone. She got a purse from Aunt Trisha that she loves, and a bow and arrow and #4 magnet from Kezia. She got money from her grandmas and Aunt Kim & she used it to buy a flying owl (she named her Kalli), and a make-up vanity. :) -The festivities kept going on the 14th, when we had her birthday party!!! Mom and Dad rented a bouncy house/water slide. We were panicking for a bit when we found out there wasn’t water at the park, but we knew the neighbors next door and they were so sweet to let us use their hose. It was so much fun! The Ruperts all came, Charlotte & Addie were there, the Spigarelli & Potter boys came, Benson Bealer had fun, and McKinley’s friends Karmiyah and Addison came. We had Oreo ice cream cake and the day was hot and not windy so it was perfect! Oaklyn got some cute gifts, too! What a fun birthday party! -After years of putting on her backpack to go to school with her sisters and being told “not yet, sweetie,” Oaklyn FINALLY gets to go to school! She is loving preschool and wishes it was every day instead of twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She loves Mrs. Shirley and is making friends (though she can’t remember their names yet). She loves to sing the bubble gum song and tell mom about the books that they read and the toys that they play with. She hasn’t even complained about wearing a mask! -One Sunday, in home church, Oaklyn kept raising her hand and saying “I have a question.” It was followed by “Aliens can kill you.” And many other non-church-related non-inquiries :) -Oaklyn does call the Book of Mormon by its actual name. She says “Where is my chapter Mormon mom?” -One day Oaklyn was having so much fun playing with friends, but mom told her it was time to go. She looked up with her big eyes and said “Can we please get a little more 5 minutes?” -One day Oaklyn got an owie & mom gave her a band-aid to put on. She came out and proudly said “Look mom! I got an ice cream band-aid!” (it was a poop emoji band-aid) :) -Oaklyn is lately obsessed with freezing things! She keeps putting little medicine cups in there and random things. One day she came to mom with a frozen cheese stick and asked mom if she wanted to eat it. She said “It’s just like a popsicle mom!” -Oaklyn thing lately is snorting - a lot - when she laughs :) -Oaklyn likes to give looooong kisses at night - she says “Like you and daddy when you got married!” -One of the scariest moments and biggest miracles came this month with Oaklyn. It was a busy evening. Dad was downstairs doing electrical with Colby. Mom was upstairs cleaning & helping the girls. Mom asked where Oaklyn was. No one knew, but most of us assumed she was at Charlotte’s. Mom went downstairs to see if dad knew where she was. He said she’d been down there, but not recently. Mom asked Noelle to jump over to Charlotte’s to see if she was there. Mom decided to take some pictures of things in the garage to post online free. She opened the garage. Dad came into the garage to get a new battery and pointed at his truck and said “there she is!” She was in the truck, sweating, screaming. The look on her face was pure terror. It was a hot day and dad immediately got his keys and unlocked the truck and mom got her out. She wasn’t even red, she was closer to white, very sweaty. The truck was so hot. Mom spent the next couple hours, helping Oaklyn cool down, and weeping in gratitude that Oaklyn was safe. We are so SO so thankful she is safe. So many kids die every year in hot cars and we really feel like the angels led us to her.