Why the invisible one counts, too

I have five children. FIVE. 

I know you don't see all of them. You can count and count and count again, and you will only get to FOUR children when you see our family around town. But, I promise, I have five children. 

I have quite a few friends who have five children. Sometimes when I get together with them, I get the sense that I'm not 'quite' as experienced as them, considering they have five children, and I only have four. They see that I have four children, and some will remember & acknowledge that I have one in heaven, but it surely can't be as demanding as having FIVE living children. 

Can it? 

This is one of the hardest things to explain to someone who has not lost a child. Just because Link is not here on earth and I don't get to have the daily physical care of him - helping him to get up, get dressed, feeding him, bathing him, teaching him, dealing with tantrums, messes, etc, - does not mean that he requires less mental, physical, and emotional energy than my living children do. I know that may seem a bit of an exaggeration, but I it's true. 

MENTAL: Honestly, Link is on my mind JUST as much as my living children. And you know how, when you become a parent, you are always tuned in to where your children are? Yes, I have that with Link, too. That was one of the most difficult things those first few weeks after he was gone. Your momma mind & heart is always searching for them, needing to know where they are at that moment. While I have grown more accustomed to not knowing exactly where his spirit currently is, my heart and mind still try to keep tabs on him, just as I do my living children. 

Do I worry about him? It's not the same as my living children, but the worrying component is even there. With my living children, I worry about their safety, their health, their spiritual and educational state. Now, the worry is for me. I worry about my spiritual state, etc, and if I am making the kind of choices that will assure that I will get to be with him forever one day. I can promise you that kind of worry can be just as intense as worrying about my living children. Also - especially at the beginning, I irrationally worried about his cold little body buried at the cemetery after it snowed. And, a huge worry for us loss-parents is that people will forget our sweet child. That a year will come when no one remembers it's their birthday but you. 

PHYSICAL: No, I am not waking up with him at night, dragging him out of the store during a tantrum, strapping him into his car seat, etc. I don't have those everyday specific physical drains with Link, but ask any parent who has lost a child and they will tell you that there is a VERY large physical toll that comes with this journey. Grief from not having Link here wears me out more physically than if he were here. I know, it's hard to believe. But, it's true. I've lost more sleep from grief than an entire lifetime of night-wakings I would have gladly taken in its place. Many of us loss moms will tell you, and I'm sure research would agree, that losing a child takes many years off your life. Gray hairs, weight gain or weight loss, wrinkles, etc. There is an enormous physical, DAILY toll that comes with losing a child. 

EMOTIONAL: Raising children is hard emotionally. SO HARD. Some nights you go to bed just wanting someone to hold you and tell you everything will be okay. Especially after a day of orneriness, back-talking, tears, yelling, cutting teeth, sibling rivalry, disobedience, puberty, etc. You name it. It is HARD. But it doesn't even compare with the emotion of grief. Never. Living-children  emotional drainage is difficult, but you know eventually it will get better - there's a new day tomorrow and children go through phases. With grief, you feel like the only thing that will really cure it is getting to hold your child again. And you do not know how many seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years, or decades that might be. And so the emotional pain is just there. And the hardest part is, unlike living children, you don't have the milestones, the proud moments, the sweet talk, the hugs and kisses to offset all those negative behaviors and emotions. Just like with living children, some days are easier than others, but the hard days are just harder when you are dealing with grief. 

So - yes, having a child in heaven is very different than having a child here on earth, but the toll it takes on me as a mother is very similar, if not more demanding than a living child. If anything, I would say that Link is probably my most demanding child. Physically, emotionally, mentally. He's also so very beloved. And I feel so blessed to be his mom. 

Thank you for all those to give me "credit" for my five beautiful children. You'll never know how much it means to me. 

September Newsletter & Slideshow

https://picasaweb.google.com/103753336633055957263/2015_09_Slideshow

Hamilton Newsletter

September 2015
FAMILY: Back into the school routines & schedules along with soccer practices & games - life has gotten crazy busy! It was a good month, though, and we are grateful for our blessings, opportunities & learning experiences. Kezia started Kindergarten on September 1st! Noelle & mom are still getting used to mornings together. She sure loves when her sisters come back as mom isn't nearly as entertaining :) For Labor Day weekend, we got some home projects done - mudroom coat hooks, bench, a pedestal for the washer/dryer, and laundry basket shelves - and we still had some fun times. We went to the Iron County Fair and the girls each got to ride on 2 rides and then we saw all the cool things people had submitted for awards. On Monday, Labor Day, we finally tackled Kanaraville Falls. What a beautiful hike! The red rock, the water, the slot canyon walls, and the nature-made waterslides made for a wonderful, memorable day! We learned a few important lessons, though: Go as early as possible, don't go on a holiday! (we waited over an hour to get down the waterfall ladder) and wear quality water shoes (the girls had good running shoes, but we tried to wear flip flops, too & it wasn't very effective). Overall, though, it was just a great hike & the girls couldn't stop talking about it :) September 9th was McKinley's 10th birthday! (see her section for more details. In the middle of the month, mom & the girls finally finished reading Anne of Green Gables. It was a fabulous read & the girls loved it! Our next reading selection is Harry Potter - pretty opposite of Anne, but we are looking forward to it! On the 19th, after Ireland's soccer game, we headed down to St. George & the girls played at the Hamiltons while mom & dad went to the temple. Afterwards, we ate pizza & celebrated Jeff, Daken & McKinley's birthdays with cake & ice cream! On the 21st we headed up Cedar Canyon for FHE to look at the fall leaves. It was a beautiful cool, crisp evening & we hated to leave! Jason & Heidi had some fun date nights this month, including a drive on the moped to see the temple progress & to visit Link's grave, out to dinner at Applebee's, and the SUU event where they had free food, candy, and entertainment. There was an awesome 70's band that was a lot of fun :) The girls have also had fun with Activity Days - we learned how to make bread, we went door-to-door collecting money for Pennies By the Inch, we had ice cream sundaes, and we made s'mores at woods ranch. In between all of that, we've had to do lots of coordinating for soccer practices and games for Ireland & Kezia. The girls had a primary program at the end of the month & it was SO good! Kezi was VERY VERY loud! McKinley sang a beautiful solo for I Wonder When He Comes Again, and Ireland sang a song with all the children who had been baptized this year. They also all did so great memorizing & reciting their parts. We got SO many people coming & talking to us about how well our children did. We are so proud of all of them. Overall, September has been very warm! Temps haven't really gotten much below 80, so we're hoping for a cool-down soon! :) One thing the girls are all into right now is watching HEIDI on Netflix. It's not a whole lot like the book that we read earlier this year, but they all really like it. Also - at the end of the month was the blood moon. It was REALLY cool to wach!

JASON:  Jason was so good to do Heidi's honey-do list for labor day. The laundry room is SO much nicer! Also - Jason has been busy doing a sprinkler system for the rental home as well as being at all the girls soccer games. He is learning a lot about the game and is coaching the girls from the sidelines. Jason & McKinley are still going on walks in the mornings, but Jason just started going to the Gregerson's again to get some weight training in, too. Things have also been busy at work with his boss gone on fires pretty much all of the month and needing to work on end-of-fiscal-year projects.

HEIDI: Heidi feels like as a family we were on a leisurely boat ride during the summer and it's gone from that to full-throttle breakneck speed! It's quite interesting trying to coordinate everything :) Heidi has enjoyed her time in the mornings. Usually after she gets back from taking the girls to school, she has some mommy & Noelle time where they read books, do puzzles, color, look at pictures, etc. Then she cleans and does a morning project (organization, memory, family history, decoration, etc) before Kezi gets home. Then it's lunch & errands and time to get older sisters from school. We will be glad when the Vogts get back so we can carpool again :) Heidi read 2 books last month - Jane of Lantern Hill by LM Montgomery (really good!) and I am Number Four (also good - suspenseful). Heidi has started working out with some more friends from the ward - doing a 20 day fix dvd in the Gregerson's garage. The middle of the month, Heidi had her hair done - she was going for darker, but it was MUCH darker than she imagined. It was fun to see everyone's reactions! Very different! She did end up lightening it up a bit, but it's still much darker than before & it's kind of fun :) Heidi has finally gotten pictures printed & things up for around the TV in the living room - and she also got some of Link's pictures & memorabilia up, which she loves having out. Ireland accidentally dropped mom's 2TB external hard drive when she was taking out the laptop :( Thankfully, we were able to get some of the data off, but much of it - like movies - and a couple of McKinley's birthday book files are still missing. We got a huge 8TB external hard drive to help, but we're going to have to be better about double-backing up! It was heartbreaking when she realized some of the data was gone forever!

McKINLEY:

-HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY McKINLEY! McKinley woke up to the family singing, got to go to the little Brick House for lunch (she LOVED her Thunderbird sandwhich), she got her EARS PIERCED (!! - she got them done at Walmart & chose cute small blue - her birthstone - butterflies. She was very brave!) and Grandma & Grandpa Devenish came & surprised her on her birthday! From mom & dad she got to go see Beauty & the Beast at Tuacahn with mom the night before her birthday, getting her ears pierced, candy, UNO Dare game, and handmade earrings from PEI. Grandma Potts gave her crafty flowers and Grandma Devenish gave her a cute shirt, skirt & jewelry. She was definitely spoiled! The only big bummer of the day was that by about 4pm, she started getting a fever and wasn't feeling well. She really got hot by the end of the day & had to go to bed early :(
-One day McKinley surprised mom by cutting up ALL of the veggies from the garden (a HUGE glass bowl of cucumber) :) and making a garden salad and a fruit salad as well! It was all SO yummy - especially the garden salad. Great job McKinley!
-Dad went to McKinley's "parent training night" at North Elementary & got to get to know Mr. Sahagun and learn more about how his class works.
-One sad thing for McKinley this month - by order of President Obama they changed the name of the mountain from Mt. McKinley back to Denali :( McKinley was pretty sad when she found out - especially because Grandma & Grandpa Potts & GG Tew went to Alaska & while Grandma did find things that still said McKinley, it's sad to know the name has changed.
-McKinley read Ella Enchanted this month & really liked it (was a recommendation from mom) :)
-McKinley has a crush on a boy named Orlando :) She told her friends not to tell, but somehow he found out ;) She has been dressing up with him in mind :)
-For the primary program, McKinley did fabulous! Mom & dad got so many people saying that not only was her solo beautiful, but her entire animated expressions throughout the program were fantastic & her love for the music was so obvious. One sister said she had to force herself to watch her own children because McKinley was so animated and fun to watch :)
-McKinley's parent-teacher conference with Mr. Sahagun was fantastic! She was scored as reading on a middle-of-sixth-grade reading level and she got 100% on her first math test assessment. Mr. Sahagun said he plans on just getting out of her way & letting her fly with math and learn all she can! GREAT JOB McKinley! We are so proud of you!
-The evening of McKinley's Parent-teacher conference, we got a letter in the mail stating that McKinley was chosen by her teacher to be in a small group of students that they are putting in a gifted after-school program on Wednesday. Talk about proud parents!

IRELAND:
-One day mom was trying to help Ireland find some shoes. Mom suggested some shoes in her closet, to which Ireland replied "Mom! Those shoes are EXCEEDINGLY hot on my feet!"
-One day Ireland decided to do a mini spa for mom. She got out warm water & messaged & lotioned her feet and cut up cucumbers for her eyes :)
-Right before McKinley's birthday, Ireland said "Yeah - we're coming with you to get your ears pierced! I want to see those grubs in your ears!" Apparently Ireland heard GRUB when we were explaining about STUDS. Funny visualization though! ;)
-Ireland and Kezia ate lunch with dad while McKinley had lunch with mom. When we were walking through the halls of dad's work, Ireland exclaimed "Daddy, if you had enough money, you could live here all the time!"
-One day Ireland was having a difficult time concentrating on her homework. Mom came over & Ireland said she just wanted someone to talk to. Mom asked why she didn't just talk to herself? Ireland replied "Because that's more boring! I already know what I'm going to say!"
-Mommy was SO proud of Ireland at her parent teacher conference. Her teacher raved about what a focused, hard-worker she is and how she is really learning with math and how her handwriting and reading are phenomenal. She said her reading is at a mid-4th grade level. Great job miss Irleand! We love you & are proud of you!
-Ireland has been very busy at soccer this month between practices and games. Their team hasn't won any games yet, but they did make a goal and it's been great to watch the progress of the whole team and Ireland, too. She has worked really hard - in heat and frustration - and hasn't given up. Great job Ireland!

KEZIA:
-Yay for Kezia starting Kindergarten! Well, mom isn't so happy, but Kezia sure is! She had to wait 2 whole weeks after her sisters started, so she was WAY ready! On the first day mom and dad brought her into her classroom. Unfortunately, the school had our old address, so the bus tried to drop her off at our old house. Thankfully they called & we got her all straightened out, but it was a bit traumatic for her first day! She really likes Mrs. Ekker and has started to make new friends, including Ruby & Macy. She gets to sit by Courtney on the bus on the way home and she gets to play with her ward friends at Recess and sometimes at PE. She is having fun, though they've had to work at finding books hard enough for her. She's currently reading Magic Treehouse books (finished #13 in a week!). So - her teacher has sent home some harder, chapter book s and she is enjoying reading them and checking the off. She also LOVES to get her homework done as soon as possible and turn it in right away so she can get a sticker on her folder.
-One day Kezia came off the bus with a large red scrape on her head. Mom asked what happened & she said she was racing a neighbor boy to the bus stop and tripped & fell. She scraped her head and both her knees were bleeding :( Mommy felt so bad that she was there by herself without anyone to give her a bandaid & kiss it better!
-One day Kezia was walking around singing "All I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth GONE!" She really can't wait till those teeth fall out! She also has been counting down the days until September ends (someone is excited for their birthday!)
-Kezia has really excelled in soccer! Even though their team is frequently outnumbered, they have never lost a game! All of her teammates (Laura, Macey, and Maylee) and really good and they work well together. Kezi is a fast runner, a good kicker, and a fantastic thrower-in girl :) (that's probably not the correct term) :)
-For the primary program, mom and dad sat in the back and still could hear Kezia VERY loudly. We got many comments on how entertaining she was :)

LINK:
We felt you close this month, our sweet boy and appreciate SO much your love notes. There was one day in particular that your pictures came up on our Chromecast more, the girls talked about you more (and even made crafts with your pictures), and even Noelle was saying your name. That evening during FHE, there was a gorgeous, brilliant rainbow outside. We all came into the backyard and oohed and ahhed over it's beauty and enjoyed the closeness we felt to you. Also - in the next few days, we got numerous texts about rainbows where friends and family lived that made them and us think of you!! We LOVED it! Mom also was able to get more pictures & things up on the walls & nooks of you & LOVES how it makes you feel closer to us.  Thank you for always watching over us, protecting us, and just loving us. We love & miss you eternally!

NOELLE:
-At 17 months, this girl already thinks she is a BIG girl! She wants to drink out of big girl cups, wear big girl shoes, and be with her sisters & their friends whenever they are over!
-At night when we have a hip-hip-horray for someone in the family, Noelle chimes in at the end, raising her arms in the air, saying "HOORAY!" so adorable.
-Noelle knows the names of 3 or 4 animals now. She can say MOO! (again, cuteness overload), quack, neigh (and she tries to blow on her lips at the end), ruff, and meow.
-We were at North Elementary during Ireland's soccer practice & Kezi & Noelle were playing on the playground. Kezia would take her up & even though she was a bit timid at first, she went down the BIG slide again & again & again and laughed the whole way down. She LOVED it!
-Mom was walking into the store one day & Noelle said "LOVE YOU!" Melt-your-heart cuteness. She has said it probably 8 times since then.
-At one point in her life, Noelle HATED shoes & would take them off whenever she could. She's now reached the other end of the spectrum and is CONSTANTLY bringing mom or dad or sisters shoes or socks of varying sizes & colors. She loves shoes!
-DOORS! For a little while this month, Noelle would go into a room and shut the door and close herself in and she would cry & cry until someone opened the door. And THEN one day she figured out how to open it (EEK!). She still isn't good at opening the regular knobs, but she's got the lever knobs down pat!
-Noelle loves to watch cars pass our house and she says "Vrroom vrooom cars!" and shows the sign for cars. She also says and the does the sign for bike.
-Noelle LOVES being outside! During her "witching hour" - around 4-5:30 or so, one of the only things that will make her happy is to go outside. Good thing her sisters are usually very willing to go with her & push her in the swing or just walk around with her :)
-She says "THANK YOU!" - so sweet. She will say it when you give her something, but she also says it when she brings you something (like shoes) and wants you to help her.
-Lately Noelle has been getting on the table a lot!
-Whenever mom or dad says something like "McKinley... STOP!" (as in stop it), Noelle chimes in and says "STOP... AND GO!!" :)
-She is so cute at naptime or bedtime. She will lay down & say over & over again "ni-ni time." She's also started singing her goodnight song as we walk to her room to put her to bed! So sweet <3 all="" also="" br="" by="" her="" herself.="" likes="" noise="" on="" she="" to="" turn="" white=""> -Noelle has shown more of an interest in dolls & pretend play this month. She will get a doll, lay it down and say "Ni ni baby!"
-Noelle had one of the pretend cameras & was walking around pointing it at everyone, saying CHEESE!
-Noelle enjoys being with mom, but REALLY loves it when her sisters come home! Many times we will sit on the front porch, or just inside the storm door, watching & waiting for Kezia's bus to come home. When it does, Noelle SQUEALS with delight and just giggles until Kezia runs up and grabs her. It's so so sweet. She also loves being around all the activity day girls and just any new friend that comes over. She loves the attention :)
-She loves to go in and out of the door in her changing table - in and out. In and out. She also likes to hide in her closet :)
-For some reason in the past week, Noelle has decided to get up earlier & earlier in the morning. She used to wake up at 7:30. Then it was 7. Then 6:30. Then 6! Someone tell this girl to start sleeping in again!
-Noelle randomly starts singing the alphabet! Most of the letters are hard to decipher, but she's got the tune pretty good and she always gets the letter I in there :)
-She likes to say "pretty" when mom fixes her hair or she has a skirt on or cute shoes :)

August Newsletter & Slideshow

https://picasaweb.google.com/103753336633055957263/2015_08_Slideshow

Hamilton Newsletter

August 2015
FAMILY: How is it possible that August has already come & gone? August started in Salt Lake City for Joshua's baptism. It was a wonderful day and we loved seeing family. Congratulations Joshua! That evening, we met some other SIDS families at Sugarhouse Park. It was wonderful to visit and share about our sweet babies. Afterwards, we stopped to feed the geese at the park. There were quite a few! On August 2nd, we went to the Potts' ward and had dinner at GG Tew's that evening. Aunt Cindy was so sweet and made a Beauty & the Beast cake for McKinley since she wouldn't be there for her birthday in September. On Monday, the 3rd, we went to 7 Peaks water Park! Unfortunately, mom did not take one picture! :( But it was very fun & we got to meet the Bensons there, too. Monday night we went to see Tiarra in Shrek the Musical. She did a great job & it was a fun play :) On Tuesday the 4th, we went to the Daybreak park again - the one with the ziplines & stream - with the Edwards & Simons. The girls had fun playing at the park & with their cousins. Then we went to do sealings with the Potts & Simons at the Jordan River Temple. It was wonderful & we were able to do family names!  From August 6-14th, Heidi & Jason went to Prince Edward Island to celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary. They had such a an amazing, rejuvenating, fun, peaceful time! Some favorite memories: a gorgeous rainbow from Link on our first night - welcoming us to the island, Enjoying the quaint dairy shed turned guest house that they stayed in at French River & getting to know the Owners - Rhoda Moss & her daughters, learning about the history of Yankee Hill (the hill they stayed on - and visiting the Yankee Hill Cemetery) as well as the history of the owners' home which is said to be the place that L.M. Montgomery based her last book "Jane of Lantern Hill," spending lots of time down at "our" beach - Jason walking the shoreline finding crabs, jellyfish, hermit crabs, shrimp, and searching for clams, Heidi swimming in the ocean, having dessert with some "Maude ladies" as Rhoda would say - experts on L.M. Montgomery, going sea kayaking over by Cavendish, visiting about 6 different lighthouses, reading "Anne of Avonlea" to Jason in the car - being able to truly visualize what she was writing about, driving by all the beautiful farmlands, old churches & cemeteries and relishing the vibrant colors, the FOOD! (I don't think we ate at one bad place. They were all authentic & YUMMY!), driving to the South side & seeing confederation bridge & going to Chelton Beach, Jason's lobster, lobster bisque & lobster pizza, going to all the Anne attractions: Anne of GG Museum (Silver Bush), the Lake of Shining Waters, L.M.M Birthplace & Cavendish Home, & of course Green Gables, including walking on the Lovers Lane and Haunted Woods trails, attending church service on Sunday & meeting some nice people, drinking LOADS of raspberry cordial, going to the Blue Moon Tea Room which was owned by a Japanese couple (Terry & Mark ) who were friends of the owners, COWS ice cream!, sleeping in & hot chocolate every morning, driving down a secluded lane by French River and seeing a home with miniature castles & buildings, night-time phone calls with the girls (they had a shared line, so that was interesting!), Biking for 4 hours on the Confederation trail and through small French towns to have a picnic by the ocean, driving through the national park and having an adorable fox walk right up to us! (we fed him beef jerky, but don't tell anyone!), sleeping with the sea breeze blowing through the windows at night, acres of wildflowers everywhere, walking through some of the Garden of Hope, spending a rainy day in Charlottetown going sight-seeing with wet shoes & learning about Canadian History, and seeing Anne & Gilbert the Musical (really fun & good!), driving by a potato factory and smelling potato chips for miles on our way to Kensington, running from mosquitoes, and trying to figure out all the signs (or lack of). Usually a sign to go a certain place would be a mile before the turnoff & so it was a bit confusing, but all part of the adventure! Getting home was also an adventure as we missed the cutoff for check-in by 15 minutes & were told we wouldn't be able to get home till the next day at midnight. thankfully, guardian angels helped us along the way & we got back at midnight that day instead. It was a WONDERFUL trip! We loved their welcome home signs, candy bar poster & welcome back balloon & we are SO thankful to the Potts and the Edwards for watching the girls while we went. We got back & hit the ground running! School started for Ireland & McKinley on August 20th. The day before mom decided to take the day off from her to-do lists & let the girls run the show. McKinley decided to have a fancy tea party with friends & their new Anne dolls, Kezia wanted to go to the dollar store, and Ireland decided to have a picnic at the park with daddy. It was such a perfect day & evening, we didn't want it to end, but alas! School was upon us. Soccer, too! Ireland & Kezia are both in soccer & that has been a learning curve, but fun! For activity days at the end of the month, we had a pool party at the Gregerson's. So much fun! Couple other things this month: Our garden is doing well! Lots of cherry tomatoes & regular tomatoes & cucumbers! Also - we are SO excited about the temple! They broke ground while we were gone & we've been able to see so much progress!  one really neat thing: The girls each got to write their favorite scriptures on small rocks. Those rocks will then be crushed & made into the foundation of the temple. So neat for them to be able to say that their favorite scriptures form the foundation of the temple! And a lot of our time has also been spent trying to find a new renter for the upstairs apartment in our rental. It was SO busy because there is a housing shortage and there are SO many students this year, so my phone & grandma's phone was ringing constantly with people wanting to see the apartment. It was kind of crazy. We ended up going with a single 27-year-old engineer from Minnesota who is here on a temporary project. She seems great & we hope it will all work out.

JASON:  Jason said his favorite parts of the PEI trip were just the beautiful scenery, walking in the ocean, looking for sea creatures, and going to the cheese store. One funny memory from the trip was when Heidi sprayed Jason with "bug spray" which wasn't actually bug REPELLANT spray, but like a fog spray to kill bugs. Oops! Jason has been really good with waking up at 6:30 every other day to go walking/running with McKinley! Jason has enjoying cheering/coaching on his girls in soccer & is learning more about the game from Larry Daniel. Jason finally had time this month to fix the moped! It's running great now - GREAT JOB!

HEIDI: Going to PEI was truly a dream come true for Heidi. It was such a wonderful get-away, but then to add such beauty, fun, history, and Anne things, it couldn't have been more fabulous. In fact, since they've been back she keeps having dreams of being there again. She hopes one day they will be able to go back - and maybe even be able to take the girls. It's hard to choose a favorite part of the trip, but the day they went to Green Gables was really amazing. And she loved eating at the Preserves Company. Just being able to throw out her to-do list and just soak it all in was incredible. Because her to-do list this past month has been pretty hefty! Between getting ready for the girls to go back to school, doing things for the rental, fulfilling 3 church callings, keeping up with memory things (newsletter & McKinley's birthday book), all the packing & unpacking and all the regular day-to-day things, she has been busy! Heidi read most of Anne of Avonlea when she was in PEI, which was so much fun. She hopes to read "Jane of Lantern Hill" very soon! She's also been working out with her friends Carmen Hillstead (strength training) and Jamie Petersen (running), so that has been really good & helpful to wake up consistently at 5:20am. The evening after we got back from PEI, Grandpa & Grandpa took Heidi to the Shania Twain concert! It was so much fun and she was so glad to go since this was Shania's last tour. Thanks mom & dad!      

  

McKINLEY:

-McKinley was so brave at 7 Peaks and went down the steepest water slide they had! She is quite the dare devil!
-McKinley had fun staying at Grandma's & Aunt Cindy's. She especially loved getting to learn & play Magic the Gathering with Uncle Mike & Michael.
-GG gave McKinley a plastic owl FULL of pennies because McKinley is named after her! And some pennies were even really old!
-McKinley is SO excited to be in Mr. Sahagun's class! She says he is super-funny and keeps saying "I'm sorry, McKinley, I keep forgetting your name!" She is in a 4th/5th class and gets to be in there with her friend Maddy (who is in 5th), so she is really loving it. Mr. Sahagun has certain jobs to do - like feeding the fish, helping with books, etc, & McKinley is super excited to help out!
-McKinley is doing SO well with piano! She is almost through her book and is ready to move on to learning basic primary songs. So exciting! Her teacher says she is learning fast! And mom never has to remind McKinley to practice. She is so good and usually practices longer than she's supposed to :) Way to go McKinley!
-McKinley gave a wonderful talk in primary on Miracles. She talked about Jesus' miracles, healing miracles in our family history (Warren Stone Snow), and our own miracle of getting to take Link home at Christmastime. It was a very wonderful, sweet talk!
-One Sunday McKinley decided she wanted to bake! We had some old bananas & she followed a recipe to make banana bread! Dad says the bread was soooo good! Great job McKinley!
-Mom substituted in Primary one Sunday and they were working on Primary Program Songs. Sister Pearson asked McKinley to come lead the signs for "I know that my Savior loves me" and she did a great job!
-McKinley had someone come talk to her class about not doing drugs, smoking, etc., so McKinley did a FHE on that, complete with handouts for everyone and good activities. We all learned a lot & signed a paper saying we will stay away from those things!

IRELAND:
-Ireland had a blast at 7 peaks & she loves that she & Sienna have matching swim suits!
-Ireland is pretty sensitive when mom & dad leave. She cried a lot the night we said goodbye & she cried the first few nights we were gone. She was so sweet & happy when mom & dad got back!
-Ireland has enjoyed the new teacher Mrs. Strother so far. Can't believe she's in 3rd grade now! She just can't wait until Mahina comes back to play with her at recess!
-Ireland has enjoyed soccer so far! They've lost their first couple games, but as a team they are really learning and growing. Ireland is learning how to be aggressive & stay with the ball. She's also learning endurance & staying energized even in the heat! Their team is TEAM AWESOMENESS! :) Her friend Isabella Daniel and McKinley's friend Lindsay are on her team.
-Ireland does NOT like oatmeal. And when mom makes oatmeal in the morning ,Ireland takes it as a personal insult and is grouchy all morning :(
-Mahina told her that one time the "hair fairy" visited her one night & brought her a treat. Poor Ireland has been ripping out her hair and putting under her pillow, but to no avail. Apparently the "hair fairy" does not exist at our home.
-Ireland's coach wants to have practice on Mondays evenings. This is the first conflict with FHE that we've had in our family. After some discussion & prayer we decided that Monday family night needed to be the highest priority, so we did tell her coach she wouldn't be there on Monday nights. It hasn't been easy, but we believe the Lord will bless us for this decision and Ireland will be a better player because of it.

KEZIA:
-Kezia loved being at grandma's & sure wish we still lived there :) She did miss mom & dad, though, & made a plethora of notes and crafts for us to enjoy when we got home :)
-Kezi was really sad when her sisters went to school about 2 weeks before she gets to start Kindergarten. She didn't even want them to talk about school in front of her because she didn't think it was fair she had to wait. She got to spend lots more "Mommy & Kezia" time, though, and we had fun making a popcicle basket, waffle brownies, printing memories, etc.
-Kezia started soccer this month & mom was worried about her not being very aggressive because her personality is sensitive, not aggressive, but she has done really well for her first time! Her first game, she scored one goal & her second game she scored 2 goals. It's fun that Laura Spencer is on her team and a girl that's going to be in her Kindergarten class - Macy. GO TEAM PURPLE PRINCESS BUTTERFLIES!
-Kezi earned a date this month & got to go to Arctic Circle for a shake & then to the movie, Minions with daddy. They had the whole theater to themselves!
-Kezia had a talk in Primary this month on miracles. She did a great job and lots of people commented on what a fantastic reader she is!

LINK:
Our beautiful, noble son. We miss you so!! Mom had a really rough day or so this month - heavy with missing you. Heavy with wondering all that you would be doing right now if you were on the earth. McKinley gave a primary talk about you & the miracle it was to be able to bring you home at Christmastime and surprise everyone. That time will forever stand out in our family as one of the most special, amazing gifts we were ever given. Mom had a dream about you this month! It's been soooo long & it was so sweet to see your little face. We know you are so busy on the other side, and are so thankful when you send us love notes like the rainbow on the first day we were in Prince Edward Island. Mom has tried to get back into your Link'in families together page this month & back into family history more. WE LOVE YOU! We MISS YOU!

NOELLE:
-Such a busy girl and SO fun! Her attitude and understanding just seems to have blossomed recently. We LOVE our Noelle-my-belle!
-Grandma & Aunt Cindy said Noelle was really good for them for the most part while we were gone (whew!)
-Noelle has a mouth full of teeth now! 10 teeth to be exact! She's quite the little eater when she likes something. Her favorites are german pancakes (she will eat almost as much as her sisters!), spaghetti w/ spaghetti sauce, popcicles and ice cream. Oh - and she LOVES suckers! If she sees anyone with a sucker you'd better watch out! She will try & take it from you!
-Noelle says LOTS of words - probably at least 30. And she's started to say her sister's names. Like Ireland she says "Iiiiii!" :)
-Noelle still loves books, but she really loves to go at her own pace. You can't just sit & "read" a book to her. she will skip ahead 5 pages & then come back 2 & so on. She doesn't like chronology.
-She has liked shoes more lately & will often bring us shoes to put on her feet. She's still mostly gone barefoot all summer, though :)
-We discovered CHU CHU TV on Youtube this month. It's a cute channel with lots of songs & nursery rhymes. Noelle loves it - especially the head, shoulders, knees & toes song. Nice to have something she loves besides Signing Time!
-Noelle says Hi! Sometimes she whispers it again & again. Sometimes she does this really loud, high-pitched HI! So cute :)
-Noelle can point to eyes, nose, ears and mouth!
-Mom was just thinking how Noelle hadn't been playing in the bathroom that much lately (so glad we're past THAT phase!) then one night mom was hearing sounds in the bathroom & went to investigate. Noelle had her doggie that she sleeps with and she was dunking it into the toilet again & again. What a mess! Mom took the dog away to wash it & daddy cleaned her up. She cried quite a bit - both because she's starting to realize when she's done something wrong and because mom took away her doggie.
-Noelle is so cute when she dances. She nods her head & squats her legs and jams!
-Noelle really loves going to her sisters' soccer games. She loves walking around - talking to people, trying to take their food & drinks, and kicking stray balls around :)

July Newsletter & Slideshow

Better late than never, right? (it's been a busy summer) :)

https://picasaweb.google.com/103753336633055957263/2015_07

Hamilton Newsletter

July 2015
FAMILY: July was another wonderful, busy summer month! In addition to our regular 4th of July activities in Richfield (parade, park fun, BBQ, fireworks), it was also Jason's Richfield High School 20th Reunion, so Jason & Heidi had dinner at the Senior Center the night of the 3rd, and Jason got to ride the float in the parade! Yay! That next week, the Edwards came for a visit. We had fun going to the Aquatic Center, the St. George Children's Museum, the splash park, and the Renaissance Fair. We also had a picnic at Link's bench :) Ireland's baptism was Saturday, July 11th. It was a wonderful, special day and we are so proud of her! Many people came to support her, including Great-Grandma Tew, Grandma & Grandpa Potts, Aunt Cindy, Michael & Joshua, the Simons, Grandma & Grandpa Devenish, Sedona, Hayden & Canyon, the Hamiltons, the Bensons, the Ballous, the Davies, and the Schoppmans. After her baptism, we had a sandwich luncheon at our home and then we went to Hillcrest Park for some water fun! We rented an 18 foot water slide & we had probably 20 kids there playing on it for a few hours! It was a bit chilly, but everyone still had a great time :) We also did a piñata and had cake, ice cream & otter pops. A great time was had by all :) One evening it was late getting to bed & Ireland suggested we go look at the stars. So - we hopped into the back of the truck, laid down and watched the stars. We saw satellites and shootings stars and the beautiful moon. It was a wonderful summer moment - not as good as camping, but close.  On the 13th, McKinley, Ireland & Kezia got to play on the SAME SLIDE for a primary party at Sister Beachams! :) On the 18th, we finished cleaning out the garage & finally got to park the van in there! Hooray! Also that day, the girls got to go over to Kyla Johnson's to watch a movie in their movie theater while mom & dad went on a date! On the 24th, we joined the ward in a nice breakfast at the church and then the girls got to be in the parade & wear red, white & blue. McKinley was determined to live like pioneers that day and so we went the entire day without electricity! When it got hot, we went to the East Canyon Park to cool off in the stream and Heidi cooked the corn dogs in a dutch oven over the fire that night. It was Jason's Aunt Dee Loris' 80th birthday party in Vernal that weekend. We were all planning to go, but Noelle had had a fever and was cutting molars, so she really was not in a state to travel for 5+ hours, so Heidi, Ireland & Noelle stayed in Cedar - we went to the Park & McDonald's & watched Epic - while Jason, McKinley & Kezia stayed at Sandy's in Spanish Fork & then drove to Vernal for the party, back to Spanish Fork and then came home, stopping by a hot spring in Meadow on the way home. We were all glad to be back together again :) July was a rough month for McKinley & Ireland to get along. There were a lot of make-up bench moments and a lot of having to separate them in different rooms. Bummer. One day our neighbors & friends, the Prices, brought over a laundry basket of clothes they had outgrown. The girls LOVED them and decided to have a full-on fashion show with them, complete with a catwalk, music, multiple wardrobe changes, and a dance party at the end. So fun! We also did a lot of our themed days this month for "make-it Monday", etc & have done some fun crafts (flip-flops with beads, string stars & letters, laminated people magnets, and oodles of perler bead creativity with the Edwards) & made yummy things! For Activity Days this month, we went to the Shakespeare Green Show (fun!), hiked the "C" Trail (hard!) & did a lemonade stand. Originally, we were going to raise money for a cause, but we didn't get stake approval in time, so we just offered lemonade & baked goods for free. Amazingly, not very many people stopped for free lemonade! We still had a great time, though, brightening people's days with our signs & smiles! A lot of July was also spent on the rental that we purchased with the Potts - getting everything arranged & meeting with the current renters. There is a housing shortage at SUU this year, so we've had over 40 calls/emails about the upstairs apartment & have had to do lots of arranging & negotiating. We're hoping to have new renters in it by September 1st. We have also been SO EXCITED to drive by the site for the temple!! It's getting all ready for ground-breaking and we could NOT be happier!

JASON: Jason had a great time seeing many old classmates & visiting with them. We visited with Kevin & his brother & watched a slideshow. The one bummer, though, was that Jason had helped Dave & Jeff build a pavilion at the cabin property and Jason neglected to put on sunscreen. So - his face and especially the backs of his calves were VERY red and painful :( 

HEIDI: Heidi had fun with Cindy & her boys when they came to visit. It's always fun to have them here for a bit in the summer. Jason was also sweet enough to watch the kids while Cindy & Heidi went to see Taming of the Shrew at the Utah Shakespeare Festival. It was SO funny, fun and educational. We had a great time! Unfortunately, her back has been bothering her lately. She threw it out at the beginning of the month and then on the 18th when they were cleaning out the garage, it really tweaked & Heidi was walking like an old woman for at least a couple weeks :( Heidi is grateful that Heavenly Father answers prayers. One morning she was running alone & prayed for a friend to workout with. Within 2 weeks, she's found 2 friends to work out with! She & Carmen do strength exercises on Tuesdays & Thursdays and her new friend, Jamie that just moved in, go running on Mondays & Fridays. It's been such a blessing! Especially with her back hurting, having friends and accountability has made a huge difference. Thank you Heavenly Father!

McKINLEY:

-At the beginning of July, Heidi & Jason had a few evenings where they met with McKinley in her room after her sisters went to bed & had some "talks." :) It went well & she enjoyed spending "grown up" time with mom and dad & learning new things. :)
-As part of the "growing up" talk, we bought McKinley deodorant. She's excited to use it - but she keeps calling it "detergent" :)
-Another side-effect of her growing up is her desire to fix her own hair. We found some really good tutorial videos on youtube & she has been doing more things with her hair - braids, headbands, bobby pins, etc. It's been fun to see her learn.
-McKinley went to "Girls Go Digital" camp at SUU for 2 days at the very beginning of the month and she LOVED it!! Seriously, we've never heard her so excited about anything! She just couldn't stop talking about all the awesome things she learned & did, including making her own doggie robot, coding, learning about pixels, make an LED bracelet and so much more. She can't wait to go back!
-McKinley was so sweet & wanted to make a skirt on her sewing machine for Ireland for her baptism. So when Aunt Cindy came, they made a cute skirt together. Unfortunately, McKinley's sewing machine needs some repairs, but it still turned out cute & was so thoughtful. Great job McKinley!
-Though we were out of town and so was her teacher for a couple weeks, McKinley still has done really well with her piano lessons! She is learning so much and so fast! We are so proud of her :)
-McKinley got 4 chapter books at the library this month. Mom didn't really think she would finish them all, but she really plowed through them & was done within the month!
-McKinley has been spending more time with mom & dad in the mornings. On Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays, she wakes up at 7 and walks with daddy for 30 minutes. On Tuesdays & Thursdays, she does our "Mother-Daughter devotional book." It's been neat to have that special time with her.
-McKinley's latest thing is learning about dogs. She REALLY wants a puppy once Sydney dies and she's been reading and taking notes in her dog book about the different breeds.
-One day McKinley asked mom "So... is it Van Gough that lives in our ward?" So so cute... :) She knew we have a famous LDS painter in our ward (Del Parson) - she just couldn't remember his name :)
-McKinley sure loves her texting app on her tablet. She especially loves to send texts to her aunts and grandmas.
-McKinley made elastic weaved bracelets for every member of our family, using our favorite colors! Even Noelle! Thank you McKinley!!
-Another idea of McKinley's was if she had her "dream house," listing all the rooms she would have in it. Things like an "obstacle course room" and an "optical illusion room." 38 rooms in all! We can't wait to see it when she grows up :)
-McKinley has really been good with her chores this summer! She even has extra chore than her sisters like "Wash my face" and "write in my journal" - she has done so good. Great job McKinley!

IRELAND:
-What a fun month for Ireland! She's been looking forward to turning 8 and her baptism for ever so long & the long-awaited day finally came! On Ireland's birthday, Jason asked her if she felt old. She replied "No! I feel awesome!"
-Ireland came around with mom to deliver her invitations for her water slide birthday party. Mom is so sad she didn't take a picture of everyone who came, but there were probably 20 kids there at one time - going down the water slide, hitting the piniata, and eating cake & ice cream. It was SO much fun & we hope Ireland will never forget her birthday! Her big gift from mom & dad was a tablet just like McKinley's except purple. She also got new scriptures from mom & dad & she has been so excited to read them. Grandma Potts got her her flower CTR ring (which has already fallen off a couple times - we need a smaller size for her tiny fingers!), Grandma Devenish got her her beautiful baptism dress, Aunt Cindy slaved over her beautiful Barbie Cake, mom spent MANY hours on her baptism slideshow, and she had many other wonderful gifts of necklaces and books. She was very loved & spoiled!
-Ireland is still playing "musical beds" :) She was sleeping with Kezia in her bed upstairs for quite a while, but now decided to sleep in her own room as long as Kezia sleeps with her.
-One night as mom was leaning down to kiss Ireland goodnight, she could see she was crying. Mom asked her what was wrong & she said ""It's just that I miss my brother. I want to know when he's coming back to us."
-One day mom was in the garden and spotted a nasty tomato caterpillar. One of those huge things. She told the girls to get rid of it, but sure enough, they brought it inside & found a jar for it. When mom asked why they just didn't kill it already, Ireland said "You may not like the tomato caterpillars, mom, but we think they're inspirational!"
-One of Ireland's favorite sayings lately: "What the hey?"
-A proud mom moment came when Ireland was done with gymnastics and she held the door open for her fellow gymnasts coming out. Great job Ireland!!
-Speaking of gymnastics, Ireland is doing so well!! Her current record for walking on her hands is 8 times! She can do a backbend kick-over and a front bend, come up! and she's getting so good on the bar. She can get up there all by herself and is working on the hip circle. So proud of our gymnast!
-Ireland spent a good deal of time with her sisters & Mahina making a fairly heavy duty fairy house out of leftover 2x4s. She had McKinley hot glue gun it together & she had tiny plates with tiny cut-up carrots, seeds, and everything. Beds, cups, etc.

KEZIA:
-One day when mom was driving her to a friends, Kezia said completely randomly "Mom - Grandma will be ready for heaven when it's her time. She is so nice to us!" Mom agreed & shared it with Grandma Potts, but told her to not be getting any ideas!!!
-One morning for breakfast, Kezia randomly went into the backyard. Mom wondered what was going on, but saw what was happening when she came back with a handful of raspberries and placed them in her cereal just so - to match the picture on the front of the cereal box.
-The girls get an extra chore if mom has to take care of their plates or bowls from the table. One day, McKinley & Ireland left theirs on the table, so Kezia scooped them up & took them to the sink before mom could take care of them just to be nice to her sisters :)
-We were doing a Superhero puzzle & after we had put it together, Kezia noticed Spiderman & said "he's doing the I LOVE YOU sign!"
-Poor Kezia has had a hard time lately with summer. She's used to mommy & Kezia time, but with everyone home it's been really hard to find that time during the day. Hopefully once school starts & routines get back into order, it will be easier! She especially wants to do crafts from the books she picked out at the library :)
-Our new neighbor, Jamie Petersen, teaches a music class for kids that are Kezia's age. She went to a preview class & had a lot of fun. It was really cute.
-Kezia was so cute one day. She put together a family "party", complete with invitations, money, treats, 2 treasure hunts, and a game! So fun! We love how she loves to do fun things like this :)
-Kezia was so cute & made mom a headband out of a ribbon, see-through stones, feathers, & pom poms. I am one lucky mom to get so many amazing crafts from kezia! She is so creative!

LINK:
Our sweet baby boy. We love you SO much and are SO thankful when we take the time to SEE the love notes you give us. One morning mommy woke up really early - like 5:20am - to go exercise. She wasn't very excited about it. It was really dark when she started. But she decided to walk down to where the temple was getting built & by the time she got there, the sky had lightened & there was the most beautiful, pink clouds. It was perfect! She walked away from that spot - feeling SO blessed about the temple and your love note - only to find that you had send another one! This time it was a small, but definite RAINBOW! In the West (which hardly ever happens) - and at 6:30am!! After mommy saw that, she just couldn't stop the tears from flowing & she thanked you out loud for that specific blessing to be able to see your rainbow. How glad she was that she woke up that morning! Not only those love notes, but she has been noticing hearts in random places - rocks, clouds, splatters in the outside fridge, and even when she cut open a watermelon - hearts on all 4 sides! THANK YOU for sending so much love to us this month! We miss you so much every single day - and we LOVE YOU to no end!!We also enjoyed having a picnic at your bench this month with the Edwards, Grandma Potts & GG. We even make a garage for your cars out of "Lincoln :) Logs"

NOELLE:
-Oh, our sweet girl! She is growing too fast! At 15 months, she is everywhere & into everything!
-If you ask Noelle how old she is, she says "ONE" and tries to hold up one finger. It's so cute!
-Poor Noelle was not so happy in July. She was cutting molars and they made her VERY grouchy! We went through a lot of ibprofin and frozen gogurts this month!
-Noelle is so adorable at prayer time. You say "prayers!" and she will fold her little arms so cute. The only thing is that her sisters have confused her a bit with the sign for "baby" and just folding arms for prayers, so she will often "rock" her arms during the prayer.
-Mom helped in nursery again this month & again Noelle did SO GREAT! She sat in her seat like a big girl, ate the snacks & drank the drinks out of a big girl cup and even participated a little bit in the music time. We're on the countdown for full-time nursery! :)
-One time in church, Noelle gave mommy a bit of her cereal & mom ate it & said "Mmmm!" Seeing that mommy liked the cereal, she unselfishly took the cereal she had in her own mouth and tried to put it in mommy's & couldn't understand why mommy didn't like that one as much?
-Noelle still LOVES Signing Time & sometimes it's the only thing that will calm her down. she knows quite a few signs but doesn't use them a lot. One that she does love to say and DO is "STOP" and "GOOOO!" It's so cute! She also says & signs "hurt"
-Noelle really does try to be with her bigger sisters. If they are playing on the Wii, she wants to play too & tries to grab the remote or push buttons on the TV. She doesn't understand why they put her outside the door and close it on her!
-Noelle has really started helping to unload the dishwasher! If you can get her from standing on the door, she might just hand you utensils, one by one and say "Thank you!"
-Noelle's naps were a bit all over the place this month with her teething & sickness. She had a fever & just wasn't acting herself. She went from one nap to two naps & sometimes even three naps a day. Thankfully, she seems to be feeling better all the way around & is back to just one nap.
-She graduated from having a tray with her high chair to no tray - just pulling her up to the table to eat with us. She still is known to give most of her food to Sydney, though :/
-Another one of Noelle's loves is her pink swing. If she is ornery, mom or one of her sisters takes her out for swinging & she LOVES that! She loves to be outside!
-Noelle is NOT afraid of the water! At the splash park, she doesn't shy away from the splashing or dumping water - she walks right up there & has a ball!
-Noelle can now point to your nose, eyes, ears and mouth! Also - if you ask her where her belly button is, she just kind of grabs her belly! So cute.
-She LOVES balls!
-She still loves music, singing, dancing, etc :)

June Newsletter & Slideshow

https://picasaweb.google.com/103753336633055957263/2015_06Slideshow

Hamilton Newsletter

June 2015

FAMILY: June was a wonderful month! We sure have loved summer so far :) We got to check off a lot of our summer bucket-list items! Including painting & constructing a castle out of our washer box, making Wendy's chocolate shakes, making glitter magnets, going to the St. George splash park, making sand pudding, making toilet paper roll animals & people, going to the Lake at the Hills, making smoothies, slushes & homemade ice cream, hiking Hidden Haven, swimming at the aquatic center, making 4th of July crafts, having a picnic at Woods' ranch, and much more! It's been so fun to have "Make-it Monday," "Try-it Tuesday," "Water Wednesday," "Thinking Thursday," & "Forest Friday." The girls really look forward to the fun activities & mom loves spending extra time with her girls. At the beginning of the month, daddy took the girls to the circus! They hadn't been in a couple years, so they had fun! But the sad part was that Kezi got sunscreen in her eyes and they were really hurting, so mom had to come get her & she didn't see much of the show :( Some terribly tragic news this month was that Grandma Potts' cousin in California accidentally backed up and killed his 6 year old granddaughter . GG & Grandma Potts flew to California to support them and be there for the funeral of this sweet girl. Also - one of the young men in our ward (who Jason was over when he was in YM), was driving with his girlfriend and they got into an accident & she was killed. Our hearts are broken for this family. On June 16th, Heidi & the girls headed up to SLC for our annual "friend & family catch-up week." Jason actually ended up having a work meeting in Escalante that week anyway, so it worked out. We had fun going to a splash park with Anna Packard and her girls, going to IKEA, going to the zoo with the Bensons (there were moving dinosaurs there! & mom got all the girls hats), driving to Syracuse to meet up with Heidi's friend, Gayla, playing at the Matthews' home in Herriman, hanging out with the Simons at a Daybreak park, having breakfast at Joseph's new place, and Grandpa taking the girls to see the new movie, Inside Out. Heidi also got to have separate get-togethers with her cheerleader friends and Park City friends. It was a wonderful catch-up week! That next weekend, we hosted one of Heidi's SIDS mom friends (July) to a BBQ while they were in town for her daughter's archery competition. Our kids really got a long and we enjoyed visiting. We also have been hosting our new neighbors, the Petersen's for dinner, while they work on their new home to get ready to move in. They have 6 children, so it will be fun to have more kids on our street!  In-between all of this fun was getting the hardwood put in our front room, building shelves in the garage (whew! a LOT of work!), planting our garden, moving forward with buying an SUU rental with the Potts, and organizing and decorating to prepare for Ireland's upcoming baptism. It was a wonderful month!  

JASON: Jason continues to have many work force planning meetings and he had his trip to Escalante for work. This year, Father's Day and Jason's birthday were in the same week! We had fun spoiling him with breakfast in bed, treasure hunts, HAPPY FATHER'S DAY signs, cards, making his favorite foods, & giving gifts. For his birthday dinner, we got a sitter & went to Milt's. Jason also worked hard this month building shelves in the garage & it's SO nice to be able to start really organizing the garage!

HEIDI: Heidi is enjoying her new activity days calling. This month she got to go with the girls to the Shakespeare greenshow, and making lip gloss. Also - Heidi helped with her Relief Society calling - making posters, door flyers, and taking pictures for the fun Family Reunion Idea night. Heidi was ready for a change & chopped about a foot off her hair! :) She had to deal with a yucky cold sore that lasted almost 2 weeks, which wasn't fun :( Heidi really enjoyed catching up with friends this summer. It's nice to keep those connections over the years and see what everyone is up to. Heidi has been busy decorating and had fun (maybe a little too much fun?) at IKEA getting things to put here & there around the house. It definitely feels more like home now that we have things on the walls and there is more organization & places to put things. She also worked on making our home really decorated for the 4th of July, including string starts, a jar with red, white & blue beans in it, hankerchief banners, pillows for the front yard, red, white & blue flowers in the front yard barrels, and some other patriotic touches around the house (Including painting our front door blue) :) Heidi also read "Rekindled" this month & really loved it! Also - she's started doing strength workouts on Tuesdays & Thursdays with her friend, Carmen, so that has been fun!

McKINLEY:
-McKinley started piano & voice lessons with a lady in our stake, Jan Pressgrove. She is a great teacher & McKinley is excited & eager to learn! We had our piano in our garage while our front room was being done - and then McKinley left her practice books at Grandma's, so it's been a bit difficult to practice, but she's getting there!
-McKinley is really growing up! She is fitting into small women's clothes and can wear mom's skirts to church & can wear her flip flops!
-McKinley got her new tablet and it came with a keyboard. She LOVES texting everybody - especially grandma. Grandma is sharing some articles she's written with McKinley & McKinley is working on articles for the friend that she is going to have Grandma read.
-This summer, McKinley wants to index and she also wants to start figuring out how to make vehicles that are 100% solar powered :)
-She's got to play with Olivia and Emma this month & they've had fun!

IRELAND:
-Ireland started back up with gymnastics this month at Julie's & she's really loving it! She's back to doing cartwheels, handstands, and backbends all the time - all over the house & anyplace she can find grass :)
-Ireland got to get her baptism pictures taken in St. George this month. Grandma Devenish bought her a beautiful dress and even though it was hot, the pictures turned out cute. After the pictures, mom & Ireland went to a place where you could serve your own ice cream & toppings. It was fun :)
-Ireland has had fun having friends over - especially Emmy and Isabella.
-Ireland has had fun being penpals with Kaydence, Jason's cousin's daughter in Texas.

KEZIA:
-Kezia had swimming lessons this month! She was the youngest in level 1 & her teacher said at first she wasn't sure she would be able to keep up, but she did terrific & ended up passing that level with flying colors! Now on to level 2 for next year!
-After we went to the St. George splash park, we went to Maverick for gas and icees. We were in line to pay for them, and the guy in front of us dropped some coins as he was heading out. Kezi picked them up and gave them to him. A few seconds later he handed her a dollar for her honesty. So sweet! She was very exited :)
-Kezia was doing FHE & she asked mom "Can you print out like 5 pictures of the Holy Ghost for me?"
-Daddy was so sweet for Kezia's FHE. She wanted, NEEDED checkerboard cookies & daddy helped her make them, even though it took over an hour & we didn't even start FHE till 9pm.
-Kezia has had fun with friends, too, including Paige, Adelaide & Emmy.
-Kezia got to have her lunch date with mommy this month, going out to Denny's :)

LINK:
We always love when family & friends send us pictures of rainbows - we got 2 this month (& we saw one, too!) from the Edwards who were in DisneyWorld and the Harrisons who were in Texas. Also - Grandma Potts sent you 2 tractors in the mail to put by your bench. It warms our hearts to know that you are still remembered, loved & missed. We still think about you & talk about you every single day, sweet boy. We love you & miss you.  

NOELLE: We all agree that somehow Noelle just gets cuter & cuter every day! She's 14 months this month!
-Noelle really says quite a lot of things for her age. This month she added "gentle, Shhhh, Sydney, Sit (at least we're pretty sure it's SIT ;), Grandpa, Signing Time & Alex & Leah!" The girls are all trying to get her to say their names first & in the end it was Sydney's name that won out :)
-For some reason, Noelle has started hitting her face this month :(
-We are also working with Noelle on being GENTLE (probably why this is one of her first words) to Sydney. Sydney is a patient dog, but there have been a few times where she has barked at Noelle because Noelle keeps pulling on her ears and poking her nose & eyes.
-We still need to capture it on video, but Noelle really does sing parts of "Twinkle Twinkle" and the "Signing Time" song. It's SOOOOO cute!
-Noelle also puts her finger to her lips and says "Shhhhh"
-Noelle is getting so good at stacking blocks. She stacked 3 the other day!
-She is still INFATUATED with the bathroom. She loves to play with the toilet and toilet paper.
-Mom finally put some child locks on some of the cabinets in the kitchen after she was tired of Noelle pulling out tons of crayons & markers all the time.
-Noelle really loves being with her big sisters & she already wants to be a "big girl" & do what they're doing. When Ireland is doing her tricks downstairs, she squats down and puts her head on the ground & we help her to do a somersault. So cute!
-Noelle loves to find a cup or box or anything & put random things inside.
-Noelle's teeth seem to be bothering her a lot this month & she has gone through a lot of frozen go-gurts.
-We got a baby swing for the backyard swing set & Noelle LOVES it! She just laughs & laughs.
-Noelle really loves the water. Whenever we go to a splash park, we set her down & she just heads right for the water. She will walk around & splash all afternoon :)

May Newsletter & Slideshow

https://picasaweb.google.com/103753336633055957263/2015_05_Slideshow

Hamilton Newsletter

May 2015

FAMILY: Most of May was spent surviving moving (including cleaning our old home & getting our new home painted & new carpet) and the last month of school, but we still managed to squeeze in a few fun things, too :) May 8th was the Share of Southern Utah annual Walk of Remembrance & Hope. Once again, we ordered shirts and put Link's picture on the back. We are so thankful for the Devenishs & the Potts who braved the snow & rain to be there to support us & remember our Link. The Potts were also so helpful in moving! We couldn't have done it without them! May 9th was Mother's Day and Heidi felt very loved & taken care of - the girls even made a HUGE HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY sign in the basement. It was SO cute!  Early in the month, the girls & Heidi went to the dentist. McKinley was the only one without a cavity (great job McKinley!).  May 12th was Jason & Heidi's 15th wedding anniversary. In the morning, we watched the wedding video and that evening the buyers of their home, the Marxxs, were so sweet to get us a $50 gift certificate to The Depot! It was so sweet! & we had a wonderful time enjoying our dinner. On the 16th, a carnival came into town and we stopped by to ride a few rides and have some cotton candy. Afterwards, we went to McDonald's :) The 20th was the "unofficial" last day of school for the girls. We let them out of school a couple days early so we could go to the Payson Temple Open House and Mapleton for Memorial Day weekend. The Payson Temple was beautiful and the girls couldn't stop oohing & ahhing over all the sparkly chandeliers. It made us almost GIDDY to have our Cedar Temple finished (groundbreaking scheduled for August!). Afterwards, we headed up Mapleton Canyon & for possibly the first year ever, were the first ones to arrive! We spent the time setting up our tent and getting things arranged. It's the first time we've "tented it" in probably 5 years, so we were a bit wary, especially with the forecast showing 80% chance of rain. Jason was smart, though, and rigged up a tarp over our tent, and wouldn't you know it? We were the only ones who stayed dry! The Edwards, Simons & Tew's trailers all leaked. Still - it was cold and wet & muddy & we missed our trailer. However, we all still had a great time. The girls had fun running around with their cousins, finding cool rocks & fossils, hunting for firewood, making friends with worms and snails, and enjoying the campfire. They were sad when we had to leave on Sunday, but we all enjoyed a nice hot shower when we got home :) On Memorial Day, we came to the cemetery with so many others & laid a blanket down by Link's bench. We stayed for quite a while & talked about why we have Memorial Day & those in our family who had served in the military.  On the 29th, we all slept over at the Hamilton's & the next day Heidi competed in the Sand Hollow Triathlon (sprint distance).  In the afternoon, we headed to Richfield to surprise Grandma Devenish for her 70th birthday. We all gathered at El Mexicano & shouted "surprise!" when she came in :) It was fun to surprise her. Happy 70th Grandma! Now that summer is here, Heidi & the girls put together our 2015 Summer Bucket list, Pinterest style. We printed off pictures of things we wanted to do & put it in our overall theme: Make-it Monday (make a new recipe), Try-it Tuesday (try a new craft), Water Wednesday (play in the water), Thinking Thursday (do something learning-oriented), & Forest Friday (go explore our local forests). It has been a lot of fun to do these things and we've all had a great time.  Overall, we are really loving our new home. The yard is so much more accessible, it feels so much cozier and safe knowing where our children are, the street we live on now is much, much less busy, we love our new neighbors, and the girls are loving have their own rooms. Also - we have officially started Anne of Green Gables this month & the girls are really loving it!

JASON: Jason continues to have a lot of meetings at work & has worked hard on moving this past month, too!

HEIDI: Whew! What a crazy May! Even though there is still SO much to still do (boxes piled in the garage & unfinished room downstairs), Heidi is just so thankful that everything is moved over. It's always such a big job trying to piece a home together & find out where everything should go. Still lots to do, but it is getting done in little bits here & there & she has faith that they'll eventually have everything in its place. Another fun thing for Heidi was getting her NEW washer/dryer machine. It does both! It took a little getting used-to, but now she really LOVES it! Loves not having to remember to change over clothes :) To add to the busyness of moving, she finished her 8 week healthy challenge (3rd place!!) and completing her triathlon on May 30th. She was worried it would be too hot, but it turned out just fine. Heidi finished in 1:30 & got 4th in her age group (beat out 3rd by only one minute!). It was a lot of fun & she was happy to be getting back into it after probably 3 years of not doing a tri. Heidi is also enjoying her new calling with Activity Days. The girls are sweet & it's fun to be there with McKinley & soon Ireland will officially be in there :)

McKINLEY:
-At the beginning of the month, McKinley missed almost a week of school. She was tired & kept having recurring fevers and headaches. She missed important testing & even her swimming field trip :(
-McKinley did do the mini mall again this year - she paired up with 2 of her friends as sold some of her artwork, her popcorn balls, and also some peanut butter blossom cookies. She completely sold out of her treats and came home with some fun things, too. Great job McKinley!
-McKinley did a great FHE on being a peacemaker, which was perfect timing now that the girls are home together all day!
-There was a girl that moved to McKinley's class a few months ago, Kida. We didn't know it, but she was being fostered with the Beachams. She had to move, but told Sister Beacham what an awesome friend McKinley was to her. So proud of our McKinley & her kindness!
-McKinley had so much fun in Mapleton Canyon with her cousins - especially Michael :)
-Now that the summer is here, McKinley has really been such a big help with her sisters when mom needs to run around. She can watch Noelle for one of her choice-chores, so it's a win-win situation :)

IRELAND:
-Ireland gave a wonderful FHE on fasting at the beginning of the month :)
-Mom couldn't have survived the move without Ireland's big help. Many times, she would clean up the downstairs without being asked (and it was very messy!) or she has helped make meals or watch Noelle. Thank you Ireland!
-Ireland really liked the idea of her own room with her green carpet & green walls. But the reality wasn't quite what she expected. She kept having nightmares & finally decided to sleep with Kezia. She still loves having her clothes downstairs, though. And she really keeps her room tidy!

KEZIA:
-Kezia is DONE with preschool! Bittersweet for mommy :( She is now officially a Kindergartener! Kezi enjoyed her last weeks of preschool - especially their field trip to the farm!
-For FHE we were talking about Peter & Kezia said "mom! I bet you have enough faith to walk on the water, too!" :)
-Kezi loves camping & REALLY loves bugs. She gathered snails and worms and had them crawling all over her hands. She couldn't understand why mom didn't want to bring them home!
-At the end of the month, Kezi did something BIG! She learned how to ride her bike without training wheels! We went to South Elementary to practice & she caught on so fast! She's still not sure about riding on sidewalks, but she does really well on the flat surfaces! GREAT JOB KEZI!!

LINK:
We always jump at any chance to officially remember you, our baby boy, so we again loved Share's Walk of Remembrance this year. Also- we got to make your bench patriotic for Memorial Day & spent quite a bit of time there. Mom had some hard moments with moving, leaving the home where your memories were made. But she felt some reassurances that you are present in our new home, watching over us & loving us. And we love you back a hundred fold. Love you our duder-dude.

NOELLE:
-Noelle had been toying with walking for almost 2 months, but this month she just TOOK OFF! She is practically running everywhere now & it's really hard for us to keep up with her!
-Noelle is quite the explorer - her favorite things are to pull out anything in the dishwasher if it's open, and we find kids' plates all over the house because she likes to get them out of the drawer. She also loves to open the drawers by the office area & pull out mom's old cell phone & chew on it.
-Her 2 top teeth are almost all the way in!
-Noelle now says "uh-oh scettios!" (so adorable!)
-After some lessons from Grandma Potts, Noelle finally goes downstairs the right way every time! Whew! So nice not to have to put a gate up! (though, for the record, she did take one spill down the stairs after she was trying to push a white stool around) :(
-Mom got tired of Noelle's straggly hair in the back, so one day she just chopped it. It looks really cute! (if you don't look too close) ;)
-Noelle used to cry if she was hurt or tired or hungry. Now she's started to whine, cry & even growl if she can't reach something or doesn't get her way. It begins!!!
-Noelle must have gone through a major growth spurt at the end of the month. One morning, she had cereal early when she got up, then she ate more when her sisters had breakfast, and then when dad ate, she ate still more! Thirdsies! ;)
-One of Noelle's favorites words lately: NO!!! (Oh no!)
-Noelle is pretty much down to one nap a day!
-She sleeps really well at night - sometimes waking up, but finding her binki and putting it back in. We got her a new crib because her other one was missing pieces and broken.
-Noelle seems to really like this new home. She can go downstairs easily and we have unboxed some toys for her down there, so she really likes it. Also - they left their huge TV for us, so she loves watching Signing Time down there.
-Noelle (like most babies) LOVES the bathroom. We have to remember to keep the door closed or she is in there in a snap. She has put old phones, socks, and screws into the toilet already :(
-Noelle also says MILK! & usually says it soon after she wakes up.

April Newsletter & Slideshow

https://picasaweb.google.com/103753336633055957263/2015_04_Slideshow

Hamilton Newsletter

April 2015

FAMILY:  This newsletter will most likely have some gaps. It's already the middle of May & I'm just sitting down to write this up! That tells you how crazy it's been! April was a busy, busy month! It started in SLC - finishing off our Spring Break by visiting Great Aunt Cindy in her care home, going out to eat at Denny's, & roller skating at Classic. Then daddy picked us up on his way back from his work meeting in Ogden and we headed to Richfield. The Hamiltons came, too, and we enjoyed a weekend full of family, time, General Conference and Easter festivities, including making chocolate easter nests, dying eggs with kool-aid, and going on an Easter egg hunt! The 8th was Noelle's 1st Birthday!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY NOELLE! See her section for more details about her special day. We are SO grateful - especially after losing Link - that she has made it to this milestone. She is such a joy & a light in our family. The girls put on a special play called "The Adoption" in our unfinished basement one Sunday, complete with a program, props, and costumes & we all thoroughly enjoyed it - so cute! :) On the 17th, the girls got a lateover with friends! McKinley invited Alyssa Lemarka from church, Ireland invited Mahina, & Kezia had Courtney Riddle over. They had fun playing the Dance Wii, making their own pizzas & eating caramel popcorn and watching the new Tinkerbell movie. On the 19th, we sang Families can be Together Forever and I am a Child of God in Sunday School as a family. We got word that Uncle Joe had passed away on Wednesday and we left for Texas Thursday, the 23rd. We drove to Albuquerque, NM that day & stayed overnight. Then on to Petrolia, TX. We got a hotel room at the Red Roof Inn in Wichita Falls, going back & forth from Petrolia. We really enjoyed our time in Texas! It had been 7 years since we'd last been down there & our girls didn't remember it at all, so it was wonderful to have them meet so many family members. Ireland especially enjoyed playing with Dustin's daughter, Cadence. They are the same age & Ireland was always excited to see her. We spent most of our time at Yvetta's & she was so hospitable. The kids had fun throwing around a football, flying kites, gathering acorns for the fairies, climbing trees, playing on Yvetta's swings, playing with Shane & Julie's dogs and jumping on their tramp, and being creative with the things Grandpa Bill & Ophie got them. Heidi & Jason enjoyed visiting with family. There was quite a bit of rain & even a tornado watch while we were there. Uncle Joe's funeral was Tuesday, the 28th. Aunt Kim & Uncle Jeff had flown in the day before. It was a wonderful graveside service at the Charlie Cemetery & we were grateful to be there to honor & remember Uncle Joe. We left after the funeral & again drove to Albuquerque & stayed the night. We got home Wednesday evening about 6:30pm. We are so thankful for safety in our travels and that the girls all did SO well during the long drive! Thursday morning, the 30th, we closed on our home. We are very grateful that we were able to sell our home so quickly & to wonderful people, the Marxx. We are also grateful that things have worked out to buy the Hatch home. It's a wonderful home & we are excite to be able to stay in the ward, but on a quieter street with more children. Now - MUCH MUCH MUCH to do!! :) One thing we were sad to miss while in Texas was the 5k we signed up for & trained for. We really did go on quite a few training runs, even amidst complaining & groaning. We were up to the 5k distance, so we're sad we missed the race, but hopefully we'll still get the shirts :)

JASON: Jason has been much busier than usual at work, with meetings almost every day. But family comes first & he was grateful to be able to take some time off to go see family in Texas. He enjoyed sharing memories of summers in Texas & he enjoyed seeing some of the sights along the way. He's also been very busy at home, packing & helping start to move. At the end of the month, Jason got a new calling at church. He is now the Elder's Quorum 1st consoler. He is sad to leave the scouts, especially with the fun upcoming trips this summer, but he is also looking forward to being in EQ again. One other major life event for Jason this month - after much peer pressure from his nieces, he finally shaved off his chin hair!!! :)

HEIDI: It's been so nice this month not to have showings to deal with. Now, she is tackling a bigger beast, though - moving! While it's such a short move & there are many things they don't have to take apart, it's still a huge job! Heidi continues to do her 8 week challenge as well as doing her triathlon training, though she hasn't gotten nearly the training in that she'd hoped. This month, Heidi worked with our local newspaper and radio stations to get the word out about the Share Walk in May. Heidi enjoyed going to Texas & really enjoyed spending some "girl time" with Julie & Rachel, going shopping & getting ice cream. During the drive, Heidi read to Jason a book she's been wanting to read for a while - "Unbroken." It was an amazing book & neat to be able to read it with Jason.

McKINLEY:

-A dream McKinley had this last month:  Family was doing a race. Short race. McKinley got done super-fast & then she was with her class on a field trip. She realized she was in a dream & had super powers. Then there was a pirate & they went into multiple doors & they twisted a girl that took them back in time. There was Braxton & Kida. Back to Lincoln's time & there was a mean guy that she remembered. He was pretending to be a dentist. She hid under the tablecloth & saw Mickey Mouse. They went to the library (it was labeled). The only books in the library were Narnia & a few others. So they went to the map & decided they wanted to go to George Washington's time to save endangered animals. Then she woke up :) Now, she wants to do a blog about endangered animals.

-McKinley really loved meeting family in Texas and she loved the art set that she got from Grandpa Bill & Ophie.

IRELAND:
-One day mom overheard Ireland asking McKinley "Have you ever caught a dust fairy before?"
-Ireland gave mom a super-cute invitation for a popcicle-poetry-picnic at school. Mom was a couple minutes late, but glad she came because she thoroughly enjoyed Ireland's poetry and getting to spend time with her.
-Mom also spent time with Ireland to finish her habitat assignment. She chose the savanna because the cheetah is her favorite animal. She did a great job on it! Unfortunately, we missed the Arts night this year because we were just getting back from Texas, so she didn't get to display it as school, but she did show her teacher after we got back.
-Ireland really loved her new friend Cadence who she got to play with in Texas. It took a few hours for her to warm up, but afterwards, they were pretty much inseparable. And she asked to go play with her whenever they were apart.

KEZIA:

-When we were in SLC, Aunt Cindy gave a lesson about being honest. Kezia must have really taken it to heart, because for a few weeks after that, she would come to mom about any indiscretion. Her confessions included opening her eyes during prayer, thinking about a movie during prayer, staining her shirt, & whining.
-We went to a carpet store one Saturday & the owner had a puppy. The puppy was excited and was chewing on everything. It chewed on Kezi's arm & a few minutes later, Kezia came to mom & said "Mom! Mom! I know why puppies like to chew on people's arms!" Mom asked why. She said "Cuz there's bones inside!"
-One day in the van we were talking about swear words. Kezia asked what swear words were & while mom was formulating a response, she said "Oh! Nevermind! I know - like pinky swears!"
-Kezi got to go to her friend, Hadley's, birthday party this month & had lots of fun!!
-At Aunt Yvetta's, Kezia found some red ants :( For some reason, they really like her!
-Kezi enjoyed Texas & liked to sleep in the hotel & watch movies in the hotel room with Ireland.

LINK:

On one of our training runs as a family, Ireland & mom saw a BEAUTIFUL purple bird fly past! We've never seen a bird like that & we knew that it was a love note from you & Tundra <3 font="" nbsp="">
It's been hard thinking about moving from the only home you ever lived in. Mom has had a few meltdowns just thinking about it. Please be close to us in our new home, baby boy. We love you & miss you more than you know.>

NOELLE:
-HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY NOELLE!!! We were all SO excited to celebrate your first birthday, baby girl! We got to buy a new birthday tablecloth, decorate a new birthday crown, and buy gifts for your special day! You loved playing with the doggie that sings & unwrapping your gifts! You were pretty spoiled this year, getting a new car seat and a tricycle with a handle on the back that we can push you around. You also got a happy birthday outfit and a new book. You seemed to really enjoy your birthday cake and ice cream. Mommy spent a lot of time on your birthday book, so hopefully one day you will enjoy it :) McKinley also spent a lot of time drawing a picture of you :) You are SO loved & are such a joy & light in our home, our sunrise baby girl. We love you!
-At the moment, Noelle still prefers crawling, but she has taken up to 18 steps! And she's started to walk from point A to point B if it's not far. Way to go girl!
-Noelle is learning more signs! She knows baby, ball, hot, all-done, and when "Signing Time" comes on, she says and signs "Signing Time!"
-Noelle can point to your nose!
-One afternoon, Noelle seemed especially entranced by Link's picture. She kept crawling over to it & reaching for it. Sure wish we could see what she sees!
-Noelle is dancing! If there is music, watch her shake up & down. So so so cute!!
-"Uh-oh" is still Noelle's favorite word, but she's added "Uh-oh! spagettios" :)
-She still loves Sydney and we have to pull her off of her sometimes because she will crawl all over her & she really likes to keep touching her nose.
-Noelle is getting good at rolling a ball, stacking blocks, and playing with puzzles! She also continues to LOVE books!
-We all were SO THANKFUL for how well Noelle did on our trip to Texas. From being 36 hours in the car, to having to sleep in a pack & play in 5 different places, she did amazingly well! As long as we had whitenoise, her doggy, her sleep sack & a binki, she usually went right to sleep.