https://photos.app.goo.gl/dH6siJbXswijxptB2
Hamilton Newsletter
August 2017
FAMILY: The summer went by too fast! But it was a great one with
lots of memories. Here’s what we were up to: The 3rd was Oaklyn’s 1st
birthday! We are SO thankful she has blessed our family for an entire year! See
her section for more details J On Friday, the 4th, we headed toward Richfield, but
stopped for Cove Fort Days. It was so neat! There was free hot dogs, chips, and
ice cream. A live band. And pioneer games & festivities. We were glad we
went and thankful for all the pioneers that have gone before us. Saturday the 5th
was Canyon’s baptism. It was short and sweet and we are so proud of our
nephew/cousin! After his baptism we headed to the park for family pictures. On
the 7th, for make-it-Monday, we had fun painting rocks J On the 8th for taste-it-Tuesday,
we made homemade fruit roll-ups. They took forever, but they were YUMMY!! On
the 9th, the girls had a “Great Sister Bake-Off” – They each
decorated cupcakes & they were really yummy. The 11th was the
ward primary water party. There was a jumpy slide, a slip n’ slide, water
balloons, and hot dogs and ice cream sandwiches. It was fun to be with our ward
friends and have a great time! Also that day was a GORGEOUS rainbow!! Thank you
Link! <3 14="" monday="" sup="" the="">th
was our last day of summertime freedom
& mom again let them each choose something fun they’d like to do. Kezia
chose to go to the pound and look at dogs. It was kind of sad, but neat to pet
the dogs and the MANY cats. Afterwards we went to the other petstore & saw
the other kittens and the fish. Then it was off to Bulloch Drug for ice cream.
Ireland’s request was making chocolate mint cookies & they turned out way
yummy. McKinley wanted to play games, so we played Lunacy & Frozen Uno. The
15th was the big back to school day! McKinley to 6th,
Ireland to 5th, and Kezia to 2nd. We have missed the
older girls during the day – and we’ve especially missed our laid back
mornings. J Since the girls have gone back to school, Mommy & the
littles have spent our Friday mornings hiking. First it was the Lichen It
Trail, then the Thunderbird Garden/Ghost Flat trails, and finally we hiked a
little of the Rattlesnake Creek Trail. It’s been so fun to explore! On the 18th,
we had the first of 2 of our student renters move in, Truly. We have loved
having her! She’s so cute with the girls and is a bonus addition to our family.
Zhane, the other student renter moved in on Wednesday, the 23rd
& we have loved her, too! It’s been like having 2 bonus big sisters in our
home and we love it J Sedona is also going to SUU and we’ve loved getting to see more
of her, too! The 21st was the day of the big solar eclipse. Heidi
waited in line for 20 minutes to get the special glasses, but it was all in
vain. The sky was super-cloudy and rainy all day and we didn’t catch a glimpse L We best we could do was watch it online, but
that was really cool! On the 23rd, Heidi went to the parents meeting
at SUU and also got to go to the President’s desert night, which was awesome
& yummy! Jason went to the “high 5” ceremony at SUU where the students walk
under the bell tower (the last time they’re supposed to walk under the tower
until they graduate). So – we’ve got lots of Thunderbird pride over here now J On the 25th, we headed up north
and the next day we headed over to Trisha’s to meet our new niece/cousin,
Rachel. She is beautiful and sweet & we are so excited for them. That
evening McKinley & Michael watched the kids (THANK YOU!) so Heidi &
Jason could go to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple with Grandma & Grandpa and
Aunt Cindy to do endowments for family members. It was a sweet, sacred
experience. Then afterwards we went to the Olive Garden for some yummy dinner.
It was a great night. Rachel’s blessing was the next afternoon and it was great
to be there to see family & support their family. The 28th was
Kezia’s East Elementary Luau and we had a great time eating pizza & Tiki
Shack shave ice, watching performances, and doing all the booths & crafts.
On the 29th, daddy watched the girls so Mom & the olders could
go see The Little Mermaid put on by CCCMT. It was VERY well-done & we loved
every minute! We even got to see a couple people from our ward, too. So much
fun! The next night, the 30th, Heidi watched the girls so Jason
could take McKinley, Ireland, Zhane & Truly up to Cedar Breaks to see the
Utah Symphony. It wasn’t the strings L But it was still beautiful up there & they enjoyed it.
JASON: Jason got some
sad news this month, learning that a RHS classmate, and fellow Forest Service
worker, had died. He attended the viewing and the funeral and hurt to see so
much sadness. He did enjoy connecting with some classmates he hadn’t seen for a
while. Jason has been waking up earlier to take McKinley to school in the
morning & it’s nice having him home earlier as well.
HEIDI: Back to school
time is always a bit stressful for Heidi, and this year with all 3 older girls
going to 3 different schools, in addition to needing to get scriptures in and
McKinley out the door an hour earlier than before, it’s pretty crazy! Hopefully
she survives this year J Heidi had a good running/reading month. She finished Mrs. Dalloway
and To the Farthest Shores. She enjoys running on Tuesday mornings with Diane
and she got a good 11-mile run in with her dad in Salt Lake. She also painted
all the downstairs cabinets & put on new hardware! Heidi is loving her
Friday hikes with her friends & the littles.
McKINLEY:
-McKinley is now in MIDDLE SCHOOL! It’s hard for us to wrap our minds around that, but in the mean time, she is doing great! Mrs. Weeks is her core teacher, and while she doesn’t have any “known” friends in her core class, she has LOTS of “on-the-brink” friends J She does alternate at lunch between Karmiyah, Micaela, and Olivia. She is doing very well and already has As in all her classes. It’s been a bit of a wake-up call, since she’s had it pretty easy with homework the past few years, but she is doing fantastic and learning a lot.
-Her first day of school was a tiny bit rough since she forgot her folder. She had to call mom and use up her “free pass” for mom bringing forgotten things. But the rest of the day went well. Early that morning Karmiyah came over to get ready together and they both looked so cute heading off to school. McKinley did walk with Karmiyah to school every day, but now dad takes her most days and she walks home most every day.
-McKinley is a BUSY girl! Practicing cello and piano, and now she is in volleyball. She is working hard, but enjoying it and we are excited to watch her first game soon!
IRELAND:
-Ireland is in 5th grade now & queen of the school! She has Mrs. Brown and is really enjoying her class! They are doing a flexible seating arrangement where they have different kinds of chairs to sit in and it’s really fun.
-Ireland was not very happy to give up her bedroom for the student renters, but she has LOVED being with Zhane & Truly & sees them as bonus big sisters now J Truly even did her hair for church & Ireland loved it!
-Ireland did the sack race twice at Kezia’s school luau and on the 2nd try, she WON! Congrats Ireland!
KEZIA:
-Kezia is in 2nd grade now! She’s in Senora Bryant/Mrs. Bunker’s class in the azul group. Her friends Macie, Sarah, Jade, Devyn, and Sophie are in the blue group, too! Her first day of school was a bit rough because she didn’t like the way mom fixed her hair and almost didn’t go to school L
-Kezia says her favorite animal is a tie between a dog and a parrot.
-
-McKinley is now in MIDDLE SCHOOL! It’s hard for us to wrap our minds around that, but in the mean time, she is doing great! Mrs. Weeks is her core teacher, and while she doesn’t have any “known” friends in her core class, she has LOTS of “on-the-brink” friends J She does alternate at lunch between Karmiyah, Micaela, and Olivia. She is doing very well and already has As in all her classes. It’s been a bit of a wake-up call, since she’s had it pretty easy with homework the past few years, but she is doing fantastic and learning a lot.
-Her first day of school was a tiny bit rough since she forgot her folder. She had to call mom and use up her “free pass” for mom bringing forgotten things. But the rest of the day went well. Early that morning Karmiyah came over to get ready together and they both looked so cute heading off to school. McKinley did walk with Karmiyah to school every day, but now dad takes her most days and she walks home most every day.
-McKinley is a BUSY girl! Practicing cello and piano, and now she is in volleyball. She is working hard, but enjoying it and we are excited to watch her first game soon!
IRELAND:
-Ireland is in 5th grade now & queen of the school! She has Mrs. Brown and is really enjoying her class! They are doing a flexible seating arrangement where they have different kinds of chairs to sit in and it’s really fun.
-Ireland was not very happy to give up her bedroom for the student renters, but she has LOVED being with Zhane & Truly & sees them as bonus big sisters now J Truly even did her hair for church & Ireland loved it!
-Ireland did the sack race twice at Kezia’s school luau and on the 2nd try, she WON! Congrats Ireland!
KEZIA:
-Kezia is in 2nd grade now! She’s in Senora Bryant/Mrs. Bunker’s class in the azul group. Her friends Macie, Sarah, Jade, Devyn, and Sophie are in the blue group, too! Her first day of school was a bit rough because she didn’t like the way mom fixed her hair and almost didn’t go to school L
-Kezia says her favorite animal is a tie between a dog and a parrot.
-
LINK: We miss you
every day duder-dude. This month we saw a GORGEOUS, vibrant rainbow and even a
red-belted bee came to visit for a few days! Also, some beautiful sunsets!
Thank you for the love notes baby boy!
-Noelle has had fun on our Friday hikes, although she’s only good for 30-45 minutes. After that, she complains of being tired and wants to get back to the van as fast as possible. She did love having Caleb Hillstead along for a couple of the hikes though!
-Noelle also loved getting to spend time with Caden while we were in SLC for Rachel’s blessing. She’s been sending him lots of Marco Polos, too J
-
OAKLYN:
-HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY OAKLYN!! We are so happy that you turned one! But this past year truly flew by and we will miss your tiny-ness. For your birthday, you got puzzles, a home-made rattle (from Ireland), some balls (from Kezi & McKinley) and some other fun toys from your extended family. You were a PRO at smashing your birthday cake and made quite a mess! We love you SO much and are so thankful you came to our family our sunshine girl!
-One sad part of Oaklyn turning 1 was her shots L She had to get 4 shots at once and her little leg was swollen for over a week L
-Oaklyn was also sick with a really runny nose this month L
