August Newsletter & Slideshow

Sorry so late! 

https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipNJihOSET1EcKxMNNDfMIblgd3HjKG2qV7udwyQ

Hamilton Newsletter

August 2016

Family: Of course, our huge news this month is the addition of a new member!! Oaklyn Alice Hamilton joined our family on August 3, 2016 at 2:30pm. We are SO thankful she is here & we are loving every minute with her!  Grandma & Grandpa Potts were so good to come down and help out. They helped with the other girls while mom & dad were in the hospital with Oaklyn – and we also had the Hamiltons and Devenishs come visit & hold the new baby - and then after we got home, they took all four older girls to St. George to stay in their new place for a few days so Heidi & Jason could enjoy some time with the new baby. We’re grateful for that sweet time, because before we knew it, school was starting! Jason took that week off and helped with the transition – McKinley (5^th grade) and Ireland (4^th grade) started another year at North Elementary and Kezia (1^st grade) started her first year at East Elementary, enrolled in the dual immersion program. So – with 2 different schools to carpool to, and a newborn to boot, mornings can be a bit hectic J But it’s been nice to get back into routines and the girls have all enjoyed their new classes & teachers.  On the 21^st, we had some guests – the Bensons and Michalla Holt (a girl from Herriman that is going to SUU). It was fun to visit and catch up with both of them. Speaking of Bensons, our friends, the Bealers, had their baby 6 days before Oaklyn, and named him Benson J We are so happy for them! (and hope they move back soon so they can be friends J).  We are so thankful for friends that have brought meals and gifts for our new little one. We are so blessed! Another fun thing we spent a lot of time doing in August was watching the Summer Olympics in Rio. Many times staying up way too late :) We especially loved watching Phelps go crazy again winning gold in swimming, Simone Biles rip it up in gymnastics (and all the US gymnasts), diving, and beach volleyball. GO USA!! :)

Jason: Jason was, once again, a rock and a huge helper for Oaklyn’s birth. This was the first time, though, that he didn’t stay overnight at the hospital. They changed the furniture & the recliner was just not going to work, so he went home, but came back early the next morning. During the week of the 15^th, besides helping with taking the girls to school, he also was a Honey-do list ROCKSTAR! J He put up a temporary fence (hallelujah!) to keep kids and dogs in the backyard, he fixed our house numbers, fixed the front door trim, set up our new baby monitor, added a rod to Noelle’s closet to fit Oaklyn’s clothes, fixed the water line on our fridge so we could get ice & water again, and made countless trips to the store or running errands. We are SO thankful for our awesome dad/hubby!! A sad thing happened this month as Jason's coworker's (Mindy) husband died, leaving her with 4 children to raise. Jason just hired her to be on his team, and so he's had to take over for her quite a bit, but he is so good at supporting her & letting her grieve.

Heidi: Well, Heidi is still just reveling in her non-pregnancy state J She LOVES to be able to lay down flat, or on her tummy, or bend down or just take a full breath! She is so thankful for her new baby girl and is working hard to stop calling her Noelle ;) Oaklyn’s birth was really not too bad. She had a little bit where she was nauseated and light-headed, but got through that within an hour or so. After her birth, she just didn’t want to give her up to the nurses. Such a sweet feeling holding her precious baby.  Even though she is up with the baby a lot in the night, she still has felt good enough to start going for walks/slow runs and has really enjoyed it – and looks forward to upping her workout intensity soon. Nursing was extremely painful with Oaklyn for the first couple weeks – until she got her upper lip tie clipped. She also had a painful UTI, so she’s thankful we’re through that first rough part!

McKinley:
-McKinley was given the chance to be at Oaklyn’s birth, and though at first she wasn’t sure, she decided to come. It was neat to have her there and she was a big helper. The nurses and Laurie were so cute with her and tried to educate her about everything. A nurse showed her with a flipbook how to measure dilation. And after Oaklyn  was born, daddy let McKinley cut the cord!! Definitely a very cool experience. She also was one of the very first to hold Oaklyn, and she was so cute with her.
-McKinley continues to be a huge helper with Oaklyn and Noelle especially. We are SO thankful Heavenly Father sent her to us as the oldest sister!
-McKinley started 5^th grade this month and she is now queen of the school! We’ve told her that she needs to make sure she’s an example for all the younger kids at North. She is such a great leader. She has Mrs. Isom this year & she really likes her. She also loves that she can see & visit with Mr. Sahagun (her 4^th grade teacher), too J
-McKinley really struggled with insomnia this month. The first time it happened was the night before Oaklyn’s birth. She kept coming in mom & dad’s room – until after 1am – because she couldn’t sleep. She was crying & so so tired. But then it happened again on the night before the first day of school… and multiple days afterwards. We tried lots of things – chamomile tea, reading, talking, and even Tylonol PM. None of them helped for very long L
-Being the oldest, McKinley got quite a few new clothes this year for school! The bonus is that McKinley & mom almost share the same size, so it's like mom getting new clothes too!! :)

Ireland:
-Ireland, of course, is back on can't-keep-my-hands-off-the-baby mode :) She really does adore babies, and has loved holding, kissing, carrying, and just loving our new baby Oaklyn. She woke up before we left the morning of Oaklyn's birth (at 6am!), just to give mommy's tummy one last squeeze.
-Ireland started 4th grade this month and has enjoyed Mr. Sahagun (who taught McKinley last year). She doesn't quite take to his jokes yet, though. One time he was teasing her about misbehaving & she was scared that he was really mad at her.
-Ireland also started gymnastics again at the very end of the month. This time, she is in a higher class and goes for an hour and a half. She gets to do the bars every time, which she loves!

Kezia:
-Kezia has been excited for her new baby sister, too. She was up at 5:30 to give mom note that said "Please don't leave until you give me a kiss. Love Kezia. P.S. don't let dad get the certificate" The story behind that was that we still hadn't decided on a name for sure, but dad liked the name Georgia and kept telling us that he was just going to sign the birth certificate himself & put Georgia on it. Kezia wanted to make sure that didn't happen :)
-Kezia started 1st grade this year! Mom was getting pretty worried because she was still on the waiting list to get in the dual immersion program at East until the Friday before school started! She had actually even called North to see if Kezia could come there since we still didn't know about East. Mom was so relieved & happy she got in at the last minute. Kezia's friend, Macie, was glad too! They are in the same class & Kezia was happy she knew someone there. She really likes Mrs. Guillin and Senora Fernandez. Mom was really worried about how she would be able to handle everything the first few weeks, but honestly, she has surprised mom and dad! She has really done well and it's so fun to hear dad & Kezia start to have little conversations and listen to Kezia's cute spanish songs that she's learning. We hope that her learning will rub off on all of us :)
-Kezi had to miss the 2nd day of school because she had a fever & wasn't feeling good. Thankfully it only lasted a day & she was back to herself!
-She's loved having so many guests come to the house this month - including both sets of grandparents and the Bensons.

Link:
Again we felt your joy at helping to bring another sister into this world. How we wish you were here to play with her. But we know you are watching over her and are so thankful that she got to spend time with you before she came here. We hope, like Noelle, she will share a sacred bond with her big brother.

Noelle:
-Noelle had turned quite naughty even a couple months before baby Oaklyn came, but she definitely has taken it up a few notches :) Mom has said that unless she is sleeping, watching screen time, or mom is right there with her, she is making trouble!! She continues to find markers, crayons, etc and use everything as a canvas but actual paper. She decided it would be fun to get the eggs in the outside fridge and break them on the ground, and she love to dump water, spit water, and just generally make messes. She also continues to push, pull hair, kick, pinch and even started to bit her older sisters :( Needless to say, she's had to be in time out quite a bit and clean up a lot of messes and make lots of apologies.
-With all the bullying of her older sisters, mom was very worried about how she would treat the new baby. But amazingly, Noelle has been very gentle with her. She was so cute holding her in the hospital and she asks every day "Can I hold baby Oaklyn?" and she will "hold" her and touch her cheek and sing to her and hold her hand. It's so so sweet. It ALMOST makes up for all the other naughtiness. Almost :)
-Noelle would dance around Oaklyn, singing "Baby O, Baby O!" We love to sing it, too, now :)
-Noelle love her "mommy & Noelle time" during the day, but she really misses her sisters, too, and asks about them. And almost every day after we take them to school, she will say "But I want to go to school, too, mom!" :(
-Some of Noelle's funny sayings: "Dang it!" "Chicken but!" (her sisters taught her that one), "Not today, but!" (mom said that one day & she's been saying it ever since) and "But why mom?" (yes... the whys have begun!)
-Noelle has worked hard this month & finally got the hang of "thumbs up!" She will say it randomly now just to show off her new skill :)
-Brushing teeth is always SO rough for Noelle. She HATES it! She will ask to brush teeth every night, but the minute we try to brush, she screams and kicks and cries. She wants to do it ALL by herself.
-Noelle still LOVES books and cars.

OAKLYN:
-Welcome to the world and welcome to our family sweet girl!! Oaklyn was born on August 3 at 2:30pm. Mom was really hoping for the 4th (so we could have a 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th & 9th), but our midwife, Laurie Hansen, thought she might be out of town, so we scheduled the induction on the 3rd. Well, it happened that Laurie didn't really go out of town, so she came in on the 3rd and asked if we wanted to try for the 4th instead. Well, mom was already hooked up and SOOOO ready to have her baby in her arms that she just couldn't imagine waiting another day. So - the 3rd it was! As it turned out, everything about that day seemed meant to be and she felt peace about knowing Oaklyn was supposed to come when she did. Daddy, McKinley, and Grandma Potts attended your birth. McKinley was especially excited to be able to be there to see Oaklyn's birth. We are ALL so thankful that she is here happy & healthy!
-Oaklyn's name was a struggle for us. Daddy really wanted the name Georgia or Aspen. Mom liked Oaklyn, and we had been calling her Oaklyn, so her sisters were wanting that name, too. But mom took a poll online for some ideas & the name Oasis came up. We both really liked that name, too, and after she was born, mom was actually leaning toward that name. But then daddy said a prayer and paused for a moment. In that moment, the name Oaklyn came so clearly to mom's mind. She felt sure that was the name that was meant for this beautiful baby girl. And so dad went up and wrote Oaklyn Alice on the hospital board. And there it was. Alice is a family name on both our sides - Jason's great-great grandma (Alice Tennesee Henderson) on his dad's side and Heidi's great-great grandma (Candace Alice Anderson) on her mom's side.
-Oaklyn is a pretty decent sleeper. The first night or two, she was up a LOT, but after that she's done well.  She's up usually 3-4 times a night. It took her a week or so to figure out the day/night thing, but she's done pretty good!
-Oaklyn caught on to breastfeeding like a champ. The only problem was that mommy was in a LOT of pain! They told us when she was born that she had an upper lip tie, but the doctor didn't tell me it would affect breastfeeding. Well, it did. At Oaklyn's  2 week appointment, Dr. Polson clipped the tie (she wasn't happy :(), but it helped a lot and things are going much better!! She is getting plenty of milk, too, more than her birth weight at her 2 week appointment (8 lb. 8oz).
-Having 4 sisters is pretty fun! Oaklyn is almost constantly bombarded by sisters wanting to hold her. Mom has to set timers and make sure everyone gets a turn with baby Oaklyn.
-Right now, Oaklyn has a good crop of dark hair on the back of her head. She's been mostly bald on top, but it's starting to come in & looks dark. Also, looks right now like she's going to join her sisters & brother & be blue-eyed. :)
-We have caught some genuine smiles already but haven't been able to capture them on camera!

July Newsletter & Slideshow

Sorry so late! I was busy having/enjoying our new baby!

July Slideshow:

https://goo.gl/photos/TGw9a29xwsNHjw1D9

Hamilton Family Newsletter
July 2016

FAMILY: July turned out to not be quite as crazy as other years, mostly because it was hotter than normal, mom was in her last month of pregnancy, and we had some yucky flu at the end :( but even with all that, we did get out some and do some fun things. The 4th was July was on a Monday, so Jason took the girls on Friday and mom drove up on Monday. They had fun playing with their cousins, and they also got to go to a birthday party for Emry Sorenson - one of daddy's friends' daughters. They had a lot of fun. The parade was fun and they did a slip-n-slide at Grandma & Grandpa's house afterwards. The fireworks were fun to watch and daddy brought the girls' bikes, so they had fun riding those around, too. Monday, the 5th, was Ireland's birthday - see her section for all the fun things she did and got :) The 6-7, we got to have Daken come stay with us and we got to go see his baseball games. They won the gold in the Utah Summer Games - way to go Daken! After the last game, we had the Hamiltons and Daddy's friend, Brock, over for pizza. On the 8th, we prepared a picnic and went to Link's bench to enjoy. It was wonderful to be there as a family and enjoy some good food :) On the 9th, we hiked to Hidden Haven, up Parowan Canyon. Mom and the girls had done the hike before, but this was daddy's first time, so it was fun to go. It was so beautiful and when we got to the waterfall, we all took our socks and shoes off and enjoyed the cool water. Later on that day, we had some old friends stop by - the Gardners. They were our old neighbors when we lived on Northern View Drive and Ireland was especially excited to see her "Arizona Sienna." The kids had fun playing and we had pizza for dinner. Then we headed over to see the Cedar City temple and take some pictures. The next day we got some more visitors - the Edwards! They came for the weekend and then we went to see "Peter Pan" at the Tuacahn on Monday night. It was a fun play and the kids had a good time. We also celebrated Joshua & Ireland's birthdays while they were here - and went to the Lake at the Hills for some fun. Another fun thing we did was go explore all the new Shakespeare buildings that have gotten completed. They were really amazing - and fun to see. Can't wait to go see a play there soon! After the Edwards' visit, they took Ireland with them back to SLC so she could go to Joshua's birthday party - they rented a water slide for the kids and Ireland had a fun time! The Vogts came back into town from being in Hawaii for like a month, and it was good to see them. They were so sweet and brought candy leis for each of the girls. On the 14th, we headed to the Renassance Festival at the Main Street Park. It was a lot of fun and the girls had fun eating hot scones and checking out all the booths. Ireland bought McKinley a clay bird whistle after breaking hers last year. Sadly, Kezia accidentally broke it a day later :( That weekend, Grandma & Grandpa came into town with their moving truck! We went to St. George early Saturday morning to help them move into their new St. George house. YAY!! The 18th was a Primary Party BBQ at the Beachams and the whole family had fun eating, visiting, and playing with friends. On the 20th, we met the Devenish's in Beaver for dinner & then McKinley & Kezia went to spend a few days in Richfield with Grandma & Grandpa Devenish. They went swimming, to a movie, and played with cousins. Unfortunately, that's also where they picked up a yucky flu virus that ended up going through every member of the family. It hit hard with lots of puking and tummy aches, but thankfully left quickly, too. Kezia had it first, then McKinley, then the Devenishs, then Noelle, then mommy, then Ireland, and finally dad. They were each about 2 days apart. It was not a fun time - especially since the girls were cooped up and couldn't play with friends since we were contagious :( We were glad it happened before the baby is supposed to be here, though. Other than that, the rest of July was spent getting ready for baby - getting out clothes, carseat, buying a monitor, etc, and getting ready for school - going through each closet, sorting & organizing, school clothes shopping, buying supplies, etc. Also - our garden is really starting to produce, so it's been fun to eat fresh raspberries, strawberries, peas, tomatoes, and even some jalapeños! And in other news - Rainbow Truck the bunny is now a daddy! Our next-door neighbors, the Schoppman's, sent mom a text with a picture of a baby bunny and asked if Rainbow Truck had been over. Yup - he had - and now he's a dad! :) It's been fun to go over there & see & hold the cute, tiny bunny. We'll be a little more careful of "visits" to the next-door neighbor bunny in the future! :) As a family, we also enjoyed quite a few rainstorms at the end of the month. Mom and dad would sit on the rocking chairs while the girls would ride bikes or run around in the rain. It was so nice to finally get a cool-off at the end! Ireland begged to sleep in the back of the truck for a week or so & mom and dad finally gave in at the end of the month - on the 24th of July. She and her sisters had fun sleeping under the stars :)

JASON: July continued to be busy for Jason at work. He transferred to his new job, but still doing the jobs of 3 people. Thankfully, he was able to interview and hire one of his coworkers and she will start soon. He enjoyed spending time with family & friends over the 4th of July - & even got to ride his dirt bike :)  

HEIDI: With it being the last month of pregnancy in the hottest month of the year, Heidi was pretty sluggish :) But still had fun doing what she could. She really enjoyed spending 2 full days alone at home while Jason had the girls. She mostly read (& finished) Gone with the Wind & also watched some "chick flicks" :) But also got a lot of rest which she knew would be a lost luxury in a few weeks. Heidi's nesting instinct kicked in this month and she spent over $200 and many hours organizing all the closets in the house, including theirs. We are LOVING the organization that the baskets bring!

McKINLEY:
-McKinley had fun back-to-school shopping with mom and got quite spoiled with clothes. Hope she wears them all!
-McKinley finished "Alcatraz and the Evil Librarian" this month :) It was a book that the Edwards were listening to & she HAD to know what happened!
-She had a fun time at Grandma Devenish's until she got sick! Grandma said she was just swimming laps like crazy in the Manti swimming pool!

 IRELAND:
-Happy 9th birthday Ireland! She woke up at Grandma Devenish's & got to have Krave Cereal for breakfast. We were home by lunch time and she got to trace her hand on the tablecloth and also eat pizza! In the late afternoon, we headed to the movies for her birthday - she decided to go see Finding Dory, and we all enjoyed it : ) For dinner, we roasted hot dogs over the fire in the backyard! Then, of course, it was time for cake and ice cream!  Mom and Dad got her an American Girl Pony, Roller skates (with elbow, wrist and knee guards), a fun game, and a Mad Libs book that they've all had fun coming up with silly stories with. She also got money, some clothes, and another chalk game from Aunt Keeley.
-Ireland wasn't sure she wanted to go to SLC with Aunt Cindy because she didn't want to be away from mom, but she decided to go after all & she had a lot of fun. She really liked Joshua's water slide that he had for his birthday. While she was there, Aunt Cindy bought her a Barbie that can switch out clothes & Grandma & Grandpa bought her some coloring pencils and an adult coloring book online, along with fox and tiger stuffed animals. So - she was pretty spoiled, as usual :)
-We went to Walmart a couple times this month & Ireland was on a risk-taking streak. She used almost all of her birthday money ($20) on arcade games (like the kind you try to win a stuffed animal with the claw). To her credit, she did buy lots of rides for Noelle to ride on, some rings that she shared & also some candy that she shared. But she eventually learned (hopefully) that spending her money on those things was a waste.
-Ireland was SO excited to see her "Arizona Sienna" that she never thought she'd see again (we didn't either!) They had fun playing and they said they might be back for the temple open house next year, so maybe she'll get to see her friend again!
-She waited a while for Kaydence to write her back, but her waiting paid off & she got such a sweet, long letter in the mail. Now it's her turn to write back!
-While her sisters were in Richfield, Ireland had a fun time with mom at home. They spent time together and went to the park.
-One day mom asked where Noelle was. Ireland replied "She's over here!" mom asked what she was doing. Ireland said "Just cutenessing!"

KEZIA:
-One night after movie night (we watched Night at the Museum), Kezia put on a really cute puppet show story that we all enjoyed :)
-We have been trying not to stress out about Kezia's schooling situation, but we are kind of a bit worried as school gets closer & we don't have answers. We've been told repeatedly that she is "next in line" to get into the dual immersion program at East, but even after calling, they tell us there is no openings as this point. Mom finally got a hold of North and was told she could go there, but she really wants her to get into East, so we'll see what happens.
-Kezia's 2 front teeth were pretty loose, so dad offered to help Kezi out :) Kezia said he could pull her tooth, but he had to read 20 minutes of scriptures with her that night. He agreed :) So - she now is 1 front tooth short and she got a visit from the tooth fairy!
-One night in the middle of the night, mom could hear movement in the hallway, so she went out to find Kezia walking around. Mom asked her what she was doing & she didn't respond, but went to the bathroom. Mom helped her take off her jammies to go to the bathroom. Afterwards, she pulled her panties up and mom told her she forgot to wipe. So, she got toilet paper and wiped - OVER her panties! Mom had to help her change into different jammies afterwards. Of course, Kezi remembered nothing of this the next morning :)
-Kezia was the first one to get the flu. She puked & puked - but Grandma Devenish said that she said she didn't remember it at all the next day. Silly girl!
-Kezia was the only one that wanted to be on the Pioneer Day Parade float this year. So - she got to dress up in a bonnet & apron & she stood in a giant Mason Jar (the theme was preserving our heritage) & threw out candy. She got popcicles & root beer at the end and her picture was even on the front page of Iron County Today the next week!
-Kezia got to go on her lunch date this month - mom and Kezi went to Arby's!

LINK:

We loved having a picnic at your bench this month. It made us feel like a real family. One day we were driving to daddy's work and Noelle pointed to the cemetery and said "Is that Link, mom? there's Link, mom. I want Link." Oh, sweet boy. How we ALL want you. How we miss you. How we LOVE you.  

NOELLE:
-Well, this month Noelle has officially decided she is embracing the TERRIBLE TWOs and everything it involves. She must know a big change is happening with the new baby, because she is acting out like crazy - pulling hair, hitting, pushing, even biting. Along with the coloring on the walls and throwing things. She has spent a LOT of time in time-out this month, sadly. And no matter how many times she goes in time-out, or we explain to her why it's not okay to act that way, she continues to challenge us. We would love it if this were a SUPER short phase with the baby coming, but I guess we'll see!
-Daddy was loading his dirt bike onto his truck via the ramp and Noelle was outside climbing the ramp. She slipped and smashed her mouth on the ramp. She was bleeding and her teeth did look a bit different, but it just took some loves & ibprofin for her to feel better, thankfully!

-When we went to the Lake at the Hills with the Edwards, there was a toddler girl was wearing the same swim suit that Noelle owned - a ruffled Minnie Mouse swim suit.  Noelle wasn't wearing it that day, but when she saw that little girl, she was a bit frustrated & upset. She pointed to the girl & said "that's mine! That's MY swim suit!" Mom tried to explain it to her, but she wasn't really buying it. Eventually she said "Okay. Let's share!" The other funny thing she did at the lake - trying to blow up the inflatable tire. She would put her mouth over the sealed hole & blow with all her might :)
-A big rite of passage this month! Noelle can ACTUALLY put away the utensils from the dishwasher! We just put the utinsil holder on the open dishwasher & she will sort them out! She does a really great job - YAY Noelle!
-Noelle still LOVES nursery. She will ask when we're going to church - and then when we're at church, she will ask when it's time for nursery.
-She LOVES the sandbox, too. She will constantly ask to go outside in the sandbox. She loves it when mom or dad or her sisters come with her, but she will even go by herself and play out there for quite a while. She also loves to yell to our neighbors & says "Adelaide!!!" It's so cute.
-Noelle being sick was probably the hardest. She just didn't want to lay down and she HATED puking in the bowl. She would push it away even as she was throwing up. And she threw up a LOT. Thankfully, it was only about 24 hours of misery and she was feeling better.

June Newsletter & Slideshow

June Photos:

https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipN-IDnqgl1rZ1z4gW6VIJyQaoDPEEsZQlbJP0SF

Hamilton Family Newsletter
June 2016

FAMILY: Welcome Summer!! We have all had a good time jumping into the summer fun and routines this month. For make-it Monday, we have made an Angry Bird Piniata, TP phone holders, and cards for Father's Day. For taste-it Tuesday, we've made frozen lemonade (from real lemons), Oreo Pops, Sand Pudding, and raspberry chocolate chip treats. For Water Wednesday, we've gone to 2 different Splash Parks in St. George/Hurricane, had water balloon target practice on the fence, and been to our Lake at the Hills, along with just playing in the sandbox/small pool in the backyard. For Thinking Thursday, we've gone to the library and worked on our goals for the summer, including multiplication fact memorization and reading. For Forest/Fun Friday, we've gone up to Woods Ranch for a picnic and we've been to a bounce house in SLC. In between all this structured fun, the girls have had so much fun riding around on their bikes with friends and we've had our new neighbor girls, Karmeah and Anna, over almost every day, along with other friends in the neighborhood. We've also had fun hanging out on the front porch in the evenings, or roasting marshmallows in the backyard.  On June 1st, we headed down to Richfield to take Grandma Devenish out for her birthday to Costa Vida. The Reeds came, too, and it was fun to see everyone :) On the 2nd, we finally finished the sandbox in the corner of our yard. It took 2 Saturdays and 2 truck-fuls of sand, but we are really happy with it. There is a LOT of sand to play in and the girls have spent hours and hours out there in the sand. Our other Saturday project was getting mom's vegetables and flowers into the ground. With some help and replacing some water lines, we got them in and they are really doing well! It will be great to see how our harvest turns out this year. Unfortunately, we had a bout of pinkeye at the beginning of the month that started with Kezia and after a make-up party where mascara was used, McKinley & Ireland got it, too :( Grandma & Grandpa Potts stopped by twice this month, looking at homes in St. George. The first time we went with them and got to see some of the potential homes they were looking at. We were kinda bummed they didn't choose a home in Hurricane, but still SO SO happy that they will be closer to us in St. George than clear in SLC! They should be closing on their St. George home the middle of July. On the 11th, we headed over to Ladybug Nursery for some fun! We went ladybug hunting and caught a lot! We had a free lunch, rode the train, and mined for gold! It was fun and we even ran into a few friends. The weekend of the 18th, we got to have Daken for a night while Jeff & Keeley were busy being Ma & Pa at trek. It was fun to have him and cheer him on at the Utah Summer Games baseball games. His team even took gold!! The last weekend of the month, we headed to SLC for a few days. On the 24th, we went to a bounce house for fun and to celebrate Parker's birthday. As it turned out, his cousin joined him on his birthday! Maxwell Adam Checketts was born on the 24th, 9 lbs 1 oz. We are so happy that he made it here safely and enjoying all the pictures Aunt Tiffany sends from Minnesota. On the 25th, Heidi went to a SIDS mom get-together at a restaurant in S. Jordan while Grandma & Grandpa watched the girls. It was a wonderful time to visit. Also while we were up there, we went to a park and to Wheeler Farm for some free cotton candy, Chick-fil-A, and snow cones. Also, the older girls got to sleep over at Aunt Cindy's and they stayed up till midnight watching Home!! On Sunday, we got to be there for the family dinner at Aunt Trisha. We all LOVED her yummy enchiladas and hearing about her trek as well as eating yummy dragon cake that Cindy had made. For Activity Days this month, we got to help plant flowers is Sister Beacham (the Primary President's) front yard and we also hiked to Lion's Mouth. Also, the girls and their friends had a lemonade stand in front of the Price house and made $4 each!  Jason had Father's Day and his 39th birthday this month that we got to celebrate - see his section for more details.

JASON: June was especially busy for Jason. He was basically working on his understaffed new job "unofficially" until his start date of the 25th as well as his old budget job. So - many days he was working 10-12 hours and wasn't getting home till very late. In addition, he has his new Elder's Quarum duties that filled a lot of his evenings, so we didn't get to see him a lot during the week :( He also had a meeting in Escalante this month. We are so thankful for all his hard work and dedication. He does so much for our family. The 19th was Father's Day and his menu selection included ebbelskeevers for breakfast, french toast (with homemade bread) for lunch, and roast with salted potatoes, rolls, and corn on the cob for dinner. Then apple crisp with vanilla bean ice cream for dessert :) The girls all made him cards and we got him some treats, too. For his birthday, we brought him Cafe Rio for lunch, along with balloons and a huge card. Then for dinner, we all went out to Applebees. Happy Birthday and Father's Day Jason!! We love you!

HEIDI: At almost 8 months pregnant, Heidi is "feeling it." :) She is trying hard to keep up with the girls and do fun things, but lots of exhaustion, especially with the heat. She has had fun with what she's been able to do, though, and is thankful that she's to the point where she can say "almost there!" She did a lot of shuttling to lessons this month - 2 different lessons for McKinley & swimming every day for 2 weeks for Kezia. She's thankful that's over with and July can be a little more relaxing. She has been reading Gone with the Wind and trying to find creative ways for the girls to not have contention now that they are around each other 24/7. She enjoyed visiting with Anna Packard when they went to SLC and she also really enjoyed the SIDS mom dinner - especially meeting 2 moms that she had connected with online, but never met in person. One somewhat humerous incident happened after our SIDS mom dinner. It was about 10:00 and Heidi's phone was dead when she pulled up to the gate at the Potts' place. She didn't know the code. She couldn't call because her phone was dead, so she decided to just go ahead & jump over the gate to the side of the big gate. It was an interesting feat with her pregnant belly, and she ripped a toenail, but she did it :) Hopefully whoever has that security tape got a good laugh out of it :)

McKINLEY:
-McKinley got to go to sewing camp this month and got to sew a bag, an owl pillow, and start a bib for the new baby. She learned a lot & used her sewing machine more than it's been used since she got it! She hopes to continue to use her skills for good :)
-She also attended Girls Go Digital for the 2nd year at SUU. This year it was 4 days instead of 2, so she got to learn even more than last year! She enjoyed seeing Dannon and Sopie was in her group, too. She also met a new girl, Leila, and she had fun!
-We made an angry bird pinata for make-it monday and when it was finally ready to smash, we got some friends together and all had a whack at it. Just before it was McKinley's turn, mom said "everyone PLEASE stand back more! I've been hit by a pinata stick & it isn't fun!" So, then McKinley swings at the pinata and WHACKS her mom right in the armpit. OUCH!!
-McKinley's old bike was too small & Ireland was riding it all the time, so we decided to get her a new one. The first one we got her was purple, and she liked it a lot, but something happened to the gears one day and it wouldn't work, so we returned it. She went back twice more to decide which bike to get. She finally decided on the "cuter" one, but now she's not sure she really likes that one, either :/ Hopefully she'll get used to it and change her mind. We love that she loves to ride her bike!
-McKinley and Karmiyah have played a LOT this month. Almost every day. They decided that they wanted to make a blanket for our friend's new baby (the Prices), so COMPLETELY all by themselves, they made a cute little blanket. It was so thoughtful!
-One evening the Prices & Johnsons decided they were going to have "dress up" night games. McKinley borrowed a blue dress from Karmiyah and they had fun playing over there.
-For Father's Day, McKinley sang "Daddy's Girl" by 1 Girl Nation to Jason. She had been practicing it for months and months and she did a beautiful job. Her daddy loved it.

IRELAND:
-Ireland decided to take the summer off for lessons, so she has had more time to play with friends, etc. She will start back up with gymnastics in the fall.
-Ireland has mostly played with Anna, Emmy, and Adelaide this summer so far. She loves to play Littlest Pet Shops with Addie.
-Mom and Ireland went to Kennady Hatch's baptism on the 11th, and as we were sitting there, mom looked over and saw 2 ladybugs in Ireland's hair!
-Ireland really loves hula-hooping and one night she went for 10 MINUTES STRAIGHT and could have kept going!
-One day Ireland took a cereal box and made a whole fairy apartment inside, complete with furniture, food, etc. It was so cute :)
-The day finally came this month! Ireland officially has BRACES! She has 4 on the top and 4 on the bottom. Now we just have to really keep reminding her to brush and floss her teeth and take really good care of her hardware. She looks so much more grown up now, though! :(
-While we were roasting marshmallows one night, Ireland stepped on a scalding hot dog stick and really burned the bottom of her foot :(
-Ireland has had some anger issues this month, including yelling mean things and throwing things and holding her breath and things like that to get "back" at mom. We are hoping to find a good therapist that can give some tools and understanding to help us out.

KEZIA:
-Kezia had swimming lessons this month and she had been looking forward to them for a LONG time. She had a girl teacher, but she was the only girl student with about 5 boys. She held her own, though, and did really well. She passed to level 2. Great job Kezia! It was also fun to see Jake & Courtney Riddle because they had lessons at the same time as Kezi :)
-One day McKinley was making a card for grandma and she was trying to come up with an "M" word. She was saying "Marvelous as a... " Kezia shouted out "MEATBALL!"
-Kezia had been riding around on the tiny 12'' bike, which was way too small for her, but her daddy finally fixed the 16'' bike, which fits her so much better & she was so happy!
-Kezi was riding her scooter in the front one day, and saw that Noelle was getting in the road, so she put it down in our neighbor (the Schoppmann's) driveway and went to help her sister. Unfortunately, she forgot about her scooter & Brooke accidentally ran it over. Kezia was a sad little girl. It still kind of works, but not very well :(
-Kezia has played a lot with Anna and Adelaide. In fact, Anna is 9, but Kezia likes to invite her over to play a LOT :)

LINK:

We have seen some pretty awesome rainbows this month and are so happy whenever we see them because we automatically think of you, sweet boy. Mom did a VERY hard thing this month and went through your clothes again. She sent some to Aunt Tiffany for your cousin Max, and she sent a couple to the lady that makes the bears for Noelle and your new sister. It took a lot of tears and heartbreak, but she is thankful that your clothes are getting used & we're pretty sure you are glad, too. Now, the next step is to make a quilt out of the remaining clothes :) It was wonderful to share your story and your pictures with my other SIDS mom friends. I love to talk about you, my beloved Link. Please keep watching over your new sister and help us come up with a name!

NOELLE:
-Our sweet girl. Sometimes your smarts just completely catch us off guard! You are using words like "delicious" and "wonderful" and "beautiful" It's so adorable. And you are growing too fast!!
-Noelle has just started randomly saying people she loves. We'll be driving in the car and she will say "I love Karmiyah." "I love Anna" "I love Grandma" "I love Grandpa." It's SO cute!
-For a while, Noelle was calling band-aids "angers" for a while. She would come inside with an owie and say "I need an anger." We're not exactly sure where that came from, but she uses it a lot because she LOVES band-aids!
-Another common phrase lately has been "Watch me mom!" or "Look at me mom!" as she puts on dress up or tries to do a somersault or goes down her slide. She also has been saying "take a picture, mom!"
-Noelle REALLY wants to be big like her sisters. Whenever they are outside, she can't stand being inside, even though she keeps running into the street, making mom crazy and stressed. She loves to ride her red wiggle car while they ride their bikes. She still can't quite reach the peddles on her tricycle, but she's close! And then we'll REALLY be in trouble!
-Noelle has started to really love to be things other than a little girl. She will say "I'm a frog! Ribbit Ribbit!" and hop around or "I'm a dog! and she will bark and crawl.
-Noelle has learned the art of tattling from her sisters :) She has come to mom and said "Ireland hit me!" or "Kezia pushed me!" with a VERY sad look on her face. Unfortunately, she's also learned to do the hitting and pushing from her sisters, too, so it's usually not one-sided anymore :(
-The past couple weeks, our fantastic eater & sleeper has disappeared!! :( Not only does she hardly ever want what mom makes for dinner anymore (she won't even try ONE bite!), she has decided that she doesn't really need a nap! 2 or 3 times, she has just had to go without one after crying for an hour or more. And nights have even started to be difficult, too! We are REALLY hoping this is a VERY short phase and she is back to being a solid eater AND sleeper before her baby sister comes!

May Newsletter & Slideshow

https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipMSWAnV8-fHI5x4Vr_ZwGyL5c5f08rrqqFjWK0Z

Hamilton Family Newsletter
May 2016

FAMILY: May is always a busy, fun month for us - we survived another school year! Yay!! Kezia made it through Kindergarten with Mrs. Ekker, Ireland finished 3rd grade with Mrs. Strother & McKinley completed 4th with Mr. Sahagun. They all had a good year and did wonderful.  The 2nd was North Elementary's Art Night. Ireland performed Shakespeare's Sonnet 18 with the rest of her class and McKinley worked as a leadership team member to help direct people. We bought their artwork & got to have a treat there, too :)  On the 10th, we all attended the YW fundraiser spaghetti dinner at the church. It's always fun to see our friends and watch the dessert auction at the end. The 12th was Heidi & Jason's 16th anniversary & they went out to dinner at Sonny Boy's BBQ :) That evening the Simon family came for a visit! We had lots of fun with them, including going to the Lake at the Hills, hiking in Zions, having a movie night downstairs, and having a backyard S'more fest. It was so fun to have them here & the girls loved to play with them. Saturday the 14th was Kezia's last soccer game and Grandma Devenish, Grandpa Devenish, Aunt Kim, Hayden & Canyon came to see it! She did great & scored a few goals, too! Afterwards, we all went out to eat at Arctic Circle. Grandma Potts & GG came to visit on the 19th and we enjoyed seeing them while they were here! We also had a Share BBQ the night of the 19th & it was great to eat and visit with fellow loss families.  The evening of the 20th, we had the missionaries over for dinner & enjoyed hearing about one Elder who lived in Canada and had served in PEI just after Heidi & Jason were there. We headed up north on Thursday evening, the 26th and attended Kalli's high school graduation on the morning of the 27th. We are so proud of her & excited to see what life brings her way! Afterwards, we went to the Edwards for a little party and then we all headed up to Mapleton Canyon. This year we seemed to have especially good weather & really enjoyed our time up there - as fragmented as it was. Another wonderful thing for us was that RB let us stay in the trailer he bought from us, so it was fun for us to spend some time in that trailer where we have really good memories. So, we stayed in Mapleton Friday night through Saturday evening. We headed back to the Potts' for the night, took showers & headed to the Edwards early Sunday to attend their church and Michael's priesthood ordination. A BBQ at the Edwards afterwards was fun! and then we headed back up to Mapleton :) We stayed overnight on Sunday and then helped pack up on Monday. Heidi & Jason headed to their belated anniversary get-away at a bed & breakfast in American Fork & Grandma & Grandpa took the kids back to their house for the night. Heidi & Jason enjoyed going to the movies (X-Men, apocolypse), out to eat (Paradise Bakery & Rodizio Grill), and relaxing at the bed & breakfast. It was very relaxing. Thank you Grandma & Grandpa for helping out! Monday afternoon, we headed to Murray and helped for a few hours with moving Grandma & Grandpa Potts to their new home in Midvale. We will miss their Murray home, but are excited for their upcoming life changes! Other than all that fun, Jason & Heidi have been keeping busy with the rental. Our downstairs renters moved out and we have been trying to salvage the yard as well as get new renters. Thankfully, we found some renters at the end of the month - yay!!

JASON: Jason has been Mr. Super-man this month! He has been so busy at work. He finished his detail, but applied for the permanent position and in the interm was doing both his budget analyst position and filling in for the detail position. So - he's been working long hours! Thankfully, at the very end of the month we found out that he got the promotion to the permanent GS-11 Administrative Operations Specialist position. YAY!!! WE ARE SO PROUD OF HIM! Way to go! After working hard for 5 years at the Dixie, we feel humbled & blessed and proud of Jason for all his hard work. The Forest Supervisor, Ange, was very praiseworthy in her announcement of his new position. :) In addition to extra work, he's been working hard at the rental, putting in new sprinkling systems, mowing, etc. And in addition to THAT, he was just called as the Elders Quorum President in our ward. He has just called his counsolers and is excited to work with them.

HEIDI: Heidi's month has been busy shuttling kids and going to end-of-year school events with the girls, as well as coordinating new carpet for the downstairs rental, listing it, and showing it. Mother's Day was at the beginning of the month & Heidi enjoyed the church program, the sweet treats, and daddy's dinner (which mom chose) of lettuce wraps - yum! - and asphalt pie for dessert! She got lots of wonderful homemade cards, too. They were so sweet. & daddy got her flowers. On the 20th, Heidi had carpal tunnel surgery on her left hand & it went well. She is glad both hands are done & feels like it has really helped & will continue to help make this 3rd trimester bearable :) We also got a new mattress so that has helped with hip, shoulder and wrist pain. She's already feeling very large and has gotten her fair share of "any day now?" comments.) Heidi got a jury summons at the end of the month, but thankfully after writing a letter to the judge asking for an excusal, she was granted one. This time at least! She enjoyed going to a baby shower for her friend Hannah Price, who is having a "surprise baby" at 40 & needed some extra things. She also has been busy with the Relief Society Activity Committee (they called a new group) and Activity Days. And she has LOVED that Cindy, Trisha, and mom have all visited her in the past month! It's been so fun be with them :)

McKINLEY:
-McKinley has really enjoyed 4th grade and is sad to be done with Mr. Sahagun's class. She has Mrs. Isom for next year (a new teacher), and is excited to be in her last year of elementary school this fall.
-McKinley continues to excel at piano and has learned some really fun pieces this month, including Splish Splash and the Looney Tunes theme song.
-She has been busy with the Leadership Team this month, including Teacher appreciation, helping with Arts night, and helping with the introduction night for those new students from 3 Peaks Elementary who will be coming to North next year.
- We are so proud of McKinley for being a member missionary and inviting her school friend, Madison, to church! She brought her on the 15th and it was her first time coming to an LDS church. We hope she will come again!
-McKinley's big project this month was doing a report on Duchesne County. She did it all online and it turned out really good & she learned a lot! (even if it meant staying up late for a couple nights)
-One day in the car, McKinley asked dad if he was a tender or a bass. :) We explained that it's TENOR not tender, but tender does describe Jason, too :)

IRELAND:
-Ireland had fun memorizing Shakespeare's 18th sonnet & did really well at arts night. For her artwork, she made a shield with all the things she enjoys, like gymnastics, the 4th of July, friends, pizza, babies and mom :)
-Ireland had a poetry picnic at the beginning of May that mom & Noelle came to. Her poetry book was fantastic and well-done. After reading her poetry, Ireland loved to take Noelle around the class & show off her baby sister to her classmates :)
-Ireland is excited to finish 3rd grade! She's excited for her birthday this summer & excited to be able to get Mr. Sahagun for a teacher next year!
-For field day, Ireland won 5th place in the overall 3rd grade girls race! And she did it in sandals! Way to go Ireland - McKinley was a proud sister :)
-Mom got cherries from the store one day & Ireland decided it would be fun to cut them in half and squeeze the juice on her eyelids to make eyeliner. It worked! But was a bit sticky and messy!

KEZIA:
-Kezia was sad for Kindergarten to end. One night, mom and dad found a note on their bed that said "I am going to miss Mrs. Ekker and my bus driver Lois soooooooooooooooooo much :(" Currently, Kezia is 2nd on the waiting list for East Elementary, so we are really hopeful that she will get in and be able to be in the Spanish immersion program.
-Kezia's Kindergarten program was on the 16th & she did SUCH a great job! :) It was really fun to watch her and take pictures. The songs were all really fun & we are glad that daddy got to see it, too!
-Kezia's friend, Macie, had a party on her last day of Kindergarten. It was Kezia, Macie, Ruby, and Courtney. They had fun playing in the water and having a picnic.
-Kezia's soccer team, Purple Power, finished their season and did GREAT! The last game was close, but we think she had another winning season with no losses! Kezia's gotten a lot better with ball control and keeping on her feet. She is very aggressive and fast. It was so fun that the Devenishs & Reeds came to support her in her last game. Way to go Kezia!
-Kezia has had a hard time lately staying in her room after we put her to bed. She loves to make notes and things and deliver them after she goes to bed.

LINK:

We have felt you close lately, our sweet son. We saw FOUR different rainbows on the way to Mapleton and it was SO neat! We love you so much and miss you so much!!

NOELLE:
-Noelle is a slippery, fast toddler and has really given us some scares this month! One time while we were at Kezia's soccer game, McKinley was playing with Noelle on the playground for a while and one time mom looked up and didn't see her. She went over to find her and a lady brought her over and said she was in the river! Another time we were at the Lake at the Hills. She had her life jacket on, but tripped at was head-down in the water. We are so thankful that both times she was protected and watched over & is just fine, but we wish we didn't have the scares at all :(
-Noelle continues to LOVE Daniel Tiger's neighborhood. She's been saying "Grrr-ific!" and "Tiger-tastic!" a lot. SO cute!
-Mom was trying to brush Noelle's teeth one night & she found dad's floss. She called it her "egg" and when she opened it, she said "surprise!!"
-Just in the past couple weeks, Noelle has REALLY been fighting getting her hair fixed. It is a full-on workout to get her to hold still long enough to get even one elastic in there!!
-Noelle has started climbing her changing table to get on top of it and/or in her crib. We finally decided to move it and hopefully it will give us a few more months of her not being able to climb in or, especially, out of it.
-Noelle loves the Go Dogs Go! Book & has applied it to real-life driving. When we are coming up on a light, she will stay "go car go! The light is green!" or "stop car, stop! The light is red!" It's so adorable :)

-Noelle has learned how to strap the chest strap on her carseat!

-Noelle LOVES the bunny, Rainbow Truck. Seriously. Loves him. He's in the garage right now & it's hard to get her in the car or into the house because all she wants to do is see the bunny. And if you leave her in there for longer than a minute or two, she has figured out how to get that heavy lid off & Rainbow Truck OUT. A few times, she's come in the house with that bunny & mom's allergies have NOT been happy. We're not entirely sure Rainbow Truck has been happy, either, with all the squeezing and pulling.
-Noelle's sisters obviously adore her to no end. They get her to copy them a lot & lately it's been "I am very, very, very, very, very CUTE!!"
-One day, Noelle told mom "take a picture!" :)
- Noelle still struggles with ONLY drawing on paper. While she was being watched at the Potts, she found a permanent marker and had fun on their newly painted walls :( They were moving the next day or so, so they had to re-paint where she drew :( Naughty, naughty girl!

April Newsletter & Slideshow

Slideshow:
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipOYr9LJCwWj7jUFvupUR6cvwOCwU5_WWjA5emAo

Hamilton Newsletter

April 2016
FAMILY: April started out with April Fools and McKinley had fun plastic-wrapping Kezia's door and putting rubber bands on doorknobs and whatnot. Grandma Devenish stopped by that day as well and was able to go to North Elementary to see a fun assembly where McKinley was the announcer. That first April weekend was laid back and we enjoyed watching General Conference as a family. Mom made cinnamon rolls and other treats and while daddy was at Priesthood session, the girls walked to Discovery Park and had fun. For activity days, we had fun making Chia Pets and watching them grow (like faith) :) On April 8th, our sunrise girl turned 2 years old! See her section for more details. On the 9th, after Kezia's soccer game, we got ready and headed to Fredonia to see some friends, the Barons, after their son's baptism & before they left to live in Hawaii. We were there a bit early since we hadn't taken Arizona time into account, so we went to the little museum there & saw some cool arrowheads and Native American artifacts. Afterwards, we headed to the church and enjoyed seeing old friends and catching up. On the way home, we stopped at the park in Torquerville and had a lot of fun. The girls were finding all sorts of caterpillars & it was a nice evening. On the 19th, we headed to St. George for the evening. Jason took the girls to the park and then to the Kesterson's while Heidi went to the temple to do a much-needed session. On the 22nd, Heidi & Jason had a fun date going to the ballroom dance concert at SUU. 2 hours of fun dancing & choreography. It was a great time.  The 23rd, we worked in the yard in the morning and in the evening we went to the family fair at SUU where they got balloons, balls, and made crafts including a glitter bottle and fish kites. Afterwards we went to Link's bench and brought him some of the pinwheels from the fair and we also saw a dog who looked similar to Tundra. Aunt Cindy, Michael & Joshua came down for the last weekend of April to support our family in the Share Walk for Remembrance & Hope. It was a cold, wet weekend, but thankfully the rain held off for the walk and we enjoyed seeing the other families & remembering our babies. After the walk, we played at home and that night we watched a movie on the projector and had pizza and popcorn. Thank you Edwards for supporting us! Another fun thing that happened this month was that our friends in the ward, the Prices, moved into the house behind us! The girls have been fun yelling back and forth and jumping over the wall to play. :)

JASON:  Jason went to Ogden for a meeting the second week of April & enjoyed some quiet time and going to see a movie :) He also had some meetings in St. George this month. Towards the end of the month, Jason got pretty sick. He went into the instacare and they were worried about pnuemonia. He got a shot and ordered to rest. It ended up being the flu and it really took him down :( For a good 3 days, he didn't hardly get out of bed and then a few more days to feel normal again. Praying it doesn't spread to anyone else!

HEIDI: Heidi finally felt a little more energy in April and was able to get more into walking & has done pretty well at getting her 10,000 steps a day. She enjoys walking in the mornings with McKinley or Ireland or with a friend and especially seeing the temple progress. On the 8th, Heidi had carpal tunnel surgery on her right wrist. It was on Noelle's birthday, so thank goodness she was too young to be too sad about taking over her birthday a bit. The surgery went well - the only hard thing was that they told her to fast and she almost passed out during the surgery because she got light-headed & nauseous from not eating. The pain wasn't too bad, though, and she was thankfully able to do pretty much everything because Jason was out of town the week after her surgery. Her tingles at night haven't completely gone away, but they are much better! Heidi also signed up to be the team parent for Kezia's soccer team & it's been fun to get to know the parents more and arrange treats, etc.

McKINLEY:
-McKinley has enjoyed the leadership team and has done a great job. For an assembly for the whole school, she was the announcer and did a great job being the MC :)
-McKinley continues to excel with piano & voice. Her teacher, Jan, got her a book of fun songs including Splish Splash and the Looney Tunes theme. It's fun to hear her play them and also fun to have McKinley play songs to sing for FHE.
-McKinley had a fun time at Emma Beacham's birthday party this month!
-McKinley got to sing with 2 other girls in front of the whole church for a choir performance and she did a great job!
-She got to go to Bulloch Drug with her primary class & get ice cream to reward them for all the great scripture reading they've been doing. She loves Brother & Sister Fletcher!

IRELAND:
-Ireland finished gymnastics at the end of April & passed off all her elements with flying colors! She is excited to move on to the next level in the fall.
- Ireland made a new friend in school - her name is Kim!
-Ireland was so happy that Joshua came to play at the end of this month!
-She lost a book at gymnastics & had to end up paying for a new one :(
-Ireland has been very creative this month & has made many signs, posters, and even a light saber holder out of tape.
-One day Ireland got dressed for school and mom asked her to change because she had already worn that outfit a couple days earlier. She had a really hard time and mom got her on video saying that she will NEVER make her kids change their clothes - even if they wear the exact same outfit every single day. She said I was "TORTURING" her for making her change :)

KEZIA:
-One day Kezia said "Mom, you must love having all these babies." Mom started to talk about yes, how much she loved all her children, but Kezia interrupted & said "because then you can get all these choice chores done by all your kids." Very perspective, sweet child. That is precisely the reason we have children :)
-Kezia was busy with soccer this month. Her team is called Purple Power & they have done really well! Kezia has mad anywhere from 2 to 7 goals in a game & is a great player! She has a couple more weeks before she's done, but it's been fun to cheer her and her team on to victory. So far, they haven't lost a game! She also got to have a practice with Becky Hogan, the coach for the SUU girls soccer team (and someone mom went to high school with)!
-Kezia was so cute for Noelle's birthday - she had daddy take her to the store and she bought Noelle a monkey bath toy and a truck and some candy. She's so thoughtful!
-Kezia finished her session with the SUU student teacher for reading. She had fun reading a Junie B. Jones book - though she still says Magic Treehouse books are her favorite.
-One day Kezi announced she was going to make an indoor picnic - so she did :) Sydney tried to join in a few times, but other than that, it was really fun!

LINK:
We loved wearing new Link shirts for the Share Walk of Remembrance this month - and putting up your poster and hearing your beautiful name read. You have been sending love notes lately - including 3 days in a row of rainbows (!), heart-shaped drips and other things, and mom even got to have a dream about you & got to kiss your sweet cheeks. One night, mom & dad were looking at family search and mom got tired & headed to bed. She specifically prayed that you would help daddy find how to open his dad's side and mom to open her dad's mom's side. About 30 minutes later, dad came into the room and woke mom up. He was excited because he had found a document that had a mistake in the indexing of the name Louis Quitman. It was listed as Louise and it was marked as female. Anyway, it was an exciting find & we are hoping it will be the key to unlocking more names. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP! Thank you for your love notes, sweet son. We miss you always. We love you.

NOELLE:
Happy 2nd Birthday to our beautiful sunrise girl! The whole family was so excited to celebrate Noelle's special day!! She brings so much joy into our family and we are so thankful for her!! She got gifts from grandmas, sisters, and mom and dad. Mom and dad got her a Dora backpack, complete with the map, binoculars, camera, and Swiper keychain. She also got a Dora plate and bowl and a yellow straw cup that matches her sisters. Dad also couldn't resist getting her a big pack of Matchbox cars. And Grandma Devenish got her more cars and a cute outfit. She had fun finding and opening her presents and blowing out her candles. For her breakfast, we made German pancakes, for lunch Macaroni & Cheeze and for dinner we had hot dogs. Happy birthday Noelle-my-belle!
-Noelle has started to care about what she wears. Mom will pick a shirt, but she will go pick a different one to wear and insist on wearing it! She especially likes her fishy shirt that's from Hawaii.
-She definitely has also embraced the "terrible twos" and can scream and whine and she has added "don't want it" and "right NOW!" to her toddler vernacular. She has also been hitting more and pulling hair on purpose. As a result, she has been spending more time in her room and in time-out.
-The 2nd week of April, Noelle woke up in the middle of the night puking, then she had a fever for another few days. Thankfully, she seemed back to herself after a few days, but it was sad to see her so sick :(
-Noelle's favorite show now is probably Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood - and it shows. When she gets upset, she'll say "Grrrr. I'm mad." and sometimes she'll even count down from four. She also says Ugga Mugga and will rub your nose, which is SO SO cute!
-Another trick lately has been when mom and dad go to leave after putting her in her crib, she will said "Wait mom! Hugs!" and "Wait dad! Kisses!" We LOVE her hugs and kisses but also realize she could do that for 30 minutes straight :)
-Another too-cute thing is when Noelle's excited, she'll say "Okaaaaay!!"
-She also loves to point out things in the car. As we drive, she'll say "I see... trees! I see... cars! I see... clouds!"
-She continues to love the Babylit books and can now "read" the entire Secret Garden book, including "Canterbury Bells" and " Snapdragon." Mom was able to get some of it on video. So cute!
-Noelle still LOVES when her sisters' friends come over & knows most of their names. Most of the time, her sisters' friends adore her and let her come play with them, which she LOVES.
-Noelle has been scared to go down the stairs by herself lately for some reason, but we've been trying to help her & she's done better. She will stand at the top and say to herself "you can do it!" over and over until she reaches the bottom.
-When Noelle was sick, mom let her have her binki and doggie a lot, and afterwards, it's been hard for her to give up. She asks constantly for doggie and binki. Mom was putting it up on top of the changing table, but she has started to climb up there & get it so we have to find a higher place!
-Unfortunately, Noelle is still not safe with any writing utinsil. She continues to color on herself, her clothes, the furniture & the walls :( Thankful for magic erasers, rubbing alchohol and Goo Gone!

March Newsletter & Slideshow

https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipMdvPfXe68eBr6WQqBaZHkqBHiQFsfQJAg7JscV

Hamilton Family Newsletter
March 2016

FAMILY: What a fun, adventurous, busy month March was! Heidi’s birthday was on a Sunday this year and she was spoiled – see her section for more details. Aunt Tiffany was SO sweet and sent a HUGE bin full of girl clothes for Noelle & our new baby girl. They are so so cute & so fun to add new, fun clothes to their closets! The girls’ official spring break went from March 7-11, but since we knew the Bargers were coming, we just hung around Cedar & St. George & spring cleaned. We did go to the park in St. George & ate at Culvers and went Easter shopping. Also – the girls had friends over with tea parties and games. The Bargers – Dustin, Skyla, Kayla, Kaydence, Jacob & Aunt Yvetta – arrived late on Sunday, March 13^th. We had so much fun with their family for our “bonus” spring break J We let the girls get out of school and we did the St. George park, the St. George Children’s Museum, the Pizza Factory, Pioneer Park, Zions National Park, the Parowan Gap, swimming, movie night, tubing at Brian Head, lunch at the Brick House, and a birthday dinner bash at our house for Yvetta, Dustin & Camri (16!). We were so sad to see them leave, but cherish all the memories we got to make with them. On the 24^th, Jason took the morning off & we went down to St. George for our 20-week ultrasound. It was so neat to see our baby girl moving around and being active. In fact, the technician was a little frustrated trying to get some clear shots because she would not hold still. We are so thankful everything looks good & she is healthy. We celebrated with lunch at Kneaders – just daddy, mommy & Noelle. It was a wonderful morning. The 26^th was Link’s angelversary. Things didn’t go as planned because Ireland ended up getting strep throat so we didn’t go to the temple. That evening we did go to the cemetery, out to eat & watched his slideshow. The 27^th was Easter & the girls all donned their new dresses and new sandals and we took pictures before church. They also had fun checking out their Easter baskets J After church, we had an Easter egg hunt & a yummy Easter dinner, including ham, mashed potatoes, rolls, and asparagus. We also spent time on Easter watching inspirational videos and talking about our joy in the resurrection of our Savior, which we are truly, eternally thankful for.

JASON: Jason had a great time taking a week off to spend with some of his Texas family. He continues to stay busy with the detail he’s doing at work and his Elder’s Quorum calling. Jason has been growing out his hair to the chagrin of his wife J But at church he was told he looks like a young Tom Cruise, so he’s been keeping it!

HEIDI:  It was a roller coaster for Heidi this month – her 37th birthday (which included many thoughtful gifts from the girls, including a beautiful necklace from McKinley,  Jason making 3 different Pinterest recipes that Heidi sent to him J They all were very yummy , and Jason getting Heidi a Samsung watch – it was a great birthday!), getting the house ready for guests, enjoying all the activities with family, and also dealing with Link’s angelversary and the difficult memories that day brings. She took a few hours and read cards and notes from many people after Link died & she is also very thankful for all the love that was shown to our family after Link died. Thankfully, Heidi is past the really sick phase of her pregnancy. Still tired most of the time, but so much better than feeling sick. She is also so thankful that our new baby girl is healthy and it was so fun to see her on the ultrasound. She also read the When Calls the Heart series of books, which were good.

McKINLEY:
-McKinley was so sweet and spent $15 – all her allowance and more – on a birthday necklace for mom. It was 2 half-hearts that had sweet sayings on it about mom & daughter J
-McKinley made it to the leadership team at North Elementary School! We are so proud of her! She had to fill out an application and have interviews – and she did great and made the team. She was a welcomer to the groundbreaking of the new North Elementary school and she even got to shovel the first dirt with a golden shovel! Also –she was in the online newspaper! Way to go McKinley!
-Also this month was the Science Fair. McKinley did a project about ideas on making water boil faster, including salt, oil, Sprite, and a metal cylinder. It was interesting and fun and she got 2^nd place in her grade! J
-One day we were running out the door & mom told McKinley it wasn’t cold enough for 2 coats, but as she got out of the van, she still had both coats. Mom asked why & McKinley said “because someone else might need it!” She is a sweet, thoughtful girl J
-McKinley had fun with the Bargers here, even though she was a bit worried about being too young to really hang out with Kayla. Still, Kayla was really nice to her and even taught her about drawing faces & McKinley enjoyed spending time with her & the rest of the family.

IRELAND:
-Ireland could hardly wait for her 2^nd cousin, Kaydence, to get here. They have been pen pals for almost a year now, since we went to Texas for Uncle Joe’s funeral. She had so much fun getting to have sleepovers with her and do all the fun activities. We all talked about how much they looked alike with their brown hair and freckles. It was fun to watch them interact – and Ireland already has written her 2 letters and talks about going to see them.
-After many many months of “reminders” by Ireland, we finally took her in to get her orthodontia work started. First they put bands on her top & bottom molars and that really hurt. Ireland complained a lot & took ibprofin. Then they replaced the bands with metal toppers and put the expander in the top of her mouth and springs in the bottom. Every other day we use the “key” to force her expander out a little bit more. It has taken Ireland quite a bit of adjusting to get used to it – from the way she talks to the struggles of eating with it in, she has had to learn a lot, but she’s getting more used to it and is excited for her upcoming braces in the next year.
-Ireland’s science fair project was called “Potato Power.” Dad helped her with it & they tried to make potatoes produce enough power to light a bulb. Though they followed the instructions and bought all the items, they couldn’t get it to work, which was sad L, but they did learn a lot and Ireland had fun with dad.
-At the end of the month, Ireland got strep throat L

KEZIA:
-Kezi also had fun with her Texas cousins and getting to see so much of our St. George & Richfield cousins, too, was just so fun for her. She especially loved the tubing hill at Brian Head and getting to hang out with the big kids.
-Kezia got to meet her coach and teammates for the upcoming spring soccer season & she is excited to play!
-This month we went to a meeting for the dual immersion program at East Elementary. Though Kezia still doesn’t seem too excited to go to East, we are encouraging her & hoping it will prove to be a good experience and even fun. It will be neat to see her & her daddy have their own language and we found out her friend Macie signed up, too, so we are excited about that!
-Kezia has had LOTS of playdates this month, including Paige, Caroline, Ruby, and Macie! She has lots of fun friends in the neighborhood & her class. Her friend, Ruby, even wrote her a note with “10 things I like about you” & it included you’re nice, you’re beautiful, you’re happy, you can hide secrets, we can laugh together, you always smile, we make crafts, your friendly, you like me J
-Kezia has been sweet about “menus” lately. She will make a menu with what we have available to eat and give it to everyone so they can order, then she will go get it for you J it’s so sweet.
-Kezia used her OWN money to buy everyone in the family their favorite KING sized candy bars for Easter. What a sweetie!

LINK:

Our sweet son. It’s so hard to fathom that three years have passed since you left this earth. We have learned and grown so much and are so thankful for the time we spent with you, but we still miss you more than we can say. You still are such a huge part of our family. We are so sorry that family history work has fallen behind this last year. We ask for your forgiveness and also your help with it in the next year. That we can find more names and learn more and do more work. We love you eternally our duder-dude and pray that you continue to be with us to guide us and protect us.

NOELLE:
-This girl is almost 2 & she knows SO much! She is really speaking in sentences now and is pretty easy to have a little conversation with. We all LOVE her little voice!
-Noelle loved having our Texas family here – she just didn’t love her sleep schedule being changed. On the day we went to the St. George children’s museum, she was very ornery and we even thought she might have an ear infection. Then on the Zions day, she didn’t get a nap at all and about 5pm, she hit the wall. Literally. She was writing and screaming and banging her head on the cement. It wasn’t pretty L We were going to go out to eat afterwards, but ended up going straight home & putting her to bed. She slept from 5:30 on…
-She is just so adorable when she wakes her sisters & dad up in the morning – or when they come back from school or work. She gives the BEST hugs and says I love you!
-Noelle also says Hi a lot, as in “Hi Ireland!” and she won’t stop saying it until you say hi back.
-We are still working with Noelle ONLY writing on paper. She understands, but still has written on the couch, walls, her hands, and her clothes. Still, her coloring has gotten better – more circles and she knows probably half the colors now, too.
-She has learned to express her emotions more lately as well. She will say I’m MAD! And sometimes we sing the Daniel Tiger song and count down from four to help her feel better.
-Noelle has also been asking more questions lately. One of her favorites “why not?”
-Rain, snow, or shine, this girl LOVES to be outside. Mom has been known to bribe her sisters into taking her outside for a while just so she will quit asking all day long.
-Still waiting for the day when the doggie water or the toilet water doesn’t fascinate her!
-Noelle wants to know where everyone is all the time. Daddy at work! Ireland is at school!
-Noelle tells us pretty promptly when she needs a diaper change. She will come up to mom or dad and say “I got stinkers.” Mom will say “You have stinkers?” and she will reply “oooh, yeah.”
-Noelle still LOVES cars. We’re pretty sure her brother sent her here with that love J She usually has a car in each hand most of the day and she loves to go to homes where she can play with new cars. Every time we go to Link’s bench, she steals one or two!
-Noelle did really well on the Easter egg hunt! She found lots of eggs & even waited to open them! When we got them inside, she opened them one by one and said “surprise! Candy canes!”

February Slideshow & Newsletter

Looks like Google Photos has completely taken over Picasa, so I don't think I'll be able to embed the slideshows anymore, so I'll just copy the link to the pictures here for you to look at. Let me know if you can't see them please!

https://goo.gl/photos/SJAWUzhgQX36ySYXA

Hamilton Newsletter

February 2016
FAMILY: February started with a SNOW DAY! It was the first one in over 60 YEARS in Iron County, so it was a big deal! Daddy made pancakes & was able to work from home. The girls built snowmen, made snow angles, and just played in the snow a lot. We watched movies and enjoyed our extra day - it was fun! That day we also celebrated Sydney's 13th birthday! In dog years, that's 91 in dog years! McKinley even made treats for the neighborhood dogs to celebrate :) On the 5th, Jason took the McKinley & Ireland skiing for the first time! They spent a half-day at Brian Head & even though the first run was hard, they said, afterwards they got the hang of it and had a wonderful time! The only sad part was that mom forgot to send them with sunscreen & they got burned :( A fun Activity Days that we did this month was to hand-stitch Valentine's Pillows. McKinley, Ireland & Kezia all got a pillow to work on, so we have 3 small pillows that say "Be Mine."  On the 12th, Jason got to go to North Elementary with McKinley & Ireland and be a watchdog for the day! On the 13th, we all went for a walk on the parkway as a family and it was a fun, beautiful, warm day. Valentine's Day was full of hearts and fun. Daddy made heart pancakes in the morning before church and he got each of the girls a heart full of candy and a rose. Mom had been "heart-attacking" each family member's door each morning with a heart saying one thing she loves about them. After church and naps, the girls were so sweet and set up a masseuse area downstairs. We got relaxing music, lotion, snacks, and lots of good messages. They were so cute to do that for us. The 15th was Presidents Day & we voted to explore Zions on our way to St. George to see Grandma & Grandpa Potts, who were there. We finally were able to use McKinley's free 4th grade pass, so that was nice! We stopped to explore for a while and found a waterfall and some mountain goats! Then we decided to hike to the overlook and that one took longer than expected and we didn't have the hiking backpack, so it was a bit of an ordeal, but we made it through and the view was gorgeous. We stopped for food and ice cream in Springdale & got to St. George about 4pm. It was fun to see the Potts and eat some pizza & visit. All-in-all, it was a fabulous President's Day! Things went downhill from there :( First, McKinley got fevers and headaches. Then, a couple days later, Ireland got the fevers, headaches & then started throwing up. Then it hit Noelle. And finally Kezia. We were one sicky family. Mom also got a cold and dad had a couple days of yuckiness, too. That was almost 2 weeks of yuck and the girls missed plenty of school :( We're glad that's over with & hope it doesn't return for a good long while! The 27th was Mahina's birthday party at Brian Head. Once again, we had a wonderful time sledding, swimming, visiting and snacking. We had to leave a bit early because Noelle was super-tired by 2pm, but we did have a great time and are thankful for good friends. For one of mom's FHE, we talked about the contention in our home and how to deal with anger. Mom also put out a jar for us to fill with jelly beans, each one representing a kind act we did for each other. Our motto is to "KILL CONTENTION WITH KINDNESS!" So far, we have quite a few jelly beans in the jar. It will take a while to fill, but we know we'll get there!

JASON: Jason continues to be very busy - between his detail job and Elder's Quorum. This month, they had a "Manrichment" at the Petersen's home, where they played games, ate food (Jason made sliders), and watched Tim Hawkins. He had fun going to the girls' school to be a watchdog and taking them skiing as well. He also had to (with McKinley & Ireland) do the FHE we had planned for Brookstone - the assisted living community. They sang songs and played Jeopardy. In between all of that, he was very good at helping take care of all the sickies here, including Heidi who was still pregnancy-sick. He helped with the house and all the throw up and is such a good hubby and daddy :)

HEIDI: Heidi finished reading the Count of Monte Cristo this month (good book!) and started Wonder at McKinley's insistence. Mom loves to read books that McKinley has read. Heidi is now 17 weeks pregnant & still working on feeling better. She still throws up every few days and her nights are still a struggle. It's better than a month ago, but we're all hoping it gets much better soon. On the She has started trying to walk more - both outside and on the treadmill. She started a Netflix series while she walked - When Calls the Heart - and got quickly addicted. It's based on the books by Janette Oke, and she has loved watching them. She also watched The Paradise on Netflix, a BBC show. In between all of that, she took care of a lot of sickies and did a lot of laundry and cleaning to try to get all the germs away.

McKINLEY:
-McKinley continues to read the family The BFG and we all love how she does the voices for the giant & little girl.
-Daddy went to McKinley's SEP Conference with Mr. Sahagun. He had great things to say about McKinley and wants her to read harder books. So - the librarian suggested Boston Jane, which she is enjoying right now.
-McKinley had fun making her Valentine's box with her friend, Tazia. She decided to do a dog house and have Tundra on the front with a mouth that opens when you pull his tail. It was really cute.
-On the 20th, McKinley & mom went to a Stake Activity Days event at the stake center. We had fun, learned a lot, passed off faith in god things, and McKinley even got to do a FHE about scripture heroes that we learned from that activity. It was fun.
-McKinley wasn't so sure about skiing at the beginning, but she ended up having a good time!
-McKinley missed a full week of school because of sickness this month :(
-McKinley missed a lot of piano this month because we were out of town or Jan was out of town or McKinley was sick, but she still managed to practice a lot and she played the opening & closing songs for our FHE at Brookstone - an assisted living community. We are so proud of her!

IRELAND:
-Ireland said she was a "natural" at skiing and loved every second of it :)
-Ireland LOVED having daddy at school to be a watchdog! She had been asking about it since school started, so it was a v e r y long wait for her, but she finally got her wish!
-At Ireland's SEPs, Ireland did very well. Her test scores are good. We just need to work on sentence structure and making sure she is reading harder books. We got her a Fablehaven book, which she seems to enjoy so far.
-Ireland had real issues sleeping in her own room in January, but it's been much better in February. We got her a white noise machine, and that seems to help, as well as just consistency - and continuing to read her Book of Mormon.
-One night mom was putting Ireland to bed and asked her why she always takes the elastics out of her hair at night. She said they were way to uncomfortable. Mom pointed out that she almost always wears an elastic in her hair at night & Ireland replied "Well, that's because I have different hair spines that you!"
-Ireland is still enjoying her gymnastics, but can't wait until they teach her harder tricks. She is REALLY close to getting her middle splits though!
-Ireland probably got the brunt of our sickness. She got the fevers, the headaches, a sore throat, AND the throwing up. And - even after a few days of feeling better, she started throwing up again :( Poor girl. We hate seeing her sick.

KEZIA:
-Kezia got to have some fun playdates this month, with Adelaide and Ruby. She loves playing with friends!
-Kezia's SEPs were this month, too, and the main theme was to make sure that Kezia is being challenged, which we know is a challenge :) Her test scores were crazy, like for the Diebels nonsense word test, she got 109 out of 17. We are still working toward getting her enrolled for dual immersion at East Elementary next year so she can have some challenge.
-Kezia was VERY much looking forward to her Valentine's Party at school this year, but it was kind of a rough morning. Sydney followed her and she was really worried she might try to get on the bus with her, so she tried to take her back, but the bus was coming, so the Spencers took her home. Unfortunately , in the chaos, she set down her basket full of Valentines and left it there. Mrs. Ekker called mom that morning, explaining that Kezia was VERY distraught about the Valentines. Thankfully, mom was planning on coming anyway to help with Kezia's Valentine's Pary, so she found her Valentine's & brought them. Mom could tell Kezia had been crying & it had been a difficult morning for her. But once she got her Valentines & got to see mom & Noelle, she brightened & mom had fun helping at the Valentine's Party and meeting Kezia's little friends :)
-While daddy took the older girls skiing, mom & Kezia had fun playing outside, going to the dollar store, coloring, and making oobleck.
-One day we were driving back to Walmart and Kezia asked if they allowed dogs in the store. Mom answered "only service animals." Kezia said loudly "Only CIRCUS animals?" :)
-Kezia has been so sweet and made so many cards & signs for mom & dad & sisters. She is quite the list-maker lately & mom finds her lists of "to-dos" all over the house :)
-Mom made Kezia promise not to get sick like her sisters, but she finally gave in & got the fevers and throwing up for a few days and had to miss school & church. No fun :(

LINK:
Our sweet boy. We sure miss you. Finding out we were having a girl wasn't so bad, but realizing that we wouldn't ever get to raise a boy in this life was heartbreaking for your mommy. She did a lot of crying and praying and finally felt peace, knowing that this is God's will and trusting in His plan for us. Also knowing that you will ALWAYS be our boy. We went hiking in Zions on President's Day & Kezia pointed out a "rainbow" in the rock and mommy smiled as she thought of the ways you show us your love :) We know you are doing great things where you are at and we ask for your help as we try to get back into family history and do our part to help our dead. We love and miss you with all our hearts.

NOELLE:
-Noelle wakes up talking and doesn't seem to stop all day long! Whether it's pointing to things and naming them, or singing songs, or asking questions (where are we going? is that Kezia? Where is daddy), we constantly get to hear her cute, sweet little voice and we love it.
-Noelle knows probably 3/4 of the alphabet and a lot of the numbers up to 10 as well. She loves to point to the letters & numbers on keyboards.
-One thing her brother sent her with is a love for all things cars! She especially loves this red car & this green car & wants to carry them everywhere & sleep with them. When we drive places, she will point out all the cars & try to figure out their colors.
-We are still working with Noelle to color only on PAPER. One day mom came in the living room and she came to her with a pen and said "Good job!" mom looked down at the couch and saw pen all over it and said "No! That is NOT a good job! We only color on PAPER!" Now, whenever we hear her say "good job" we check on the situation immediately :)
-Noelle's sickness seemed to linger for a while. She would really cry when she would first eat in the morning & we really wondered if she had strep throat or something, but she seems a lot better now.
-Noelle still loves Signing Time, Chu Chu TV, and Dora, but she has expanded a bit to Daniel Tiger and Curious George!
-This girl LOVES naps & bedtime! The minute we say those words, she usually RUNS to her room & tries to climb her crib to get in!
-Noelle also LOVES selfies! If she is grouchy and we turn the camera to selfie mode on our phones, she will immediately calm down and start smiling at herself and laughing. We have a LOT of selfies of her on our phones :)
-Noelle knows how to sign the letter L and the letter a.
-She is big lately on putting things to "bed." she will grab a blanket and put it on a person, or a stuffed animal, or a phone, or a shoe and put it to bed :)
-It is SO much fun seeing her watch for Kezi or her sisters to get home. She gets SO excited!
-Driving or walking by a park is dangerous. Noelle will say "SLIDE! SLIDE!" and start crying till she gets her way!
-She also LOVES the outside. She will stand by the door, trying to open it, saying "outside! outside!" We can't wait till we get the fence fully finished so we don't have to worry about her getting to the street.
-Noelle's prayers are so precious. She will say "bless Noelle, bless the cup, bless daddy, bless sisters" etc, etc. She can keep going for a while if you let her :)