August Newsletter & Slideshow

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August 2019

Hamilton Newsletter

FAMILY: August! It came whether we wanted it to or not! Mom was in denial for a while, but finally the week before school started, she went shopping with the girls & we got some basics. The 3rd was Oaklyn’s magical birthday - #3! See her section for more details. We did have some good times before school got back in session, we hiked Alpine Pond & Hidden Haven, had a picnic at Link’s bench, made frosty lemonade and strawberry puffs, Went to the St. George Children’s Museum and splash park, and read a lot - we finished The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe! It was wonderful, as always! The day before school started, mom let them pick what they wanted to do. McKinley went to walk around the temple, Ireland chose ice cream at Bulloch Drug, Kezia chose to go to the Dollar Store, and Noelle & Oaklyn decided to go to the park. It was a lot of fun! The day finally came :( This year we have a 8th grader (queen of middle school!), 7th grader, 4th grader & Kindergartener! Pretty crazy! Mommy & Oaklyn miss the big sisters every day, but we love to see them when they get home to hear all about their day! The weekends have mostly been spent working on rentals - We finished up airbnb-ing our SUU place. Overall it was a good experience - the girls were able to make $ cleaning, but we’re glad to have the girls moved in. We put in a closet, installed a shelf, put in a dresser, and put away the airbnb things. Then, in our basement room we finished up the outside entrance - finish work, painting, caulking, the stucco guys did the stucco on the outside, then we replaced the outlet in the makeshift kitchen so we could put a full-sized stove in there, and we put in the fridge and some cabinets that our friends were getting rid of. Also, the renters in Grandma & Grandpa’s St. George home left so we had to help find a replacement for that place.  So, lots of work! But Jason & Heidi still found time to go for a hike, finding the petroglyph cave in Rainbow Canyon. We took some crazy routes but finally made it :)  The 18th weekend, the Edwards came for a couple days to see Tiarra and they stayed with us. It was good to see them! On the 21st Heidi & the olders drove down to Tuacahn to watch The Little Mermaid at the Tuacahn. It was a lot of fun! Our basement renters moved in on the 22nd - Ivana from Pennsylvania and Brookelyn from the Lehi area. That weekend, the Schoppmann’s had a back-to-school root beer float social in their front yard. It was a wonderful, perfect evening & we loved visiting with the neighbors :)  The 24th, we had a backyard campfire and that was fun!  As a family, we also helped watch the Hillstead dogs and the Price dog. Good times :) We also have had fun as a family listening to the acapella group Inside Out, and especially their versions of the song Once there was a Snowman - and Give, Said the Little Stream. Another thing we’ve been doing as a family is trying out mom’s new healthy cookbook from Zonya. We have tried opening our minds & our mouths to new tastes & flavors! From fish (!) to brussel sprouts to squash to sweet potatoes, we have (most times not happily) tried new healthy foods! We also got to see some great people this month - we had the Bensons stop by and we also had Truly & Levi over for dessert! Our dishwasher broke this month :( :( Tried to fix it, but had to buy a new one :( On the 29th, we headed to the Pine Valley Guard Station for Labor Day weekend. We had a great time! Some memories include: Fishing at Pine Valley Reservoir (we caught at least 30 fish between all of us!), Veyo pool and Veyo Pies, many walks and bike rides on the Santa Clara Riverwalk, going to the Pine Valley Ranger building & doing lots of crafts, including leather, making books, and string art,  playing lots of Phase 10, Wacky 6, Uno, and Lunacy. Roasting hot dogs & s’mores. Lots of daddy long-leg spiders all over the cabin! Oaklyn climbing into bed with us every night. Irealnd throwing a huge amount of dry pine needles on the fire for a huge bonfire. Daizy chasing deer all over, and deer sometimes chasing her!

JASON : Jason has worked so hard with all the handyman stuff he’s had to do for the rentals, we are so grateful for all his hard work & we hope things will slow down :) Jason hasn’t been able to go on a fire this year & it’s not looking like he’ll be able to, which is good and bad, but we sure have enjoyed having him home. Jason took a half day off on the Friday before the girls went back to school so he could hike Hidden Haven with us & have a picnic at Link’s bench! We are so thankful for the way Jason honors and uses his priesthood to bless our family and others. He gave our family back-to-school blessings, as well as Shawn Cosper and her kids, and Cindy and her kids. We are so thankful for Jason!

HEIDI: Heidi is so sad to see the girls go back to school, she misses seeing their beautiful faces & she hates starting back with the morning military mom :( She enjoyed only one more week with Noelle before she went to Kindergarten. Now, it’s just Oaklyn and mommy in the mornings. So far they’ve stayed pretty busy, though, going back to the gym, running errands, watching Shawn Cosper’s kids, etc. Heidi also was very busy with the rentals this month & praying things calm down a bit :)  She also spent time working on Oaklyn’s birthday book! Mixbook wasn’t working so she had to completely start from scratch with Shutterfly, so that was frustrating, but she hopes it will be good in the long run. 

McKINLEY:

-McKinley has been really good about doing her hair lately. It takes her an hour to curl all her thick, long, hair and she sometimes makes us late to church (!), but it is really beautiful. She has also been trying out different braids & ponytails. 

-McKinley is liking 8th grade so far. She was worried because she was sad she didn’t get to be a teacher’s aid, and she didn’t think she’d like the other class. But, so far she’s really enjoyed her humanities class where she gets to make an autobiography book and learn all about her ancestors and herself. She doesn’t have any classes with Karmiyah, but she sees her at lunch. She does have a math class with Micaela!

-McKinley made first chair cello! Way to go McKinley!

-McKinley tested well in math & was one of 10 students to move ahead in math! Great job!

-McKinley has still spent a lot of time hanging out with Karmiyah & Emma. They like to walk around a lot, and one afternoon they went to Culvers. 

-McKinley & Ireland were in a drop-down, drag-out fight this month while mom & dad were gone :( 

IRELAND:

-Ireland has really been responsible since the school year started. At night, she lays out her clothes, backpack and folder. She wakes up at 5:30 most mornings to get ready and is ready to walk out the door before 7:30. We’re proud of you Ireland! 

-Ireland wasn’t really excited about going back to school, but so far she’s liking 7th grade more than 6th grade. :) She still sits by Mahina at lunch and walks to & from school with her. 

-Ireland hasn’t been a big fan of the new healthy cookbook. One night she was picking at her dinner & said “I think this is what they feed the prisoners”

-We LOVE how Ireland uses all kinds of big words. She’s just like Amy in Little Women. She doesn’t always use them correctly, or she often uses a word that is very close to another word that she means. Case in point: We were hiking & there were people coming. She yells back to us “We have customers!” We hope she never changes:)

-Ireland’s flute broke again :( $50 :(

-Ireland and McKinley got into a drop down drag out fight while mom & dad were gone. It was really sad & they both had consequences. Ireland’s was to not have screen time for an entire week. She struggled with that a lot, but by the end she was getting very creative! Mom found her in her bathroom shaving a barbie’s head with daddy’s electric razor. Then she took the barbie’s head off and hand-sewed white yard into her head. :)

-Ireland FINALLY got her new Gabb phone at the end of the month & she was so excited! And mom and dad are so excited that it only texts and calls - no internet or apps. It’s nice to be able to text her and call her! 

KEZIA:

-Kezia & Addie tried to sell some things at a neighbor’s yard sale, but didn’t make any money :(  They are hoping to try again. 

-Addie also came with us on the Hidden Haven hike. 

-4th Grade! Kezia was excited to go to school this year. We didn’t have a lot of money for extra clothes, especially since she already has a packed closet, so we told her she had $20 to spend on something. Of course she chose a shirt about a chinchilla :) It says “My Chinchilla ate my Homework” :) We gotta say that she was probably not in danger of anyone wearing her same outfit :)

-Kezia has been saving money to buy another chinchilla. She wanted to buy a boy chinchilla so she could sell the babies, which is a good way to make money considering they go for $150-250 each, but mom wanted her to see the realities of it, so we read some articles and watched some YouTube videos. Once she understood that Wolf could die in the birthing process, or she could kill her babies, or she might not feed them & we might have to hand-feed them, or any number of scenarios, she isn’t sure anymore. At any rate, they recommend they’re 1-2 years old before you breed them, so she’s decided to wait for 6 more months & reevaluate. 

-Kezia FINALLY got to do an Activity Days activity this month to pass off one of her Faith In God goals. She made cupcakes and did an object lesson about how it doesn’t matter what we look like on the outside, we should be sweet on the inside :)

-Kezia’s teacher (Mrs. Van Arsdale)  sent me a text this month: “I wanted to write you a quick message letting you know how well Kezia is doing. Her positivity is contagious, and she is always willing to help others.” Messages like don’t surprise us, but make us so happy & we are all so blessed to have Kezia in our lives. Always more than good grades, we appreciate knowing our children are kind :) 

-Kezia always loves going to the Back-to-School Luau at East. It was hot, but a lot of fun this year. Kezi & Macie won the 3-legged race again this year! 

LINK:

We loved our picnic at your bench this year. We love to talk about you, think about you and see your pictures and videos. 

NOELLE:

-When we were at the Children’s Museum, Noelle got lost :( Mom had to go to the front desk and get her and she was sobbing & terrified. Poor girl :(

-Noelle can’t wait to get an Alexa device in her bedroom. She REALLY likes to go to Alexa and have her sing “The Middle” or “Space Unicorns”

-Noelle has lately been praying for things she wants out loud in front of mom, like “Heavenly Father, thank you that I’ll get to sleep with Kezia tonight” or “thank you that mom will not see me using this sharp knife” :)

-Noelle was excited to meet her new teacher Mrs. Nakken. Her teacher did an assessment & talked about what a smart Kindergartner Noelle is! Later, someone asked Noelle who her teacher was. She said “Mrs. Napkins!”

-One night we were talking to Noelle about Joseph Smith. Mom said “Joseph Smith had a question, so what do you think he did?” Noelle replied “he checked his computer” 

-The day before Kindergarten started, we had a Safety Family Home evening (Bullying, swearing, not letting anyone see or touch the parts of your body that a swim suit covers, not going with anyone in their car, etc). .Noelle was terrified. She was in tears for fear of what could happen.We assured her that while we need to know there are some unkind and even bad  We also reminded her that her brother won't just be with her until she gets to her classroom, he will be with her and watch over her all day! <3she a="" also="" and="" back-to-school="" blessing="" day="" first="" got="" great="" had="" her="" of="" school="" span="">

-Mom only got one extra week after her sisters started school with her. She really enjoyed her time with Noelle & was sad to see her go, but Noelle was super excited! The first day of Kindergarten, mom took her and picked her up. After that she’s been riding the bus. She’s done great! All except one day when mom got a call from the bus garage saying that Noelle was crying & her tummy hurt. Mom went to go pick her up and Noelle was crying and mom asked if maybe she was just hungry? Noelle said yes :) We’re working on making sure she eats more at breakfast and has a snack in her bag.

-Noelle’s ward friends are all in a different class, but we know Noelle is going to make awesome friends in Kindergarten!

-One night, Noelle prayed “and please bless that Rainbow Truck can be playing with Tundra and riding on his back” 

-Noelle & Sam were playing with a cornhole & bean bags with Oaklyn and Thomas. Noelle said “We’re water, they’re love!” (blue and red)

OAKLYN:

-HAPPY MAGICAL BIRTHDAY OAKLYN!! #3! We just love Oaklyn and can’t believe she’s already 3! She wanted pancakes for breakfast - and even got a #3! She wanted quesadillas for lunch, and for dinner we went out to eat at IHOP with Grandma & Grandpa Devenish! She got a Hungry Caterpillar Game, Lincoln Logs, and a huge United States Puzzle! McKinley & Ireland gave her a cash register & Kezi got her fake food. She also got a cute dress & swim suit  from Grandma & Grandpa Devenish & Grandma & Grandpa Potts gave her a boogie board (drawing pad). She had so much fun finding & opening her presents and she kept saying “it’s my birthday!” 

-The Monday before her birthday, she said she didn’t want to wear pull-ups anymore. Heidi wasn’t quite ready for this, but we went for it! She has done really well with #1. #2 was harder to master, and we threw away probably 20 pair of panties, but she’s finally getting it and we haven’t bought diapers for almost a month! We’re so proud of you Oaklyn! Such a big girl!

-Oaklyn has gotten more and more into barbies. She plays with them downstairs, and she will bring them up to play with them downstairs, too :)

-Now that we walk Noelle to the bus stop in the morning, Oaklyn gets to see her BFF Charlotte, too with her older sister Addie. 

-One day after we got home from an errand, mom heard Oaklyn run to our Echo & say “Alexa, Noelle hit me!” 

-Oaklyn was wanting to be such a big helper at checkout and she was grabbing stuff out of the cart and running ahead of 2 people in line and putting our things on the conveyor belt with someone else’s groceries :) 

-Oaklyn got some mosquito bites when we were hiking and she is terrible at picking at the scabs :( It’s taken a long time for them to heal :( 

-Oaklyn really misses her sisters at school! But she & mom stay pretty busy at gym daycare, running errands, cleaning, and having mommy & Oaklyn time :)

July Newsletter & Slideshow

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July 2019
Hamilton Newsletter
FAMILY: July was our big travel month & BOY did we have a lot of fun! And BOY are we glad to be home! We left for Richfield on the 3rd, stopping by the Beaver creamery on the way for an ice cream cone :) We enjoyed visiting that night, going to the parade the next morning and then Heidi took the girls and  headed to SLC. Mom told the girls we were going to go visit Darla, who we had been praying for, which was true, but we didn’t tell them that Grandma & Grandpa would be there! They had been on their Missouri mission for the past 7 months but they came home to see Darla as she was on home hospice. It was so good to see them & Oaklyn especially was in heaven! It was neat to spend some time with Darla, too. It was the last time we saw her living as she passed away in August. We were going to go with the Edwards tonight to see the fireworks, but it was cold and rainy and we ended up just watching National Treasure & then heading back to Aunt Trisha’s & watching the fireworks in their backyard, which was neat! We ended up staying with the Simons for about 10 days! Friday, the 5th, was Ireland’s birthday & the family came over for dinner & to celebrate. Joseph even came & brought a snake and a Tegu! And it was so fun to have Grandma & Grandpa there, especially since they had to leave the next morning :( On Monday, McKinley left for Oakrest for the week and we hung out and had a ton of fun using our new Get Out Passes! We went to the kids climbing place in Lehi, SeaQuest aquarium in Layton, and Cowabunga Bay water park (not all on the same day, of course) :)  We also went on a hike up Millcreek Canyon where Heidi used to work. It was beautiful! Aunt Trisha gave the girls all their annual hair cuts while we stayed there, too! On Sunday we headed up to Lava Hot Springs for the Potts family retreat. It was a lot of fun! We went to the hot springs, to the huge Olympic swimming pool (some of us even jumped off the Olympic platforms!), on a fun horse-drawn wagon ride, complete with a nice dinner & live music (only sad part was Spencer having a severe allergic reaction), river tubing, and lots of movie-watching, game-playing, and playing outside. We loved being with family, especially the Checketts :) After Lava Hot Springs, we drove about 45 minutes south to Burton’s & stayed in his trailer. The girls had fun riding horses, playing with the dogs, and kitten, and jumping on the tramp. We even got to see Canon and his 22 pomsky and goldendoodle puppies (we were all in heaven!) and his 100-year-old house that he just bought. Friday morning we went to the lake with Burton and got to go boating/tubing for the first time in YEARS! We had a BLAST! We would have stayed longer but we hadn’t seen daddy in about 3 weeks and we MISSED HIM! So, we headed home in the afternoon & drove till 11pm & finally made it home after our long sojourn! Daizy and daddy were happy to see us & we were happy to see them! Once we got home, it was back to reality! And chores, and getting ready to go back to school! The 24th was breakfast at the Pavillion, the parade, and hand-washing dishes :) We also did a great amount of teamwork the last week of July - putting a paver pathway from the sidewalk to the top of the basement entrance stairs. It took 2 days and lots of sweat and teamwork but we got it done! Some of our activities this month: Make it Monday - Pipe Cleaner animals, Taste it Tuesday - Galaxy Cakes and Chocolate creations, Water Wednesday - splash park, Cowabunga Bay, and boating, Thinking Thursday - the library and making circles with pringles, and Forest Friday - a hike in Millcreek Canyon!

JASON : Daddy worked hard and played hard while we were gone! He worked on the airbnb and our downstairs rooms, and he got to go fishing and ride his dirt bike! He also got to spend lots of 1-on-1 time with Daizy :)

HEIDI: Heidi really enjoyed spending so much time with her family - especially seeing her parents and Trisha & her family. It is nice to be able to have meals together, exercise together & go to the temple together :) She also enjoyed her time with Cindy & helping out in her classroom. Heidi also got to get together with a few of the SIDS moms - Anna, Jen, and Alyssa. It was a wonderful evening of visiting.  The Potts Retreat was great and Heidi loved wakeboarding at the lake (It’s been SO LONG!) and thoroughly enjoyed watching the girls go tubing! Heidi has been listening to an autobiography called Angela’s Ashes, about a boy who had an Irish Catholic upbringing.She has really enjoyed that. Uncle Burton gave Heidi his grandpa’s missionary journal & it’s really neat! Heidi is in the process of getting it scanned so it can be uploaded for all to enjoy.

McKINLEY:
-While in SLC, McKinley was able to help GG on 2 different days so she could pass off one of her last Personal Progress projects! She helped GG scan a bunch of old newsletters and pictures, she even uploaded a couple to FamilySearch! Great job McKinley!
-McKinley had such a great time at Oakrest with Addison Bealer and hopefully made memories that will last a lifetime. Some of her favorites included: ziplining, all the songs (mom & McKinley stayed up really late singing the night she got back), Kacey (a man who had an accident and didn’t have legs who taught them they could do anything), Whisper Grove, her counselor Aspen and another counselor Sundance, and all the girls she got to hang out with in her cabin :)
-McKinley had fun traveling, especially talking with family and playing games. She also really enjoyed tubing down the river!
-Karmiyah and McKinley walked to Tropical Smoothie Cafe for a smoothie :)
- McKinley got to babysit & dog-sit this month!

IRELAND:
-Ireland come upstairs at 6am one morning looking for a bandaid. Mom asked why. Ireland said her legs were itchy. So she shaved them!
-HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY Ireland! We can hardly believe she’s 12. We were at Aunt Trisha’s for her birthday & she got Krave for breakfast, Papa Murphey’s for lunch, and pulled pork sandwiches for dinner. In the afternoon, she got to choose the activity and she chose a climbing gym in Lehi. It was so much fun. You just walked around with a harness & hooked up to all the fun climbing walls! At night, all the family came for the pulled pork, a Costco cake, and ice cream! For her gifts she got a loft bed (the week before), a book (Ranger’s Apprentice 2), and tons of earrings. Her sisters also got her make-up! Grandma got her a futon cover, Aunt Trisha got her a lip gloss kit, and Aunt Cindy bought her fairy lights.
-Now that Ireland can wear make-up, she doesn’t miss a day! It took her a little while to figure out how to clean under her eyes with the mascara, but now she has the hang of it and looks so grown up!
-Ireland did a lot of reading on the trip and read Flipped and Ella Enchanted.
-Ireland had a lot of fun on our long trip, especially hanging out with her cousins! She loved jumping on the tramp at Trisha’s (getting her backflips down!), getting a “manicure” from the rufa fish, going to IKEA to choose some decorations for her room, playing with her cousins outside at the airbnb, going river rafting, and going tubing (Uncle Burton called her a bull rider!)
-Ireland couldn’t wait to get back home to decorate her new loft bed! She now has 4 pillows on the futon, a futon cover, and fairy lights - with a remote!
-Ireland was SO sweet - after 2 hard days in the sun putting in the pathway to the basement entrance, mom sat down and Ireland brought over a bowl of water and washed & messaged mom’s feet, then painted her toenails. What a sweetheart!


KEZIA:
-Kezi was so cute and make a “Wheel of Fortune” insert for Wolf’s wheel. She would run on it till it landed on something like “Get one almond” or “3 chin rubs” or “100 pellets” or “Bankrupt” :) Too bad Wolf ended up destroying it, but it was fun while it lasted!!
-Kezia LOVED the bird encounter at SeaQuest! She went twice because she loved how they they just flocked on down to you and land everywhere and eat out of your hand.
-Kezia also loved sleeping on the tramp, going to Home Depot with her cousins and making a tow truck, and jumping off the HIGH platforms at the Olympic swimming pool! 
-Kezia also got to have a couple playdates with Hailee Packard, who she hadn’t seen for a year.


LINK:
It’s always hard to be with the Simons and know that if you were here, Spencer would have such adventures with you! But we know you were with us on our trip and we love you so much!

NOELLE:
-Noelle had a dream this month that she told us about at breakfast. She said Satan came to her and told her to join him and she said no. Mom asked what Satan looked like and Noelle said he had a mustache. Noelle said afterwards “Mom, maybe it was a vision!”
-Speaking of vision, Noelle’s vision has deteriorated since she lost her glasses. One evening, her right eye kept going cross-eyed. Mom couldn’t get her into a Cedar doctor before we went on our trip, so she saw an eye dr. in Salt Lake. She got a new prescription and he suggested doing some patching. So, she got TWO pairs of glasses (one pink, one purple) and some patches. We’re hoping she stays consistent and her eyesight gets better.
-Noelle got to go on a lunch date with daddy to Golden Corral this month!
-Noelle had fun going boating on the lake, but after getting knocked off a couple times, she never wanted to get back out there.
-Noelle is going to BUSY, BUSY, BUSY when she grows up! Just in the past month she says she wants to be a scientist, a firefighter, a builder, and an animal rescuer. And one time when we were in the van, Noelle said that when her kids are in bed at night she’s going to go do a concert and sing. Mom asked what she would do about sleep. She said she would go to sleep at 10:00 :)


OAKLYN:
-Oaklyn was SO excited to see Grandma! And Grandpa! We can’t believe they have been gone over 6 months and we’ll get to have them back in less than a year!
-It was so fun to see Oaklyn & Rachel playing together so much while we stayed at their house. Oaklyn often exclaims “Rachel is my cousin!”
-When we got back from our trip, daddy said Oaklyn grew up! And her clothes agree with that, we are moving up in sizes!
-Oaklyn at first didn’t want to get on the boat, but after she was in she enjoyed it. She did NOT like it when mommy when to wakeboard, though, and she would NOT even try to get on the tube.
-Oaklyn keeps saying “Did Sydney die?” “Why did Sydney die?”
-Oaklyn LOVED going to the parades this month and was so good at getting that candy really fast!
-Oaklyn is getting really good at doing her balance bike!

June Newsletter & Slideshow

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June 2019
Hamilton Newsletter
FAMILY:SUMMER, SUMMER! We love SUMMER! We have been soaking up these weeks of freedom and sun before all our traveling sojourns. On the 2nd, we had a school paper burning ceremony in the backyard and it took a long time to transform all those papers to ashes! Here is a taste of some of our activities this summer: Make-it-Monday: We’ve done cool drawings, water colors, melting cups, and squish balls. Taste-it Tuesday: Jello Fruit Watermelon (fail!), sand pudding, chaco tacos, and Jolly Rancher suckers. Water Wednesday: We went to Lake at the Hills, had a water balloon party, and went to the Aquatic Center. Thinking Thursday: The library (and ice cream afterwards at Hermies), penny boats, and read-a-thon, Forest Friday: Rainbow Canyon - twice! Once with just us, once with the Hillsteads, and we still need to find those petroglyphs! And Pioneer Park. On the 7th, we celebrated National Doughnut Day (thanks Alexa!) and stopped in Doughnutsville for some good stuff. On the 10th, they cut the hole in Ireland’s old room to make way for a door to the basement! It took about another month to finish the project (which wasn’t easy since we had a huge hole, we didn’t have a fence all that time, and our water lines were cut so we had to hand-water everything), but we now have an outside entrance to our basement - hooray!!! We had Truly over for breakfast on her birthday on the 15th & had fun celebrating. That night, Ireland, Kezi & Noelle slept in the back of the truck under the stars :) Dad took the olders to see Big Hero 6 at the main street park one night (we just happened to see a poster about it and it just happened to be a movie we were talking about seeing). It was a really chilly night, but they all had fun! The 16th was Father’s Day! We had fun spoiling dad - French Toast in the morning, homemade bread in the afternoon, and steak at night. He wanted to do a root beer tasting contest and we had fun tasting about 6 different brands. The Wal-mart brand was one of the favorites! Mom, McKinley & Ireland went to girls camp up Cedar Canyon the last week in June. It was Ireland’s first year! We had a good time & mom had fun with the olders while dad had fun with the youngers. He ended up going to Richfield for his birthday & getting spoiled by his momma :) Ireland’s birthday party was the Saturday after we all got back - in the morning we went to Fiddlers as a family & watched Dumbo, then picked up her gift (a loft bed), then back to Fiddlers with her friends for her party. Lots of fun! Another activity that consumed much of the last part of May and beginning of June was getting our SUU rental ready for Airbnb. MANY hours of researching, buying, and putting together finally came together & we were able to list it and get it out there. In June we had 2 bookings, and quite a few more booked for July, so we are so thankful to be able to get a little extra income that we wouldn’t have otherwise had. It keeps us busy with the cleaning & communication. We’ve also been trying to find people for our basement apartment, too. So - lots of extra busyness, but we still have found plenty of time to get outside and enjoy these summer days that fly by! One crazy/funny/annoying thing: Daizy the dog has figured out how to jump the fence between our yard and the Prices yard, wherein one of her best playmates, Rocky, lives. She can just pop over there anytime she wants now for a play date! (The wall is a good 4 feet tall on our side and another foot or so on their side!)

JASON : HAPPY BIRTHDAY daddy! We were so sad not to be there on his birthday, but Jason celebrated in Richfield with his family while we were at girls’ camp. Happy #42 daddy! Jason has worked hard on the rental and he’s busy at work. We’ve really hoped for some fires this year, but so far hasn’t happened :(

HEIDI: Heidi has spent a LOT of time with the rental, but hopes that things will streamline soon. It has been wonderful to spend more time outside and enjoy more time with her girls. Heidi enjoyed going on a trail run with Jason this month. What a wonderful morning! Heidi enjoyed going to girls’ camp. It’s been several years since she’s been in Young Women’s & gone to camp. She enjoyed getting to know the girls more and the leaders, too. And just being up in the TREES :) She did miss her hubby & littles, though :) Heidi went to Grifols this month. Thankfully donating is close and fast & she can do Come Follow Me while she’s donating, while she makes money! She’s already made over $300 with the bonuses :)

McKINLEY:
-McKinley didn’t like that she got Journalism for her elective (not any of the choices she requested), so we completed a paper to request for a schedule change. She did get changed over to humanities, so she’s glad for that, even though she’s sad she’s not doing student tutoring or teacher advising.
-McKinley has been hanging out a LOT with Karmiyah and Emma this summer. They come here, she goes there, they go on a walk with dogs or siblings, and sometimes have late-night fires and/or games.
-One day McKinley & Kezia were hanging out with Truly and she showed them the song “Riptide” on the guitar. McKinley decided to learn it & she’s done really well! It’s fun to hear her play!
-One Saturday night, mom went to bed exhausted & the kichen was a mess. She woke up on the Sabbath Day to find the kitchen cleaned, breakfast set out and “Happy Sabbath Day” on the kitchen table. It was such a sweet surprise & was so appreciated!
-McKinley had fun at girls camp. The Mia Maids were a pretty tight group and LOVED to stay up WAY too late!

IRELAND:
-Ireland’s best friend, Mahina, has been doing an SUU prep thing at the school this summer, so Ireland hasn’t had as much friend time as she’d like. Mom keeps finding her sneaking screen time :( But she did go to the temple with Sariah & had a great time!
-Ireland & Kezia were so sweet and had 3 spa nights for mom. One night was a nail night, one was a mask/facial night, and one night was a message night. It was so heavenly and appreciated!
-Ireland has been having a lot of fun with the Bop-It lately :) She’s gotten a high-score of 100! Wow!
-Ireland had fun at girls camp! There was some Beehive drama, with friends feelings getting hurt. Ireland is good at trying to stay out of it and above it while being kind. She didn’t love how late everyone stayed up, but she enjoyed it when she slept downstairs and got to keep the fire going.
-Ireland’s birthday party was so fun. Mahina Vogt, Sariah Bailey, Hannah Goodman, Izi Newbold, Ana Worth, Paloma, and her sisters all came to Fiddler’s Fun Center to celebrate. We had fun doing laser tag, then the arcades, then Dairy Queen for an ice cream cake. She got lots of fun gifts and she should feel very loved!
-Ireland had been asking about a loft bed for a long time so when we found one on blogshop with the twin mattress and futon, we jumped at the chance! We had to do quite a bit of touch-up spray painting, but it looks awesome in her room & she has big plans for some more fun things to make it fun & cute, including fairy lights, pillows, and tulle.
-Mom took Ireland & McKinley out for their lunch date to Golden Corral :)

KEZIA:
-Kezia had fun at a play date with Macie at Ruby’s house. She’s been wanting & trying to play with Ruby all summer, so it was a lot of fun!
-Kezia went on a date with dad to see The Secret Life of Pets 2. She loved it! She earned the date because she passed off all of her multiplication, great job Kez!
-Kezia and Macie had a lemonade stand (she had a sign that said “No Ducks Allowed” - per the song ) :) and made enough money to buy a running wheel for Wolf. She bought it on ebay. It’s pink and so cute. Wolf loves it!!
-Ireland & Kezia were so sweet and had 3 spa nights for mom. One night was a nail night, one was a mask/facial night, and one night was a message night. It was so heavenly and appreciated!
-We went on the trail by Walmart one morning & it was HOT! Noelle was whiney & complaining a lot on the way back. Kezia came back, put her on the back of her bike, and pedaled her up the hill in the heat all the way back to the van. What an amazing big sister, Noelle & Oaklyn are so blessed to have her!
-Ireland & Kezia were so sweet and had 3 spa nights for mom. One night was a nail night, one was a mask/facial night, and one night was a message night. It was so heavenly and appreciated!
-Addie Price hops the fence most days & comes in our back door to join our circus for the day. Kezi and Addie are very creative with their songs, dances, dressing up and baking!
-Kezia really thinks she might want to try ballet. We keep trying to find a time for her to come watch a class!

LINK:
Our sweet boy, how we love you! We KNOW you would have loved summertime and playing in the sandbox and swinging on the swing set and learning and growing. How we miss you. Thank you for constantly watching over us!

NOELLE:
-Noelle finished up swim lessons this month & had a great time! She thinks she might want to continue in the fall!
-Noelle often asks for melatonin at night. Mom says she has to wait 30 minutes. One night mom heard Noelle wake up and yell “It’s been 30 minutes! I want melatonin!” It was 2:00am.
-We were going to go swimming at the pool & Noelle kept asking when we were leaving & mom kept saying 3pm. Noelle tried to change the little alarm clock to be 3pm & showed mom :)


OAKLYN:
-Oaklyn is SUPER fond of running outside, stripping down naked, and play in the sandbox and use the “jet spray.” One day mom said “Oaklyn, you need to put your pull-up on!” She said “But it hurts my feelings!”
-Oaklyn is getting pretty picky about many things, but especially getting in her carseat, she hates it when someone else does it. She says “I do it myself!!”
-Oaklyn had super-fun getting into moms makup and putting maskara on a couple different times this month :)

May Newsletter & Slideshow

https://photos.app.goo.gl/QRD8Sdg7Uq1pcpeV7

May 2019
Hamilton Newsletter
FAMILY:WE SURVIVED MAY!! Really, there were moments when we wondered! (huge projects, concerts, field trips, etc) But YES, we are on the other side & SUMMER is here! :) On the 4th, Kezi had a soccer game, and it was the annual Share Walk. It was a beautiful morning, mom helped with the walk, and the olders helped run their bake sale. In the evening, mom & dad got to have a nice dinner for their 19th wedding anniversary at their favorite italian place. Mother’s Day was wonderful & mom enjoyed her time with her treasures & sweetheart.  The 18th was Truly & Levi’s wedding & it was just beautiful! Heidi got to be Truly’s escort for her endowment and on her wedding day. It was amazing! They also asked Jason to do the ring ceremony in the evening before their reception started, and he did a wonderful job. It had been cold & rainy, but the day of their wedding was beautiful and they were beautiful & we’re so happy for them! It was a long day, but the girls helped a lot and now they’re living in our SUU rental, so we get to see them :) The 22nd was the LAST DAY of school for the girls! Hooray! That day we headed up to SLC, stayed with Trisha that night, and headed to see Tiarra’s graduation at 9am the next morning. Then, her luncheon that afternoon. We made a crown and rings out of dollar bills for her, and we’re excited to see what the future brings for her! After the luncheon, we gathered our things from Trisha’s & headed to Richfield. We stayed with Grandma & went to Payson’s graduation the next day. We gave Payson a pizza box with “You can’t live on pizza alone, so here’s some dough” on the lid along with a bunch of dollar bills looking like a pizza. He also had a luncheon where we enjoyed visiting with Payson & family. The next day, we headed to Mapleton. We had to get a new tent because we couldn't find poles from our old tent and it was pretty much on it’s last leg anyway, so we set our our new quick set-up 9-person tent & enjoyed our moments with family. It was strange not having grandma & grandpa here this year! But we got to play with the Simons and the Tews and enjoyed eating yummy food, going for a hike, roasting s’mores and being together. The weather wasn’t too bad, either. We had quite a bit of rain on the last night, but our tent held up nicely :) After Mapleton, we drove to Vernal & checked into the Quality Inn where we had fun swimming & watching Disney Channel. Then to McDonald’s & Cafe Rio before bedtime. The next day was Jason’s Aunt LuRae’s funeral. It was good to see so many family members we hadn’t seen in so long! And remember sweet Aunt LuRae. It was a long drive home, but we made it & were thankful to sleep in our own beds after a week of being gone. After that, our summer really got started - extra chores (our home is so much cleaner!), but also lots of fun. We’ve already done churros and the library and drawing and a hike (the red hill). We are doing 2 reward programs this summer - teamwork tickets (for when they help out - to use in a fall store), and puff balls (to try & earn a Lagoon trip). So far they are working well & we’re excited to see how many they’ll get. It’s been a cold, wet month. We didn’t turn on the water or air conditioner at all this month!  The saddest part of this month was saying good-bye to our Sydney dog. She was really struggling while we were gone & she was ready to go. It was hard to say good-bye, but 16 years is a good long life for a dog and we loved our time with her.

JASON : Jason loved getting to see so much family & be back in Vernal, we haven’t been for probably 8 years or so. We hope it’s not that long till we can go again.

HEIDI: Heidi was feeling pretty overwhelmed at the beginning of the month - helping with the Young Women’s dinner while Jason was a lot of work ,and she also helped a lot with this years’ Share Walk, they added her to the Share board & are thinking about doing a 5k next year, so she’ll be involved in that. Both of these, along with helping the girls with all their end-of-school-year projects and assignments was stress inducing!  but even though we didn’t get to rest until a week or so after school let out with all the traveling, she’s SO glad that summer is finally here & intends to make the best use of the time with trail running, hiking, outside yoga, and just being outside with the kids :) Heidi really loved getting to be Truly’s escort for her endowments and wedding. It was TRULY ;) a privilege & honor. Heidi finished the book “Before we were Yours” which was horrifying, heartbreaking, and inspiring all at once. She also read Peter Pan, which she LOVED!

McKINLEY:
-McKinley was sick for a couple days in April & it seemed to throw everything off with her homework, and then the RISE testing started and they were pulling her out of classes for that and she was having SO much homework. Finally, we decided to pull her out of the RISE testing at the end because it was testing or grades and she chose grades. She did end up pulling a 4.0 for her whole 7th grade year - she got a plaque for that and also a trophy for math! Way to go McKinley!
-McKinley had lots of fun things the last weeks of school, too, including going to the movies & to the bowling alley!
-McKinley also went on a field trip to SUU to be a “college student for a day” - her favorite class - Chemistry!
-McKinley’s final orchestra concert for 7th grade was wonderful!
-McKinley got her schedule for 8th & was excited to get tutoring, but sad not to get teacher aide. She got journalism, which wasn’t on her list at all, so we’re hoping to change that!
-McKinley had a lot of fun at Mapleton with her cousins. She went for a long hike up to the snow with Michael, Tucker & Talon. And had a couple long games of Phase 10, too :)



IRELAND:
-We’re SO proud of Ireland - she finished all her huge projects this year, including becoming a “Queen” for her Quest medieval project, which included being able to watch a movie with popcorn, soda & candy. She also finished her ABC book report for Michael Vey, Battle of the Ampire (and got 100%), and also did her Switzerland country report. She got a 4.0 last quarter!
-Ireland had LOTS of fun end-of-school-year activities, including going to the movies, swimming in Veyo, swimming at the Aquatic Center, and Field day. So much fun!
-Ireland did terrific on her last concert for band - they have improved so much since the beginning of the year!
-We got some new flute music for Ireland to keep practicing this summer!
-Ireland has been reading Michael Vey and listening to Harry Potter this month.


KEZIA:
-Kezia is done with 3rd grade! Yay! She was sad, though, and is going to miss her teachers. She bought them candy and an American flag. She also wrote them very sweet letters.
-Kezia got LOTS of pesos this year from Senor Niles and was able to “buy” a jewelry dresser at the end of the year! And a toy and a lot of candy.
-It was cold & rainy, but Kezia still had fun at her 3rd grade field day, hula-hooping, basketball, bean-bag tossing, disc-throwing, batting caging, and 50 & 100-yard-dashing :)
-This was Kezia’s first year taking RISE testing, and she thought it was Meh. She liked the Math portion, though & felt she did good overall.
-Kezia got to be a lunch worker this month! She didn’t like her job (stacking trays), but she made it fun by saying to everyone that gave her their tray “Thank you for shopping at Wal-mart!”
-Kezia had her last soccer game on the 11th! They did great & Kezi scored some goals this month! She will miss her classmates/teammates and friends. When it was our turn to bring treats, Kezi was cute and tied them all up with ribbon!
-Kezia went to a birthday party at Del Taco this month for Amy. She had a lot of fun & got lots of Mexican candy!


LINK:
We always love remembering you & sharing your story at the Share walk every year, our sweet Link. This month we saw one of the brightest rainbows we’ve EVER seen! It was almost too bright to look at! We are so thankful for these sweet love notes.

NOELLE:
-Noelle had a field trip at the farm! She got to hold a lamb, see puppies, horses and cows! It was going to be chilly that day & Noelle’s teacher reminded them to wear a jacket & no sandals. Noelle kept reminding mom, but apparently that wasn’t enough because she told Alexa to remind us, too :)
-At preschool, Noelle made a shrinky dink of her hand and was SO excited to give it to mom for Mother’s Day. She even put it in a bag decorated with all kinds of dinosaur, flower & sparkly star stickers. She couldn’t stop talking about it for weeks :)
-Noelle finished preschool this month & her graduation was SO so cute! She sang the cutest songs & smiled so big. Jason was able to come from work and watch her & she even had a cap and awesome sunglasses. She is missing her teacher & friends, but is also loving all the time with her sisters at home, too :)
-Noelle went to James Petersen’s 5th birthday party this month and had a lot of fun. Mommy stayed to help & it was fun to watch her interact with all the boys. She didn’t like it when they didn’t let her be the boss ;)
-Noelle was apparently fascinated with sticks and she decided to see what would happen if she stuck one in our mailbox key slot. She admitted to what she’d done, and mom & dad both tried to get the tiny stick fibers out, but in the end they just got shoved in more and we had to end up paying $40 and waiting 2 weeks to get the lock changed :(
-One rare day, the littles and mom were just hanging out in mom’s room, sitting on the bed, listening to the rain & watching the wind blow the trees. Mom decided to have Alexa tell a story & she told a long story about King Arthur, Merlin, and the Knights of the round table. Later on, mom asked her what the story was about to see if she rememberd, and she said it was about the Lamanites :) (Laman-KNIGHTS)? :)
-At Aunt LuRae’s funeral luncheon, we were waiting in line for food & passed by cookies. Noelle liked a few & put them back!
-Noelle started swimming lessons at SUU this month - she is having a lot of fun! There’s even a girl in her class named Kezia

 OAKLYN:
-At McKinley’s orchestra concert, Oaklyn saw someone carrying a violin & said “mom - look at that little cello!”
-Oaklyn is happy to have her sisters home so much & mom is happy that her sisters can watch her while she runs errands or takes Noelle to her swimming lessons.
-Oaklyn still alternates between sleeping on the bed and sleeping on the floor, with the former being the preference lately. We don’t really care where she sleeps, but it is hard when she wakes in the middle of the night & wants us to help her move locations!
-Oaklyn REALLY hates it when Noelle gets ready for swimming lessons & she doesn’t get to go. The minute Noelle gets in her swim suit, Oaklyn gets in hers and we’ve had to resort to letting her “swim” in the bathtub a lot.
-Oaklyn calls the nose your BOOP a lot. She will point to your nose & say “that’s your boop!” One time at church she loudly said “I touched your boop!” But boop sounded like another word :)
-It FINALLY got warm enough to put our new hard tub in the backyard and now EVERY day after breakfast, Oaklyn runs outside, strips naked, and jumps in her little pool. Uncle Burton asked mom if Oaklyn’s Zodiak sign was one with water because she kept pushing the button on the water jugs, and mom is thinking it must be because she does LOVE water!
-When we were staying at Aunt Trisha’s, mom laid down with Oaklyn in bed, thinking she’d fall right asleep. Boy was mom wrong. Oaklyn stayed up and talked, and talked and TALKED! It would have been adorable if she wasn’t supposed to be asleep! One time she kept saying I love you, I love you! Mom said she loved her too. Oaklyn replied “Stop talking! Go to sleep!”
-Oaklyn has been having more playdates with Charlotte Price this month. It’s SO cute to see them together. It’s like they were best friends in the pre-mortal world. They sometimes fight, but they hug a LOT and talk about each other. It’s so cute!

April Newsletter & Slideshow

https://photos.app.goo.gl/7S19kU4wnd1NiFfY9


April 2019
Hamilton Newsletter
FAMILY:APRIL! What a month! The 1st was April Fools & miss Kezia was up to her old tricks! See her section for more details :) The 6th was a Saturday & the girls had fun swimming at the Aquatic Center & having a s’more roast with friends that night. The 8th was Noelle’s birthday and she is a WHOLE HAND now! Happy #5 Noelle! We left for our big Spring Break Oregon trip on the 12th! Here are some memorable moments: LONG driving - 8-9 hour days. The girls did really good for the most part! We called our van the “Germ-mobile.” There was a symphony of coughing and sneezing, with about 5 of us sick. Mom had the chills and was achy & pretty out of it the first day of driving &  Noelle especially was hacking stuff up & spitting it out all over :(  Driving by the Great Salt Lake & salt flats - it was fun to see that people had put “sharks” & “crocodiles” in the salt flats by the road. Stopping by a beautiful lake by Mt. Shasta for a picnic lunch, skipping rocks, Kezia catching a pretty lizard that let her hold it, and Daizy catching ticks :( We had to stop by the PetCo in Grant’s Pass (where Olaf Potts was born) to buy tick removal items. Stopping in Myrtle Point for dinner at the Kozy Kitchen Cafe, having the locals tell us not to take the route we planned because the road was washed out from all the rain. Saying a prayer, driving the windy back roads by the Coquille River, in the foggy darkness, listening to John Bytheway CDs as we try and find Bandon & our cabin. Cabin was great - 5 beds in the loft - 1 for each girl, and no fighting! Hearing ocean from the front yard. Beach days - Whisky Run beach - dogs in heaven running on beach, finding LOTS of cool rocks & shells, sandcastles, yellow flowers, finding crabs, dad wandering off on his ocean walks & mom not being able to yell to him. People panning for gold where the river met the ocean. First 2 days rainy. Myrtle point - HUGE waves, seeing surfers & seals. Roasting hot dogs & s’mores. McKinley & Kezi get in the ocean in the rain. Tried to get Daizy in. Seals showed up to play. We threw balls to them, but they just floated away. Couldn’t find Sydney late one night, Jason & McKinley drove to find her, said a prayer, both felt prompted to come back & they found her. So thankful - miracle! Movie nights - popcorn, licorice, candy - watching Sabrina, spy kids, bugs life, League of their Own, Kids baking show. Cabin carpet - looks like hardwood, but was carpet. Day at Redwoods - gorgeous drive along the coast, HUGE trees, fun hike,  couldn’t find a DQ so we waited to eat till 9pm in Bandon.  Ocean day - mom got in, girls mad that she was in so deep. Coquille Point - magical! Tidepooling, finding hermit crabs, shishy barnacles, and starfish! Watching the waves crash into the arch in the rock, beautiful views from the top. Staying up late one night, turning on mom’s phone flashlight & seeing which rock were transparent. It was so cool! Bandon Creamery - ice cream cones - yum! Ireland tummy hurt on last day :( Shopping in Bandon - Cranberry sweets (yummm!), daddy gets seafood from the crab shack, Washed ashore art exhibit where we helped put together some things for their next art project. Saying good-bye to the ocean, Kezi finds a full sand dollar! Left at 6am to get to our hotel in Hawthorne, NV only to find the pool was closed :(  Overall, though, even with the sickness and a few disappointments, our spring break was a HUGE success! We LOVED exploring the Oregon coast and spending time as a family. Sunday, April 21st, was Easter (late this year!). In the morning, we did all the resurrection eggs and learned about the last part of Jesus’ life. We all got matching dresses. Sadly, daddy had caught something from our “germ-mobile” and stayed home with a couple more sickies, but we did have a great egg hung and the Easter bunny brought them all books, candy, flip flops, and art supplies :) We’ve been having Jaden over for Sunday dinners when we can. Jaden is a man who is homeless, Jason has helped him find a job and get him back on his feet. Oaklyn is cute with him & likes to have him read her books and cuddle with him.


JASON : Jason was at the Redwoods last year on a fire, so it was nice to have his knowledge with what trails to try. Jason loved to take long walks on the beach :) And enjoyed eating the fresh seafood and the Cranberry Sweet candy - he even tried the ghost pepper chocolate! Jason finally (we’ve had it since December) started using his Galaxy s7 this month & he’s enjoyed it. The girls have enjoyed it, too, since it takes pictures with all the silly stickers. It’s nice we can video call, too.  He was sick at the end of the month, but got some antibiotics that helped him knock it out before he had his fire training in Denver the last week of April.

HEIDI: Heidi has ALWAYS loved the Northwest and has wanted to visit the Oregon coast. It was such a heavenly time. All the green, the moss, the ocean… she was looking up real estate by the end :) Heidi was very busy with the SUU rental this month - getting the DS apt painted, finding new student renters for the basement, and dealing with drama with the upstairs renters (breaking their lease & not wanting to pay). Also, dealing with huge homework projects for the girls, the stress of doing the publicity for the Share walk as well as the Young Women’s fundraiser dinner wanted to make her run back to Oregon :) But, she was not oblivious to all the blessings that overshadow the stressings. Spring has been GORGEOUS this year! All the moisture of the winter has just made all the colors pop and the smells are amazing! She has loved to get out for a run or walk most days of the week!

McKINLEY:
-McKinley was sick for 2 days before spring break, and we took a day off to drive, so she missed 3 days that week, and you’d think it was a month with all the catch-up work she had to do when she got back! Poor girl, she worked hard to bring back up her grades!
-McKinley loved the ocean and was not afraid to get in, even when it was raining! It was so fun to see her swim with the seals! It’s amazing how zoned out she can be while driving, though - just like her dad. She sat & stared out the window for hour after hour with zero entertainment.
-McKinley is all signed up for Oakrest in July - and Addison gets to be her roommate! Hooray!
-McKinley’s orchestra was in a competition at the Heritage Theater & they got all superiors! Way to go!
-McKinley & mom got to go to a devotional the the SUU Center with Elder Ballard speaking. It was inspirational, and actually pretty humorous, too (who knew Elder Ballard told so many jokes?)
-McKinley has been spending lots of Fridays & Saturdays with Micaela and Karmiyah. They hole up in McKinley’s room and laugh a lot :) They have candy code names for their crushes (Skittles, snickers, etc)

IRELAND:
-Ireland got 100% on her Europe geography quiz - way to go girl!
-She got to go to Raquel’s birthday party before she moved and they got Pizza Cart & pedicures!
-At 9pm one night, Ireland informed mom that she had to dress up for a Renaissance Fair the next day & it was part of her grade! We scrambled to find a costume (used an old Halloween one) and the next day she woke up at 4:30am (!) to shower and make sure her hair was right :)
-Ireland has had 3 HUGE end-of-year projects that she’s had to work on, a country report (she did Switzerland - someone else took Ireland. We made Zopf bread and Swiss stickers), the QUEST Medieval project (150 points to be a queen - she colored elaborate dresses, hand-tailored a dress to a soda bottle, and stayed up till midnight making a castle out of popsicle sticks), and an ABC book report. She has been begging mom to pull her out of the last part of school, she’s been so overwhelmed. We’ll all be so glad next month when it’s done! 
-Ireland made it to the next level in gymnastics! Way to go Ireland! For next year, we are asking her to commit to working on her skills more at home as well as the gym.

KEZIA:
-We have all learned NOT to trust Kezia on April 1st! This year her antics included making “orange julius” for her little sisters (which was actually a mac n cheese packet with water), she covered the mouse sensor with paper, put a party popper over mom’s door, glued a quarter to the sidewalk at her school, and had fake poop in the hallway!
-When we were walking to the store, Oaklyn asked Kezia to hold her hand. And she loves to say “My Kezia!” so cute.
-For activity days, they had an etiquette luncheon. She and Addie Price dressed to the nines and had so much fun! The next day, Kezi put her new etiquette skills to use and set a fancy dinner for us at the table!
-One of the reasons Kezi was sad about not going to North Elementary with her sisters is that they didn’t have the Watchdog program at East, but she got her wish this year & daddy got to be a watchdog at the beginning of the month! She was so excited!
-Kezia continues to be busy with soccer this year - she has been an awesome goalie and made 2 goals as well! Go pink tigers!

LINK:
We love you Link! Thank you for always watching over us and keeping us connected. We sure missed you on our Spring Break trip, you would have LOVED the ocean!

NOELLE:
-HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY NOELLE! We can hardly believe she is a WHOLE hand now! She had a fun birthday - mom & dad got her a metal detector, binoculars, a star glow pillow, and a toy volcano. McKinley got her a huge marble maze that she’s had tons of fun with! Ireland got her starburst. Kezia got her a handmade dinosaur journal and skittles and grandmas & grandpas got her money to spend! She also got a unicorn purse and jewelry from mom & dad & mom made her a unicorn cake. She was SO excited to take applesauce and cupcakes to her preschool class to celebrate!
--Noelle had Kindergarten registration at the beginning of the month & did great! She’s so excited to be a Kindergartner with her friends!
-Also on her birthday, Sam Potter came over with some daffodils and a card. He sheepishly gave them to her and said “I gave these flowers to you cuz… cuz… I love you!” it was SO cute!
-Noelle LOVED the ocean! And she had been waiting so long to come, asking mom constantly when we were going to the beach. Finding seashells was her favorite!
-One day we were walking on the beach barefoot, and Noelle said “Watch out mom! This part is stick-y” (as in, there were a lot of sticks) :)
-Noelle found Ephedra on the beach (bamboo-looking plant) and said “I’m keeping this in case any panda bears come!”
-One day mom asked Noelle if she was changing her clothes. Noelle responded “Indeed I am!”
-Noelle has been getting out of bed in the middle of the night a lot and jumping in bed with Kezia.
-Sam came to play one day and Noelle yells out “Sam! Come look! These snails are marrying!”
-One day mom was fixing Noelle’s hair and Noelle told mom that she believed in God. Mom was so happy to hear that. Noelle said one night she was sleeping in Kezia’s room & something dark came out of the closet, and she said a prayer in faith and it went away.
-Noelle had something in her eye one day & she was crying and crying and wanting a band-aid.
-A recent Noelle-ism is “Kaboom!” as in “Kezia didn’t get me an apple and KABOOM, my tummy was hurting!”
-Noelle’s preschool had chicks hatch! Noelle was so excited to come home & talk about how the cute babies came out of their shells!

 OAKLYN:
-When you call Oaklyn’s name and she responds with “NO!” - that’s a good indicator that she is somewhere making an enormous mess and it’s in everyone’s best interest to check it out ASAP!
-Oregon was Oaklyn’s first time to the ocean! Her first experience wasn’t so wonderful, though. Mom was walking with her in the low tide, but a sneaker wave came and completely knocked her down and soaked her, fully clothed :(
-We have been REALLY good about cleaning up immediately after meals lately because of this girl. She has dumped entire bottles of ranch, applesauce, sugar, etc out
-Oaklyn said a prayer “And thank you for all the bad guys… and thank you for bad guys all dead.”
-A few Oaklyn-isms: “Meanie!” “Spank your bum” “I love your face!”
-One day Oaklyn was outside with mom while she was spraying weeds. She turned to mom and said “Mom, Jesus loves you!” It was sooooo sweet.
-We were playing at main street park after the library one day & mom was watching as a little girl about her age sat down & cried. Oaklyn came right over to her and gave her a hug :)
-Oaklyn’s nights haven’t been too fantastic lately. She still sometimes wakes up multiple times. One night, after 2 other episodes of her waking up & wanting something (like to be switched from the bed to the floor or visa versa), we heard her door open again. She walked in our room (it was probalby 2am) and said “Goodnight, goodnight, see you in the morning!”

March Newsletter & Slideshow

https://photos.app.goo.gl/LZFqR87P4934tg2H7

March 2019
Hamilton Newsletter
FAMILY:What a month! So many fun, hard, and good things happened! On Friday, March 1st, we headed for “game night at the Bealers,” but it ended up being a huge surprise 40th birthday party for Heidi at the Bealers’ church! Jason put so much work into it and it was wonderful, complete with amazing decorations, yummy food & cakes, and a slideshow with music! Mom knew her sisters were there when she old the “old hag bag” on the stage, and sure enough, they came! After the fun, they whisked Heidi away for some sister fun in St. George. It was wonderful! The next weekend was Heidi’s big Half-Ironman race in Long Beach, CA. Grandma Devenish was so good to come stay with the girls so Jason & Heidi could go & focus on the race. We left early Friday & got back Sunday afternoon, so, quick trip!, but Heidi did better than expected in the race and she was so grateful for all the support everyone gave her. That next week, the girls had Monday & Tuesday off, so we had fun going sledding, finishing Girl of the Limberlost, watching movies, drinking hot cocoa, playing with friends, etc :) On the 16th, we all headed to Gunlock Reservior to check out the waterfalls. They were amazing & incredible! Gorgeous! We even watched some crazies do some cliff jumping while we were there. We probably could have stayed all day! We also loved stopping at Veyo on the way there for some pie :) The next day was St. Patrick’s Day, so we all got dressed in green. It was also Sunday, and also Camri’s farewell! She did a great job & we loved getting to spend time with family that day :) The 26th was Link’s 6th Angelversary & we had over 40 names to write on stips of paper & form a chain around Link’s bench. Mom, Dad, McKinley & Ireland all went to the temple that day. At night, we watched his slideshow. On the 30th, mom & dad went on a snowshoeing date up on the mountain - it was beautiful! Mom and Dad have been pretty busy with the rental lately as well. One thing that’s kept us laughing this month is the “Marry me Rebecca” on YouTube. It’s pretty hilarious - and all of us, from Oalyn to daddy, have been quoting it! MIRACLE: Our dryer’s plug blew out & we were worried we’d have to have a major repair on our hands. Thankfully, our neighbor came & helped us replace the cord & outlet & we were good to go!

JASON : Jason was just the husband of the decade this month with Heidi’s surprise party & slideshow and Heidi’s race. He was such a huge support to Heidi for her Half-Ironman. She couldn’t have done it without him! The race was over 6 hours and he was there the whole time. It was wonderful to have that drive there, back, and at Shannon’s house together. Jason has had Elder’s Quarum interviews this month and also been busy at the rental & doing taxes!

HEIDI: Heidi was so beyond grateful for all the love & support this month - both with her 40th birthday, and with her race. She can’t imagine anyone more blessed than she. Heidi is also VERY thankful that the race went so well and that it’s OVER :) It really did consume a lot of mental and physical energy and she’s thankful to be able to re-direct that :) Heidi had a goal to do yoga every single day in March, and she accomplished it! She hopes to continue because it’s been awesome! She also started a health challenge on the 20th, and it goes till mid-June, so she’s excited about that. Heidi has also been busy at the rental, finding student renters for the basement, getting bids to paint, etc. Heidi finished a couple books this month - The Glass Throne, and Harry Potter book 4. She has also been quite involved with her calling, in charge of 2 activities and 2 lessons. She was so thankful about how the picture of Jesus turned out for our combined YW. They each had a square to paint and it was so neat when it all came together as the red-robe Christ.

McKINLEY:
-McKinley had a big day on the 5th. She went on a ski trip to Brian Head with the Honor’s Society, then came back to the school and got changed for her orchestra concert. It was wonderful!
-McKinley got a 4.0 last quarter - we are thankful she is such a hard worker!
-McKinley got to go to Fiddler’s Fun Center for Warrior Pride - fun!
-CMS has been doing a Harry Potter themed year and their big end to it was a huge Harry Potter night, complete with movies, games, etc. McKinley went with Karmiyah & Micaela & they all had fun!
-McKinley was blow-drying her hair one day and the metal part that protects from the fan was gone & her hair got sucked in!
-We love to hear McKinley’s insights when we do Come Follow Me. One week she did a whole chart to help us learn from the parable of the seeds and the different types of grounds. It was great!
-Mom got to take McKinley out for a lunch date. We went out to Pizza Factory and great food & a great chat! Love my time with my oldest girl!

IRELAND:
-Ireland got a 4.0 last quarter - she is a hard-worker & we have seen her focus improve so much this past year - way to go Ireland!
-Ireland got to go to Fiesta Fun Center in St. George for Warrior Pride, and she had a fun time!
-She had another book report due this month, she did a game board, but it was made out of sheet metal and the pieces were magnetic - way cool!
-When we went sledding, Ireland hiked to the very top of the hill & spent most of the time making a really cool snow cave!
--CMS has been doing a Harry Potter themed year and their big end to it was a huge Harry Potter night, complete with movies, games, etc. Ireland went to Mahina and had a ton of fun!

KEZIA:
-Kezia is still in full-on-in-love-mode with her chinchilla! She brings Wolf to the table at breakfast & goes to her cage right when she gets home from school. So far she’s been pretty good about taking care of her - cleaning out her cage, etc. Which is good, because Wolf poops a LOT! :) She really is cute, though, and we’ve all had fun with her.
-Kezia’s Spanish teacher, Senior Niles, has been out with pneumonia for almost 3 months now. He’s finally come back & Kezia was so cute to welcome him back with a cute note.
-Kezi & Addi have been having a lot of playdates this month - in the sandbox, at Addi’s house, and one time mom took them to Wal-mart so they could do the ABC challenge. They got all 26 letters in an hour
-Kezi started soccer at the end of the month. She gets to be with 2 of her classmates - Sarah and Carissa. They are all blondies. It’s fun to see them play together. They are pink this year!
-Kezia was watching the littles for a bit, and when we came home, Noelle & Kezi had a treasure hunt all set up for us! With clues like “the next clue is where it gets hot. But where it gets cold, it is not” :) So cute
-We went sledding this month & there was a Hispanic family sledding that only had one sled, Kezi was cute and told them in Spanish they could borrow our sled.
-There is often fights over who gets to sit in the middle seat of the van. One day, there was a handwritten note on the seat “This seat is reserved for Kezia Hamilton” :)
-One morning we all woke up to a wonderful surprise! Our kitchen had turned into “Chef Kezia’s,” complete with a menu written on the whiteboard. We could choose pancakes, chocolate chip pancakes, eggs, yogurt parfaits, etc. It was awesome! Kezi is just so thoughtful and cute.

LINK:
Our sweet, beautiful boy. 6 years seems like so long, yet we know it’s the tiniest moment in time compared to eternity. We are so thankful for eternal families. Thank you so very much for your presence in our lives and hearts. Watching your slideshow is always hard, but so important, to re-live those precious memories, and so your littles sisters can know just how beautiful and amazing their brother is. We love you!

NOELLE:
-Before Heidi & Jason left to California for Heidi’s race, Noelle asked “Mom, are you swimming to England?”
-Mom ran out of rubbing alcohol and was going to add it  to the shopping list, but Noelle yells “Alexa, add alcohol to my shopping list!” and Alexa repeats “Alcohol added to your shopping list” :)
-One day, Noelle was acting very naughty and sassy in front of one of mom’s friends. Later, while we were having yogurt time, mom explained to her that she was very disappointed in Noelle. Noelle asked “Are you so disappointed in me that you’re doing to throw me into a VOLCANO?!”
-Noelle is so inquisitive. She keeps asking what words mean. She is also constantly asking about volcanoes, tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.
-Noelle has had some anxiety lately as well. One time she had a meltdown about going to the grocery store without socks on. She was SO worried about getting blisters! Mom told her to take all that worry and fear and put it in a box and close the lid. About 5 minutes later (mom thinking she was a genius), mom said “mom, someone keeps taking the lid off!!” Mom peeks back there, trying to see what lid has come off, Noelle said “the lid with my worry!”
-Noelle earned a date & got to go to the movies with mommy! We saw Lego Movie 2, it was so much fun :)
-Noelle’s question one day “If you die in a volcano, do you not go to heaven?”
-We went to St. George (Costco) one day and coming back Noelle just screamed & screamed (and threw things) “Mom - my yawn is stuck in my ear!”
Mommy asked Noelle what she wanted to say for the newsletter, so her it is: “My mom I want my mom to get me a toy dinosaur. With a volcano. I want to get my mom for her birthday a beautiful picture. That’s all.”

 OAKLYN:
-Oaklyn is a cutie, and a mess-maker! She’s definitely in the 2’s!
-Oaklyn had a couple days of pukies this month :(
-We were in St. George for Camri’s farewell, and Oaklyn had a super-tough time. She started crying during sacrament meeting & wouldn’t stop. Mom had to eventually take her to the van. She kept screaming and screaming. She finally yelled that her ear hurt, so we made an emergency trip to get some liquid ibprofin. Finally she calmed down and slept for a long time. We alternated who stayed in the van with her. Poor baby.
-Oaklyn calls pens (that you draw with) pennys :)
-Oaklyn used to be infatuated with knowing what time of day it was. Now she has switched to “what day is it?” Like, 20 times a day. And even once she woke up crying & mom went it & she tearfully asks, “What day is it?”
-We have a book called “One” about bullying. Oaklyn likes to read it a lot. She calls it the “Stop Laughing!” book
-One day everyone was giving daddy a hard time about his long hair and everyone was chanting “cut it, cut it!” Oaklyn just started crying and hugging daddy and saying “NO! I love my daddy!”
-We have all been quoting the “Marry Me Rebecca” on YouTube, but the funniest was when we were driving & mom hears Oaklyn whisper “I hate you so much”
-Oaklyn is so cute when mom does her yoga, she comes & joins her & says “let’s do downward dog!” and she does the cutest down dog you've ever seen :)
-When lots of people are talking, but Oaklyn wants you to focus on HER, she will take both hands and move your head to look directly at her :)

February Newsletter & Slideshow

https://photos.app.goo.gl/e6xTZKs3q4cyqthC8


February 2019
Hamilton Newsletter
FAMILY:February flew by! It was fast, but we still had fun. On the 2nd, we headed down South for Camri’s first time at the temple. It was wonderful! We are so excited for her upcoming farewell! That night mom & dad went to the Bealers for a late-night game night. It was so much fun! On the 4th, mom and dad went to see Elizabeth Smart at SUU. It was interesting, and thought-provoking and we had some discussions with the older girls when we got back. We got QUITE a bit of snow this year! At least 3 really good storms, and at the end of February, still snow on the ground. We’ve loved it! On the 9th, we went up to Woods Ranch to sled and had a blast! There was almost too much snow to sled with anything but a tube, but we still had so much fun - sledding, drinking hot cocoa, and exploring all the amazing snow caves! Ireland even made her own snow cave! On the 11th, we did Family Home Evening at Brookdale & it was a lot of fun. The older girls all played a song on their instruments and even Noelle sang a song with mommy. We talked about scriptures having to do with love, and we enjoyed visiting with the residents. Afterwards, we headed to Laurie Hansen’s retirement open house. She has delivered half of our children and we love her. Excited for her new beginnings. Valentine’s Day was lovely - Mommy did the heart attack thing on the doors every day, and daddy spoiled us all again with roses, chocolates & stuffed animals. Noelle, Mommy & Oaklyn brought sugar cookies to their friends, and Chris Marx even brought over a huge bag of chocolates. Truly and Levi stopped by to say hi, too! That night, mom & dad went to Milt’s and had a great time :) The morning of the 16th, we headed up North, but stopped by the Creamery in Beaver on the way. Yummy lunch & ice cream! We got to Aunt Cindy’s by about 6 that evening and enjoyed hanging out with them! We brought the dogs, so it was quite a dog party with 4 dogs! That evening, we took Aunt Cindy & Johsua & Michael to the movies - we went to Aquaman - it was fun! On Sunday, we went to church with them and after church, Jason gave the priesthood to Joshua. It was a wonderful blessing. That evening we had a birthday get-together/dinner for Cindy’s birthday & got to see Becka and Joseph and Andrea. It was neat and we were thankful we could be there that weekend to make her birthday special. Monday was Martin Luther King, Jr Day and we headed back home, but not before stopping by the town of Rocky Ridge and getting Kezia a Chinchilla! She was over the moon excited! Wolf the Chinchilla is the newest member of our family and has been so fun so far. :) On the 23rd, Jason took Kezia & Ireland skiing for the day and they had a fantastic time! Mom took the littles swimming that day, too, and we had fun as well. Another thing that happened this month, a guy named collin kartchner came to CMS & did a presentation about cell phones & social media. They had us watch one of his TedTalks and we decided, as a family, to not have social media until they are 18. And to get phones without internet access. Too many scary things associated with them!

JASON : Not that we need any more evidence of how awesome of a dad Jason is, but one morning McKinley could not find an important paper for school. We searched high & low & finally Jason went out & dug through the outside trash & found it. Seriously, super dad!! Heidi had fun again this year giving Jason a different note & treat for every day leading up to Valentines. She’s so blessed to have her sweetheart and her best friend in one!

HEIDI: February is the last month of Heidi’s full training & it’s definitely been hard with all this cold & snow - even St. George got snow! She got her last peak brick in at the end of the month over by Sand Hollow - 51 mile ride & 9 mile run. It was hard but good! She is still nervous about the race, but excited, too & ready to be done :) She enjoyed getting together with Cindy this month & has also enjoyed getting to know her new Beehives better.

McKINLEY:
-McKinley got to go to a late-over for Micaella’s birthday. They had pizza, laughed, talked, and even watched the Suessical that they were in together.
-McKinley registered for the 8th grade this month! Crazy! It was the first year she actually got to decide on some electives. She chose to be a teacher’s aide and a tutor.
-McKinley got to have a late-over this month - she had Micaella and Karmiyah over. They talked & went for a long walk in the cold!
-McKinley has been practicing cello a lot to try out for a solo!
-We were so sad for McKinley. She was all ready to go to Youth Conference at Bryce Canyon with the stake, but ended up getting sick :( She was so tired and had a fever. She ended up missing 2 days of school as well.

IRELAND:
-Ireland has had fun in Young Women’s. She loves going to all the activities & it’s fun for mom to get to be with her more!
-Ireland got to have a late-over with Sariah this month. They talked, laughed, and watched a movie together.
-Ireland got to go skiing with Kezia and daddy this month, and Mahina just happened to be going on the same day & they skiied together for most of the time. She said the snow was awesome, but boy did she come home burned!
-Ireland got 100% on her math test!!!! We are so proud of her & know how much work she has put into it.

KEZIA:
-Kezia made an awesome chinchilla Valentine’s Day box! (little did she know she was going to get a REAL chinchilla soon!) She gave out a variety of chocolate candies this year for Valentines :) nmkj
-Kezia’s year long dream finally happened this month! Mom wishes she would have recorded her walking up those steps with her bucket full of cash, and then the look on her face as she went down the steps with a cardboard box containing a small, fluffy, grey chinchilla. She was SO happy. On the way home, the smile was just plastered on her face and she said “I’ve never felt like this before in my my life!” and “Somebody pinch me!” :) She has had a lot of fun getting Wolf’s cage set up and showing her off to all her friends - she has had Addie, Sage, Jade, Emmy & Hailey Schoppman, Ana & Karmiyah, and Macie over to see her new baby :) She loves to take her downstairs to the barbie house & let Wolf run around. She thinks being chinchilla momma is an 11 on a scale of 1-10! (Oh, and the name Wolf came about on our way to MN last summer, we stopped at Nellie’s cafe in Walnut Grove & while we waited for food they were each taking turns making up a story and somehow a story got spun about a chinchilla named Wolf) :)
-Kezia got to go skiing with daddy & Kezia. Daddy was good enough to put sunscreen on, but missed some spots & she came home with some interesting burn lines!


LINK:
On the 2nd of this month, I was SURE you were close Link! It was the day of Camri’s baptism. In the morning, the lamp kept flickering (which it never does), there was a rainbow on the way to St. George!, DeeAnn talked about that day she took out her endowments & there was a ray of light, Dave wore his tie bar that I had made with the links, and that night when we played a card game with the Bealers, one of the cards said Link. THANK YOU SO much for being with us that day our beautiful son! We love you SO much!

NOELLE:
-Noelle is still loving preschool! Mom had her assessment with her teacher this month and her teacher said she’s a wonderful girl & very smart! She has passed everything off & is ready for preschool!
-Noelle is having a harder time keeping her glasses on her face. She keeps taking them off random places or forgetting to put them on in the morning.
-Noelle is getting pretty good at her chores in the morning - she puts the dishes away, cleans her room (and/or helps me put away her laundry), gets her hair fixed, and does a choice chore. Way to go Noelle!
-Noelle has sure been asking a lot about Satan again this month. She keeps wanting to throw him in a volcano or “punch him in the face.” Mom said the best way to punch Satan in the face is to be kind to each other and obedient to her parents.

 OAKLYN:
-Oaklyn seems to still wake up at least once a night a few nights a week. One night we gave in and let her sleep in bed with us. Somewhere in the night, she was yelling in her sleep. She said “Noelle!! You have to share Noelle!”
-One day mom asked Noelle what her favorite animal was & she said “My Link Bear” :)
-For some reason, Oaklyn has demanded that she not sleep on the bed with Noelle, but the floor. Almost every night, no matter what we do to try to get her on the bed, she wants to sleep on the floor.
-Still one of my favorite things Oaklyn says that mommy can’t hardly ever turn down is when she says “let’s rock and roll!” (meaning, rock in her rocking chair with mommy) :)
-Oaklyn always called McKinley “Kinley Lou” :)
-Oaklyn has really enjoyed our huge Book of Mormon puzzle. She is constantly getting it out and asking people to do it with her. Whenever she figures out where a piece of the puzzle goes, she shouts “I did it, all right!”
-Noelle & Oaklyn have been doing this thing where they pray for each other - a lot. It sounds sweet, but they know it annoys the other person. Oaklyn will say “And thank you for Noelle. And thank you for Noelle. And please help Noelle” till Noelle can’t stand it anymore. It’s funny, but also a source of contention!
-Another thing Oaklyn has been constantly asking - what time is it? Like, a hundred times a day. We think she’s after “what activity are we supposed to be doing right now?” Like, “what time is it mom?” “It’s yogurt/lunch/play time”
-We’ve had a lot of fun with the tea set that Oaklyn got for Christmas. She is SO CUTE pouring out tea into the cups! We go through a LOT of rags, but it’s totally worth it to see that smile :)
-Poor Oaklyn - all the rest of the family can get Alexa to do what we want, but Alexa really hasn’t gotten Oaklyn’s little voice down yet. She will sit and yell at Alexa “Alexa, turn on Tumbleleaf!” But, no response :( She gets quite frustrated, but we are glad that she isn’t quite there yet :)
-Oaklyn is getting SO good at remembering books now! She knows a lot of “Share Bear” “The Hungry Caterpillar” and “Green Eggs and Ham” - it’s sooooo cute!
-Oaklyn is getting out the blocks from the ottoman at least 3 times a day. She LOVES building with the blocks and pulls mom & dad onto the floor to help out.