https://picasaweb.google.com/sunkist640/2013_11Slideshow
FAMILY:
We have so much to be thankful for
this Thanksgiving. Top of the list is the gospel and wonderful family and
friends. On the 2nd, we got a babysitter & Heidi & Jason
went out to dinner at the Japanese steakhouse by our home. It was really great!
Jason even had a sushi roll with eel. Just after we got home, we got the news
of the birth of baby Grace! We are so excited for the Checketts and can’t wait
to meet our new niece/cousin. The 7th was Link’s birthday. It was a
hard and neat day. See his section for more details. On the 8th, we
headed down to St. George for the weekend. Heidi went to Time Out for Women and
Jason & the girls went to baseball games for Payson and Daken. We stayed in
Great Grandma’s place in Washington. It was great to enjoy warmer weather and
family. Monday was Veterans Day and we let the girls get out of school so we
could all go to our big ultrasound appointment. We are thankful to find out we
are expecting a girl and she looks healthy J We also dropped off donations at the
Jubilee House in St. George by the NICU and went to Iceburg for lunch. While
Jason was hunting with Grandpa Dave and Uncle Jeff on the 14th &
15th, we had a girls time! – making pizza, painting nails, and
eating sticky popcorn. Daddy surprised us by coming home on Friday! The 16th, we went to IHOP for
dinner & there were amazing “wave” clouds outside our window – it was
really neat! Then we watched a Christmas movie at home. It was fun. On the 20th,
we headed to St. George again for a temple date. The Hamiltons came along and
we were able to do sealings and watch as Jeff and Keeley sealed Grandma and Grandpa
Hamilton together. It was a very special experience. Afterwards, we went to
cold stone for some yummy ice cream. Thanks Camri for watching the girls! The 21st was our first big snowstorm
and the girls had SO much fun playing in it! On the 22nd, we had
Hannah Klassen from the ward come over to do a story and craft time about the
first thanksgiving. The Riddles also came & it was a lot of fun! The 25th
was our Thanksgiving Family Home Evening and we made our annual Gerald the
Grateful Turkey, which was a lot of fun. We left for Richfield on the 27th
and left on December 1st. It was a classic Thanksgiving weekend –
including too much food and football, but never too much family! The girls had
fun going to the park, doing puzzles, singing songs, and just playing with
their cousins. Jason also took McKinley & Ireland & they cut down our
Christmas tree near Panguitch Lake. On Saturday, we went out to eat in Salina
at a Restaurant with the whole family. After some talking, prayer, and a family
poll, we decided to name our new baby Noelle Eve. We are all excited for Noelle
to be a part of our family. More good
news was that baby Katelyn was born to the Bealer Family on the 20th.
She is beautiful!
JASON: Jason’s coworkers were pretty amazing contributing to
Link’s birthday service project helping the Jubilee House – he sent out an
e-mail & the donations came pouring in – money, robes, food, etc. We are so
thankful for their support. Jason enjoyed going hunting with Jeff and Dave this
year. It was early morning and cold temperatures, but they were able to help
Dave land a pretty good sized elk. Jason has kind of taken over McKinley’s
tablet & they argue over who gets to play it. Jason likes a hunting game on
there and will play it as much as he can J He’s
also participated in the “no shave November” – apparently for Prostate Cancer
awareness. It’s now a bit into December, though, and we’re not sure if he’s now
going for the Santa look or what ;)
HEIDI:
The beginning of November was a pretty
emotional time for Heidi with Link’s birthday and going to St. George the following
weekend – she felt like she walked the same steps she walked a year ago (The
Hamiltons, Harmon’s, the NICU building, Iceburg). It was surreal and brought
back a lot of memories. Time Out for Women was really neat, though, and Heidi learned
a lot. Heidi is doing pretty good in her pregnancy. She is feeling Noelle quite
a bit these days and her movements bring her comfort and joy. She admits
holding Katelyn Bealer brought some anxiety, though, and hopes she can work
through a lot of it before Noelle gets here. Heidi finished re-reading the
Hiding Place this month and it was like reading a whole new book since losing
Link. She learned so very much and hopes that like Corrie Ten Boom, her trial
will change her for the better.
McKINLEY:
-McKinley said she wasn’t feeling
good at the beginning of the month and had to stay home from school for a day
or two.
-McKinley’s favorite saying right
now: “I know, right?”
-McKinley really has a heart for
service. After we delivered the bags to the Jubilee House on Link’s birthday,
McKinley said “I feel the Holy Ghost & it feels so good!”
-McKinley had a lot of nightmares at
the beginning of the month. One night, she had 3 in one night! She decided she
wanted Ireland to go back to sleeping with her and that’s seemed to help.
-McKinley and Ireland were big into
jump roping this month! Our floors would echo with the sounds of jumping to see
how many times they could do it in a row. Also – they were big into getting
parchment paper & tracing coloring pages.
-McKinley was big into Monopoly this
month. We got it out at least 4 times. The last game lasted the longest and we
each had houses on our properties. Daddy won pretty much every game!
-McKinley has been quite the cook
this month! With VERY minimal help, she made peanut butter cookies, caramel
popcorn, and pizza!
-Mom surprised McKinley one afternoon
by picking her up from school and taking her out to Panda Express! It was a lot
of fun and they had fun visiting & eating yummy food.
-One night we watched a Christmas movie
about an elf that used Santa’s time travel compass to go back in time and save
Santa. A little while after the movie ended, McKinley said “Mom, I wish that
time travel thing was real and we could go back to the day that Link took his
nap and I would wake him up and he would still be alive.”
-For Activity Days this month,
McKinley made an AWESOME Christmas star – it is beautiful!
-McKinley has been practicing her
articles of faith and hopefully will pass them off soon.
-McKinley continues to do SUPER in
school and earned the Math Achievement and Reading Achievement awards for the
first quarter. WAY TO GO McKINLEY!!
-One night, McKinley shared how the
Holy Ghost had helped her. They were playing at recess and some people were
playing with a boy, but kind of teasing him, too. She said the Holy Ghost
helped her remember her sister Kezia yelling to her before she went to school “Be
kind to everyone – even if they’re not kind to you!” and so she walked away.
-McKinley is very excited for her
baby sister. She was really rooting for the name Noelle & would walk around
singing “Noel… Noel..”
-McKinley enjoyed spending more time with
her older cousins over Thanksgiving. She hung out a lot with Camri &
Sedona. She liked to stand by Camri and sing while she played the piano.
IRELAND:
-McKinley and Ireland were big into
jump roping this month! Our floors would echo with the sounds of jumping to see
how many times they could do it in a row. Also – they were big into getting
parchment paper & tracing coloring pages.
-Ireland likes this little kids’ cook
book. One day she was trying to convince mom to make one of the recipes. She
said “Look mom! We have all the ingredients but the shaving cream!” (whipped
cream) J
-When we were packing to go to St.
George, Ireland packed 2 dresses. Mom kept asking her why. She thought about it
for a while & finally said “Just in case there’s a funeral, mom.”
-Ireland has had problems with good
dreams lately, too. One night, she came into mom and dad’s room and said “Mom –
I’m not having bad dreams, but I’m not having the right dreams. They’re not the
ones I want.” So – what kind of dreams does she want? Well, it must be what she
prays for EVERY night. This is a typical evening Ireland prayer “…and please help me dream of unicorns & rainbows & Pegasusus & flowers & lollypops…”
-Ireland gave a talk in primary this month about gratitude
and told a story about a child getting a gift for someone and how they didn’t
even look at it & how that’s how Jesus feels when we don’t appreciate his
gifts. She did a GREAT job and got lots of compliments!
-One day Ireland asked “how many more years until my
birthday?”
-Ireland said to mom one day “I love you infinity hearts!”
-Ireland is very excited for Noelle to come & said “maybe
on the baby’s birthday, it will come out!”
-One night, Ireland’s prayer was so sweet. She said “I’m
so thankful for Grandma Potts that I’m named after…”
-Poor Ireland really doesn’t want to sleep alone, but she
really is a light sleeper. Kezia wakes her up with her moving around &
talking in her sleep. McKinley wakes her up with her loud breathing/snoring.
Ireland said to mom with a sigh “I really need to sleep with a sister that doesn’t
talk or breathe in her sleep!”
-Ireland has lost FOUR teeth so far! She’s got the 2 upper
& 2 bottom ones gone – so QUITE a gap! Unfortunately, the tooth fairy hasn’t
been very on top of things lately. She took THREE nights to get her her gold
dollar!
KEZIA
-Kezia is so good to share. Every time she had a piece of her
Halloween candy, she wouldn’t eat the whole thing. She would save part of it
for someone. One day, she got a mini snickers bar. She insisted that it be cut up
into 5 pieces for every member of our family and put into individual baggies with
people’s names on them. J
-Kezia was my big helper getting the bags together for the
Jubilee House on Link’s birthday. Mom would give her something & tell her
to put a certain amount in each bag. She did really well!
-Kezi really wanted to name our new baby Rose. Mom asked “what
if it’s a boy?” Kezia thought & said “then we’ll name him Handsome Rose!”
-Mom often asks Kezi for Kezi kisses & hugs. One day she
ran to mom & said “You got it!!” and gave her big kisses & hugs. Mom
LOVES that!
-Lately Kezia will say “Mom!” or “Dad!” and when we answer,
she says “I love you.”
-One day we were talking about teachers & mom told Kezi
that Aunt Keeley AND Aunt Cindy were teachers. Kezi’s eyes got big and she said
“Wow! I’m freakin’ out!”
-Kezi really likes to be sneaky lately. When we go to her
room to tuck her in or open the door to the car to get her out, she is crouched
down somewhere hiding. Also – every time she goes to preschool, she likes to
quietly sneak by the door… and then jump in the classroom and yell “BOO!”
-One day at church we were sitting there and a man passed by
& Kezia said rather loudly “look mom! That guy is BALD!”
-Not sure if it’s a growth spurt or just that it’s been
colder & we’ve wanted to cuddle more, but mommy & Kezi took a lot more
naps this month. We love to read books & cuddle up and get some rest in.
-Kezi is big on her “collections.” She has at least 4
different boxes or bags that she keeps her “collection” in (which usually
consists of lip gloss or Barbie shoes or a pony or some pennies)
-One day in Primary, Sister Beacham (the Primary President)
was in front announcing some things. Kezia raised her hand and said “I have a question.” Sister Beacham
said “yes?” Kezi put her feet up in front of her and asked “do you like my
shoes?”
-Everyone in the primary said something they were thankful
for and Kezia’s friend Addi said “Kezia!”
-We were at the store & mom told Kezia and Canyon to look
with their eyes, not with their hands, so Kezi went around putting her eyes
right on everything and blinking hard.
-Kezi and Canyon were so cute dancing at the store. They
would spin and spin around. It was so cute.
-Kezi is getting better & better about writing her letters
& will often ask how to spell something.
-Kezi is usually pretty good with Rainbow Truck (the bunny),
but she and Canyon were playing with it in Grandma’s garage & came running
in saying the bunny’s nose was bleeding. After more questioning, we found out
that they were playing “flip the bunny.” Needless to say, she was not allowed
to hold the bunny again for a while. (Rainbow Truck is fine).
LINK:
Happy 1st Birthday
our sweet boy. It’s hard to believe it’s been one year since you’ve come into
this world. You’ve truly changed us forever since that day. Mom did an entire
blog post about your birthday, but we’ll try to sum it up here. The morning was
very difficult. Writing your birthday letter was the hardest thing mom has done
in a long time. It hurt not to be able to do all the traditions with you that
we have done with your sisters. We decided to donate to the Jubilee House in
honor of you because of our experience at the Ronald McDonald House in
Philadelphia. SO many people donated, Link. So many wonderful people – in honor
of you and your special day. Liz Powlaski even got a brick for you at the
Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House that says “Our Link to Heaven – Linkin Hamilton.”
Your family in Salt Lake went to McDonald’s and the Ronald McDonald House up
there. Down here, we were able to donate
the bags to the Jubilee House, release balloons at the cemetery, go to McDonald’s
and donate there, and come home for cake and ice cream and watching your
slideshow. Oh, how we wish you were there to eat your cake – to make a mess –
to be a one-year-old little boy. We missed you sweet boy. We love you. You made
the day sunny. You sent us a gorgeous sunset. You kept us close. Family &
friends came to support us & to honor your life. We hope the angels in
heaven made your birthday extra special up there and you were able to feel our
love as strongly as possible. Ever since your birthday, the memories have
flooded back with your time in the St. George NICU and Philadelphia. Mom talked
to Dr. Carroll and Enyo and both of those phone calls were emotional. Dr.
Carroll said that he would be lying if he said he remembered every baby he took
care of, but he said he would never, never forget you Link. You are just that
kind of kid. You have affected so many people and we feel so very blessed to
have been a part of our journey here on earth. Happy Birthday, our beautiful
boy.
7. Hang pictures of dead loved ones. Of course, I have pictures of Link in every room, but I also have pictures of my grandmas that have died that my girls are named after. I would love to eventually do something like this, but in the mean time, I will print & display what I have. I will mention them often. I will tell their stories. And I will remember them. 
