(11 minute slideshow)
It boggles the mind to think that this isn't just the end of a year, but the end of a decade! How quickly it has passed! Looking back on the memories from 2019, I am filled with gratitude. We had deaths (Jason's Aunt LuRae and Margaret Ann, my Aunt Cindy, and our 16-year-old dog Sydney). We had struggles and trials and heartaches. But we also had hope and peace and love through and because of our Savior Jesus Christ. We pray at this time of year that all may feel that pure and holy love. Merry Christmas from the Hamilton family!
-Our big family trips were Oregon in April for Spring Break and Texas in October for Aunt Margaret's funeral. In Oregon, we played in the ocean. We found treasures in the sand and in the tidepools. We gaped at the giant Redwoods. We ate yummy food and watched movies and just enjoyed being together. We even got to take the dogs and it was Sydney's first, and last time at the ocean. We enjoyed seeing our Texas family in October and had fun checking out the blue pool in New Mexico on the way home.
-Summer was a crazy traveling time for us! We missed daddy who had to work, the girls and mom headed up north and enjoyed using our get out passes that included going to Cowabunga Bay, Seaquest Aquarium, and the kids climbing place in Lehi. We also had a great time hiking in Millcreek Canyon. After our SLC fun, we headed up to Lava Hot Springs for the Potts family retreat, where we had fun in the hot springs, at the pool, in a horse-drawn wagon ride/dinner, and just enjoying being together, playing games, watching movies, and having fun. After the retreat, we headed to Uncle Burton's for water skiing! We had so much fun, but were so glad to make it back to be with daddy.
-Our goal of getting an outside entrance in the basement was finally realized this year! It's on the south side of our home, and has been nice for the renters (Brookelynn and Ivanan) to have more privacy. We even turned the unfinished side of the room into a makeshift kitchen for the girls, complete with full-sized fridge and oven.
-Another thing that has kept us really busy was changing the downstairs of the SUU rental from a couple unit to a student unit to accommodate Tiarra coming to SUU. We have 4 girls downstairs and Truly & Levi upstairs. Because it's a student rental, we also Airbnb'd it for the summer and that was a learning experience. But it allowed the girls to earn money for cleaning, so that was great!
-We still LOVE watching Studio C, even though it's not the same with the new cast. Still so funny! We almost always watch Studio C after our movie on Friday night :)
-For fall break, we headed to the Pine Valley Guard Station and had such a great time camping for a few days.
-We have loved having 4 missionaires out right now! Sedona in Anchorage, Camri in Sacramento, and Grandma & Grandpa Potts in Cape Girardaux, Missouri. We miss them all so much, but love getting their e-mails and we pray for them every day.
-MORE, so many more changes in the church, especially for Heidi who is in Young Women's. She's excited for the changes (For the Strength of Youth in the summer, flexibility in classes, new theme, etc), we're also excited as a family to start the new Youth Program, where the girls can choose their own goals in 4 categories.
-We have LOVED the new Come Follow Me program for the New Testament this year. We have all learned and grown so much & coming together for discussions are always such a treat to hear everyone's insights. It has totally changed our scripture study for the better, as a family and on a personal level! We are STOKED to read the Book of Mormon Come Follow Me in 2020.
*When we were in Texas, Jason was able to work capture some old pictures, help his family get some old reels digitalized, and visit with Granmda Hamilton's last living sibling, Lula Pearl. We missed out on interviewing Margaret Ann, but we are thankful for her life and legacy and the information we got while there.
*Jason is always the homework hero in our home and stays up late many nights a week helping the girls out. He is such a good daddy!
*Jason's favorite memory of 2019 is Oregon, he is looking forward to Alaska in 2020.
HEIDI: Heidi turned the big 4-0 this year! Jason somehow managed to pull off a huge, wonderful surprise party at a church near our friends' home. He even put together a wonderful slideshow - it was awesome. And the awesome-ness contintued with a weekend in St. George with Heidi's sisters. What a great way to embrace aging! :) *Heidi's big brave thing this year was doing the Half-Ironman triathlon in California at the beginning of March. It was a LOT of training, but she felt so thankful to be able to complete it and do well. After that long race, she didn't do any more races, but enjoyed the freedom of choosing what she wanted to do and doing it.
*Heidi continues to read physical books and listening to audio books. She has loved
reading biographies, autobiographies, inspirational books, and novels.
*Heidi had fun at girls camp this year, getting to know the leaders and girls more.
*Heidi wanted to work on bringing a LITTLE extra money in this year, so she is going to Grifols and earning some spending money and that's been nice.
*Heidi is now on the Share Board (pregnancy and infant loss support group), so she can help out more with the fundraisers and hospital needs.
*Heidi's favorite memories of 2019 are of our family trip to Oregon and even though the funerals were sad, she loved seeing family she hasn't seen in a while. In 2019, Heidi is looking forward to re-reading a lot of books, going to Alaska with McKinley & Jason, and doing Come Follow Me for the Book of Mormon. Her goals are to work on the attritbute of humility, take better care of her body, skin, and mind, and do a race of some sort.
McKINLEY (14): McKinley is in 8th grade this year at Cedar Middle School and queen of the school :)*McKinley has REALLY excelled in cello this year! Her teacher, Mrs. Carrigan, thinks very highly of her and talks about what a great cellist she is. A couple weeks ago she was in a quartet for their Christmas concert with 3 other kids who had been playing from the time they were tiny and their parents are music teachers. McKinley is really amazing, especially coming from a non-musical home!
*McKinley aslo continues to take piano lessons - from Jessie now (who also teaches her cello), and McKinley also picks up the guitar whenever she can to work on that, too :)
*McKinley is a wonderful student and continues to excel academically. We are very proud of her. McKinley loves all her teachers! Newmann, Rowland, Steele, Carrigan, Black, Hirschi
*McKinley played Maleficent, one of the main roles, in CCCMT's Once Upon a Time. It wasn't easy for her to act evil, but she did a great job & it was so fun to watch her.
*McKinley is the secretary in her young women's class, and loves the girls in there. Karmiyah and Emma and Olivia are some of her best friends.
*McKinley went to Oakrest girls camp in Kamas this year with her good friend Addison Bealer. She had a really wonderful time!
*She also went to our ward girls camp and had a great time :)
*McKinley has worked SO HARD these past few months to accomplish her Young Women Personal Progress before the program ends and we start the new youth program. She will earn her medallion in the next couple weeks! This is a huge accomplishment and we are so proud of her.
*McKinley's favorite memories of 2019 were Oregon & girls camp, she's looking forward to going to Alaska with mom & dad, starting high school, the new youth program, her goals are getting good grades in HS, doing the new youth program, get into symphonic orchestra.
*Ireland continues to play the flute this year and has improved a lot! She's in JV band & it's so fun to come to her concerts & hear her play.
*Ireland also continues with gymnastics & is in level 4. She is working on her arials and back hand springs on the floor.
*Ireland turned 12 this year and so she got to start wearing make-up and have a birthday party! Her party was at Fiddlers Fun Center and there was much fun to be had watching a movie, doing laser tag, playing the arcade games, and then going to DQ for an ice cream cake & presents. So much fun!
*Some of Ireland's favorite friends: Mahina Vogt, Sienna Gardner, and Sariah Bailey.
*Ireland is still in the unfinished room downstairs. Hopefully in the next couple years we'll get it done, but in the mean time, she's made it so cute, with lots of posters and drawings on the walls. She got a loft bed for her birthday with a futon on the bottom, so that's been fun. Ireland even put fairy lights on it and it's so cute. A couple weeks ago we even put up a hammock chair that she can use.
*Ireland is SO good about setting out all her clothes for school the next day and waking up at 5:30 the next morning to get ready for school. We are so impressed with her progress with keeping track of her homework and taking responsibility for the things she needs to do. We are so proud of her.
*Snow skiing is still one of Ireland's all-time favorite activities. She also loves to ice skate, and this year she went tubing for the first time on the lake and had so much fun.
*Ireland's favorite memory of 2019 was Oregon and Cowabunga Bay. She also had fun at girls' camp. She is looking forward to Bear Lake with the Tews in 2020. One goal she has for 2020, she really wants to be better about practicing gymnastics.
Engst), still in the dual immersion program and doing so well. Her teachers just rave about what a good student and friend she is.
*Kezia was Snow White in CCCMT's Once Upon a Time. She was so cute and great and fun to watch!
*Kezia's special friends are Macie Mitchell, Addy Price, Elizabeth Niles, and Sophie Burgess.
*Kezia did her 4th year of soccer this year and they were the pink tigers. She had a lot of fun, scored some goals and loved being goalie!
*Kezia's big dream this year was realized when she got chinchillas! She got her first chinchilla, Wolf, in February and she earned all $100 for her. She had so much fun putting Wolf on her head & shoulders and watching her play in her cage. Sadly, Wolf passed away in September after an accident :( Kezia got 2 new chinchillas around her birthday, a female (Fox) and a male (Coyote) and she's hoping she'll be getting some babies next year :)
*Kezia turned 10 this year and got her ears pierced as per the Hamilton rite of passage :) She insisted on opal earrings.
*Kezia decided to try something new this year and tried out for the Midsummer Night's Dream ballet even though she's never ever danced. She had a great time & is now taking ballet lessons every Thursday, and practices for the Midsummer performance on Saturdays.*Kezia still takes piano - now from Jessie - and doing really well! She also sings in the ward choir and we love to hear her practice her songs.
*Kezia decided she wanted to be Anne of Green Gables for Halloween this year. She even made homemade raspberry coridal! Mom posted about it on the Anne of Green Gables Facebook page & it got almost a thousands likes and almost a hundred comments! Everyone said how she looked just like Anne! It was so fun, she even got a letter & an address book from a woman in Australia who loved her costume :)
*We did a 5k race in September & Kezia did so good, she ran with mom the whole way & never stopped! She did 10 min/miles and mom was impressed! Kezi started running with mom on Tuesday mornings. It's been fun :)
*Kezia worked hard and was completely self-motivated in completing her Faith in God! We're so proud of her!
*Kezia still loves to write and wrote a story called "Dalace and the Unicorn" (inspired by our renter) that she submitted to the Reflections contest and won first prize. She is a girl of many talents!
Favorite Memories: Getting chinchillas, Oregon, Cowabunga bay. Looking forward to doing MidSummer Night's Dream ballet porformance in 2020. Her goals are to continue doing ballet, and possibly play another instrument.
*Unfortunately, the take-home Kindergarten bus wasn't a great experience for a couple months for Noelle. We eventually called the bus garage and they changed seating arrangements and it's been much better :)
*Noelle has turned into the quite the responsible girl. She doesn't ever forget to read her book-in-a-bag every night. And afterwards, she puts it right in her backpack. She wakes up right at 7 (or before) every morning and is fully ready to go - dressed, hair, backpack, coat - usually 30 minutes before we
need to leave to head to the bus stop.
*Noelle is sure mom's helper! She is so good about setting the table without being asked, even getting everyone their hydroflasks! She is great at cooking tortillas and helping bake, too. We are so thankful for her!
*Noelle started lessons this year! In the summer she took swimming lessons at the Little Shark Academy at SUU, and in the fall she started ballet with Kezia. She is doing great and learning lots!*Noelle has such awesome primary teachers, the Comps - Gunner's parents. They teach her on Sundays, then on Thursdays they have an activity at their house & it's so much fun. Noelle loves it!
*Noelle continues to be our pickiest eater and only wants everything plain - but with ranch. One night mom made fajitas and Noelle wrote her a note that said "I can not handl this food" (did we mention she's getting really good at writing, too :)
*Instead of movies, Noelle is now preferring to play computer games on pbskids or starfall. She's even started figuring out the xbox!
*Noelle's special friends are Sam, James, Katelyn, and McKai, Marybelle, and Jessie from school.
Noelle's favorite memory of 2019 was Cowabunga Bay. She's looking forward to swimming next year, being in the same school as Kezia. Goal - tie shoes, ride a bike with no training wheels, and multiplication up to 5.
*Oaklyn loves to go-go-go, which is great because that's what we spend most of our time doing! Thankfully, Oaklyn has been so good to go to nursery, or gym daycare, of Grifols daycare, or run errands with mommy. She was so sad this year when she didn't go to school like her sisters, so we call it "gym daycare school" and she brings her backpack :)
*speaking of backpacks, Oaklyn went through a phase where she wore her little backpack everywhere, and wouldn't take it off, even to sleep!
*Oaklyn is at a point where she can take a nap, or not. If she does, we have to make sure it's not too long or she won't go to sleep at night.
*Oaklyn & mommy time usually consists of having a tea party, playing with play doh or sand, coloring, putting together her huge United States puzzle, or playing her Hungry Caterpillar game :)
*Oaklyn still comes in mom & dad's room once/week or so at night. When she does, she usually sleeps on the floor, but she is not a quiet sleeper! She yells, screams, cries, and laughs loudly & mom & dad are usually pretty tired in the morning.
*The week of her 3rd birthday, Oaklyn decided she didn't want to wear pull-ups anymore. It wasn't all roses, but she's done pretty well & we can hardly believe that after 14 years of diapers, we are done!
*Oaklyn is a STRONG girl! Like, if she wants to resist you getting in her carseat, it takes almost all your strength to strap her in!
*She is still SUCH a sweet thing, but has definitely shown her anger in inappropriate ways lately, including pushing and biting!
-Oaklyn still LOVES babies! She has her tiny baby, and her backflip baby, and every night she has to make sure that her backflip baby is tucked into her carseat (her bed) JUST SO and that she has the exact right blanket on her. Then she sings her "baby go to sleep song." She takes her on lots of stroller walks and is such a good mommy.*Oaklyn also still LOVES "helping" mommy and whenever mommy pulls out the vaccuum, broom, or mop, Oaklyn is right by her side with her mini versions :)
*Another not-so-fun phase of hers right now is locking doors. She goes in rooms and locks the door immidiately, or locks people out. Or locks the van (about a month ago mom had to call the police to unlock the van door)
*Oaklyn loves Daniel Tiger, Dora, and Minnie Mouse!
*Oaklyn's special friends are Charlotte Price (her best friend!), Tucker, and Thomas. She also loves talking about her cousin Rachel.
*Oaklyn says her favorite memory of 2019 was Dora ;) In 2019, Oaklyn looks forward to the possibility of starting preschool and being in Sunbeams in 2020, and her goals are to ride the bike with training wheels, know all her ABCs and their sounds, count to 20, and write more letters of her name (she knows the O really well :)
