Making the House a HOME

For anyone just tuning in, we have been building our own house--I mean BUILDING, as in we cut stuff with a saw and nailed it and sanded it and painted it and all that stuff--with blood, sweat, and tears for 16 months. I wouldn't be this excited over just any brand new house. You're looking at a big chunk of my life and sanity in these pictures, folks.

As you can see, our furniture is too big for the upstairs living room, so it will soon be banished to the basement and we will put in a sofa and 2 chairs from Ikea (slimmer Swedish lines, doncha know!?), whcih we will pick up on our trip to California next month. Meanwhile, the girls enjoy the small couch fort in the living room.

There is Rich at the bar in our dining area. So beige.

How things look from the front door (if you're lucky, Addie will be greeting you with a nose-pick, too).

These are especially for Jill, who enjoys the minutiae of interior decor and design as much as I sometimes do.

I got some English Ivy plants (real ones) for the tops of my cabinets. I need one more for this spot.

Tell me this doesn't scream "MEXICAN" --thanks for all your help, sista.

The kitchen with all our stuff in it.

My festive view from the kitchen sink.

Just So You Know

Well-meant advice just sounds like thinly-veiled criticism if it's not asked for. Unless one asks for advice, all you are saying is that you don't approve the way that person is handling the situation on which you are advising them.

I have been on both sides of this fence (I'm sure I am guilty of advising), but for some reason I have been getting a barrage of unsolicited advice lately and to me it's starting to sound like, "Hi, you're an idiot and you obviously can't handle even the smallest detail in your life so I am going to tell you how I do it so you can stop being an idiot, yadda, yadda, yadda--what's that you say? You've lived on your own for 16 years and you have made conscious CHOICES to do what you do? Well, that's a long time to be wrong! Here, try it this way."

Please. Make. It. Stop.

I know that the above quotations are not what my advisors are thinking, I'm just saying that's what it's starting to SOUND like. Please, if I have ever made you feel this way, I beg your forgiveness. Good intentions can really go awry.



PS: Gotta go clean out the old apartment--3 years of dirt!!-- but I have interior decor pix coming soon for my sisters and mom who have expressed interest. For the rest of you who are tired of looking at my house, check back in a couple of days!!! ;)

Guess What's Happening in THIS Picture?

Can I Get a HALLELUJAH?

The day finally came for us to close on our house and move in! Friday morning we met at the title office and signed for our home! Then we drove over to Yellowstone Country Motors and picked up our new van. Here is a picture of our 2005 Caravan in front of our 2005 house.

Brothers' Adventure

Cousin Brent, Willy, Michael, Drew, Dad Post, and Sam at the Pine Creek Trailhead. Beginning on Friday, these guys (later joined by Matthew, Rich, & Mike Melin) all set out for Pine Creek Lake--pretty much 5 miles straight up!

This is where the boys ended up. Breathtaking, isn't it? It looks pretty refreshing compared to a house with no air conditioning full of 9 kids and lots of boxes!

There're my brothers Matt and Swimmin' Willy up at Jewel Lake

Hangin' around the campsite

More brothers--Michael and Sam--taking it all in.

Amazing Circus Willy

The Boys at the TOP!

Can you find Drew and Sam in this picture?

Saturday Sunset

Matty making breakfast

Rich, Michael, Drew, Willy, Mike, Brent (kneeling), Sam, & Matt with Black Mountain's peak in the background.

Sam was almost too big for his tent!

Wild flowers along the creek.

Michael, Willy, & Drew coming down...

...from where Pine Creek begins!

Pioneer Day Campout (not!)

Sunday was Pioneer Day (in case you're not LDS, July 24th is the day the westward-migrating pioneers reached the Saly Lake valley and it's sort of a holiday for us) and it was nice to be in church with my sisters and with all my Young Women (the YW had just returned from a 37-mile trek in Wyoming, recreating the deadliest part of the pioneers' journey). Also, my neighbor and friend, Tanaka, was baptized after church. We were so happy for her--it made the day even more special. While we were at church, the boys all came home and we loaded up and went down to our ranch to camp out as families. The night before, we girls had made 25 foil dinners and planned a nice campfire with s'mores and dinners and all the kids and pioneer songs...but alas! Mother Nature conspired against us and it poured rain all evening and through the night. Jill and her kids, Dad, and my family all came back into town to sleep at home, while Willy, Sam & Matt kept their families out there and just bought dinner in town. It was fun to hang out there for a little while, even though our plans changed. And hey--I've got about 20 foil dinners in the freezer if anybody gets hungry!

Three Posties

Isabelle, Jill, Jack, & Papa Post

Dusk at the ranch--if you look closely, you can see 4 little people and one big one; that's Brent taking Ally, Melanie, Addie, and Liam on a walk to pet the horses. Ahh, Brenty Poppins, we love you!

Jake sure was glad to see his Daddy! Matt joined the backpacking trip after graduating from army jump school at Ft. Benning on Friday morning. He had been in Georgia for 3 weeks!

Aunt Amie and Heidi just chillin'

My Favorite Ranch Pictures

I am sad that I didn't get any pictures of Willy's cute family, but it started raining and the camera disappeared for a while. But here are two great pix:

Rich showing Sam the ranch--the arrow at the top shows where the boys had been the night before.

Heidi was so happy to see her daddy! She really loves the wind, little chairs, and ice, so you know she is in HOG HEAVEN in this picture!

To all our guests this weekend: We apologize for the chaos and for making you help us move--poor timing all around--but thank you so much for coming! It is always good to see you guys and I love you so much! Next time you come, your rooms will be ready with curtains and sheets and even some more bathrooms!

ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY: 20 July 1993...

My cute nephew, Cody Oslin, was born after his mom had been in labor for like 11 days or something. I was right in the middle of my mission, serving in Rockingham, NC with Sister Wood. It was probably the best month of my mission (even though it was hot and muggy and hurricane-y), topped off with a cute new baby! I wanted to see "Code-Man" so bad, but it would be another 9 months until I came home and spent a few weeks with the boy.

One of my sweetest homecoming moments was a few days after I came home, I was watching Cody and I put on a children's CD and laid down on the couch with him. He fell asleep on my chest, humming the song to himself, and that's the moment I decided that I did want to be a mommy afterall.

So HAPPY 12th BIRTHDAY, CODY!!! I'm moving, but I'll try to find a good picture to post today, hopefully a picture of your GIANT BABY NOGGIN!

PS: Supreme Court Justice nominee John Roberts reminds me a lot of Elder Bednar, in that he is very young, handsome, and in for a looooong term of service. Good choice, although I will miss my even-handed, level-headed, fellow Arizona girl, Sandra D.

MY FAVORITES: JULY 1985

SONGS
1. Take On Me by Ah-ha
2. Sleep by Til Tuesday
3. Freedom by Wham
4. St. Elmo's Fire by John Parr
5. Over & Over by Madonna
MOVIES
1. Real Genius
2. Back to the Future
3. European Vacation
4. Cocoon
5. Follow that Bird
FRIENDS
1. Susie Shanks
2. Ben Turner
3. Karen Murray
4. Susie Guard
5. Eleah Smith
MUSICIANS
1. Til Tuesday
2. Wham
3. Aha
4.Ron Williams
5. Bryan Adams

...oh, my! Promise you'll still talk to me after reading those! Imean, I was only almost 14 that summer, so gimme a break. Know what else reminds me of that summer? Klondike Bars and St. Ives Swiss Formula Collagen-Elastin lotion in the jar.

Improvements

Hooray! It's been almost a month since Blogger Images was launched and I tried intermittently to use it and got empty posts. Last night I got an email from Blogger support that said it was fixed, and lo-and-behold---IMAGES! Here are my girls at the fireworks on July 3rd (check out the awesome bike trailer/ double stroller I got for Mother's Day). So I guess I won't need to use Picasa anymore for photos--goodbye, Hello, and HELLO BLOGGER IMAGES (can you believe all this stuff is FREE!?! I heart technology).

OUR WEEK IN PICTURES [07.11-07.16.05]

This past week has been busy and stressful, as I am sure you have read below. The bright spot is that we really did finish the house this week and we had a fun playgroup on Thursday at Summer's house in Springdale.

By the way, on the way to Summer's ranch house, we passed her husband who was killing a huge snake with a fence post. That was a great thing for Addie to see--not!--but she is over it.

Another good thing is that our neighbor and friend, Tanaka, has decided to be baptized, but her family is moving to Texas on August 7th. SHUCKS! Tonight we looked up her new ward and stake on lds.org so we can sedn her records with her. Her baptism will be next Sunday while my sisters are here--COOL. Enjoy the pix...

Along with all her other recent weirdness, Addie has been sleeping in weird places. Look at this--the foot of her bed! 

There's Addie eating cherries and crackers with her friends Carter and Tyler (there are 2 Carters at playgroup; one is 2 and this one is 6). Addie is so social! 

Heidi likes to share! 

Blurry, but so cute--Cailin, our hostess, giving Heidi a cracker. 

Heidi having snacks with her buddy, Carter. 

Check out that mug! Her face is gonna break one of these days!!! 

There's our new front walkway, poured on Thursday. 

We stuck this bead in the concrete under the front steps--it says, "Melins Built This House--2005." 

There's the back patio!