Life in a Northern Town: FAMILY LETTER 08.31.14

Dear Loved Ones 31 August 2014

I hope we are getting back to weekly letters now that we are back on school schedule. This week was a blur of school preparations.

Monday we went to Sacajawea Park and read books (Me- Stitches by Anne Lamott, Girls-The Hobbit) while the boys played in the sandbox. It was the most gloriously perfect day after a week of rain. I’m sure it was a bit nippy for some people at 68 degrees, but that’s the only kind of sunny day I like! It reminded me of spring because everything was so cool and so vivid from the rain. That night we went to the Eastside School Open House and met James’ and Heidi’s teachers. James will be in Mrs. Fink’s class with his friend Curtis from church. Heidi will be in Ms. Gillespie’s 5^th grade, which is the class Addie was in. There is potential for a very fun year. After the open house, Daddy took us to Pickle Barrel for dinner. We haven’t been there for a long time and we had the place to ourselves.

Tuesday we just did chores around the house and cleaned and organized the kids’ dressers. That night the missionaries came to dinner. We were excited to try out a new recipe we got for grilled chicken gyros and they were delicious. We ate them with hummus and veggies and had our traditional missionary dessert, s’mores. The Elders left for an appointment and we had Family Night and Father’s blessings. We reviewed last year’s theme (“Try a little harder to be a little better”) and reviewed the goals we had set. Everyone did a pretty good job and we moved on to this year’s theme, “We’re all in this together.” We are going to try to be more unified and willing to help and ask for help when we need it (instead of getting frustrated or fighting).

Wednesday was the big day—Heidi & James went to their first day of school. They were so excited; they were up and dressed when we went downstairs to wake them. Addie was home that day (middle school had delayed start), so we went to Bozeman to but some last minute supplies and locker organizers. That night the Young Women and Young Men had a combined activity. They went to the water hill and went ice blocking. Addie made some yummy brownies for treats. At home the boys had baths and snuggles and watched Super Why.

Thursday Addie’s first day of 7^th grade. She is so excited to have Mr. Petit for biology and choir with Mrs. Curtis. I helped her crimp her hair and sent her off with the other kids and daddy. I continued to work on laundry and dresser organizing—the kids grow so fast, it’s hard to keep their wardrobes up to date! I took some pictures of the little boys playing so cute down in the basement family room while I folded and mended clothes.

Friday morning after the big kids left for school we had a home visit from Niles’ preschool. We met his teachers and set some goals for the year and they spent some time talking to him and getting to know his preferences and personality. He will have the same teacher as Heidi had, so she is well aware of what she is getting in to. We made pizza for dinner and got ready for Daddy’s back packing trip with the big kids.

Saturday morning Rich and the kids left early to meet up with Uncle Mike in Bozeman and head up in to the mountains on their back packing trip. It was cool and rainy, so it wasn’t the most fun trip, but judging by the photos they had an awesome time together. I stayed home with the little boys. We went to The Museum of the Rockies and it was so fun for Niles to be able to decide how we spent our time. Usually we go as a family and he doesn’t get to do all the things he wants to do. We played the “Build You Own Gecko” computer game and dress-up in the Discovery Room for hours. It was relaxing and fun on a rainy Saturday. We also picked up some stuff at Costco and got dinner (salads) at Wendy’s. I was a little anxious because I had so much to do in the evening (organize my gospel doctrine lesson, finish laundry, make crockpot dinner, etc.) and the boys were NOT falling asleep. I prayed so hard that God would bless me to use my time wisely and do what needed to be done.

My personal grooming suffered (as usual), but I got all the needful things done—James’ baptism invitations, led the choir, taught Sunday School, made stew and bread— and we had a beautiful Sabbath Day. The back packers came home after church and got cleaned up and dry and fed and we all took a nice nap. Tonight we are having a Hobbit Fest. Addie and Heidi read the book this summer and they are obsessed, so we are watching the first and second Hobbit movies tonight and having a “birthday party” (cake) for our house—one year ago today we moved in!

I’m attaching a page of quotes we used today in Sunday school. Our lesson was about Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, so we discussed a few themes in those two books (wisdom, child rearing, trusting god, etc). One major theme was friendship and I found so many good thoughts on the subject. When we think of our family as our closest friends and treat them with charity, and let that love ripple out from home to our church families and communities, we change the world.

We love you and miss you all. We are getting into birthday mode this week preparing for James’ birthday and baptism. Please send us your thoughts/ greetings/ testimonies for him this week. Thanks for the fun letters, Grandpa and Grandma Melin and New Jersey Melins, and for the chats from Sam, Jill, Grandma Lyn, and mom this week. It’s so good to know how you’re doing. Have a great week! Happy Anniversary tomorrow to Grandpa & Grandma Melin (#48) and to Sara and Rob (#13)!

Love,

Rich, Jamie, and Family