Addie got a cute Christmas Cooking outfit, complete with Santa hat, snowman mit & apron) so she can make more gingerbread men!
Heidi was enthralled with her tiny new cousin
Cousin Danny not only brought his baby sister, but a fun new game (Break the Ice) for Addie!
Addie says, "Thanks, Nana, for the cute new clothes!"

Addie's party was Baby Rosalie's first outing--she was mauled by her fans!

(Heidi, Danny, Grandma, and Addie with Rosalie in the middle)
Uncle Mike met baby Rosalie at the party
We also had Family Night and put up our Thanksgiving Tree (all the leaves say what we're thankful for)--Heidi is dressed up like Squanto.

Addie ended her special day by playing with Uncle Mike--he's such a fun uncle!

"When It's Cold Outside, I Got the Month of May...

I guess you'd say, what can make me feel this way? It's MY GIRL..."My girl Addie turns FOUR today, but this is how she looked on November 22, 2001.

And this is how she looks now. Happy Birthday, Sweet Adeline!

I have tried a million times to get these photos to post in order, but they just WON'T! So here are Addie's past birthdays so you can see how she has grown. We love her so much and I think it's cool that she was born on Thanksgiving Eve because I will always be thankful for her. Shortly after Addie's actual abirthday, we took this photo of her for our Christmas card/birth announcement...we still have the stocking and it's so tiny!
Last year, we celebrated Addie's 3rd Birthday with a Princess Party.
Mommy made a lame attempt at a cut-up cake for Addie's First Birthday, right after we moved to Montana.
For her second birthday, Addie got a pumpkin pie--one of her favorite foods.

Our New Baby

We have a new arrival of our own...A BEAUTIFUL MAPLE DESK, handmade by my wonder hubby!!! Readers, behold:BEFORE
AFTER
(Do you hear the angels singing?)

When we built the house, we looked for a nice desk to putin the office so we could just move everything in neatly, but everything that even just LOOKED like wood was like $400 and up. So we decided to just design and build our own. Rich created this from a graph paper sketch, 2 pieces of maple plywood (purchased with a Home Depot bonus card from Hartford) and two file cabinets from Office Max. Iknow, I know...freaking GENIUS. I love it! Now it's on to the Master Bathroom! ;)

This looks SO much better! I work SO MUCH better in beautiful surroundings! ;)

Baby Ben

The nephew has a name! It's Benjamin Drew Petersen...sweet. My brother, Willy, sent these pictures today. Meanwhile, Rich's sister, Angie, is about to have her baby--it's probably already here. I am excited to find out what GENDER it is! I have had Angie's son Danny all day and he has been so good (my girls--another story). The funny thing about Jill and Angie is they are playing baby tag--Angie had an emergency C-section with Danny on 7/11/02 just as Jill called and said her water broke with Isabelle. But Isabelle must have wanted her own birthday because she didn't come out until about 12:10am on 7/12/02! Back then, Jill was over due, but Angie "took cuts" and had Danny early. This time, the tables are turned and Jill went a week early and "took cuts." Today IS Angie's due date, though, and I think it's cool to have your baby on your due date! I'll post news when I hear it!

Update: Angie had a baby girl named Rosalie Lynn Gray around 7:30pm 11/18. She is little and cute (7-1 and I don't know how long) and everything went well. The following pix are of BEN, though, not Rosalie.

Baby Ben meets Uncle Will
Baby Ben meets Cousin Melanie and Aunt Audrey
Awww, what an angel baby!

PS: Happy Anniversary Will & Audrey! 11 splendid years! ;)

Just Call Me Molly

This week I feel like I became a full-fledged MORMON WOMAN (aka Molly Mormon)! Really, it was nothing monumental, but I called Monday afternoon to check on a girl I visit teach (she doesn't come to church, but she is so sweet and always happy to see us), who was supposed to have had a baby over the weekend. Turns out, she was already home so I asked her if I could bring her dinner the next night and maybe babysit her 2-year-old sometime this week. She was thrilled about both prosepcts, so Tuesday I cooked up two special dinners--one for my family and one for hers.

But there are two things I did that I have never done before: (1) I made an enchilada casserole in one of those disposable foil pans (CASSEROLE? DISPOSEABLE?? I know!!!) and (2) for a side dish I totally made a JELLO SALAD! NO JOKE! Of course it wasn't green with shredded carrots (no way, no day)--it was peach with raspberries and whipped cream on top--BUT STILL!! I even had chocolate chip banana bread for dessert. It's really shocking that I can prepare such a meal. I just kept thinking to myself, Man, you are such a grandma.

But that's a good thing because all my grandmas are AWESOME.

Anyway, I just have felt so incredibly grateful this month for the sisterhood of the Relief Society at church. All of the time I spent attending and learning and serving over the past 16 years has come back to me tenfold lately and I feel really blessed. Here is another comment I left On Bright Street:

This past month the Relief Society has realy lived up to its name for me. Our sisterhood literally saved me the past few weeks, especially that fateful Friday when I was home alone and felt so lonely and scared. I've never been good about asking for help and I tend to hide when I can't put on a happy face. But, oh, it felt so good to cry--really cry--on the shoulders of my surrogate moms and sisters who had been in my shoes and knew just what I needed. What would normally have been a very quiet, very painful burden I would carry alone became something a little bit lighter, something that, instead of breaking me to pieces, bonded us all together. I will be eternally grateful for them and for all the small things that really make us a society and bring us such sweet relief.

Back By Popular Demand...

...It's The Melin Girls!Ta-Da! (Oops! Heidi is stuck backstage!:))
Heidi is showing off her new fang...her last eye tooth (her bottom left, your right) finally poked through after teething for a month or more.

Sorry it has been so long since I posted kid pix... I have been too busy to download and post pix and the distant family started to miss the little darlings. Although they have their moments, they sure are a lot of fun. Addie is at a really curious and creative stage right now, asking all kinds of questions about so many things (thankfully we have passed the "WHY?" stage--that was not so fun). Heidi is so angelic sometimes, it breaks my heart. Her voice is so sweet, it melts people. So even when she is mischievous, she can totally disarm me with a super-sweet, "Hi, Mommy!" Lately she has been holding up her cute little hand with her fingers perfectly straight and aligned and asking for a "High Five." Especially when I am about to swat her bottom. And if she makes a mess I have to clean up, she starts singing the Barney clean up song for me. Aw, thanks, Heidi. It's so nice to be serenaded while I vacuum up your spilled (more like THROWN) popcorn or pick up tiny pieces of shredded toilet paper. She's a charmer! I think everyone will have fun with her AND Addie on our AZ vacation next month.

My little sillies like to watch out the front window for Daddy...
...and play in the curtains! Heidi says, "Peeeeek....
...A-BOO!"