Melanie, Liam, & Addie show off thier handiwork
Spencer Post: Official Cookie Taster
The Bakers finally get to taste their cookies...YUMMY!

Over the River and Through the Woods...

...to Grandpa's House we go! We had a fun Thanksgiving Day with Dad and Becky in Pocatello, Idaho. We spent the early hours cooking and the kids played outside, then we ate at about 2PM. Melanie tried to get the kitties from under Grandma's Car.
Grandpa deep fried the turkey in the back yard while Willy, Liam, Addie, and Rich looked on.
Aw...Liam and Addie are pals!

Turkey Legs
Melanie finally caught the cats in Gramp's back yard.

In Grandpa's Basement

One of the reasons we went to my dad's was to help him dry wall his basement ceiling.Liam drilling
Heidi playing ball with Spencer
Spencer would take the ball, Heidi would scream, he'd give it back, and Heidi would immediately stop screaming and say, "Deetchyou (thank you)." Fun game if your'e 20 months old.

Who Ate all the Pumpkin Cake?...

...SPENCER DID!

Bye, Bye Grandpa & Grandma!

Jamie, Becky, Dad, & Willy
Heidi, Liam, Melanie, & Addie sleeping in our van near Bozeman driving home last night
Heidi wanted to drive home!

Thanks for the nice dinner and good company, Dad & Becky! The kids had a blast and the dinner was wonderful!

One of my favorite relaxing activities is reading in the tub (most of my favorite books have warped corners from wet hands!). The other night the book of choice was Readings in American Values, a hand-me-down from my in-laws which turned out to be, on closer examination, a text book from Dad Melin's days at the Church College of Hawaii (now BYU-H). Anyway,I was reading a bunch of Lincoln's letters and speeches and I re-read this passage from the Gettysburg Address:

"...It is for us the living...to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain."

As I read that passage over and over to myself, I realized that most of the things I treasure in my life, most of the causes I live and serve for, were hard-won in bloody battles and martyrdoms. Just about everything that's important to me came to me by the loss of someone else's life.

For example, we have been reading the Book of Mormon as a family in the mornings and realized how many lives were lost either to protect the records (their scriptures) or because they would not deny their testimonies of Christ. Same goes for the Bible--from Moses to Christ and for thousands of years since, lives have been sacrificed so that I can hold those books in my hand and read and worship when ever and where ever I choose.

Not to mention the military battles that have taken place to ensure that freedom, or the pioneers who trekked west to experience that freedom for themselves.

The list goes on and on. So I decided that the above passage will now be my November theme--it's perfect for Veterans' Day and Thanksgiving. I might even be an uber-geek and memorize it.

So that's my Thanksgiving message to all yall. Our lives and lifestyles are a product of thousands, maybe millions, of sacrifices. What are we doing to "resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain?"

Happy Thanksgiving! We are off to Pocatello this afternoon, where we will meet up with my brother Willy and his family at my Dad Layton's house. We will eat and dry wall his basement ceiling and the cousins will have a BLAST. The good news is that Will's family is coming up here to Montana for three days, and Rich's brother Jess will be here, too, so COUSIN FEST! Addie will be in hog heaven! Eat, drink, and be merry, folks, then get back to work! ;)

BIRTHDAY CHRONICLES

Yesterday morning, Addie started off ehr birthday by making blueberry pancakes with daddy (she put in the blueberries), then getting ready for preschool. Before she left, we let her open one present --this cute box of treats from Nana. Inside she found some Strawberry Shortcake lip balms & rings and some Hello Kitty bracelets and hairbows. She put some of the stuff in her Hello Kitty purse and took it to school--she was so excited! Thanks, Nana, for the fun present and for singin to Addie on the phone!

Cutest Cowgirls EVER

Uncle Mike brought Addie a REAL cowgirl hat! She loves it!

Presents, Candles, Cake!

Addie's gift from Gram & Gramp Melin was a cool dry-erase book to practice writing and drawing. Thanks, Grandma & Grandpa, for the present and also for coming over and eating Addie's special spaghetti dinner with us!
Addie made this funny hat at preschool Monday morning--she got to be the special person--feed the fish, do the calendar and weather, set out the snacks, etc.--in addition to wearing this hat.
Addie's yummy carrot cake with cream cheese frosting

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!"