What the....?

Some of you may have already heard about our new theory about the end of the world. Remember, we were watching the History Channel (dang that channel, it always sucks us in...it is useless to resist). Within a couple of days, we saw a show about Mayans and then another show (The Universe, the Sun episode) about how the sun shifts polarity in these big old solar storms with flares so strong they can overwhelm our atmosphere and cause spontaneous combustion, magnetic shifts, and all kinds of other havoc. We learned that the Mayan Calendars end in December 2012, AND that the next big solar thing would happen in 2012. Hmmm...Rich said, "Okay, I'm callin' it...the world ends in 2012." Kidding...mostly.


[Turns out, we're not alone. In fact, it looks like we're the last to know...read here about the Mayan thing and here about the solar thing]

Add to that the fact that Hillary Clinton could be our next president--perfect! She can screw up the world enough so Jesus will have to come fix it. And we can all wear THESE T-shirts, as seen on The Colbert Report during "The Road to Armageddon" segment (Stephen, like me, often contends that conflict in the Middle East just leads to Armageddon and speeds up Jesus' return...he also has a T Shirt that says Welcome Jesus on the front and Welcome Last Imam on the back--heh, heh).

Also, Al Gore just won the Nobel Prize, which makes me want to poke out my own eyes. It's gonna get a whole lot warmer, Albert, when that solar flare cooks us and your friend Hilary makes us lose WW3. [It's Environmental Blog Action Day. My action is to promote preparedness (see links below)]

AND... on a not-so-funny note, the prophet has told us not-so-subtly that it's time to get REALLY serious about food storage and Emergency Preparedness. I mean, a whole Ensign centerfold this summer? Geez.
We got the hint.
Did you?

On a lighter note, here's our theme song:

Tuesday is Ballet Day

On Tuesdays at 4, Addie puts on her ballet clothes...

...and we stop to pick up her friend, Boston, to go to ballet class.
When we get to ballet at 4:15, Miss Kathleen greets all the students with the ballerina doll (Boston is behind her on the right; Addie is second from left)
After warming up, we practice the five positions at the barre.
Addie is learning how to hold her arms and point her toes and turn out her ankles.
After lots of practice, we sit in a circle to practice straight backs and beautiful arms and hands. One girl gets to "wind up" the other "sleeping" dancers.

Ballet Class is FUN!

Dim Bulb & Bright Autumn

Two Pumpkins: James 10/8

I am having the hardest time updating the blog--or doing anything on the computer--or doing ANYTHING besides sleeping, laundry, and snuggling my kids. And I am TERRIBLY absent-minded...scary! I DID upload and crop all the recent pix on my camera, so I will take the next big step of uploading them ASAP.


For now, you must enjoy these HAPPY FALL pictures of the Melin Kids, taken Monday 10/08

Heidi, Addie, & James

.

ZZZZZZZZ

We got home late last night from an emotionally and physically exhausting trip to Utah...I don't think I am quite up to traveling yet, I felt terrible most of the time and most of the people we went to see weren't especially happy to see us.

But we LOVED conference (Scott's and Oaks' talks are the ones resonating right now); Rich had fun and did lots of work at Jeff's and we did have a blast with the Petersens and at Sam's little 30th Birthday party--Jill made him a great taco dinner and we all went Cosmic Bowling afterward (you can see Jill's blog for weekend details). We also had fun traveling with Peter and Zuzana. They continued on to Arches for an adventure and came back and toured SLC on Saturday. Zuzana caught her plane home to Slovakia early Sunday morinng, and I think she got home the same time we did! :) We will miss our cute little Zuzi! Peter is here for a few more weeks.

TodayRich left at 4:30 am for a conference in Great Falls and won't be home until Tuesday night. So me and the wee ones are gonna take lots of naps and live on PBJ for the next coule of days! As for now, it's naptime! Later, loves...

ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY...

September 30, 1971, my homegirl Susan Shanks was born!Hope you have a great day, Sooz!

Yay! Health Update...

Today (Tuesday) Dr, Reid left me a message telling me she wanted to see me in her office at 1:30pm so we could talk for a few minutes. This kind of scared me because I thought she would give me my diagnosis over the phone since we had talked about most of the possibilities and treatments earlier. But when I spoke with her, she confirmed that I had Graves Disease and told me the course of action. First, we try Tapazole (sp?) to regulate hormone production and "calm down" the thyroid. We start with the lowest dose, testing my blood for progress (in lowering my T4 count, which I think she said should be around 24 and mine was 89, and raising my TSH, which was zero). When we find the dose that works, we stick with it for a few months and see if it causes remission. If so--good. If not, then we have the radioactive iodine ablasion (sp?), which kills the thyroid and then I take synthroid pills the rest of my life.

So I guess either way, I will be on some kind of medication for most of the rest of my life. But if it works, I am totally fine with that (sorry, Dad...I didn't feel very good about the natural remedy this time...). I am so excited to be myself again!

What Heidi Gave Me For My Birthday...

- a wake up birthday song and a hug
- a spilled juice mess to clean up
- lots of sass
- spilled ice water wiped up with clean clothes I had folded the night before and placed in a basket that was, unfortunately, near the spill site
- grated cheese sprinkled all over my bed (don't ask--she was "feeding her elephants")
- two stinky diapers
- Three changes of clothes by 10am
-Saw a picture of Adam and Eve, then explained to me that Adam and Eve made "trabbles to the witch's house so June and Rocket could save them." I slowly realized that she had Adam & Eve confused with Hansel & Gretl from a recent "Little Einsteins" episode.
- a tantrum at bedtime
-a goodnight hug that erased all the bad stuff

I love my Lynners...

Birthday #36: Party Pix

My fabulous MIL made the most wonderful turkey dinner for my birthday! It was sort of a harvest celebration because all of the food (besides the turkey) was grown at the ranch! We had mashed ranch potatoes, sliced ranch cucumbers and carrots and tomatoes, cole slaw with home-grown cabbage, and bread with homemade freezer jam! It was such a treat to (a) have my favorite meal, and (b) not have to cook or do much clean up...thanks, Mom Melin!Around the dinner table: Rich, Danny, Grandpa Tom, Addie, Angie, Little Rosalie, James, and Heidi.
After dinner we opened gifts...this one is from Angie & family
And this one was from my M & FIL...new towels and a mini-cuisinart.
This one from Rich was SO FABULOUS...a t-shirt (so fun) and an ipod Shuffle (see it clipped to the shirt?), already loaded up with about 20 of my favorite CDs to listen to while I walk! Woo-hoo!

My hubby and kids also got me this jerky maker to use with the dehydrator I got last Mother's Day. There are a bunch of spices in the box, which can be added to ground meat, then extruded out of that gun I am holding up onto the dehydrator trays and voila! You've got jerky! Fabulous protein source for food storage and a great snack (I LOVE it made with ground turkey, and it's often about $1. pound)
My helpers: Addie, Danny, and Heidi
We finished with cake...my mom made a Chocolate Spice Zuchini bundt cake, and it was HEAVENLY! I am not a cake or pie fan, but this was SO GOOD!
Thanks for a great birthday, family!
XOXOX

PS: I also got lots of cute cards in the mail, and my mom sent me a box of cute scrapbooking stuff...THANKS!

My Funny Girls

Sunday Night Family Prayer, Addie: "Dear Heavenly Father, please let Jesus know that my prayer is for the whole family and the one Heidi is going to say is just for her."

Oh, the competitiveness!!

Rich and I were just laughing about our favorite Heidi funny: whenever we listen to "The Lion Sleeps Tonight," she lays down and pretends to sleep, and then when the "weee-a-weee-oh-momma-way," part comes on, she gets on all fours and roars at everyone dancing around her. Luckily, we caught this on video, so when I get around to uploading all the video from the past month, you'll see for yourself!

Recent Photos

0919: James is cutting down to one long nap these days, so sometimes he falls asleep around dinner time, poor guy!
0919: Addie is a ham!
0920: We borrowed RICH'S old walker to see if it would encourage James to stand and walk. Tha walker is so cool--it collapses flat and they bought it for Rich in Germany back in 1971! (Too bad James doesn't really like the walker and he's WAY too big for it...)
Here is what James' days are like--his sisters are always in his way!
Rich snapped some fall colors while he was out running errands on Saturday...it's getting really beautiful around here!

Thyroid Thursday

This morning I left the house at 8am with Heidi and James. I took them to my MIL, then headed down the block to the hospital to eat some yummy iodine capsules (no injections or drinks for me) and meet the Nuclear Medicine person who would do the scan 4 hours later.
I saw Dr. Reid in the waiting area and she came by and asked if I was getting my scan and I said yes. She said, "Good! I'm anxious to get those results because you are going to feel so much better when we treat you! Your count was really high."
"Really high?" I asked.
"Yeah, it really surprised me you haven't had heart problems or other complications yet. So we'll get you well..." she said as she patted my shoulder and walked away. Hm.

Well, if all that is true, then I can't wait, either!

So I went back to my MIL's where we sewed 7 new curtains for the kindergarten reading area and played with James and Heidi. I felt fine (except for the profuse sweating, still!). Rich came there for lunch and I went back to the hospital for the scan. I layed down on this skinny cot thing with a rolled up towel under my neck to tilt my head back. Then I was slid into this big halo thing with a cone-shaped lens thing pointing at my throat and I had to hold still for 7 minutes, three times (different angles), and then for a few minutes for some other images. I was there for a total of an hour and 15 minutes. I have to go back at 8am for a scan that will take about 5 minutes. I hope it goes that fast!

So I feel fine, but everyone was acting all shocked about how much iodine my thyroid had absorbed already. I am excited to get it all straightened out, but I am praying for NO SURGERY! I HATE surgery and even going to the hospital, so I hope it can be medicated!

Anyway, I am just still a little drowsy from the other meds and I have some underlying anxiety about having a disease, but it's all good. I ran into a good friend last night at the grocery store and we talked for a while. She has a BS in Family Health so she was familiar with the illness and was so empathetic about ALL my problems (she's a really cool Mom-friend--you know, the kind you TOTALLY relate to, but never get to really hang with because you both have lots of kids and church callings? I love her, and I really feel like God sent her here for me 2 years ago!). Anyway, this afternoon right as I was leaving to pick up Addie, she came by with flowers, and bag of dinner, and the following sweet note with the flowers:

That last line is SOOOO awesome! I am going to remember it forever! I cried when she left because I was so touched and I felt my Heavenly Father's loving care through her actions. The following words came to mind as I drove over to get Addie, still thinking about this kind act:

Each life that touches ours for good

Reflects thine own great mercy, Lord

Thou sendest blessings from above

Through words and deeds of those who love



For worthy friends whose lives proclaim

Devotion to the Savior's name

Who bless our days with peace and love

We praise thy goodness, Lord above.

***
If you read this, BROWN LEG, thanks so much for your kindness! My family (and I ) really loved the dinner and the flowers make me happy each time I see them!

(PS: Jennifer, thank you for looking out for me, too! I appreciate your thoughtful messages on the phone today--as you've read, I was gone until about 3:30, then knee-deep in kids ever since, but I felt your love and thank you for being such a good and loyal friend!)

So farewell until later, y'all...

PS: Speaking of Family Health issues, my nephew TJay was diagnosed with Kohler's Disease in his foot and has a cast on it...poor guy. TJay, we hope your foot gets better soon!