ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY: June 18, 1971 in Wurzburg, Germany

...Richard Thomas Melin was born!! Look at him! Even as a toddler, he was a man with a mission, workin' hard even in a shirt and tie!

...And look at him now at 34! He's got three girls and a new house to wrangle and he does it with grace and the patience of Job. Seriously, I thought he was a pretty neat guy when I married him, but I had no idea (a) that he knew how to make or fix just about ANYTHING IN THE WORLD (b) that he could put up with extremes like me pregnant, rowdy primary kids, or two-faced back stabbers in our build--he is patient and kind and guiless and I want to grow up to be like him! or (c) that, with the birth of our two girls, he would become the most loving, involved, doting daddy that ever lived. We are all so blessed by him--thanks, honey, for all you do and are! Happy Birthday and Father's Day!

Photographic record of our first-ever BBQ at our new house--Rich had painted Angie's doors a few days before, so they are lining our garage. He is grilling brats and dogs to feed the workers on Saturday--HIS BIRTHDAY! 

Uncle Mike, Heidi, Rich, and Aunt Angie enjoy some BBQ in the middle of Saturday's work. Mike was helping Angie and Davy install their slate floors across the street. 

Just so you get the whole layout, here are our floor plans. 

There's our front door from the dining area. 

Here are Addie and Cousin Danny playing cars in the guest bedroom, which is on the front corner of the house. To the left is the Living Room and to the right is the bathroom. 

As you come up the stairs, you face the door to the garage, where we painted this. 

Looking across the basement family room into the girls' room. The stairs and the Laundry room are to the left and Addie's princess easel is set up in her room to keep her busy while we work. 

This is looking into the closet and bathroom in our bedroom in the basement. You can see my carpeted bench in the closet and the yet-to-be-tiled frame for the jacuzzi tub in the bathroom (we will probably wait to finish the bathroom after we move in). 

Silly Cousins!

Nana cooked us all a yummy taco dinner on Saturday night (6/4). Here are some cousins on Will's back deck sharing chips.