Labor Day Weekend

Monday was spent recovering from the weekend's fun...perfect, just liek last year, except this year I am not going in to labor and having a baby on Tuesday (but we will celebrate that baby's first birthday tomorrow!). Here's how the weekend played out:

Late Saturday morning we arrived at the ranch to pick and press apples with our Melin family.

Here's James on a quilt at the ranch...
...and here he is beggin Matthew Melin to teach him how to walk.
Here's Matthew's Dad, Uncle Jess, washing apples fo the press.
Here's Addie cranking the press and Heidi being silly.
Heidi, Dad, Jess, and Addie:
That's how you make apple cider, y'all!

Heidi in the ranch police boat sandbox looking for bad guys...

Summer's the captain...

Cousins in the sand!
Later, we floated the Yellowstone again, kids in the raft, and Rich & I tried out our new deluxe tubes--AWESOME! Very fun, very cold.

Uncle Jess & Matthew
Heidi at dinner eating dutch oven meatloaf (I was already at work).
Ahhh...the ranch at sunset!

Sunday Evening

While I was in Bozeman Sunday, Rich, Heidi, & James hung out with the other Melins at Grandma's house. Addie and I joined them when we came back. The kids all picked carrots out fo Grandma's garden and acted like silly rabbits.TJay, Heidi, Addie, Danny, & Summer eating bread (to wash down the carrots)
Heidi Bunny

"What's Up Doc?"
Summer Bunny
Addie Bunny



Later, we all helped James celebrate his birthday with cake & ice cream.

Birthday Boy
Two silly hats on James

We stripped him down in preparation for him tearing into his own cake... Here's Addie giving James some tips
So excited about his cake!

A quarter of the cake is gone and James is PURE JOY!
...and he's getting alittle loopy by the time the cake is mostly gone!

Happy Birthday, Handsome Boy!

After cake, it was time for Norwegian Golf!

Don't even ask me what Addie is doing in this picture!

She looks like a crazy tomte!
(Tomte)
Heidi golfing Norwegian style
TJay giving it a whirl

Uncle Mike coaching Heidi

After some golf, James opened a gift and some cards...
Addie shows him his cool card from Marianne Stoen (so cute and handmade!)

Daddy helped James open his gift--a barn and animals form IKEA--but that's the last James saw of them after his sisters and cousins comandeered them (Heidi still onl y lets him have the mommy horse--I guess I'll have to give him something of his OWN on Wednesday).
See? There goes Summer with the horse and Heidi with the cows.
At least they let him keep his new Dinosaur shirt!

A great ending to a fun weeked! Thanks to Jess & Kelli for the Golf game and for taking good care of the kids while I was working Saturday. We love our Melin cousins! XOXOXO

Last Wednesday (8/29)...

Addie's First Day of Kindergarten!On a chilly morning (which turned in to a 90-degree day-WTH?), the whole family went to Winans School to see Addie off on her first day of school. We arrived just as the bell was ringing, so Addie got in line as Ms. Bartz came out to welcome her students.
Addie is a tall kindergartener! Daddy, James, and I all waved to her as she went up the stairs into the school...
...but Heidi was distracted, playing with "Ally-jander" Winsor.
I snuck in to take a picture of Addie by her locker...
...and sitting at her desk.

She was anxious for me to leave, telling me to take the kids home and have a good day and she would miss me and not to worry about her. She is so funny! We did miss her at home, but we're so glad she finally has the opportunity to go learn and socilaize at school.

Congratulations & Good Luck, big girl!

LAST Weekend...

We were so busy hosting the Back-to-School Luau last week, we didn't take many pictures. There are a few videos which I will post later, but here is a picture of Heidi with a Hawaiian Punch tongue... (our new friends, Steve & Lori Becker, ar in the background)... Crazy Lynners...
And here are some random pictures of dinner on August 28th...

above is the food (stir fry).
Addie eating her stir fry (notice she inherited my neuroses for saving her favorites for last...she LOVES baby corn!)
Heidi using her feral-child mannners to eat her rice.

More Heidi eating...
James likes stir fry, too, but in this picture he's really excited for...
CRAB RANGOON!!!!...
" ...Oh, yeah! That's YUMMY!...

..."Want some?"
Everybody loves the crab rangoon, and Ad loves to help make them!

Still No Time...

Thursday: Worked on Liahona Newsletter and House work all day; worked at night

Friday: Billings Trip: Specialty (chubby) lingerie store bra fitting, Temple Session with Ma & Pa in-law, Jess & Kelli and us--work for Ma-in-law's parents, grandparents. etc...highlight: standing in as her parents while she was sealed to them--GREAT DAY! Home to Livingston at 8pm...

Today (my In-laws' 41st anniversary): Apple-picking, cider-pressing, river-floating, dutch-oven-dinner-eating @ranch, showering, hotel-registering...

Tomorrow: Kid-dressing, church-attending, music-teaching, lunch-prepping-and eating, tenant-driving (to Bozeman so they can shop sales while I read in the car), small pre-birthday cake party with cousins for JAMES OLE, who will turn ONE on Wednesday, 9/5...

Monday: RECOVERY DAY...see you then!

Belated

Okay, okay, I know it's been forever since I posted, but listen...I threw a party on Saturday night which had 50 guests (not exaggerating--that was the headcount), then I did the Primary music Sunday and went and worked 3-11pm Sunday evening, then Monday my horrible sore throat and cough came back! And right now I am on my way to work, but here is a sneak peek at what's in store when I get a minute: James on Saturday night, all dressed up for our back-to -school Luau.
Addie at school this morning...yeah, SCHOOL. My daughter is enrolled in public school and today (8/29) was her first day of kindergarten. More pix coming soon. Initial report: "It was totally easy" "We read good stories" and "I love hot lunch! I had a chicken sammich today!"

Yay, Addie!

Meanwhile, no word from Headstart about Heidi getting in. That will mean more to you after you read my upcoming post about yesterday, aka Jamie and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Very Bad Day.

Til then, adieu, blogosphere.

September Gurl

It's almost my favorite month and my favorite season!

And how cute (thoughtful) is my Grandma to send me THIS?...

...with a note that said, "I thought you would love this." Pretty dang cute. And she was right! I DO love it, and not just for the awesome quote and fun photo, but because it says "SEPTEMBER!" I am a September Girl/Gurl (as are many of my best friends like Sooz, Lisa A., and Aunt Party) and now I have a little September Boy!

And I am soooo excited for fall!

So, seriously, my grandma is so great. She is always thinking about her family, sending little notes and clippings to us. Clipping and Word Searching and crocheting in her comfy chair watching cop shows with Gramps. Almost every week I get a little love note and all the relevant Sunday paper coupons. I take a few that I use and pass the rest on to my friends. I bought a file to keep them in now so we can make better use of them;I hate for her hard work to go to waste.

And you know what else? That cute September picture came to my mailbox on Grandma & Grandpa's 57th Anniversary...they celebrated with a Sweetheart trip to Mesa to attend the temple and go out to lunch. I think it's pretty cool that Gramp can still take Gram on fun dates when he is 82...all you husbands take note!

Hope you had a Happy Anniversary,

Grandma & Grandpa!

Dawg Tard

I am super-tired! This is the end of my Day of Accomplishing Things. It began with putting clean sheets on the bed last night, a good night's sleep, a little Denise Austin yoga with the girls this morning, prayers and goddbyes to daddy, and yogurt parfaits for all of us for breakfast (fresh strawberry banana parfaits with vanilla yogurt--yum!).

Addie lost her "All About Me" book that she was going to give her new teacher, so I made new ones for her and Heidi to fill out today. We had "preschool time", which included a welcome song, a dance, a story from the Friend magazine which arrived Saturday, and we filled out and colored out books. I tried to help them memorize our address and phone number--Addie's got it, but Heidi doesn't because she has a hard time saying "six." On the page about what I want to be when I grow up, Heidi drew dinosaurs because she wants to be a "dig-upper." This is what she calls a paleontologist. It cracks me up!

So I put on some music for the girls and cleaned the kitchen with James. He went down for a nap and we had burritos for lunch with Daddy and shopped online for discount dance supplies for Addie's ballet class, and music theory and piano books so I can teach her at home (I know it's really hard to teach your own kids, but I'm poor and should put what little knowledge I have to work). Addie helped me make some visual aids for Primary and some games for family night bingo (game called "I Will"--all the squares say things the kids should be doing to make a happy family, like be kind, listen, help mom, say prayers, etc...) while Heidi was asleep, and then we ate dinner (pork chops, couscous, green salad and fruit salad), had FHE, and shared a banana split at Dairy Queen (where we saw Zuzana & Peter working).

After the kids went to bed, I put in three hours work on Primary music (while watching hurricane coverage on CNN--poor Mexico!) and just finished my latest post on Framanisco. Check it out.

So now it's technically Tuesday and I need a shower and some sleep. It should be nothin' but fun the rest of the week (before my babies go away to school--ugh!).