Merry Christmas From Heidi

Untitled from MelinFamily on Vimeo.

My favorite line: "Rudolph with your nose so bright, won't you drive my boughs of holly, falfalalalalalalala."

Merry Christmas From James

Untitled from MelinFamily on Vimeo.

"I've got a lot of problems with you people!"

Here's the Melin Family celebrating Festivus with our aluminum pole...

We hope all your Festivus dreams come true!

The Season of Giving

I read this great story posted by Jessica today, and it reminded me of two random kindnesses I have received in recent history...I'll be back (after I get the kids to sleep) to write about them, but for now, leave a comment and tell me about some anonymous gift you have received!

(A) The Costco Fairy

A few years ago, when Heidi was a baby, I think, I went to Costco to get a few things--I remember I got 2 gallons of milk, shredded cheese, bananas, and some other stuff. I got in a fairly long line with my toddler and my baby and when I got to the checkstand, I didn't have my debit card with me! I was horrified, because I had no other method of payment and I had driven 25 miles to get this stuff--it was horrible. Before I even finished digging through my bag, a card was swiped, a receipt was printed and I was sent on my way. I looked at the woman behind me in line. She smiled and said, "Just let me take care of it." I protested and asked if I could have her address so I could pay her back, but she just said, "Let me do this...just pass it on when you can!" I was so embarassed, but then I thought I WOULD pass it on, and I would have done the same thing in her shoes. I hope it inspired all the people who watched our interaction as well!

(B) Money Mailbox

Our first Christmas in Livingston was a slim one because Richard had only been working three months after being laid off for three months. I had mixed feelings about EVERTHING then, but especially feeling like the ward charity case (I would soon learn that our entire ward was a huge family, overflowing with charity cases AND charity, adn I had nothing to be embarrassed about). The Relief Society President had come over to visit me, and then said she wanted to talk to me as a friend, not a RSP. She said she was grateful we had moved here and wanted to be sure I stayed. She and her husband gave us a gift card with considerable credit at Albertson's. That was amazing to me, and I remain grateful to this day for that and all of her kindnesses to me. BUT that was not the end of the random kindness! One day about that smae time, I opened up our mailbox and found an unmarked security envelope with $80 in it! What's even more of a mystery is how it got in there, since we had those locking apartment mailboxes down in our lobby. We were able to get some Christmas gifts for eachother and some decorations for our apartment, and we are so thankful for that anonymous, selfless act (Thanks to the giver is you're reading this!):)

I am the President of the Julie Beck Fan Club...

...at least the Livingston chapter! So I was happy when I got this email from Jessica this morning, letting me know where to send my support for her conference address. I was going to forward it, but I figured I may as well make a post of it.

Did you know about the crazy backlash against her talk last October? The talk (that was in my top five--awesome!) definitely struck a (guilty?) chord in many sisters and I felt so sad about that. I LOVE Sister Beck, always have, and not just because her haircuts rock. Here is the text of the SUPPORT SISTER BECK email I got--please follow thae links if you agree. I think my own email list could fill the list of 2000 comments, and that would be a nice Christmas present for the GRSP :

An Answer to support: Tonight when President Hinckley said, "It's Christmastime. What can I do to lighten your burden?" I thought of Sister Julie Beck, General President of the Relief Society. I think her responsibilities as General President must be heavy indeed. Especially when recently, there was a lot of unfortunate and unnecessary controversy about Sister Beck's general conference talk It has bothered me that so many people have been so vocal about their displeasure with her talk. There have been websites and blogs dedicated to tearing her apart as well as her words of guidance and wisdom. It seems that sometimes liberal voices are the only ones that make themselves heard. We can change that!

Wouldn't it be great if we could get 2000 women to send their support to Sister Beck this Christmastime?

Like the 2000 mothers of the Stripling Warriors - we could stand united and strong and let Sister Beck know we stand beside her! If you would like to let your voice be heard, please send an email (or forward this email) to:

motherswhoknow@gmail.com

Put your name and city and state in the subject line. You can include a message to Sister Beck and her counselors if you'd like. Once we reach 2000 emails - from women or men - I'll send Sister Beck the password to the email account so she can see all those who support her and read the messages if she'd like. It's a quiet way to let your voice be heard. Please forward this on to all you know, who know.

President Hinckley's words will hopefully encourage us to band together and stand strong and immovable for what we know to be right. Sister Beck quoted him saying, " If [the women of the Church] will be united and speak with one voice, their strength will be incalculable... It is so tremendously important that the women of the Church stand strong and immovable for that which is correct and proper under the plan of the Lord." Sister Beck said, "As a disciple of Jesus Christ, every woman in this Church is given the responsibility for upholding, nurturing and protecting families. Women find true happiness when they understand and delight in their unique role within the plan of salvation. There is eternal influence and power in motherhood."

PS: My top five conference talks, at least right now, are Good, Better, Best (Oaks), O Remember (Eyring), The Only True God (Holland), By Faith Not Fear (Cook), Mothers Who Know (Beck). All of these spoke to issues I 've had lately, especially defending my decision to strictly limit the activities in which my kids participate, just because I want our family and our time together and influence on eachother to remain foremost and strong.

Also, I have a hard time with the women arguing that Sister Beck's talk was insensitive to women who don't have children or have to work, etc...HELLO! The talk is called "Mothers who know"--implying it's addressed to Mothers. As in, IF you are a mother, and IF you want to raise sons (and I think it works for daughters, too! ;) like modern day stripling warriors (aka good missionaries, covenant-makers & keepers, etc.), THEN these are the things you know and do. It never said, "LDS women should..."--no shoulds, just knowing and doing. Believe me, after spending 12 years of my adulthood as a SINGLE, CHILDLESS member of the church, I know that there is a lot of focus on homemaking, motherhood, and wifehood in the church and it can get uncomfortable. But I knew for certain I was doing all I could do to live the gospel and I was at peace with my life and my decisions. I could speak up in lessons and conversations and find ways to apply the discussions to myself and other women who were not mothers or wives, but faithful LDS women all the same. These kinds of talks were not offensive to me because they are true--there are lots of good ways to do things, but there is a best and right way (like Elder Oaks said). I knew that I would strive to live those standards the best I could when I finally was in that situation (and I do). I also have a testimony that Heavenly Father will help us sift through the cultural expectations of Mothers and Wives and find our priorities. It's not one size fits all, but the church and mother/wifehood offer a smorgasbord of opportunities and ways for us to develop the essential attributes of Faith, Hope, and Charity. I think some detractors would benefit from Elder Bednar's "It Mattereth Not" talk from last year!

O Happy Day!

One of "my" former Young Women/ dearest friends, Sister Kimberly Larson, received her mission call today to the BRAZIL SAO PAULO EAST mission! I am soooo excited, I have been reading about Sao Paulo and looking at it on Google Earth for a while now...YAY KIM!

Also tonight, we went to see Addie's first School Christmas Program. It was surprisingly delightful and only 45 minutes long, featuring all the grades! Now that's my kind of show! She looked so cute (as did all the kids--it was great) and we had fun watching her. James was so excited, I thought he was having a seizure! He clapped and sang and had a ball. Sadly, I forgot my camera, but our neighbors sat in front of us and took pix for us, so maybe I'll have some to post!

We got our Christmas Bucks from Nana & Papa today and decided to let the kids buy something for EACHOTHER with the money, instead of going adn spending it on themselves. Addie went with Rich to get a treat for Heidi, James and Heidi came with me. Heidi bought a Fisher-Price pull-along puppy that barks when you walk it for James, and James bought some fun coloring posters, stickers, and stocking stuffers for Adeline. We had a fun night, and now everyone is asleep. I need to print pix for Jenn, but I think I will do that in the morning and go watch Arrested Development DVDs with Richard for now. Good Night, yall!

Recent Photos

Back on 12/7 at the Family Christmas Party...Getting our Ham Dinner ready in my kitchen
Sam & James "setting" the kids' table
The Dinner Table: Jamie, Laura, Gabriel (at the bar), Darrin, James, Amie, & Sam eating green beans, rolls, funeral potatoes, honey spice ham, and Martinelli's

"Aunt Jen" Claar stopped by toward the end of dinner...
And Sam hit the sauce.
We all piled downstairs to watch "The Polar Express"--Rich, Darrin, and Matt were on the computer at this point, I think, and Jake and Heidi were making mischief somewhere, too...

In the morning, we had our white elephant gift exchange...
Darrin got a nice pair of Christmas socks!
Heidi and Jake gobbled up a bunch of tangerines!

(Our breakfast was biscuits, sausage & gravy, fruit, milk, juice, and Wheat Montana sweet rolls! Wheat Montana is a tradition because the Wheat Montana Farms and Bakery are about half way between here and Helena--yummy!)

We had so much fun with our cousins and family! Thanks for coming and contributing, guys! Let's do it again next year!

Saturday 12/15...Ward Christmas BreakfastAddie & Mom building a candy house
Heidi helphing the Elders (Boatman & Hansen) build their gingerbread temple
Melin Kids wiht Santa & Mrs. Claus (The Rusts).

On Monday, we got our fun animals from Nana...thanks, Nana! (see James' cups on the floor?)
Tuesday night we had a quick pre-bed bath with all three kids
Rich caught James eyeing the tree after we put the girls to bed...so sweet!

On This Date in History...

...my crazy sisters, aka "The Twins", were born. I have been trying all day to upload pix, but I can't! It either gets stuck or says "service not available; try again later"--well, it is later! VERY LATER and your birthday is almost over, so I just had to say HAPPY 33rd BIRTHDAY to the best Christmas presents I ever got! ;) Love you, Laura & Lisa (Roola and Lisa Mariesa)...

Nest Egg

Our new, super deluxe Fisher Price Nativity (it also includes two shepherds with lambs on a hill)--the star shines and plays "Away in a Manger" (and I wish it played "Far' Far Away on Judea's Plains", too, for the shepherds) !

I am still busy getting ready for Christmas and chillin' with my posse of short peeps. I have nothing really to say, but here's a Heidi funny for you:

At breakfast on Sunday, we were talking about why the angels were singing and why everyone was so happy that baby Jesus was born. Rich asked Addie what Jesus did after he was born, and she gave a pretty good answer---something like, "he grew up and learned things at the temple and helped people, and then he died and came back."

Rich filled in with some things that he taught, and that he was baptized and healed people and that all the things he did were to help us get back to Heavenly Father.

Heidi chimed in, through bites of cereal, "Yep, Baby Jesus got up out of his nest and he growed and growed and he did nice things to everybody!"

We almost choked on our food laughing so hard.

I guess that manger in our Nativity set does look like a nest....