Too Cute to be a Pirate

These photos were taken at our Pirate FHE last week,

but I forgot to post them!

This is my terribly adorable niece, Lexi Melin:

aka: "She-Jay"

(that's what Angie was calling her because she looks exactly like her older brother, TJay. :))
Way Too Cute!

More Sunday Photos

Melin Kids out on Clyde Park Road

Sunday, August 16th

***

Also, yesterday marked the one-year anniversary since the Nielson's plane crash in St. John's, AZ. Stephanie (who lives in Provo now) marked the anniversary by hiking to the "Y." She also found the courage to post a photo of her new face on her blog. It's all just so miraculous...really! Who survives severe burns on 80% of their body and then climbs a mountain a year later? There are SO MANY miracles all around us that we don't recognize with out hindsight because we take our challenges day-by-day. But love is all around--God is all around, and our lives, our children, our health are all gorgeous miracles.

Coming Soon...

Sunday after church we drove a mile or two into the country and took pictures of the kids. Here are a few favorites... (I will load the rest soon!) Three little sillies!

My Favorite: Addie, James, & Heidi

(Back on our street)

LAST MONDAY

Need a Little Lisa...

It's time to get comfy because I'm going to tell you story. At first I was just going to post a picture of the necklaces I just made, but I am in a writing/ personal history kind of mood, so you get a story today. Ready? Okay.

Once upon a time, I lived in Provo at Frankenhaus, alone in a big bedroom at the top of the stairs where it got very hot in the summer time. Actually, the time upon which this all went down was the very hot summer of 1991. My boyfriend, Kevin, was using Frankenhaus as his mailing address while he was out gallivanting around the U.S., visiting his sisters and working in Washington, D.C. He would come back for a week or so at a time and stay with me, then be off again. It was while he was away that one Miss Lisa Robbins knocked on my door looking for him, having recently returned from Korea (I know what you're thinking now--you're wondering why I am stuck in PROVO for the summer while everyone I know is off on bold international adventures and the answer is that I had to WORK while I was in school. Don't be jealous).

So Lisa knocks on the door of Frankenhaus asking for Kevin (and yes, I realize I just changed tenses, but it's okay--pretend like we're just chatting and forget the grammar, k?). I tell Lisa that Kevin is gone, but she can come in and we end up hanging out all day long. I discover we love the same music, especially the Sundays and agree that Harriet Wheeler was the best singer of all the singers we'd discussed that day. I don't remember what else was discussed, only that from that moment on, we have been friends. Like instant, just-add-water, bosom-buddies. She is 364 days older than me, meaning her birthday is the day after mine, the year before mine (and while I don't read my horoscope or anything, I can't help but think there is something to astrology because Libras are freaking AWESOME). We have shared many a party, and the very next year after we met, we were both missionaries--Lisa serving in the Dominican Republic, me serving in exotic North Carolina. You can bet the very best letters I got were from Lisa (because--oh, yeah--we were both English Major nerds, too!) Post-mish, we were back in Provo together for a year, and then life pulled us in all different directions. But we've stayed friends because we are both committed communicators and because Lisa makes me laugh like no other!

THEN: Lisa, Me, and Phoebe in Summer 1995
NOW: Lisa with husband Tom in Virginia
(notice she just get lovelier with age, which I envy)

Lisa lives and works in the DC area and was married to her long-time friend-n-love, Tom Anderson about the same time I gave birth to James (so I had to miss the wedding, which still makes me a little sad). She keeps a wonderfully witty blog (much more clever and understated than this one) and you should check it out HERE. A few years ago, Lisa took a glass-bead-making class and sent me some awesome handmade earrings, as well as a few other lose beads. I have been wanting to use the beads for a long time, but I just didn't know how. Another Awesome Libra Friend, Debbie, taught me to bead jewelry, so this week I finally made myself some Lisa originals! I can take a little Lisa with me everywhere now! BEHOLD:

Two sets--one of glass & stone beads, the other with lots of blue glass and silver (from my mom). Can you spot the Lisa beads?

There's the blue one on the necklace...

and the green one on a bracelet!

***

Lisa, have I told you lately that I love you? Because I do. When I reflect on the randomness of our meeting, and then the subsequent strength and longevity of our friendship, the phrase "blessed and lucky" always comes to mind. Also, I can't help but feel like the best fruits of my relationship with Kevin are my girl friends! Yay that. Anyway, thanks for being you and for all the thoughtful things you do. My home and my inbox are practically littered with loving Lisa things, and I really do cherish them because you're fabulous.

Grandma Gifts

I read this post today from cjane and it killed me.

Tonight I cleaned Addie's room so my sister, Erin, and her husband and baby can sleep in it tomorrow night. As I straightened up Addie's (piles and piles of) things, I noticed how sweet and girly all the little things in her room are.

And then I noticed that, with few exceptions, all of her dainty treasures have come from her grandmothers: Hand-made Barbie clothes and necklaces and daisy quillow from Grandma Rosalie, Satiny-fleece blanket from Grandma Becky, Pet Shop Pets and hairbows and stationery from Nana, Poetry Books and China Dolls and greeting cards from Great-Grandma Lyn, Teddy Bears and love notes from Great-Grandma Sine... Five wonderful women passing on a legacy of femininity, little mementos of What It Means To Be A Girl, to my firstborn daughter.

[Baby Addie and Me, December 2001]

I got a lump in my throat. I am so glad for all the help I have to raise her. I was so overwhelmed to have a daughter--when I first found out she was a girl, I freaked out a bit. But I think we are BOTH growing up to be good women, helping one another along the way, and feeling thankful for the other women in our family who are helping us from afar.

[Grandma Lyn, Great-Grandma Marie (Gramareeeee), Baby Me, and My Little Mommy, Blessing Day October 1971]
[Another Blessing Day, 30 years later...
Mom, Grandma Lyn holding Adeline, and Me
January 2002]

[First-Time Grandparents! Addie with Grandma & Grandpa Melin
on her Blessing Day]
[Grampa Jim and Gramma Becky admire Baby Addie, December 2001]

[Grandma Sine rocking Addie, December 2001]

Letter to me from my Grandma Lyn, circa 1975

***

PS: While I was nosin' around my 2002 Photo Archive, I found this adorable picture of Addie, Ally, & Isabelle on the day we moved to Montana from Utah. I couldn't resist doing a "then & now" comparison:
Of course, we added Heidi to the mix, and Ally is no longer the biggest, but they are all still so adorable and they love each other so much. Hooray for cousins!

KINDERGARTEN CAMP!

[But first, here's the ONE picture of camping on Friday...you can see some fo the rust-colored trees where the pine beetles have killed off half the forest]Heidi has Kindergarten Camp this week, kind of a fun-filled orientation for the new little kids...
Here we are on Monday morning meeting Principal Hunsicker.

Heidi is so excited to meet her teacher and class! James loves the playground!

Skip-to-my-lou!

This is Heidi's teacher, Mrs. Thums ("Tooms"). She's going to be great for Heidi! (She looks a little fierce in this picture, but she is a kindergarten veteran--so awesome, she reminds me of Mrs. Mercaldo at Roger's--I think she taught my whole family!)

Lining up

Heidi is ready for school! (8/26 is the first day)