Sunday, August 24, 2014

August Photos

These photos accompany the stories in our
08.24.14 Family Letter...
 
Dr. Niles giving Uncle Jess a shot 08.02

Dr. Niles checking Uncle Jess' heartbeat 08.02
August 4th Family Dance!
Niles dancin'

Lexi dancin'
James, Jess, Kelli, TJay and Addie in the background

Addie and Me dancin'

Addie, Me, Lexi, and James

"Everything is AWESOME" when you're dancin' with
your family at the ranch!

Niles break dancin' Gangnam Style

08.03.14: Niles in shades
08.09.14 SCOUT HIKE in YELLOWSTONE
At the trailhead

MUSHROOMS!

Our 11yo Scout Troop plus their new European Tourist Friends

Wurzburger and Mushroom Man
Cousin Fun at the Ranch
Simon and Niles

Simon and Niles with dump trucks full of ice cream

Silly Matthew

08.10.14: Patti Blake sent us this picture of Niles
 and Owen Triplett in nursery at church

08.10.14: AMMON is 3 MONTHS OLD!

Sweet Happy Face

Such a cute cry face!

Niles and Daddy 08.12.14
 
08.13.14-TJAY's 12th BIRTHDAY at THE RANCH

Gorgeous Rainbow after a nice rain storm

Niles and Simon, always with the dump trucks

James ready to boogie

Summer all a-glow!


Summer, Addie, and TJay at TJay's Glow Dance Party--SO FUN!
GOODBYE COUSIN BOWLING PARTY

Uncle Mike and Niles

Simon and Niles with bowling balls in their shirts

Mamas (Kelli and Me) making pizza in our kitchen

Simon, Heidi, Niles, Summer, Lexi, James, Addie holding Ammon, TJay and Matthew

Farewell, Crazy Cousins!

A Gaggle of Silly Geese

A fine farewell sunset  at our house 08.14.14
More Cousin Fun in UTAH!
08.15.14: Niles playing with Gavin's toys in Layton's backyard

Ammon stretching out after a long day in the carseat

James and Uncle Sam

Niles and Uncle Sam

The Great Salt Lake from Layton's back yard

A panoramic of the sunset over the Great Salt Lake
from the end of Layton's street 08.15.14

08.16.14- Niles and Ammon in Papa Bill's chair

Heidi and Owen photo bomb!

Heidi and Addie found piggies at IKEA

Nana, Cooper and Heidi--SWIMMING at Nana's

Niles and Kaylee

Cooper, Heidi, Nana, Niles, James, Kaylee, and Brady swimming with Nana

Aunt Abby with Ammon


Addie with Ammon t Petersens


Ammy on Sunday morning at Petersens

Niles learning to catch a football 08.17.14
Family Birthday Dinner

Uncle Drew teaching Niles to catch

Go, Niles!

Ally, Niles, and Addie

Heidi, Belle, and Cooper

James and Jack

Isabelle, Addie, Ally, and Liam

BAM! Photobomb by Raef..love it!


Birthday cake!
Heidi, Nana, Owen, Brady, Spencer, Gavin, Kaylee, Melanie
and all the cousins gather to sing to Brady & Melanie

Ben and Niles, two peas in a pod!

Teenaged Cousin Conference:
Melanie, Marshall, Abby, Belle, Liam, Ally, and Addie

Grandkids with Nana and Papa Drews:
Gavin, Raef, Maeby, Brady, Melanie, Kaylee, Liam, Owen, Nana with Ammon
Belle, Cooper, Addie, Papa with Ben, James, Ally with Niles, Spencer, Jack and Heidi.

Ditto

Nana & Papa with Kids and Grandkids:
Standing-Audrey, Kristen, Sara, Melanie with Maeby, Liam, Isabelle, Sam, Willy, Addie, Rich, Spencer, Jill, Niles, Drew, Jack, Jamie, and Heidi; sitting-Owen, Raef, Cooper, Brady, Kaylee, Nana with Ammon, Papa with Gavin, Ben, Ally and James.
Ditto

Heidi, James, Owen, Jack, Kaylee, and Gavin with treat bags from Nana


After-dinner dancing at Nana's

Gavin, Nana, Niles (on the floor), Owen, Kaylee, Papa, and Ben
Monday Night Dinner with Mayberrys
Addie with Ruby, James, Me and Ammon at Mayberry's

Addie and Ruby

Niles and Henry wouldn't stop digging out front

Ruby tackling James

Niles with Henry's ukelele

Heidi with Ruby, Henry, Addie with Ammon, James, Miles, and Niles...
Two cousins turned into a gang of 12!

Autumn, Brent, Me and Rich...Best Cousin Pals Forever!
08.19.14: Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig!
Uncle Drew gave James this Lego set as an early birthday gift,
and what do you think he did first thing when we got home?

Niles and James with the finished Coast Guard Helicopter
 
 
***Some Stuff From Facebook**

Throwback Thursday photo of me with Great Grandma Jayne, 1971

Baby Me, 3 months old, December 1971
I thought it was fun to see a little of myself in my babies, even though they are mostly Melin ;)

Totally feeling this lately...I sure do love my nieces and nephews!

Monday, August 04, 2014

FAMILY LETTER 08.03.14


Dear Loved Ones,                                                                                                                          

The past two weeks have been a mix of some really busy days and really lazy summery days and it’s all been good!

On Monday the 21st Heidi enjoyed a fun park activity with the Activity Days girls, including cousin Summer.  After the activity, Uncle Jess and Aunt Kelli brought Heidi home and stayed for Stir Fry Dinner and Family Night. Rich also helped Uncle Jess get our trailer ready for their family camping trip to Ennis and Dillon later that week. We filmed all the cousins wishing Grandpa Melin a Happy Birthday on the 22nd. From all reports, he had a good one, and got to take a little road trip with Grandma later that week to Nauvoo, which we know firsthand was AWESOME.

On Wednesday the 23rd, all the youth and Rich’s scouts plus Heidi  hiked to Pine Creek Falls for their activity. I stayed home with my boys and watched a show about elephants…Heidi would have loved it.

On Thursday the 24th, we went to play at Sacajawea Park and eat Food Pantry’s lunch in the park. I saw a bunch of my Bible Study friends there; it was fun to catch up. After naps and dinner, Addie and I headed up to the church for Shelby’s baptism. We made punch and Kim Strupp brought fruit and Shelby’s favorite cookies. Matt Triplett gave and awesome talk about baptism and I spoke about the Holy Ghost.  The same Elder who baptized her mom came back with his little family and baptized her. It was a sweet service and we are so happy for her and her family.

Friday night we had a ward barbecue on the church lawn to celebrate Pioneer Day. Right before it started, Jenn Claar’s nephew Josh (the sweet boy with cerebral palsy) passed away. Other than that sad news, the dinner was a lot of fun and it was a gorgeous day to be outside. Jess and Kelli were back from their camping trip and they came, too.

Saturday the 26th we did some fun school shopping as a family. We started at Bozeman’s Goodwill because it is so organized and fun to shop there. I found hoodies for all the boys and some really nice hiking shoes and converse sneakers for Heidi. We got all the school supplies and some other necessities at Target and had yummy lunch at Wendy’s. I think Rich took the kids out to float at the ranch, but I took a nap and got ready for Sunday with baby Ammon. I was feeling feverish and achy (AGAIN) but I rested up and didn’t get super sick this time.

I still didn’t feel well Sunday, but Rich had to go speak at the Big Timber branch, so I had to get our family to church and lead the Primary music—the kids sang Pioneer songs in Sacrament meeting, plus I subbed as chorister one last time (I did a lame job, but I did it J). I was so exhausted when we got home and had a fever of 100, so I went straight to sleep with the baby. Rich made gyros for the kids and they loved them! He took a rest with me then took the kids to the ranch for dinner and a cousin sleepover that night. It was perfect timing (bless Jess and Kelli’s hearts!).

Monday was my mom and Mark’s 25th Anniversary! I got caught up on rest and vitamins and was able to get some things organized in the morning before I went out to pick up James, Heidi, and Addie at the ranch. I literally had to drag them out of the river at the beach where they were having a blast with their cousins (Addie’s best friend was having a birthday party that afternoon). That night for FHE we watched “Heaven is For Real,” which was a nice little movie.

Mark & Mom, July 1989
Speaking of movies, we had several movie nights this week for some reason. We also watched “The Saratov Approach” on Tuesday and loved it. Earlier, Rich and I watched “Tim’s Vermeer” and loved that, too. We also watched “Noah” on Saturday night and it was just weird. I could have respected it without the rock people, even though it doesn’t even begin to follow the story (I kept waiting for Egyptus...hello!?).  I did love some things about it, though, especially the animals coming and how the seed of Eden from Methuselah provided them everything they needed to build an ark in a barren land, a symbol  of the truth that God provides; he gives no commands except he prepares away for them to be fulfilled. Anyhoooo….

Wednesday the 30th Heidi and I had morning haircuts, then Addie had a physical and immunizations for 7th grade. Her arm hurt all day! Uncle Mike brought cousin Summer into town when he went to check out Cousin Sheila’s storage unit. Summer and the kids jumped on the trampoline with the sprinkler then we headed over to the Farmer’s Market from 5-6pm and met up with Jess and Kelli and Mike for a few minutes. We gave Summer back, then hurried home to eat dinner and get Daddy to scouts and Addie to the Bishop’s Youth Fireside. Everyone was overtired from all the sleep overs and fun, so it wasn’t hard to get them all to bed that night.

Thursday the 31st I got the wonderful news that my BFF Erin was pronounced Cancer Free! She still has surgery and radiation to get through the next few months, but for now there is no cancer in her body and for that we are grateful!!! I spent most of Thursday finishing up a slideshow video for Josh Hill’s memorial on Saturday (Jenn’s nephew). It turned out really nice.



Friday after chores, I took the kids to Museum of the Rockies. We got a 2-year membership as part of Niles’ Preschool, which is AWESOME! First we stopped at Costco for gas and lunch, and then we went to MOR.  First we looked at the Gecko exhibit, and then the big kids saw a planetarium show while I took the little boys to the Yellowstone playroom.  When we got home, we took naps and had homemade Pizza night (our Friday night tradition).

Saturday Addie and I got up early and went to do two service projects. First the Young Women met at Livingston Christian Center to help blow up 200 balloons for Josh’s memorial service later that day. Then they joined the Young Men at the animal shelter to build a fence and landscape. I went back to LCC for the service, which was really beautiful.  Again, all my bible study friends were there, plus the Claars. Julie (Jenn’s sister) was/is so diligent in caring for those special needs kids—I don’t know how she does it, but I am sure the loss of Josh leaves a huge hole in her heart and in her daily schedule. Everyone, though, seems to understand that Joshy’s sweet spirit is now free from his broken body and he’s “dancing with Jesus.” 

Balloon Release for Joshy
This Fast Sunday was a sweet one—a nice testimony meeting and good lessons, lots of visitors and new people at church. We had a good afternoon –napped, broke our fast, headed out to the ranch after dinner, but when we texted Jess to see if we needed to bring anything, they’d already done s’mores without us and were putting kids to bed. So we turned around and took a drive, mapping out our routes to school, checking out some new houses. We had a treat and played UNO as a family and finally hit the hay at 10pm, which is when I started writing this.

Little Ammon seems to be not feeling well. I’m trying to figure out what’s wrong. It seems way too early (he’s 12 weeks old!!)  for him to be teething, but he keeps running a fever and has swollen gums and a stuffy nose.

 
Poor little man. At least he’s fairly cheerful about all of it—he even tries to smile at me while he’s fussing from pain, bless his little angel heart. We are looking forward to visiting Utah in 2 weeks, hope we get to see as many loved ones as possible. In the meantime, there is a ton of summer fun we need to cram into the next two weeks because school starts right after we get home. Time is FLYING! We loved hearing from the Holm family, the New Jersey Melins, and Grandpa and Grandma this week. Sounds like everyone is making the most of their summer. We’d love updates from any and all of you and hope you’re all well and happy and feeling our love, and Heavenly Father’s love, too!

Love, Jamie and Rich and Family

Sunday, July 20, 2014

The Past Two Weeks in Photos

These photos are a complement to the Family Letter this week
A Selfie of Richard and Ammon on blessing day (07.06)

Our LAST NIGHT with The Johnsons :(
Monday July 7th--Kai, Brody, Heidi, Niles, Matt, Colton, James

Heidi, Matt and Colton and Kai Johnson, Niles, James, and Brody Johnson bouncing

Brody James and Niles are best pals!
Later that night, James came to my bed around 11:30 and said, "Mom, I can't sleep," and I asked why. He burst into sobs and said, "Because The Johnsons moved away!" He laid by me and sobbed for a good 20 minutes. He has literally NEVER cried like that, not even as a baby or toddler. Poor guy. He's been fine ever since, but that was a heart wrencher! They're definitely worth crying over though ;)

Addie took this picture of Heidi, Rich, Kai, Matt, Colton, Naomi, James,
me, Matty, and Niles and Brody down front

Dear Friends

Kai, Addie, Heidi, and Matty
Although they all look distracted, these kids were
pretty good pals and had some fun times together the past year.

Uncle Mike with his Dutch oven birthday cake 07.11

James at swim lessons 07.14

swim, little fishy!

Pine Creek Camping, July 18th

Heidi, Matthew, James, Summer in the hammock

James and Summer

Niles hiking to the water fall

Action shot

Silly Niles made it to the falls!

Heidi and Uncle Mike on the bridge

Heidi, Mike, and Jellis on the falls bridge

Summer and Heidi and Pine Creek Falls

Hiker Heidi

Mike and the falls

Lexi, Niles, and Simon eating post-hike lunch

Mike, Matthew, Heidi, Lexi, Niles, Simon, and TJay at lunch

Heidi!

Rich's Cherry Cobbler

Campin' Ammon

Grubby little Simon in the trailer

Addie in her flower crown

FAMILY LETTER: 07.20.14


Dear Loved Ones:                                                                                                                            20 July 2014

Okay,  so life took a turn for the crazy starting May 2nd and here we are in July. I feel like I blinked and here I am! Needless to say, there is much to catch up on, but I’m going to just start with July and you can go catch up with us on the blog. I hope all of you have heard that we had a beautiful, healthy baby boy on May 10th and we named him Ammon Thatcher Layton Melin. He is an awesome baby! That should be enough to explain my absence.

We took a wonderful family road trip back to visit Grandpa and Grandma and Nauvoo, Illinois and I have been working hard to blog all that. We got back on June 30th, took a rest on July 1st to unpack and clean up, then started up our traditional Independence Day celebrations. The girls helped me put up our star-spangled décor that Wednesday morning, then we packed a cooler and headed to the parade. It seems to get more crowded every year, and the parade was definitely much longer than last year. Traffic was so crazy, it took me a half hour to drive home from our parking spot on 3rd and Geyser (about 2 miles). I guess we will be riding our bikes from now on! Nonetheless, it was such a fun time and our kids enjoyed the parade with their Jelli cousins and Uncle Mike. Everyone came over to our house for a barbecue after the parade, with some trampoline time and s’mores for dessert. Rich took the kids who could stay awake (it gets dark at 10pm) to see the first night of fireworks.

On July 3rd my sister Lisa (from Phoenix) came tovisit with her son and grandson (from Helena). They stayed in our upstairs rooms, and Elden Haymore and a friend came to visit and crashed downstairs after driving from Tucson all night. It was fun to play bed and breakfast for a day. I loved seeing my sis, but she had to go back to Helena the afternoon of the 4th. We had a great BBQ and fireworks out at the ranch—I blogged it all.

On Saturday the 5th we went to the baptism of Ashley Strupp and Trynity Kirby in our ward (James’ friends) , then we went to Alberta Bregar’s 60th birthday party up at the church and met up with Kurt and Debbie Holm who were in town for the holiday weekend. While I was there, Rich went out to the ranch to photograph our friends, The Johnsons’ family reunion. The photos turned out awesome! It was nice to spend some time with them since they ditched us and moved to Hawaii the next week ;)

On Sunday the 6th we fasted and blessed baby Ammon at church. I blogged that, too. He is such a sweet and patient little boy, we are so grateful he came to our family. That evening, Jellis came over for tortillas and cheese and s’mores for dessert. It was a fun cousin hang-out. I also stayed up late and made cinnamon rolls for the Johnson’s Monday morning moving party (I couldn’t go help with the move, but I sent Addie with rolls, lol). Monday morning Addie helped them while I was home caring for the little boys. Aunt Debbie Holm and Haylee came and got the kids for a little date before they caught their plane back to Las Vegas. The kids LOVED it, and I loved seeing them again! That night for FHE, we had a Kahlua pork dinner with the Johnsons to say farewell as they headed out Tuesday morning to live in Kauai. We have loved having them here—they just felt like instant family and we will really miss them!

The rest of that week was a blur of swimming lessons and free swim at the pool, laundry, photo editing, and baby-feedings.  Friday morning (7/11) Ammon had his 2-month checkup. He weighed in at 12-9 and 21” and got his first round of shots. He did great, especially on his social development (he’s a charmer like all our kids have been--so dang outgoing). After that appointment I took all the kids to the splash park in Belgrade. We had a great time and got really tired, but we managed to stay awake and drove straight to the ranch for Uncle Mike’s birthday party. Kelli and her kids decorated the pavilion so cute and made a yummy dinner. Rich made Mike a Dutch oven pineapple upside down cake and it was GREAT! We missed celebrating with Cousin Danny who turned 12 that same day, and my little nephew Caden who turned 1. And don’t forget Uncle Pat—wow, that’s a popular birthday!

Saturday the 12th was my laundry day—I had slacked off for a few days and I had 7 loads to fold/mend and about 3 loads to do! Plus Ammon wasn’t feeling so great after his shots and needed some snuggles.  In all my Cinderella-ness, I forgot to wish my beautiful niece Isabelle a happy 12th birthday. I’m excited to see her next month in Utah.

Ammon was still whiny Sunday morning, so Rich and I tag teamed for church---he went first hour, then we traded places so I could do Primary music and he could be home caring for Ammon. Perfect! I was starting to feel a little sick and tired after church, so I took an emergen-C and a nap and thought that would take care of it. Ammon was still tired and cranky and only nursed a little so I felt pretty full. I pumped a little and went to sleep at about 3pm. I woke up at 5 to the sound of a text message. The Elders invited Addie and me to a discussion at 6pm with the Felkins family. I told them we were having family over for dinner at 6 (Jess & Kelli brought dinner over, bless them!), but said I could bring Addie to fellowship Shelby. After thinking about it for a bit, I felt strongly that I should go even though I didn't feel good, so I took a big glass of water with me and excused myself from dinner (Rich managed just fine and had a good time with Jess and the kids). I am so glad I went! I was Susie Felkins' VT 4-5 years ago and her 9-yo daughter often came to church with me. Then they kind of disappeared. Now they are back to coming to church once or twice a month and their daughter Shelby is now 14 and she is getting baptized on July 24th! We are so excited!

When I got home from the discussion, I sat down to nurse Ammon and took my temp. It went from 99 to 101 in 20 minutes--I had mastitis again. I took a Tylenol and texted Dr. Reid to see if she could call in an antibiotic for me. She texted back that Osco had just closed, but that she was working in the ER and could see me as an outpatient and give me antibiotics from the hospital pharmacy. HOORAY! Rich watched a movie with the kids and got them to bed and took good care of me. He did Ammon's early morning feeding with a bottle and let me sleep. Kim Larson Triplett took Niles for a play date Monday morning and Addie helped me with the other kids while she got packed for camp. I felt better and got up by noon (although the after- effects of fever felt like whole-body arthritis! I'm getting too old for this) and finished getting Addie ready for camp. We had a nice FHE, then Rich took Addie out to the ranch to get a lifejacket while he finished up packing supplies for our family campout at Pine Creek this weekend. Luckily the three little boys were all worn out from a busy day and were asleep before they left, so I went to bed and Heidi played iPod next to me. Nice night.

Addie left for camp at 6:30 Tuesday morning. I was so excited for her! She had an amazing experience and came home with all kinds of loot and good stories. Kelli did Loaves and Fishes with Summer and Tjay and I watched the little kids—they had a grand cousin time playing wrestle mania and coloring pictures in the basement family room. When they were done, Kelli took them to run around at the park for a while and I made dinner and fed the baby in peace.

Wednesday we had swim lessons in the morning (like every day this week) then we all went swimming after lunch. I was leaving just as Kelli was pulling up (Niles needed a nap—Simon was just waking up from his), so James stayed and swam with cousins. Kelli invited Heidi over for a sleep over, so she dropped off James and took Heidi with her. Rich had scouts, so I got to do our Wednesday night tradition again finally—watched Nature and Nova with James (Niles crashed at about 7:10!). It was such a nice night!

Thursday we did all our errands and got ready to camp at Pine Creek for 3 days and 2 nights. We’d planned to take the kids to play early and start a fire for foil dinners, but I didn’t get up there until 5pm and Kelli didn’t arrive until 6, along with Rich coming up from work. Jess and Mike came a little later. We had delicious foil dinners made from beef, potatoes, carrots and mushrooms, then made s’mores cones for dessert (ice cream cones filled with marshmallows, chocolate & peanut butter chips, and some nuts, wrapped in foil, toasted over the coals). The kids got filthy, see we hosed them off and went to bed. I went home with the baby so I could pick Addie up from camp the next day and spare the campground our 2am fussing.

Friday morning, Rich made breakfast burritos and everyone (except my posse) hiked up to Pine Creek Falls. They came back and had sandwiches for lunch. Meanwhile I was in town taking James to his last day of swim lessons and picking up a very excited and tired Addie from camp. She was wearing a red “We Are Strong” Tshirt and a cape and had a million fun stories to tell. I am so glad she got to go! When we arrived back at Pine Creek, everyone was lounging around trying to escape the heat. Addie and the big kids headed over to the creek where they always build their fairy houses and the little soon wanted to join them, so Kelli walked them down. I sat in the shade and read and the Melin brothers sat in the shade a talked for a couple of hours. The kids came back from the creek and played card games and finished beading bracelets with Uncle Mike. Rich started dinner—burgers, dogs, fancy fixins, fruits and veggies, and cherry cobbler in the dutch oven. The Felkins family came and joined us for dinner at about 6:30pm and we had a really good time with them. We visited and planned Shelby’s baptism coming up on Thursday night. Simon and Niles were so cute driving their little trucks and tractors around in the ashy dirt and sword fighting with sticks. They were so filthy but so adorable. Niles had allergies and was coughing like crazy by bedtime, so I took him home with me around 10pm and he slept all the way into town and all night long! I’m sure Rich had an easier tie breaking camp without his help.

Saturday morning Rich cooked up a big sausage and pancake breakfast and taught Jess how to take down and put up the tent trailer. Jess and Kelli are going to borrow the trailer for a camping trip to Ennis and Virginia City in the next week or two, so they learned the ropes. I stayed home and got a jump on Saturday chores. We were able to get all the dirty camping laundry washed right away and be ready for Ward Conference on Sunday, and I was able to catch up on blogging/journaling/photos while Rich napped.

Our Bishop has been serving for five years as of May, so we thought he might be released during ward conference, but it didn’t happen. We did get to hear from our new Stake President and get to know him a little better. He’s great—inspired and inspiring. He seems perfectly suited for this period of hastening the work. We had lunch and Sunday naps, then home teachers, then cousins. Bless Kelli’s heart, she brought lasagna and salad over for Sunday dinner and we had a really nice, relaxed cousin visit tonight. A beautiful storm blew in just as Jelli’s were leaving around 8:30 and now we are enjoying an amazing sunset—nearly as awesome as an Arizona sunset ;) We are thinking about Cousin Cody tonight, wishing him a Happy 21st Birthday and a year that’s better than the last! Onward and upward, buddy!

I am just feeling so grateful tonight—grateful for my beautiful baby and children, my hard-working hilarious husband, our beautiful home and town, the gospel in our lives, our Savior and his unconditional love and atonement. Grateful for extended family and friends that feel like family who bless us, support us, teach us, and make us laugh. Life is so hard but so sweet, especially with the companionship and comfort of the Holy Ghost.  Thank you, loved ones, for all you add to our happiness and peace.

This letter is ridiculous, so dang long, but I’m all caught up! Thanks for making it this far, or just skimming this far. Know that we love you and would love to hear about your summer so far! HUGS!
(Check out other blog posts for photos of all this stuff)

All our love til next week—

Jamie and Rich and Family

Monday, July 07, 2014

Ammon's Blessing Day: July 6 2014

I have dozens of stories to tell and pictures to post to catch up on life since the end of April. This is my first attempt, and I will work backward from today [UPDATE: They are up--keep scrolling down!]. The most important update is that I had a fabulous baby boy on May 10th at 5:47pm. He weighed 7-14 and was 20" long and he is a sweet little baby. Last week he was blessed...

This darling boy was blessed by his dad in the Livingston Ward on July 6, 2014. Uncle Jess, Jeff and Shaun Spalding, Matt Johnson, and the bishopric were in the circle. The little Baker Twins, Georgia and Lincoln, were blessed the same day. He's officially Ammon Thatcher Layton Melin.

Daddy & Ammon

Close up!

Mommy & a very distressed Ammon

Trying to calm my boy

Quiet for a minute...

Then mad again...

and calm again (it was lunch and nap time!)

Ammon with big sister Heidi.

Here's the history of Ammon's name...
AMMON is our favorite missionary in the Book of Mormon. He did and said many wonderful things recorded in the scriptures. He started out as a rebellious son, but he changed his heart (along with his 3 brothers) and went to serve a mission to bring the Lamanites (the sworn enemies of his people) to Jesus Christ and had much success. One of my favorite Ammon quotes is in Alma 17:25. When he first arrives in Lamanite land, he is captured and taken to the king and tells the king he wants to live among the Lamanites. The kind is so impressed, he invites Ammon to marry his daughter. But Ammon responds, "Nay, but I will be thy servant." He taught us that the best way to bring people to Christ is to serve them. My other favorite quote from Ammon comes later after he has seen many miracles in his work, sometimes called the Psalm of Ammon in Alma 26:10-37. "Now my brethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy, and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever." He was a good guy.

THATCHER is the name of my Papa Bill's Grandpa. Samuel Thatcher was originally from Logan but he raised my Papa Bill in Los Angeles (Papa Bill is the son of Samuel's daughter, my great-grandma Jayne). I got the feeling that Grandpa Thatcher was to my Papa what my Papa was to me, and that makes him pretty special. Both of my Elrey Uncles have Thatcher for a middle name as well. Thatcher is also the name for the town in Arizona where my Dad was born, a town founded by my Great-Great-Grandfather. (It's ALSO the surname of the Iron Lady, whom I adore).

LAYTON is my maiden name, inherited from aforementioned G-G-Grandfather, Christopher Layton. I thought it would be a great first name. Richard thought not so much.

So that's his name. As with all our children, it was carefully chosen. Names can be powerful, just as Nephi III said in the Book of Mormon:
" Behold, my sons, I desire that ye should remember to keep the commandments of God; and I would that ye should declare unto the people these words. Behold, I have given unto you the names of our first parents who came out of the land of Jerusalem; and this I have done that when you remember your names ye may remember them; and when ye remember them ye may remember their works; and when ye remember their works ye may know how that it is said, and also written, that they were good. Therefore, my sons, I would that ye should do that which is good, that it may be said of you, and also written, even as it has been said and written of them." -Helaman 5:6-7

FAMILY LETTER 07.28.19

Dear Loved Ones,                                                                                                        We have just ...