FAMILY LETTER 05.10.15

Dear Loved Ones                   

 Happy Mothers Day to all the wonderful mothers in our lives! Hope your day has been sweet. I (Jamie) am sharing my day with Ammon today as he turns one year old!

We didn’t write last week because I was having a trip hangover. Heidi and I got home from Utah at 3:30 and enjoyed some family time, barbecued some burgers while the kids jumped on the trampoline. Later, James gave Niles a good shove as Niles was climbing onto the trampoline. Niles fell and fractured his humerus—a green stick fracture that’s in a sling for 2 weeks. Welcome home, Mom!

Our trip was great. In our last letter I was getting ready to go to Women’s Conference at BYU, taking Heidi with me for some Nana/Aunt Debbie time. Last Tuesday 4/28 I took the boys to the park and Ammon squealed with delight on the swings. It was so sunny and warm, a rare, not-windy, 70-degree day. On Wednesday, 4/29, we had scriptures and breakfast and sent everyone off to school, then Heidi and I headed out on a road trip. We drove to BYU and picked up our name badges, then back to Nana’s to sleep.

On Thursday, I left Nana’s at 7:45 and met Debbie Holm at the Marriott Center at 10:05. The traffic was busy and everything was crazy, but the meetings and classes were so worth it. The theme of the conference was Delighting in Covenants. The opening message was from Wendy Nelson (wife of Elder Neslon) and she focused a lot on redeeming the dead. Our first class was about hastening the work—reaching out and speaking up in everyday life with Joanne Pendleton and Neil Marriott. They were fantastic and motivating. The second class was keeping covenants through everyday acts, and the last class was helping teens keep baptismal covenants and prepare for the temple. Right after that, I met up with Nana and Heidi near the Marriott Center and we met Debbie and took a tour of the LDS Motion Picture Studios where her brother Scott builds sets for films and visitors centers (he built that fake Jerusalem out in Goshen for the new Bible videos). That was so much fun. We got a sneak peek at artists painting the murals for the new Provo Temple—absolutely breathtaking (like 15 x40 feet—so huge and gorgeous).

After the tour Nana headed home and Debbie, Heidi and I headed up to the Creamery to have dinner with Brandon Casper (my amiga Erin’s son, BYU student) and Debbie’s niece Sidney.  Then we walked down to the Marriott Center for the evening entertainment, which was excellent. We really enjoyed The Nashville Tribute Band. We were so exhausted by the time we got home to Nana’s at 10:30, we crashed hard.

The next morning (Friday) I slept in and missed the opening session, but I also missed all the traffic so I got a great seat at my chosen first session, Teaching Resilience and Emotional Strength to our Youth, followed by Bring Out the Good in Your Marriage. We ditched the third session to just eat lunch and visit since we hadn’t had a chance.  I got a Taco Bell cantina bowl cuz that was the shortest line at the CougarEat, and Carole M. Stephens (1st Counselor in RS General Presidency) was right in front of me ordering the same thing. Then Mallory from Studio C walked by with her Chick Fil A lunch. I had a double Mormon fangirling moment. I had a great visit with Debbie, then we went to the closing session with Elder Ballard together and said our goodbyes. I had dinner at Nana’s with the fam and then took Heidi, Abby, and Marshall to the mall. We went to bed fairly early so we could get up early to go to visit Jill in Mt. Pleasant.

Meanwhile, Rich was home with the kids doing a great job juggling everything with Addie‘s help. They went to a ward activity Friday night and to James’ first Baseball game on Saturday morning. It looked like a perfect day and James did pretty well. Later James helped with a flag ceremony at the depot with his Cub Scout troop. Rich was texting me pictures of all the fun while I was visiting my sister at MATR Behavioral Health. It seems like a wonderful, nurturing place with a great program. It was so good to see her and get an idea of what life is like there. After Mt. Pleasant, we went back to Nana’s, got our stuff, and headed up to Tooele to spend the night with the Laytons and celebrate nephew Gavin’s 4^th Birthday. We headed home at 8:45am and drove straight through to arrive home at 3:30…and then the broken arm thing happened.

This week has been all the regular school and activities. James had another game on Wednesday evening so we took a picnic to the ballpark and watched, then everyone hurried up to the church for scouts, young women and activity days. Niles was able to return to school Wednesday and says his arm doesn’t hurt anymore. He will be able to take it out of the sling the day before his birthday (5/18).

 

Friday night we had a babysitter so we went out to dinner at Zac's Barbecue. It was delicious! While we were there, Rich gave me my mother's day gift: a pretty Mother's ring with all 5 kids' birthstones in it. It was such a nice, sweet and simple date night. We had rain in the forecast so we rented some movies and did some house work and enjoyed the peace. It turned out to NOT be a rainy weekend, it was quite lovely, so we spent some time outside, too.

Sunday was Will Bowden's homecoming talk, he just returned from his mission to Portugal. The kids sang songs for Mother's Day, but Niles was in the foyer having a fit and Heidi refused to get up so only James sang today. We got candy bars from the fellas as we were leaving church. Rich made sure I got a nice nap, then Addie and I decorated Ammon's cake and had a little birthday party for him Sunday night. He seemed a little annoyed by it all, but we had a good time eating stadium brats and tater skins and Ammon's yummy chocolate teddy bear cake. He's a sweet little guy, getting ready to take off walking...he's currently taking about 10 steps then changing his mind. Our next adventure is learning to go down the stairs backward on our tummy...good times!

We wish you a great week! 

 

Love, Rich and Jamie and Family

 

Mom and Heidi driving to Utah 4/29

Conference Badges 4/29

LDSMP Tour with Debbie, Scoot, Nana, Heidi, and Jamie 4/30



Watch for this building in the Priesthood Restoration visitor center film
in Pennsylvania.

Heidi touring the back lot

Heidi on King Benjamin's tower

Saying goodbye to Brandon Casper after dinner 4/30

Having a laugh with Sister Marriott 4/30

End of Women's Conference with Debbie Holm 5/1

James batting 5/2

James catching 5/2

James and his buddy Zane 5/2

Ammon discovered milkshakes 5/2
Good luck getting that cup away from him!

Visiting Jill at MATR 5/2

James having an éclair at Gil's Goods before his flag ceremony 5/2

Niles at the ER with his fractured arm
near midnight 5/3

Date Night! 5/8

Mother's Ring 5/8
 

Last night of babyhood 5/9
 

Good Morning, Birthday Boy!5/10
He was so delighted when we sang "Happy Birthday"

Cautiously eating his birthday cake  5/10

Learning that cake is good!  5/10

At out house, birthday boys eat hot dogs with their feet!
(he had grabbed his bun AND Niles' and
tried to stuff them in his mouth)

opening gifts with Mama  5/10

Ammon with his one and only birthday toy: a ball coaster
He loved it!
(and mommy loved all the clothing gifts from
the grandmas--much needed and appreciated!)

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!

FAMILY LETTER 04.26.15

Dear Loved Ones                                   26 April 2015

Happy 11^th Birthday Cousin Jack. We’ve been thinking of you today. It’s cold and rainy and we’ve had an afternoon of catching up on Faith in God and Personal Progress goals and now we’re watching “Into The Woods” (again).

It’s been a pretty boring week. Lots of school, homework, meetings, etc. Monday was family night, Tuesday was doctor appointments (checkups for Addie and Ammon), Wednesday I got a biopsy on the 7-month leg rash and Rich took Addie and James up to Scouts and Young Women.

Thursday we had the missionaries over for Breakfast for Dinner: French Toast with strawberries and cream plus sausage, bacon and OJ and they said we should have breakfast for dinner every time because they never get fancy breakfasts. So, done! Afterward I went to a parents’ meeting to help choose a new principal for the primary school (which experience really made me have more confidence in my gut feelings—I knew that last one was a bad choice, but I thought it was just me—nope, it was an all-around mistake, *sigh* live and learn). 

Friday was a circus. Rich had to prepare for a Boy Scout camp out at Pine Creek. I had a rheumatology checkup in Bozeman at the ungodly hour of 4:20pm, so Rich was loading up his scout trailer, I picked up the kids from school and dumped them at home and had Addie babysit while I ran to the doctor, shopped at Costco, and brought home pizza and root beer for dinner. We had a fun slumber party and watched, “Into the Woods” (in which Meryl Streep is INCREDIBLE).

It snowed on the scouts and we all slept terribly without Daddy. Saturday morning we changed beds and did laundry. Addie went up to the church to dip chocolates and twist carmels for the YW camp fundraiser. Rich came home around 10 am and we got ready for Elanor Jones’ baptism at 1pm. It was such a nice service for a sweet girl. Afterward we took a nap and had a yummy dinner. Addie and Heidi had some friends over for the afternoon and evening, and the Jones family stopped by for a couple of hours to eat cookies and hang out. Around 10pm the older girls went over to Jones’ house for a late movie and we all crashed hard.

Church was lovely today. I love Rainy Sundays so much! We had two good High Council talks about the Savior, I only caught bits of the final talk as my two-hour wrestling match with Ammon started early today. We caught up with the Lowes who were out in the foyer with their twin girls, too J  We had a nice visit from our home teachers and talked about having courage. We talked about how the message of Cinderella was “Have Courage and Be Kind…” it’s a great message.

Heidi and I are gearing up to go to Utah on Wednesday for BYU Women’s Conference (we will be home Sunday). Heidi will have some Nana/cousin time while I go to conference classes and in the evenings she will be able to catch up with Aunt Debbie Holm, who is meeting me at BYU. We are looking forward to making some great memories and filling our proverbial cups. Please keep Rich and the kids in your prayers ;) I’m so grateful to friends and Grandma Melin for helping out so I can go to this. I’m finding a little “mom time” every six months is exactly what I need to be my best.

We wish you all a great week!

Love, Rich and Jamie and Family

EWW! Leg Biopsy!

Our Cute Girls- Addie and Heidi

An example of the crazy stuff the kids leave on my phone.
This one is Niles.

Heidi and James had Arts in April at school this week.
This is Heidi's painting from her still life painting class.
I love it.

This is James' sample of Norwegian Rosemaling.

A picture of James painting from the newspaper last week
See story here
 

Scout Camp out!

Scout Breakfast!

Scout Trailer!
 

FAMILY LETTER 04.19.15

Dear Loved Ones                                     

So another busy week full of crazy spring weather has come and gone.  We’ve had snow, sleet, sunshine and sweat all in 6 days. We had two celebrations of Heidi’s birth, two cancelled baseball practices, and one day Rich and I each drove to the school and back three times.

Monday James’ baseball practice was cancelled due to the horrible windy, cold weather.  We recovered from our trip and watched “The Lincoln Hypothesis” by Tim Ballard for Family Night. We learned a lot about Abraham Lincoln, and the next morning realized it was the anniversary of his assassination. The kids thought we were so on the ball, but it was just a coincidence. Tuesday night we took cupcakes to Elanor Jones for her 8^th Birthday. She is a great friend to James and we are excited for her baptism on the 25^th.

 Wednesday 4/15 was Heidi’s 11^th Birthday, aka International Day of Heidi. The day began with pancakes and lots of bacon and OJ. Then I took cupcakes to her class (which ended up taking two trips).  We had angel hair pasta pomodoro and salad for dinner and Grandpa and Grandma Melin joined us. Grandpa was getting around so great on his new knee, he’s’ working really hard on his recovery. Heidi opened some gifts—finally got her Hogwarts uniform—and we had Graham Slam ice cream cones instead of cake. Then we watched a little Heidi slideshow and everyone scattered for YW and Scouts.

On Thursday, we got to go to an assembly at the middle school to honor Addie as Student of the Quarter. Afterward all the kids rode home with me rather than taking the bus, so they got an extra half hour to enjoy the gorgeous weather. All three little boys played with dump trucks in the garden, it was so cute! James’ coach texted us and held a make-up baseball practice since we’d missed two during the snowy weather. So Rich and James got home late from that and we had a leisurely, late taco dinner, did homework and got the kids to bed late. It’s staying light so late, we are already slipping into summer schedule, I think!

Friday 4/17,  we had homemade pizza night and Rich took the kids on a big bike ride (all 5 of them!) while I went over and crashed a craft night some ladies from our stake were having at a vacation rental nearby. I talked to one sister for a while about our auto-immune issues since she noticed we go to the same rheumatologist. I also got to meet my mission president’s granddaughter, Megan…her dad is President Hickman’s son, and her mom is the daughter of Brother and Sister Hammar in Bozeman (Sister Hammar is the organizer of these crafting retreats). Megan just returned from The Argentina Rosario mission and she’s a cool girl. I had fun getting to know these ladies better and stayed up way too late J

Saturday the whole family worked together to get ready for Heidi’s birthday party that evening. Heidi had planned out all the party details, designed the invitations with me last Sunday night, and said she wanted to cook a pasta dinner friends, which she then delegated to Addie and me (she’s a sly one). It was a pretty fun little fangirl shin dig, some of the girls dressed up as wizards or Hobbits. The party was “Slytherin” themed, and Heidi wore her Hogwart’s costume. Addie made her cupcakes and butterbeer for dessert and the girls all tried eating all the nasty Bertie Bots Jelly Beans (flavors like soap and earthworms and ear wax…ewwww).

Sunday (today) we enjoyed Jordy Yarborough’s homecoming talk in sacrament meeting. She bore testimony of the Atonement of Christ and coming to know him more during the extremities of mission life. Missions certainly are a great introduction to the exquisite joys and sorrows of discipleship and parenthood and the Great Plan of Happiness. So glad she went and so glad she is home! She quoted a life-altering talk given by Elder Bednar a few years ago—if you haven’t read it, you should. In fact follow this link and print it out—you’ll want to keep it with you.

Life is sweet, we love you all! Happy Birthday to Cousins Sariah Melin (10) and Kaylee Hamlin (8!) tomorrow and Uncle Marshall (sweet 16!) and Cousin Jack (11) next weekend! Hope to hear from news from y’all this week, email, facebook, whatevs…

 

Love, Rich and Jamie and Family

 

Ammon helped me make chicken tikka masala on Monday.

(from facebook)- He stirred the cheerios
and reminded me of the first rule of toddlerhood:
ONLY GIVE THE BABY AS MANY ___ AS YOU WANT TO PICK UP.
Usually that number is zero, but today he gets about 20 cheerios

When I moved him from the counter to the floor he had a fit and threw his bowl...time to pick up 20 cheerios!

Here's a great shot of his little chompers (and I think that's a bite of his sponge). His top teeth came in on spring break.

Wed 4/15-Heidi opening family gifts on her birthday.
Slytherin water bottle and wearing her Slytherin robe

Tenth Dr. Who Sonic Screwdriver

New bike helmet and lock just in time for spring rides!

Hogwarts Wizard with a Dr. Who screwdriver

Addie with her Student of the Quarter Certificate
 

My heart was smooshed watching all three of my boys play in the dirt together for the first time. 4/16

Gorgeous Day Thursday after a snowy/windy week

TACOS, Lyndi-Style!

Megan Hickman and Me 4/17

Fangirl Birthday Party for Heidi 4/18

Making a wish over Slytherin Cupcakes

Tossin' back some Butterbeer
 (butterscotch ice cream and cream soda floats)

Opening gifts from generous friends

Sophia gave Heidi and lovely grown up jewelry box

An awesome Harry Potter Horcrux watch From Natalie and Rachel

And a Hogwarts dress from Hot Topic! Thanks, Nat and Rach!

Sweet, thoughtful crafty gifts and art supplies from Sydney and Jeanette

Friends hanging out in Heidi's room as the party died down.

Nasty Bertie Bots Jelly Beans

Rachel trying jelly beans...ewwww!
This one was earthworm

Heidi trying a soap jelly bean...James got a vomit bean.

Laughing about the jelly bean flavors.

Our favorite little wizard in his Harry Potter glasses