Dear Loved Ones,
This is
literally the first moment I have had to BREATHE since school began! I am so
glad to have the chance to sit down and record this marathon month! Rich and I
were actually talking about how we have been RUNNING at a break-neck pace since
his birthday (June 18th)—like a three-1/2 month marathon from his
birthday to mine! But it was all mostly for good things and we have grown TONS
from our experiences, so here’s to wearing out your life doing good things!
When I last
wrote, the big kids had started school, but Niles didn’t start until the next
day. He was so excited and we took the most adorable picture of his first day.
He gets worn out each day from all-day kindergarten, but he doesn’t realize it—he
just gets a little tantrum-ish, so I trick him into taking a nap a couple of
times a week and he is surviving. The weekend after kindergarten began was
Labor Day and we headed to Boise on 9/2 for Aunt Angie’s wedding and to
celebrate Grandpa and Grandma Melin’s 50th anniversary (9/1/1966).
It was a
beautiful weekend in Boise, so much fun with all the Melins (except Elena and
kids, sadly) and cousin Cynthia Berry and her baby Emily. When we arrived, we
checked in to our hotel, then met up with everybody for dinner at the Pizza Pie
Café. Then we headed downtown to watch the hot air balloons light up at the
Spirit of Boise festival. The next morning, all the fellas had a bit of a
bachelor party at the Warhawk Museum. Grandpa Melin got to show his grandsons
the helicopter he flew in Vietnam and where he flew it. Aunt Kelli and Grandma
took the girls and little kids to the Discovery Center while Adeline and I ran
to the mall to replace out-grown clothes for the boys for the wedding. Kelli,
Gram, and I took the kids to get lunch at Whole Foods, then home to get ready
for the wedding festivities. We headed to the wedding venue at 2:30ish and hung
out for pictures for an hour or so. The ceremony began at 4 and it was just
lovely. You could tell Angie had five years to think of every detail—it was
just perfect! We ate good food, played with cousins, danced, visited, took lots
of photos, and headed home around 7:30pm with a bunch of tired kids. Sunday we
went to church and then had a fun anniversary party lunch at Angie’s house
before she and Jex headed off to Kauai the next morning. The Melin kids had
anniversary Tshirts made, as well as collecting photos and letters for a sweet
memory book. Mom and Dad were delighted, and we loved that special time
together as a family. We left the Hunsakers to pack and the rest of us had one
last hurrah dinner at Cracker Barrel, then headed home on Monday. Monday was
James’ 10th birthday and the poor kid spent it in the car. We tried
to make it special, though, and I think he had a pretty awesome weekend with
his cousins.
Speaking of
James, he had planned to play trumpet in band this year, but they moved him to
trombone. He started band on 9/7 and seems to be loving his trombone. The next
Saturday, 9/10, Rich and the girls went on a youth trip to The Reef in Billings
to celebrate the youth reaching their indexing goals in August. The boys and I
cleaned the church for 4 hours. Daddy barely made it home in time for me to
leave for Stake Conference and Rich to stay home and host house guests from
Prague. Stake Conference was awesome, and we had a nice visit with our Zuzana
and her new husband, Mira (Zuzi lived with us in 2007).
A cold front
blew in on 9/11 and I spent the first cold fall-ish day at MSU interviewing the
brilliant and entertaining Dr. Gary Strobel for Park and Life magazine. I could have listened to him for days. I
can’t wait to take James to meet him—I think they are cut from the same cloth.
On 9/15, we squeezed in a little after school birthday party for James. He and
8 friends had banana splits and played Legos and jumped on the trampoline for 2
hours. He deserved a better party, but he was satisfied, especially with his
gift from us—the Origami Yoda boxed
set of books.
On 9/17, our
ward had a really cool activity: a Family Temple Day in Billings. The youth
left at 4:30am to do baptisms (but we went to Billings the night before, so
Rich just took our girls to the temple at 7am), then the ward met up for
breakfast and family pictures in front of the temple from 9:30-10:30. Dad Melin
came out and spoke to the Primary Children about the temple, and then we took
the youth and the children to a church building to hang out while the adults
attended the 11:30 endowment session. We picked up the kids and went to lunch
at HuHot afterward. It was a really great day. The next day was ward conference
and the choir did a lovely job singing all 5 verses of “Nearer, My God to Thee.”
We had great messages from our stake leaders.
After church,
Grandma Melin came over around 4pm to stay with the kids while Richard and I
went to Great Falls for an insurance conference. I spent Monday writing while
Rich went to meetings, then we went out to Borries for delicious steak dinners.
We rested well and did the same things til noon on Tuesday, then headed home.
We brought pizza home for dinner and enjoyed an evening with the kids before
our house filled up with guests the next day. My mom and Mark and kids arrived
Wednesday night to prepare for my brother Matthew’s wedding on 9/24. On Thursday afternoon, Aunt Marti, Uncle
Ralph, and Grandma Lyn Arrived from AZ. Later, Jill’s family arrived and stayed
at a hotel, and Sam’s family arrived while we were sleeping and stayed in Ammon’s
room.
Friday 9/23
we hung out and visited with family and got the church gym decorated for Matt’s
reception. Matt and Ashley invited his siblings and spouses and the wedding
party out to dinner Friday night while Mom and Aunt Marti babysat 7
grandkids. It was so incredibly nice to
be with some of my brothers and sisters, especially to have a night out with
Jill and Drew just like old times (we were so busy thinking about wedding
stuff, I failed to recognize in the moment what a miracle and a blessing it was
to be together again when we had so nearly lost Jill; I had wished and prayed
for such a moment many times…hallelujah!).
Saturday
9/24 was my 45th birthday, and Aunt Marti’s 62nd, and
Abby’s 17th, and Matt’s wedding day!
I woke up early and put some people to work, then went with Adeline to
Target to get some things she needed. We came home and family had begun to
arrive for the blessing of our great-niece, Lily (my sister Laura’s
granddaughter, nephew Gabriel’s daughter). Aunt Marti and Uncle Ralph provided
and nice lunch of sandwiches and chips after the blessing, and then everyone
started helping with the wedding preparations. After lots of confusion and
worry, the ceremony was held at the ranch at 5pm. It had rained all weekend,
but the sun came out for the ceremony. Matthew’s bishop from Helena came to
perform a beautiful wedding with lots of great counsel for the couple and their
blended family. After some celebrating, we loaded up the chairs and decorations
and headed up to the reception at the church gym. It was decorated beautifully
and Ashley's family made dinner and everything so nice. But the very best part
was the dancing. It was such a blast to see my nieces and nephews—babies to
young adults—dancing and lip synching and having a ball. I think the best
moment was when “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” came on and there was
multi-generational busting of moves. I really think what the world needs now is
multi-generational dancing. It’s the key to world peace. My second favorite
moment was the highly dramatic lip-synch performance of Bohemian Rhapsody by my
daughters, their cousins, and my sisters. It was not to be forgotten. I hope
the bride and groom had as much fun as we did!
Sunday 9/25
was the most perfect Sabbath day I have had in a long time. Sacrament meeting
was great. Our high council speaker was excellent. Mayberrys, Gram, Uncle Matt
Elrey, Mark and Marshall, Sam and Kristen and family all came to church.
Laytons and Uncle Matt had to leave afterward, but Aunt Marti went to RS with
me. We came home and had sandwiches and naps, then made a yummy lasagna dinner
for our remaining guests—Mayberrys, Gram, and Drews. At 6:30 pm, my friend Tammy and her daughter
Amanda came over to watch the Women’s Broadcast with us (it had originally
aired during the wedding). My mom wasn’t well, so she didn’t get up on Sunday,
but Gram, Marti, my girls, Abby, me, Tammy, Amanda, and Sisters Eifert and
Styer watched the broadcast together. Tammy recently lost her husband and I
kept feeling prompted to invite her, that something might bring her comfort.
Sister Reeves’ talk was made for her, I think, though we all loved every
message! Upstairs the men folk got out some ice cream as a treat for us and we
had a perfect ending to a perfect day.
Monday
morning 9/25, my mom was a little better. She and her family left around 9 or
so. Uncle Ralph had left at 4am to get back to work in AZ. So it was just Gram,
Marti, me, and Ammon that day. We cleaned up and had a nice Family Night about For the Strength of the Youth Standards,
this week was Language. I could tell the girls were feeling the Spirit by all
the good ideas they were getting and how enthusiastic and motivated they
became. I love when that happens.
On Tuesday
9/26, I needed to go to the post office and mail forgotten shoes to Helena, so
we decided to make an adventure of it and Gram and Marti came. We did errands
in town, then took a drive out to Clyde Park and took in all the colors of the
Shields river valley. Aunt Marti was so excited because she had recently read
some books set in the valley along the Crazy Mountains. After our drive, we had
lunch at Fiesta en Jalisco and came home for naps. We had the sister missionaries
to dinner that night and they shared a good message with us. Around dinner time
Gram had noticed her leg swelling up. She had a hot spot on her calf. We kept
debating about taking her to Urgent Care. I had to go to Emigrant to pick up
Heidi, but Marti said they probably wouldn’t need to get help, so I left. About
20 minutes later, Rich called me from the emergency room. Uncle Ralph had said
Grandma needed to go. So I brought Heidi home and switched places with Rich at the
hospital. They tested Gram’s electrolytes and they were crazy low, so they
admitted her. She couldn’t get her leg checked until the next day anyway. Marti
and I got home around midnight and didn’t sleep until 2am.
We went
Wednesday morning to check on Gram. I gave the Lexus to Marti to drive so she
could do what Gram needed and I could take care of my family with the van. We
figured she had a clot and wouldn’t be allowed to fly home, so I planned out
conference weekend menu and went shopping, made dinner, and took naps with
Ammon. Gram finally got her ultra sound at 4:40pm and there were no clots, so
they cleared her to fly home. I was glad she was okay, but sad she wouldn’t be
staying an extra week. Thursday we packed up and went to lunch and I dropped
them off at the Bozeman airport for a long flight home. I had to turn around and
run home to pick up Niles from school, then take all the kids to the Home
coming parade between 4-5pm. It was a pretty cute parade—it gets better every
year, especially now that we have a marching band. The first year I was here it
was, like, a truck with a boom box and 3 four-wheelers with air horns and banners.
Way to step it up, Rangers. It was a fun parade, but they lost their game.
Bummer.
Friday there
was no school, so we did chores and made food for conference weekend, and I
took James to the dentist. It was nice to be “back to normal” with the kids,
and conference was just what we needed to get our bearings after such a busy
month. I was committed to relaxing, and
we totally did. The spirit was wonderful and I am so grateful for the messages
given. I felt the theme of the conference was “Be of Good Cheer.” There is so much wrong and evil in the world
today, and it gets all the attention. But there is so much good we aren’t
shown, so many “compensatory blessings” for living in the last days, I am glad
to be a part of it all and to live in a time of restoration and living
prophets. Every little thing’s gonna be alright!
Happy
Birthday to Cousin Matthew Melin in the morning! Your card goes in the mail
tomorrow, buddy. Happy Double Digits! Also, Happy Birthday to Uncle Sam Layton
on Wednesday! We’re so glad you guys were born. Even though it was exhausting,
we are glad to have seen almost all of our siblings and extended family this
past month—what a whirlwind of fun! We miss you and pray for you all and hope
you feel how loved you are!!!
Love, Jamie and Rich and Family
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| Niles 8/29 |
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| Heading to Boise 9/2 |
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| Fascinated by the hotel fish pond 9/2 |
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| swimming with Uncle Mark 9/2 |
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| Spirit of Boise Fest 9/2 |
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| Our gang watching the balloons |
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| All the fellas at the Warhawk Museum 9/3 |
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| Cousins Danny and TJay, Grandpa and James with Grandpa's helicopter |
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| Learning about Vietnam |
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| Jamie and James at Angie's Wedding 9/3 |
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| SEESTERS! 9/3 |
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| Silly Family 9/3 |
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| Cousin Pals Simon and Niles 9/3 |
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| The Hunsaker Family |
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| The Melin Kids |
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| The Melin Family |
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| Selfies on Baby Sister's Wedding Day! |
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| AUNT JUDY! |
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| Catching the bride AND the bouquet. |
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| More Cousin Pals havin' some root beer, waiting for a GREAT burger |
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| HAPPY 50TH ANNIVERSARY! |
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| Back in 1966... |
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| Reading the Anniversary Memory book with mom and dad at Angie's house 9/4 |
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| We all went to look at the Meridian Temple 9/4 |
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| We stopped in Twin Falls on the way home 9/5 |
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| That's one deep canyon! |
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| Friday night lights are back...go, Rangers! |
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| Dinner at Gil's Goods with Mira and Zuzu from Prague, 9/10 |
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| Best friends, Clara and Addie 9/10 |
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| 9/11, early morning good byes with Mira and Zuzu |
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| The Donald wishes Mira and Zuzu and wonderful trip! |
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| Dr. Strobel's books |
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| Dr, Strobel posing for Robyn 9/12 |
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| James and his birthday banana split, 9/15 |
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| Legos and Ice Cream with friends and sibs--awesome! 9/15 |
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| Billings Temple flowers, 9/17 |
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| Temple friends- Clara and Addie 9/17 |
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| Temple friends, Heidi and Jeanette 9/17 |
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| Ammon and Heidi at the temple 9/17 |
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| Grandpa Melin teaching the Primary kids about the temple 9/17 |
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| Cousins hanging out at Chadz 9/23 |
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| My silly brothers 9/23 |
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| Jamie and Jill 9/23 |
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4 (out of 19) of my sibs and spouses enjoying dinner 9/23
I loved this night.
(It looks like Ben is sitting in for Kristen as Sam's date ;)) |
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| Beautiful Baby Lilith was blessed 9/24 |
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| This picture only shows 22 of the 39 people in my house on 9/24 |
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| Emily, Owen, and Gavin at the wedding 9/24 |
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Biggest cousins holding littlest cousins:
Ally with Seeley Drews and Addie with Mairi Layton |
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| Boy cousins "helping" load chairs |
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| Triumphant bride and groom! |
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| Addie and Ally 9/24 |
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Putting on lipstick and attacking everyone with kisses
Addie, Isabelle, Liam and Ally |
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Addie, Isabelle, and Liam
(and Mairi's arm) |
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Elreys with Matt and Ashley 9/24
only missing Uncle Sam! |
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| Cutest first dance ever 9/24 |
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| Me and my Gram, 9/29 |
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| Kindergarten Homecoming Float 9/29 |
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| Niles and a friend after the parade 9/29 |
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| The end of Main Street after the parade |
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| Learning to ride bikes between conference sessions 10/1 |
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| Niles just took off on Rich's old bike! 10/1 |
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Taking a cruise after conference on Sunday 10/2
The boys wanted to show me a dead snake they found ;) |
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| The family that rides together stays together, right? 10/2 |
