FAMILY LETTER 08.13.17

Dear Loved Ones                                                                            

Another great week of summer has come and gone. It didn’t feel so much like the dog days this week—even though I usually hate August and we DID have to say goodbye to cousins and it was super smoky from wildfires—we did a lot of productive and fun things. Poor Addie worked like 45 hours!

On Monday I got up and did some laundry and the kids complained that there was no food and they were right—not even milk for cereal! So we cleaned out the fridge and loaded the dishwasher and went to the grocery store. Then we came home and washed and prepped our fruits and veg and had a nice assortment of fresh nutritious stuff to get us through the week. For family night we just watched Addie’s Trek video and a few other gospel messages on the MoChannel, then I spent the rest of the night editing the YM-YW Summer Recap video for mutual on Wednesday night (it was Rich’s project and he had all the photos collected and organized, I just did titles, transitions, and music). It turned out great thanks to beautiful photography and scenery.

Tuesday was our last hurrah with our California Melin cousins, so it was ranch day all day and we had a blast. The kids played in the water and the big kids swam in the river. We had sandwiches and fruit for lunch, and lots of playing until I had to take Addie in for work 4-9. I came in to town and made some chicken kebabs to grill for dinner and headed back out to the ranch. We had a BBQ of grilled veg and meat and rice followed by s’mores and playing with Uncle Jess’ drone. The little boys were filthy and exhausted—just the way they should be after playing hard all day! Simon and Niles are especially adorable together—they are just turning 6 and full of enthusiasm and adventure and still so sweet and adorable. They kinda melt my heart with their stick swords and grubby faces, defending the pirate ship treehouse and crashing their remote control monster trucks. ALL of the kids have a cousin buddy their same age except Lexi (8) and Ammon (3), but sweet little Lex loves to baby Ammon (and the ranch kitties), so it all works out perfectly! We will miss them!

Wednesday was laundry and chores in the morning, playdates with friends—Derric and Devon—in the afternoon. It was another day of high adventure—tramploline tricks and nerf gun wars and xbox and bikes and popsicles—and then a cub scout swimming activity. Later our whole family attended the youth activity—Camp video and awards night. The video was a big hit, and amazing Naomi Johnson, our camp director went the extra mile and gave out awards to all the campers and then they taught everyone to play Bunny Bunny and had yummy refreshments. It was super fun and the love in the room was THICK! What a great summer our youth have had!

Thursday was a promised play day after the kids helped finish all the laundry. So we went bowling, then played air hockey and video games, then ate lunch and went swimming. ALL THE FUN! We cut it short because I met my friend Vicki to talk about middle school and paint rocks and eat ice cream. After dinner I met poor Addie (who worked 12-9 every day except Wednesday) at the 9pm showing of “Dunkirk.” I am so grateful for our shared appreciation of dashing WWII soldiers and 40’s fashion ;)

Friday was yet another Chores-and-Pool day. We got lucky and saw so many friends there on Friday—all the little boys’ best pals—and they all had squirt guns, so there was a big long war and not even the moms were exempt! It was so fun, but it wore us out! I had cooked a pot roast and veg in the crock pot, but we just ate cereal and laid around. Then we decided to embarrass Adeline at work and get some gelato and enjoy live music downtown. It was pretty fun.

Saturday was PROJECT DAY! Daddy’s team detailed the cars and mopped the garage (it took 7hours). My team cleaned, organized, and stocked the pantry, cleaned the kitchen, and made peach salsa to can. IT WAS/IS DIVINE! We were super tired after our work day, so Daddy took us to the Rib & Chop House where our whole family ate at the bar and cheered on the AZ Diamondbacks. The service and mood was great but the food was not. We are so sad. It has been our favorite place for 15 years, but the past year has been consistently disappointing. Bummer.  We will have to stick to the yummy food that Addie makes! When we got home we logged on to watch the webcast of the Tucson Temple Cultural Celebration.  We tried to log in on the desktop, the Roku, the iPad and my phone, but we ended up only being able to stream through my phone, then later the iPad. But it was excellent and we are so very excited that as of today, my hometown has its own temple! Hosanna!

I had a migrane late last night and in to this morning, so I sent the family off to church and slept in until the medicine finally worked. I had home church on BYUTV and watched a great address by Elder Stevenson from May 5, 2017 about Technology and Social Media taking the gospel to every nation, kindred tongue and people.  I gave myself time to ponder all the ways missionary work has been made easier by the internet, and especially smartphones and tablets and I blew my own mind.  I think about being a literature and history major, writing papers and checking out books almost every day BEFORE an online card catalog! Before PCs! Signing up to use the computer lab to type stuff up in WordPerfect! I think about the ways we did our work in my mission—the time and expense  of mailing media referrals, the time wasted on getting lost or missing appointments before  cell phones, the UNIVERSE of materials at our fingertips as we study and teach today compared to how we had to scavenge for materials and conversations with leaders to answer the questions our investigators and we ourselves came up with...it is DIZZYING to think how things have changed in 25 years and to witness the speed at which knowledge of Our Savior and His atonement can be made known to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. And that is to say NOTHING about the effect on Family History and temple work.  I think we may be surprised at how soon “the Great Jehovah shall say ‘the work is done.’” I loved the prophecies about this tech that Elder Stevenson shared, especially this quote from President David O. McKay which captured the double –edged-sword nature of our technology:

“In 1966 President David O. McKay prophesied scientific discoveries that “stagger the imagination” would make possible the preaching of the gospel to every kindred, tongue, and people. And further: "Discoveries latent with such potent power, either for the blessing or the destruction of human beings, as to make man’s responsibility in controlling them the most gigantic ever placed in human hands. … This age is fraught with limitless perils, as well as untold possibilities”

It made my heart so full, thinking of all our loved ones working full time as missionaries or in the temple, and how efficient and focused their work has become. My heart is singing that ol’ beloved “hymn” by Jesus Jones: I was alive and I waited for it…Right here, right now, there is no other place I’d rather be/ Right here, right now watching the world wake up from history!

The other highlight of the day was seeing all the social media posts about the temple dedication today. So many sweet thoughts and testimonies and scriptures and images shared…can’t wait to attend my very own hometown House of the Lord, and I am so happy that like 80% of my LDS Tucson peeps have been called to work in the temple—how cool is that? Oh, happy day! We are excited for our last week of summer and our Island Park camping trip next weekend. It’s pretty cool that summer ends with a total eclipse. We hope you all have a great week and know that we love you!

Love,

Jamie, Rich, and Family

Clean Fridge full of snacks after Monday's project

Clean Fridge! Monday's Project

COUSINS! Summer, Adeline, TJay-Tues

COUSINS! Niles, Simon and Ammon- Tues

COUSINS! TJ, Summer, Matthew, Heidi, Daddy, James, Ammon- Tues

DRONE! Tues

COUSINS! Niles and Simon- Tues

YW-Wed

Heidi and Sister Johnson- YW- Wed

Fun Flier Downtown

FRIDAY NITE LIVE!- Heidi and Niles

FRIDAY NITE LIVE! Addie and Heidi

FRIDAY NITE LIVE!- Hard Workin' Adeline

FRIDAY NITE LIVE!- gelato kids

FRIDAY NITE LIVE! James and Rich

Salsa Prep- Sat

Clean Pantry- Sat

SALSA! Sat

A list of desirable qualities in a mate written by Adeline in YW today...
make a list, then go become those things!- so cute.
{Compare to my late 20s version: Righteous/Smitten/Ambitious/Vision}

FAMILY LETTER 08.06.17

Dear Loved Ones, 

This has been a totally wonderful week. I feel so blessed to be the wife and mom in this awesome family. On Monday (7/31) we had a regular day of chores, then swimming, and then we had a big taco dinner and family night with the California Melins and Grandpa and Grandma Melin. The tacos turned out delicious (TIP: the Albertson’s store brand of fresh salsa from the deli section is super yummy). We had asked the older kids to prepare to share their best memories and most testimony-building experiences from Trek and Scout/Girls Camp, and invited anyone else who wanted to, to share their feelings.  The older kids shared some very special moments and some important things the Spirit wrote on their hearts. They all came home with a greater appreciation of the sacrifices that were made so they could have the lives they enjoy now (so refreshing coming from teenagers), gratitude for their families, and the knowledge that we can’t make it through life alone and we can always ask for help to find our way. The younger kids shared some things they know and love and are grateful for.  Grandpa and Grandma shared some recent special experiences they have had serving in the temple. My heart was full, watching a room full of the third generation listen to and love their righteous grandparents. These are the kind of moments that help us define who we are going to be and instill the desire to live up to our names (Helaman 5:6-7!!!!!).

Tuesday and Wednesday we did a lot of errands and cleaning up around the house, which has been very neglected during all our summer fun, but we took breaks to go to the pool in the afternoon. Tuesday night we had a movie party with youth (including cousins)  at our house. They played a few games and watched “Bedtime Stories” and then I drove most of them home at 10:30—in the “Party Bus.” Wednesday night was Scouts and YW, and I got to stay home with Niles and Ammon and snuggle and watch PBS like back in the good ol’ days before James was 8. Thursday we got to babysit Laney Mae (the 4 month old daughter of our neighbors/friends/ ward members, the Dixons) while her mom took a fly fishing class during the International Fly Fishing Federation convention. Later that night we went downtown for a bit and enjoyed live music on Main Street during “The Hoot.”

Friday was fun day! We finished laundry and tidying up and I took the kids to Cluck for lunch. Addie started training there this week, so we saw her working. The food was delicious! We took some to daddy, then we went and swam in the Yellowstone River for an hour. I took the boys down to the sand bar under I-90 (where the girls and their friends like to swim) and they had a blast playing in the sand. They got so dirty, I went to the do-it-yourself car wash and hosed them off while we also washed the van. At 3pm we went home and met up with Grandma Melin. Grandma came to sleep over at our house with the kids so Richard and I could go spend the night in Billings on a temple date. The kids had fun with Grandma and cousins and we had a great trip—Win-Win!

We got to Billlings just in time for the 5:30 session. We went over to get names from our ward but we couldn’t find the cards we were looking for, so we just grabbed some names from our stake. Turns out the names were prepared by the Bishop family, and three generations of Bishops were in our session that night because a grandson was being endowed before leaving on a mission to South Africa. It was so cool to bring some of their ancestors in to enjoy the special occasion ;) Afterward, we went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and had a delicious steak dinner, then slept soundly at Grandpa and Grandma’s apartment. The next morning we went to the 8:30am session then went shopping a bit, ate a fantastic lunch at Café Rio, and headed home. We got home at 3:30pm and all was well! It was a fantastic weekend. I really believe that Café Rio’s mint limeade is the most refreshing drink ever made! I filled my 40oz bottle with it and enjoyed it all night. I also LOVED reconnecting with Rich—it had been too long!

Our fast meeting was sweet today, it has been a very nice Sunday. We just came home from a Returned Missionary fireside where Haylee Speas talked about her mission to Nicaragua Managua North and Colton Carter spoke about serving in the German-Alpine mission. It is fun to feel their missionary spirit and reflect on the great privilege of serving as full time missionaries. Our mission experiences in South Korea and North Carolina still bless our lives every day.

We hope all is well with you, our dear loved ones. Our thoughts were with the Mullins family today as they blessed their sweet baby Carter, and with our new mama niece Melanie on her birthday TODAY. We love you all and hope you have a great week!

Love,

 Jamie, Rich, and Family

                                                                                                        

FAMILY LETTER 07.30.17

Dear Loved Ones 

I know I have said this before, but it is so hard to get in the habit of a weekly letter again once you have lapsed for so long. I want to recap all that has happened since our last letter at Halloween time, but that would take forever and the task seems insurmountable. So I start with July. Let’s recap July and go from here.

First, though, I have to share with you that I have been feeling prompted to write so strongly, I’m almost afraid not to obey. It has been several weeks and I have been trying to ignore it, but today was the final straw. We had a 5^th Sunday lesson with our Bishop today where he shared a message from Elder and Sister Nelson at Roots Tech this year: “I invite you to prayerfully consider what kind of sacrifice—and preferably a sacrifice of time—you can make to do more family history and temple work this year.” One of those things I know I should be doing is writing this letter, since it will one day serve as a history of the Richard T. Melin Family. And if I keep up weekly, it takes no time at all!

July began, as always, with our Roundup Parade on July 2^nd. This year it fell on a Sunday, which was pretty tricky. Heidi is working hard with our Sister Cities organization to take a trip as an ambassador next year to our Sister City, Naganohara, Japan. Many of her fundraisers happen over the roundup weekend, so we didn’t have the option to skip any activities this year. The parade was fun as usual, and I had a good time volunteering with Heidi in the Burger Booth at the Arts Fair during the roundup. Rich enjoyed (??) getting up with her at 5am to clean the fireworks debris off the golf course each morning before 7am tee times. On the 4^th we spent the morning at the Strupp’s slip-n-slide BBQ party, and the afternoon at the Burger Booth. We watched fireworks at the empty football field each night with dear friends as our kids ran and danced and played with sparklers and glow sticks and we felt deeply the blessings of freedom and the restored gospel.

Later that week my mom came to visit with my niece Isabelle (7/6-7/10). We did a lot of resting and visiting, but also eating downtown, shopping at thrift and antique stores, and floating the river. It was all splendidly fun! That week, Niles also began Tiny Kickers Soccer Camp for 3 weeks. He had a great time. He has so much kinetic intelligence; all the ball sports seem to come easy to him. I am glad for him—he is fun to watch.

The next week, my sister Jill came to visit and it was also a sweet time (7/14-7/19). She brought Ben and Ally with her. Ben is Niles’ and Ammon’s idol, so they followed him around all week and he was so kind to them. Ally and Addie were like 2 peas in a pod and Ally got to hang out with Addie’s friends lots. Her last night here, they went to a movie night at a friend’s house and went out to talk on the roof of their backyard shed. Ally ended up breaking her arm jumping off the shed—what a souvenir!

The day after Petersens left, Adeline left for our Stake Trek over on the MT-ID border. She and her trek mates walked 23 miles over the border into Salmon, Idaho. It was a tough trip and I expected her to be tired and whiny when we picked her up, but she was glowing! Joyful! Elated! Edified! Sure, she was tired and dirty, but she was changed. It was ALL you ever hope your kids will experience and I have felt overwhelming gratitude for those who made it such a transformative experience for her. WE CAN DO HARD THINGS!

Addie got home Saturday night, we went to church together Sunday, and then Richard left for Scout Camp after church. Sunday night, Heidi babysat the boys with a Disney movie night while Adeline and I attended the Trek Fireside. Talk about the Spirit of god like a fire is burning! The sacredness of the Spirit in that room was AMAZING. I cried almost straight through from the opening hymn, “They the Builders of the Nation” and the slide show and the testimonies, and the closing song, “Come, Come Ye Saints,” which—let’s be honest—was mostly SOBS. Such a beautiful night! My heart was so full, and so was my girl’s!

Monday was all about getting ready for girls’ camp, and early Tuesday morning I sent Addie and Heidi up into the Crazy Mountains to have the time of their lives. I plan to write a blog post about the lessons we have learned this week, but suffice it to say they had another transformative experience. Adeline backpacked 11 miles—5.5 up and 5.5 back—and did it joyfully. I admire my girls so much and we feel so grateful for all the time and talents and sacrifices that go into providing these experiences for them.

Richard had a good time at Scout Camp as well. Nephews TJay (CA) and Danny (ID) came and went to camp with him, so that was good stuff. He had cell service, which is a rarity on any camp out. We had a good time texting our adventures to one another last week. He is such a great dad and scoutmaster and man. I am so grateful for his hard work and service.  I know our family is so blessed because of it. He is also working extra hard at the office as well. We have gone from having 5 people working, then 3, and now 2.5—Rich, our brand new agent, Jennifer, and our part time bookkeeper, Kim. We are grateful for good employees, but Rich is still working 10-12 hours a day and lots of night time catch-up sessions after the kids are asleep. Bless his heart. I know things will balance out soon, and I’m grateful he is willing and able to juggle so many things at once to provide a nice life for his family and serve his scouts.

This has been an incredibly busy season for our family, but we are all growing in good ways, busy doing good things. I am grateful to have turned a corner with my health after being bedridden and so sick for nearly four months. I saw a chiropractor/naturopath who helped me clean up my diet and supplement it properly and I have been steadily losing 5-7lbs per month since April with LESS working out, more playing with my kids and enjoying life. Such a blessing!

As always, we’d love to hear how your family is doing. We love you all and hope you have a great week

.

 Love, Jamie and Rich and Family         

                                                                                                                

Niles and James being dramatic on a July 3rd trip to
 West Yellowstone with Gram & Gramp Melin

Heidi and Me volunteering at the Burger Booth

Ammon and James at the park

Niles at Soccer Camp

Me and my mum 07.08

Ally and Addie

Me, Ally, Ammon, Jill, and Addie downtown 07.15

Pobrecita! Ally's broken arm

Ready for trek! 07.20

On the trail 07.21

Cousin Danny came with us to pick up a glowing, joyful Addie from Trek 07.22

Richard with his scouts at K-M Scout Camp

Camping under the stars in a ghost town!

  

Summer, HEIDI, Sidney, Haylee, ADELINE, Emily, and Izzi leaving for CAMP 07.24

Addie with Kara (Heidi's bff) and Naomi (my bff )
on the 4th year/YCL backpacking trip

Hiking high in the Crazies

My tough little backpacker

Heidi and Kara are joined at the hip and WE LOVE THEM!

Brothers welcoming Addie home

Welcome home hug from Niles

Addie showing me ALL THE THINGS from camp

  

Cutest camp shirt ever

Niles and Ammon on the last day of soccer 07.26

Addie's Indian Paintbrush crown made by Emily

Pretty Princess!

Matt and Naomi Johnson (camp leader) with the amazing YW who backpacked 11 miles:
Miki, Kaitlyn, Emily, Addie, Izzi, Kara, Eden, Clara, and Awesome Kim (assistant camp leader)
WARRIORS!

Adeline and Eden full-on meditating in the creek at the top of the Crazy Mountains

  

Saying goodbye to Cousin Danny on 07.29
Addie, Heidi, Danny, Niles and Matthew

  

Smooshing My Mama Heart

The past few weeks have been full of monumental parenting moments for me and my heart is being super stretched out. I feel hyper-aware of the speed of the passing of time and the poignancy of each of these moments. A lot of that has to do with thinking about Erin (my late bff), or more about her daughters, and the many firsts that are happening for them as well, but she is not here with them. I feel this mix of extreme emotions at times and I just wanted to record some of them.

Last night after taking some prom photos and watching the girls scurry to the car to begin the festivities, I remarked to another mom, "I can't believe we are already doing this! I'm having a serious Sunrise, Sunset moment here." And then I did the lamest, most sentimental thing and burst into tears as I thought about all the things Erin's girls are doing without their mom trailing behind them with a camera. They are doing really cool things. They are really super brave. I feel so honored to be part of their lives and so blessed to have had their mom in my life--for her totally crazy fun friendship, for her powerful spiritual strength, and for her example of mothering. I am grateful that part of her is with us all the time, propelling me forward, reminding me to savor the honor of parenting and to love her children as she does.

Last week I was listening to the soundtrack to "13 Reasons Why" (I highly recommend the soundtrack, but have reservations about the series) and the very moving cover of Yaz's "Only You." Hearing it reminded me of my favorite Mother's Day ad from way back in 2007, which used a folky cover of the song. The application of the song to mother love has never left me. So as I listened to the song, and thought about standing in for (with) Erin at the temple with her daughter next weekend, I kind of fell to pieces. I am so grateful for every moment--hard or easy or sad or beautiful--with my girls and the immense privilege to be home with them and care for them. I wish there was some way to take away the pain of these moments, especially this upcoming Mother's Day, for Erin's children. We each only have one mom--irreplaceable, precious mom, and though the world keeps turning, I know the loss never, ever goes away. I guess I just want them to know that I am aware and they are never alone. And I want to remind myself that this work to which I have given my life for the past 16 years is worth every single heartache and pain, and that I am the one and only mom--imperfect, fumbling--to five amazing people. That is big. And really, really good.

Watch the Mothers Day ad HERE.