Life in a Northern Town: FAMILY LETTER 05.06.18

Dear Loved Ones,

I last wrote on Earth Day and it seemed spring had arrived. Alas, we had another snow storm the next day, but it looks like spring has triumphed and the trees are budding out, the tulips are in full bloom, and it was 80* and sunny today. I’m no dummy—I know that we will have a few more cold rainy days, but I relish those when they aren’t the norm ;)

Way back on Monday 4/23, we tried Costco’s new bulgogi beef (from the meat section) and had bibimpap bowls with real kimchi from Korea (brought to us at Christmas time by Nicole Carter). It was perfectly delicious and authentic! I was so proud. We had planned a family home evening, but both girls were home together with no homework for the first time in months and they wanted to see a movie together. So we let them go, and we watched Apollo 13 with the boys.

On Tuesday 4/24 we kind of had a family night working in the garage to help the girls build cardboard cars for their youth activity “drive-in” movie on Wednesday night. Addie made a little red pick-up truck (she was short on time because she is so busy with school and track), and Heidi made a VW bus like Fillmore from “Cars.” They turned out really cute and the girls had fun at their activity Wednesday night.

Wednesday 4/25 also marked the beginning of baseball for Niles. His team started practicing on Wednesday and Friday nights, right at dinner time, so we are having to juggle squeezing in our family dinner time but it’s working okay. Thursday 4/26 I took Addie and Heidi to the dentist early in the morning. They each have a small cavity and some wear on their sealants, which we are getting repaired this coming week. I had been feeling super unmotivated for about a week, but I finally made myself go grocery shopping at Costco before I brought the girls home. It was fun to be with them—I can’t believe how long it’s been since I took them grocery shopping with me! Life changes so fast once they hit middle school, it’s nuts. That evening Elanor Jones came over to bake some treats to send to her sister Eden in the MTC and have burgers for dinner with us. She's a sweet little lady.

Friday 4/27 was a day off school. I took Addie to the chiropractor to have the tendonitis in her left leg checked out and work out some kinks in her neck and shoulder. He did a whole balance and range of motion test on her and determined her left knee needed an adjustment so her knee and ankle were better aligned, and encouraged her to keep doing the balance and strength training, especially upper body if she is going to keep throwing discus and javelin. After that, I took donuts and OJ to the other kids. We tidied up the house, packed a lunch, and headed out to Sacajawea Park to meet up with some ward friends. Addie and Heidi played tennis while the little guys played with friends. We took Callen Kling with us and he had a really good time. His mama was having a tough day, so she got to rest a bit. Some of the boys came home and played at our house, until I had to take Addie to track at 3:30pm. Melissa Parks came to pick up her boys and ended up taking mine home with her because they wanted to keep playing, so Rich picked them up after work for me and Heidi and I got some rest for an hour or so. Rich took all the boys to baseball practice, then let them fish at the lagoon for a while. I grilled some brats for them and we ate a very late dinner of brats and watermelon.

Saturday 4/28 was a super busy day. All of us were double or triple booked, but we chose to go do highway clean up with Gram and Gramp Melin on our little stretch of Hwy 89 south. Uncle Jess and Uncle Mike were in town, and our friends Jerome Tweedy and Mike Egeland joined in, so it only took a couple of hours. I brought a veg tray and mom had hot dogs and chicken to grill, and a yummy veggie and quinoa salad and brownies for us. First ranch party of the season and it was awesome. Such a beautiful day! For Addie and me, the second half of the day was all about Prom prep. At one we met my friend Abby at the ballpark because she heard that I was looking for floral tape to whip up some quick corsages for Addie and her friends (Addie’s last minute idea, true to form) and offered to just make them for me—bless her heart! Then we came home and Addie had a bath and blow dried her hair. We headed over to Jones’ house for a hair-doing festival with 7 other girls. Robyn and Clara and I were spinning the curling iron for two hours getting the girls all pretty. Robyn helped me make a messy flat braid for Addie’s “low messy bun” hair style (all I can say is thank heaven for Robyn and you tube—I am not a hair person, but I’m fakin it til I make it!). I assume Rich came home from the ranch and took a nap. At 5, he left the little guys with Heidi and went to see Infinity Wars with James, and I took Addie to the Shane Center to decorate the ballroom with her student council friends. Her friend Brianna’s mom (who is also named Addie) was the photographer this year, so she followed the girls to dinner, around downtown, and back to the ballroom. I will have her pictures tomorrow, but I’ve had a sneak preview and they were all just darling. Only a couple of them went with dates, but that is fine by me because they have such a good time together.

Sunday 4/29 was a good church meeting. Uncle Jess got to come with us and we talked about his family moving here and all the logistics of that, and how fun it will be for our kids to be together. Jess and the grandparents came over to our house at 6ish to eat tortillas and cheese and smoothies and Addie’s yummy brownies. It was raining in the evening and it was so beautiful. After family left I went on a walk with Addie and watched the sunset from the soccer fields. I swear we live in Eden, it’s so beautiful.

Monday 4/30 I woke up ready to tackle the day. I have so much to do around the house, crap has piled up in all kinds of corners and closets and I need to get at it. But first I went to deliver Meals on Wheels (I’m subbing for Suzie Blatter). I worked all afternoon, then took all the kids to see “Screenagers” at the Shane Center for family night at 5pm. After the show we came home and had dinner and discussed the movie. We decided to participate in screen free week, (a) because it’s a healthy choice any time and (b) Heidi and James had some school work to catch up on before final grades. Everyone enjoyed a lot more reading and family game time this week, which makes me want to cut the cord permanently, but I have to be realistic and teach these kids to use screen time responsibly without excluding those good, personal connecting times.

Tuesday was MAY DAY and it was RAINING! Ammon didn’t have school so we put on our rain boots and went and delivered meals to the old folks, then drove to Bozeman and got our oil changed. We went bowling for an hour then went home and started dinner. They boys came home from school and helped, then I picked up Heidi from Drama Club, gave her some food, Rich took the boys to Niles’ first baseball game while I dropped Heidi to babysit for the Bakers. It was freeeeezing cold at the game, but we snuggled up and endured (Addie walked across the street to the ball park from the HS track after practice and Grandma and Grandpa joined us, too). We came home and ate tacos and got all our cold little people to bed.

Wednesday 5/2 was another busy day of being a hausfrau. After Meals on Wheels, I came home and finished every stitch of laundry in the house, changed 4 beds, mended 2 duvet covers, ironed church clothes, packed a picnic dinner to eat together at yet another 6pm ballgame, and laminated some signs for the kids to hold up to cheer Niles on. I think I am going to make one for each person and we will take them to everything, even concerts. The Wednesday night game was much warmer and drier and enjoyable. Rich had to take off with the girls and James for scouts and Young Women at about 6:50 pm. The game went until 7:10, when I hurried up to the church with Niles to attend the girls’ mother-daughter personal progress night. We had invited Lisa Orback to come up and be Heidi’s “mom” and it was so fun to be all together and set some goals and have some laughs. Meanwhile, my little guys were running wild outside with the other little lost boys their age whose moms were in the meeting. It was fun for everyone! Rich and all the scouts/YM had gone out to Harry Rang’s house, which is right on a bend in the Yellowstone River, to fill sandbags for the coming spring floods. It was a great service for which Brother Rang expressed thanks today in testimony meeting.

Thursday I continued my spring cleaning and mending, and made a yummy dinner on the grill—teriyaki chicken, Asian slaw, and some mac and cheese on the side for the boys. Uncle Mike Melin was in town and he joined us for the evening. After dinner, I did some more sewing and took Addie to do some errands. We stopped a grabbed a treat at Gil’s while we were out, and got home just in time to say goodbye to Mike and watch the sun set (around 8:30 now). Friday Heidi had to catch a bus to Helena for a state capitol field trip with the 8^th grade. She had a great trip! I repotted a bunch of plants outgrowing their containers and bought a few flowers for the front porch and potted them in old buckets from the ranch. They will look pretty as they grow and fill in the buckets. I cleaned up the house a little as I knew Saturday was going to be a busy day with little time for chores, and my brother Michael was coming to stay over on Saturday night after taking his 6-hour nursing board exams on Saturday in Billings.

Saturday at 5am, Rich took Addie to meet the track bus at 5am for a meet in Dillon. At 6:45, he and Heidi met up with the ward carpool for a temple trip. About an hour later, the little boys were up and all snuggling in my bed. I decided we could end screen free week and watch some Zoboomafoo while I took a bath. After my bath, I fed them breakfast and challenged them to do chores with me for one hour, then we could go to Pickle Barrel for lunch and have an adventure. They complied and we did indeed have an adventure. We parked at Pickle Barrel and enjoyed a yummy lunch and a nice visit with the Petits (the owners, whom we adore). Then we took a big bag of rocks we painted and took a walk all the way down Main Street, down Fleshman Creek to the river walk by Sacajawea Park, then to the playground. I had James watch the boys at the playground after we had hidden all our rocks, and I jogged back downtown to get our car and pick up the boys. We went home and went potty, and they wanted to play at our little neighborhood park for a while, so I took them there, then we came home for some resting quiet time at around 3pm. At 4:30 I started making a dinner of shredded beef tacos and virgin margaritas. Michael arrived from Billings around 5pm and we had such a nice visit. Rich was a good sport and set up the trampoline with the little boys after dinner. At 7:30 I took Michael and Heidi and James to the Shane Center to meet up with Grandma Melin for our annual Mother’s Day date to the high school musical. This year it was Camelot and it was very funny. I knew all but about 5 of the kids in the cast, most of them have been in our home for a movie or game night. It was fun to think about how many I have known since pre-school---ah, the perks of living in a small town! I love it. Poor Adeline didn’t get home from her tack meet until almost 9pm, then she went bowling with some of her team mates. That girl sure knows how to burn her candle at both ends. She got home right after we did around 11pm and we all had a fun little visit with Michael and hit the hay at midnight.

Today was Addie’s first day serving as our ward chorister. She did a great job. Our testimony meeting was lovely. Sunday school and Relief Society also had edifying discussions. I got to meet Sister Judy Sloan visiting from Poulson, MT, and we had such a sweet chat after church about showing unconditional love and unity in our families, and the more Christ like wave of progress the church is making as a whole. I’m so grateful I don’t have to raise my children in the same culture I was raised in, as lovely as it was for its time. I know that we were born for such a time as this, to move our culture from regional to global, from the old law of appearing to the higher law of becoming. I love meeting people like Judy who show me I am not alone.

The sun it setting on our lovely Sabbath day. The boys are trying to get in some jumps on the trampoline before the rain starts and the sun sets. We are all going to enjoy some breakfast for dinner, plan our week, and get to bed, so I will sign off. We wish you all a great week, especially all you moms—be thankful for the women in your life this week! Hooray for nurturers, whatever names they go by.

Love, Jamie and Rich and Family

4/24: YES TO TACOS

4/25:s Award-winning drive -in movie hippie van

4/25: Ella Fitzgerald's birthday!
We sang "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered" in her honor.
Well, I did, anyway. Car karaoke.

4/26: Elanor making oat bars for Eden

4/26: Addie and Elanor with E's cook book

4/26: Addie and Elanor again.

4/28: Highway 89 Family Clean Up Day
L-R: Dad Melin, Jess Melin, Mike Melin, Rich Melin with Ammon, James, and
Niles in front, then Heidi, Addie, Mike Egeland, Jerome, and Mom Melin