These Weeks

The past few weeks in pictures:

Spring is upon us. 

Noble planted a little peach seedling in the corner of our garden a few years ago and has nurtured it even though I told him I wasn't sure it would produce anything. This spring for the first time it blossomed. It is beautiful.

I see this little tree as a metaphor for Noble's life. We have been trying to teach him a lot of things in his life about what is true, how to live and find joy. I hope like his peach seedling he will give place for those teachings and nourish them...and see them miraculously blossom and produce good fruit.

 Thank goodness for the two little boys who live at our house! They bring so much joy, and excitement, and wonder (and sometimes exhaustion). We all love them so much! I am forever grateful that Heavenly Father had two more in store for us.

Asleep in the same bunk.

Lunch time with Abner and  his buddy (the Kemp's youngest) and big sister.

Climbing the hammock in the warm April sun. 

Showing off his work from preschool.

One of the things I will sorely miss when my kids are all grown - little kids' soccer games. Here is Abner with his team. (Notice the kid with the pirate hat.)  While our other kids have ramped up slowly when it comes to sports, Abner is already a force to be reckoned with on the field. He scored a hat trick (3 goals) in his first game.........after he'd finished crying for half the game on the sidelines about not wanting to play (first-game-ever nerves).

 It is the sweetest thing in the world to still have a couple of kids who want to snuggle up and sleep.

 Our animals are fat and happy.

Literally, Pluto is fat from her winter of leisure (mostly spent in the house and garage, eating). With the weather warming up she is on the prowl on the easement once again...keeping the rodent population at bay.

River has made a miraculous transformation (coinciding with the acquisition of his new shock / vibration training collar). He is now able to roam with relative freedom around the house and yard, and behaves himself around little children and new people. He has learned that life is MUCH better when he's not constantly on a leash or in a kennel.

Nature appreciation

We had a couple of moon rises this past month that were sublime. Here is one I tried to capture with my phone.

A Near-Miss

Last night Noble had a run-in with the neighbor's dog line (like a zip line for dogs to exercise). It was dark and  he was running full-tilt across their yard. Next thing he knew he was thrown to the ground by the throat. Today his throat is swollen and his tongue too where he nearly bit it off. Ouch.

 More Reno With Roy

A few boulders had to be moved to finish the back patio. We had to transport them to a new home in the yard. This was Roy and Mike's genius solution to moving them. It was pretty effective.

The Vampire Room is officially gone! Demo day in the basement.

More demo. Roy rented an industrial sized tile remover and the boys went to work chipping up all the tile in the basement kitchen. Roy says that he found the one thing the previous owners did that was built right: the tile floor. Unfortunately for us. It was a bugger to remove. And it made a TON of dust. I hate that part.

Mike spent about 6 hours yesterday grinding / buffing the residual mortar left from the tile. What a mess. But we are now down to the bare concrete floor. Our plan is to make a finished concrete floor in the kitchen / soon-to-be game room.

Meanwhile Upstairs...

While the grunts worked away in the mud and the dust downstairs, Jessie was upstairs getting ready for prom. Thanks to Holly, who helped us line her dress. It was lovely. 

Jessie didn't get out of work scott-free though. She started her day pulling weeds. Her date told us later that in between morning and evening sessions of prom (ha ha - one of the things I love to hate about high school dances is the all day activities they plan with it) he was home pulling weeds as well. Our respect went up for this kid...or at least for his parents. 

Prom 2016

Right Back At IT

January is kind of a tough month. December is disorienting because everything that is routine gets put on hold while we celebrate. I love that. But somehow I can't seem to get my bearings again for a while when January starts. Our first week back after the holiday we had a lot of things come our way: the start of school, parent teacher conference, end of the quarter,  Noble started Snowblitz (an after school ski and snowboard program), Jessie flew out for the Western National Roundup (horse bowl national competition) in Denver, Mike flew to meet his brothers for a weekend ski trip, and we celebrated Tillman's 12th birthday, which included his receiving the priesthood, and being ordained as a deacon.  And I got sick at the most inconvenient time - when all my backups were out of town and everything was depending on me. We made it through. (Thanks to my sister Beth who answered Mike's text to look in on me. She hung out most of the day last Saturday folding laundry, bringing me lunch and taking care of the kids. I love my sisters!)

Abner trying out Noble's ride.

Utah's Horse Bowl Team at the Western National Roundup in Denver. They finished 9th overall out of around 30 teams. Jessie is still bitter at team Mississippi for knocking them out of the second round with one answer.

The Melton boys at Brian Head. They had an awesome couple of days together.

Mike tearing it up. Later he dislocated his thumb when he collided with an unseen obstacle under the snow and took a tumble. Ouch.

And suddenly he's 12!! Tillman eagerly waiting to blow out the  single candle on his cake and open his presents. We had family over later on Sunday after the ordination (which was awesome) at church to celebrate January birthdays with pizza, cookies and an FHE lesson about the priesthood. I should have snapped a picture or two.

And finally, to get you psyched up for the new year, here's a picture of Abner doing his thing...CONFIDENT and DETERMINED. I  need this picture hanging on my bathroom mirror. Make today, this year... AWESOME!!

Everyday

I take more pictures these days with my phone than with our camera, which is too bad because the photos are not the best quality. But then again, it means that I get more candid moments because the phone is more handy. Here are a few from my phone over the past week or two. Images that tell the story of our life.

The most handsome man in the world lives here.

 #6 had an accident with the kitchen stool one day last week. He fell and hit his ear on the corner of the stool back. He kept waking up after he went to bed that night crying that his ear hurt; I worried that maybe he'd done some internal damage. I asked Mike to give him a blessing and called my dad at 10:30 to come and help (thank you Dad!). I am so grateful for the priesthood. This is Abner after the blessing. All is well. The next day he had no complaints.

 On Friday Tillman had a few school friends come over to "work on a project". Tillman had offered no further information when he asked if his friends could come over so I assumed it would be pretty straight forward and simple - maybe some research, writing, maybe putting together some kind of simple presentation. I learned my lesson: always ask for more information. Turns out it was a bit more elaborate. After dropping them off after school with Noble in charge, I ran to do some quick shopping for dinner. When I walked in the door they met me with their demands: a circuit board, wires, a power source and something to build an electric vehicle with. I stood there for a minute completely confused. What? What kind of project was this? They (in their cryptic 5th grade speak) explained that they had to build something that would move on its own using electricity. I asked if there were any official printed instructions I could look at because the stuff they were telling me made no sense. It seemed pretty complicated. 

Plus, it was due Monday, so his was their only shot at it. And we had like an hour. I drew a blank. 

Noble had been home from school that day incapacitated by a pinched nerve in his shoulder.  As I listened to Tillman and company I became more confused by the second, and I was in the middle of about 20 other things demanding my attention that afternoon. The surprise arrival of this crisis definitely threw me off my groove. Luckily I had Noble.  In desperation I looked to him and asked what we should do. Oh how I love, LOVE this engineering son of mine! Together we were finally able to get clarification about Tillman's project. Noble determined that we needed a small 1.5 v motor that he found on Hobby Lobby's website for less than $4 and a battery pack. And we decided that the vehicle could be constructed out of Legos. So the 5th graders and I ran to Hobby Lobby while Noble searched for gears and components in the Legos. Then he helped (*did most of the work*) put it together and tweaked the design till it functioned. I told Tillman that he had to give some credit to Noble in their presentation.

Noble is AWESOME in a crisis. He's like the Melton version of MacGyver. 

Post Script: Noble visited the Chiropractor the next morning for some intensive therapy for his pinched nerve. He can more-or-less stand up straight now. Notice his kinked posture in the picture. He definitely earned some respect by diligently stepping up that day when he could barely even move. Fist bumps.

Living in the Moment

I wish we could keep these two just like this forever. Every day is a magical adventure with the Super A and Super S. ("Together, we save the galaxy! Super Kids!!!")

One thing on my list of things to accomplish over the Christmas break was to take the older kids over to the Family Search Library in Riverton for some extra help with descendancy research. Here are the fruits of our hour of research.

Tillman left with a burning desire to do more Family History research, so Mike helped him set up his own account and he has been digging in. He went with Grandma Ilean one afternoon for another visit - where he connected a missing child to his family, and printed out the card for temple work. I am telling you, the youth of this church are hastening the work in ways I never imagined.

This year a funny thing happened to me as I packed away the Christmas decorations. I cried. Usually by the time January rolls around, I am ready to pack things up, get back to our routine. But this year as I went to unplug the Christmas village I found myself taking another long look at it. As I took decorations off the tree (especially the ones the kids have made or brought home over the years) I could not hold back the tears. I found myself sadly humming "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas".  I know that sounds like the sappiest thing you've ever heard. It all seemed kind of silly to me too, and I wondered why I was feeling this way. I concluded that it must be because I hated to see this Christmas end after the special experiences of love and service we've had this year. I also have to admit that some of my sadness came from knowing that we only have a few more Christmases with all our kids living at home. This makes my heart ache.

Tillman officially graduated from the Cub Scout program. He earned his Webelos badge and Arrow of Light last month and this month got to sign the ceremonial bridge, and become an 11 year old scout.

Mike and Tillman in their Alabama crimson -- supporting the ancestral alma mater. Unfortunately, the Tide was knocked out of the tournament. They are rooting for the Ducks in the championship now. 

You may have heard that a fence is going up for River. Jupiter the Space Donkey got by with an invisible fence, but we needed something more concrete for the next generation. So, getting a family dog just got a LOT more expensive. *sigh*

In reality, a backyard fence is something we probably needed to do anyway...safety, privacy, liability. And since we believe in making people really EARN their money, we waited till January to get them started. (I kind of felt bad about those guys digging post holes all day in the cold.)

Sully watches the BBC Walking with Dinosaurs documentaries at least three times a week. So, for Christmas Sully and Abner got tickets to the Walking with Dinosaurs arena show.
It was really amazing. Also amazing was the fact that Sully would rattle off the names of each of the dinosaurs as they came out before the host ever got a chance to say anything. Sully: "Oh! There's Ornithocheirus!"  And then the host would say, "this is Ornithocheirus..." We thought it was pretty funny. :)

Let's just say that the boys had a fantastic night, especially Sully.
Here's a little taste of the action.

Walking with Dinosuars from Angie Melton on Vimeo.

Post Christmas Post

This has been a tender and memorable Christmas. Some good friends in our neighborhood lost their son to Duchenne Muscular Dystrophe last Sunday, 4 days before Christmas. This past month - as it became apparent that he would be passing soon, and especially this past week, there has been an outpouring of the spirit and fellowship in the neighborhood. We found out about his passing together as a ward when the Bishop stood up at the close of the Christmas choir program during sacrament meeting and announced that he'd just received the news. He then delivered a powerful testimony of the Savior, of Christmas and pronounced a blessing upon all of us. This experience has helped us to focus even more on the very real power of Christ's atonement and resurrection, and to follow Alma's direction "to bear one another's burdens, that they may be light; Yea, and...mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort." (Mosiah 18:8-9) In doing so, we have grown closer to each other and to the Savior. This is the miracle of Christmas. We have seen it in action this Christmas. I will never forget it.

We have also made some wonderful memories:

Making popcorn balls to give away (and eat!) with my Grandma Tiede 

(aka "the Popcorn Lady of Gila, New Mexico").

A miraculous evening out with the youth in our ward, buying sub-for-santa gifts for kids from the Angel Tree. Here we are with our group. (We had 5 other groups just like this one at different stores. Each of us buying for a different child.) I thought there was no way we could get all the things we had picked out within our budget, even though Brother Lassig admonished me to have faith. But when Devin the checker found out what we were doing he hooked us up with every discount in the book (and probably off the book). Like an episode of Extreme Couponing we watched in suspense as the total added up until he entered that final discount. 

We ended up 50 cents under budget, and a loud cheer erupted from check stand 9. Devin said it was the best thing that happened to him all day. I think it was probably the best thing that happened to all of us that day too. 

Doing some good in the world.

Making pomanders with Grandma Jacque. One of my favorite Christmas traditions!

 Christmas Eve dinner with most of the Melton clan (we so missed our Michigan Melton's!). 

Look how far little Paxon has come in just a year! What a miracle he is to us.

Watching Abner yawn his way through his preschool Christmas program.

A little video of the action. I love how Abner starts bellowing after Ms. Sandy's 2nd prompt to sing louder. In his defense, she only said louder, nothing about rhythm or articulation.

Rudolf from Angie Melton on Vimeo.

In the spirit of Christmas, I forgave Abner (after I had a little melt down) for doing this. 

2 days before Christmas (yes, that's sharpie -- and yes, Santa somehow overlooked this giant indiscretion -- among many that day).

Christmas morning magic.

This year I did something different. The kids would get 3 gifts each (besides something from Santa) representing the gold, frankincense and myrrh that the wise men brought to the Christ child. Gold would be a gift of wonder (something they wished for), frankincense - a gift of meaning, and myrrh - a gift of usefulness. This helped me to focus and simplify my gift-giving. It made the giving more personal and love-filled for me, as well as directing our thoughts back to the meaning of Christmas. I'm making this our new tradition.

(Somehow I missed getting a picture of Grace -- sorry Grace.)

 A quiet candlelight dinner on Christmas with our kids.

Christmas Day brought another gift of wonder for us (especially the kids): SNOW!!! It made everything so beautiful. There was a short time on Christmas when Mike and Jessie had taken the dog for a long walk, Abner had fallen asleep, and the other kids were quietly playing in the basement -- and I had the living room to myself, the Christmas tree, Christmas music softly playing, soup simmering in the kitchen and snow coming down out the window. I sat by myself on the sofa and just soaked up that perfect moment.

The next day we struck out with the Melton's for a short sledding excursion to the little hill by our old house...perfect for the little boys. Hot chocolate and conversation at our house after.

We spent a cold - but beautiful - night out at Temple Square with the Las Vegas Melton's and Grandpa Howard. It was so nice to spend this time with them.

Mike arranged for the brothers Melton (and Val and Pax and Grace and Grandpa) to go to a Jazz game together. Tim wore his John Stockton and Karl Malone socks.

Here is a clip from the Sullivan Christmas Eve nativity. To me, this is Christmas. I am so grateful for the gift of Christmas.

DSCN7210 from Angie Melton on Vimeo.

The Season of Birthdays and Projects

We celebrate 5 birthdays between the end of May and the end of July - a 2 month barrage of birthday excitement. 

Grace celebrated a big milestone this year. 12 big ones.

She scored a new bike. A Schwinn cruiser...just her style. She didn't mind riding the refurbished 1980's era dirt bikes handed down to us from Mike's parents for the last several years, but we thought it was time that she have her own ride.

On June 29, Sully turned 6. He had been anticipating the occasion for months, telling us again and again that he was going to be 6...and then 7...and then 8...and then almost 16!! I told him to take it easy and enjoy 6.

We invited family over to share his "Super S" cake (specifically requested by Sully).

IMG 0319 from Angie Melton on Vimeo.

Abner's 3rd birthday

When Abner saw that Sully had breakfast  in bed the week before on his birthday he wanted in on that action. He was SO excited when his birthday morning rolled around 7 days later.  Happy birthday breakfast Abner! (Notice also the birthday shiner on his left eye. When Mike asked him what happened to his eye he answered: "My eye got on the garage stair." Translation: he tripped on the stairs and went down face first.)

I decided to make a dirt cake for the occasion of Abner's birthday. With all my kids growing up, there's limited opportunity for stuff like this anymore at our house. He loved it!

I love this picture! These guys are my favorite in the whole world! Plus, Abner's smile is priceless.

Noble is turning 14 later this month. He already received his birthday present, a semi-automatic Airsoft gun, so he could take it on the Scout High Adventure river trip that he and Mike left for today. They are headed for eastern Idaho and Jackson Hole until Thursday. Sounds like great times.

Mike also has a birthday this month. 39 this year. He says he wants a power saw. This is why...

 Mike has been working on more shelving in the garage. He and Noble have had several late nights of building after Mike gets home from work. Noble is awesome at helping with stuff like this. He can work hard and is naturally inclined toward all things engineering. At one point Mike gave himself a puncture wound with the drill, and Noble just went straight back to work while I was bandaging Mike up.

Last day of this phase of the garage shelving project, Noble's posse had come to help. Great kids. Here they are with the finished unit.