A Vote for No Change, Followed by A Change in the Weather, and the Making of Champions

**Disclaimer - before you start reading - this is a mega-post, and all over the map. But it's good stuff!**

Mike worked hard this past Election Day as a poll manager. Ahead of the election he had several training sessions, spent hours prepping the voting roles, and set-up the night before. On election day he was at the poling place from 6 AM until 9 PM.   Everyone should have the experience of working an election. It is such a fundamental and important way of serving in a free society where we all have a moral duty to help carry the load of governance, helping people to exercise their agency.  We take so much for granted.

The night before Election Day. More prep work.

 Speaking of Election Day...I know I am not the only one who found it hard to sleep Tuesday night. The presidential election was a big disappointment for approximately half of the country (at least among those who bothered to vote), myself included. Not the kind of disappointment that goes away the next day. The kind that fills you with foreboding. Life goes on...but down a path I hoped it wouldn't go. Still, I am an optimist. I believe all things work together for the (eventual) best. So, onward (not so much "Forward") - remembering to pray for our leaders.

Bringing us to Thursday...when the weather looked like this...

70-ish degrees. One last mowing.

Only to wake up Friday to this...

30-ish degrees. The first snowmen of the season.

And then on to Saturday, which looked like this...

Holy smokes, what a day! Noble's team played their championship game in whiteout conditions with over a foot of fresh snow on the ground.  

I am telling you, this was the best day of football ever! 

Sidelines lined with huddled die-hard fans trying to stay warm, dads working to shovel the yard lines before the game just so the players and refs would know where they were (Mike was soaked with sweat after that), hot chocolate,  players slogging through deep snow every play (sometimes the snow did the tackling), fumbles, face-masks packed with snow after a tackle, warming the game ball over propane heaters to try to keep it flexible, cold feet, and a championship shut-out to show for it at the end of the 4th. 

Bingham - 19.  Bountiful -0.

Chillin' on the sidelines. (Beth was awesome! 8 months pregnant - in a snow storm...to watch a football game. Love her.)

Noble on a tackle.

White-washing.

Noble - gunner on kick-off team.

Super fans - Cousin Hal and Grandma Sullivan. Casey and Helen and their posse were troopers!

Celebrating another touchdown.

Noble in pursuit.

Post game with Coach.

More dedicated fans - some from out of town. Thanks to everybody who came! We had a blast!

CHAMPIONS

Brothers

Time to bring it down...

***Now, I know when we started down this road I was hesitant about football. I worried, and wondered about the wisdom of Noble's choice. In retrospect, would we do this football thing again? Was it worth it to let Noble fulfill this dream? Absolutely. Everything about this season and this experience was meant to be. Amazing things happen when you let kids choose and grow. I am just glad I was along for the ride. (It has been So much FUN!)

Thank you, Noble. You are a champion. 

Summertime Miscellanea

(I've been uninspired about keeping up with the blog, which probably means I need to make more of an effort, update, move the furniture, etc.)

 Big news this week: Double-A (Abner) has made major strides (literally) toward bipedalism. I think he prefers it to crawling so he's pretty motivated when he embarks across the open floor, unsupported. He's up to about 5 or 6 steps! Hooray Abner!


Abner the biped from Angie Melton on Vimeo.

Sully turned 4 years old on Friday. I can't believe it!

 Last year on his birthday we were anxiously awaiting Abner's grand entrance. The time has FLOWN by. Sully has made some big changes this year. Potty training (a really big milestone...and one that seems so distant now), preschool and outgrowing a lot of clothes. He's gotten too big for his britches in the figurative sense too. In other words, he's a lot more opinionated, and happy to let you know about it. His personality has also grown bigger - which is saying something for Sully. Yesterday as he sat down for a snack he announced, "Let's get this party started!" Oh Sully.

On his birthday he had breakfast in bed (french toast and fruit and juice). Big hit. I was busy during the day getting the older boys packed up for their trip to Michigan with their grandparents the next day. In the evening we had the chance to gather with almost all of the Sullivan cousins at my uncle's house in Sandy. My grandma was also there with my great-aunt, Patsy. We took a group photo, hugged & caught up.
So rare to see all those cousins. 
 After that we headed back to SoJo for Sully's birthday dinner / present opening. Mike's parents and mine came to celebrate with us.

Here, with his SNAKE CAKE.

 Saturday morning (and I mean early morning - like 4AM) the older boys got themselves up and ready to fly out to Michigan with Mike's parents, where they will be living it up for 10 days with their Melton cousins. I was/am a little homesick for them, but I have to admit things are a lot more docile around here. Mike also pointed out that their room will not look like a bomb went off in it for 10 whole days! But the really important thing is that they are making awesome memories. Thank you grandma and grandpa Melton! 


Last week the kids and I kept ourselves busy trying to fit in some quality bonding time together before the boys left. Library, lunch out, an outing to the pool (some of us got a little toasted) and to see the Utah Symphony in the park. The lineup included John Williams (Star Wars and Indiana Jones!), Sousa, and the 1812 Overture with canon fire. That was fun!

Mike, on the other hand, kept himself busy all week trying to wrap up month-end, which was hard because they had him scheduled for so many meetings, off-sites, and interviewing. So we didn't see him much this week. But he and I did manage a date to Red Butte Garden on Monday to see Wilco in concert. (That was kind of work-related too, since Fidelity gave us the tickets. But I'm not complaining; we had an AWESOME table with center-stage view.)  

I've been trying to keep the grass alive in this drought/heat-wave and watching fires burn in the foothills around us while I do it. It's so dry and hot. (I am SO GRATEFUL our A/C is working again. BELIEVE ME, I am.) We had a special fast at church this weekend that rain will come and for the safety of the firefighters. We're keeping those prayers going.


Once the boys get back from MI it will be pretty non-stop summer camps and stuff through July. One kid going one way, one another. Jessie won't see Noble or Tillman for more than two weeks. And then they'll go their separate ways again. It's one of those things with growing kids. You start to feel like the front door is a revolving door. I wish their lives were as family-centered as they were when they were younger. I miss that. But I know this is how it goes. They are starting to stretch those wings. I just didn't know it would come so fast. This is the part of life when I have to start inventing creative ways to keep the family unit tight. 


I've got one or two ideas. But I'm open for suggestions too.

Viva la vida!

When it's fall

We had some time Friday so we took the kids and the Space Donkey up AF Canyon to see some beautiful fall color and to have a cook-out.

We had 5 votes for a repeat soon. Unfortunately, I think the weather is headed south this week and we aren't likely to see many more warm-ish Fall days this year.

I L-O-V-E this time of year.

Snow Report - 11/29

An additional 12 inches of powder over night - making a 2 day total of nearly 2 feet.

 We kept in 4High to get out and to school this morning. Jessie couldn't believe school wasn't canceled. I told her it would take a lot more snow for that. As it was, they arrived at school 10 minutes late (mostly because things hadn't been plowed at the school and traffic was snarled at drop off).

 It took 2.3 hours to clear this driveway (& the walks) today. Who needs a gym? 

 The cool thing is now our house looks like a cupcake.

Sick on Sunday

 This morning we dug out from another over-night storm. Looks like we'll have to do it again this afternoon. It hasn't stopped. Maybe another 8 inches total today. I'm telling you, with a driveway the size of ours, a snow-blower is in the cards in the NEAR future. (Merry Christmas, Mitch-darling!)

And this is what Sully's doing right now (good day for it). 

Little Sully-pants didn't make it through church today. Fever, snot, sad. The mini-dvd player right next to him, spinning "Cars" (the 118th showing this weekend) was about the only thing that could calm him down today. Poor guy.

Mike surprised everyone yesterday when he brought home this year's Christmas tree unexpectedly (just before the game). Sully was the most excited... after me. :) We had Mike's brothers, Gary and Tim (in town for Thanksgiving), his dad and Grandma Helen over for the game. Mike cooked up some of his yummy beef nachos and we settled in. You all know the outcome of the game. I know Ute fans were relieved even though it wasn't pretty. A blocked field goal is a pretty intense way to win a game. Jessie is still getting over it.

After our guests went home, we finished off the tree.

I think it's the prettiest one we've ever had. It was so cozy.

Also this weekend, Mike and his bros got out to do some skiing on Black Friday. He said there were no lines and the snow was great. Awww man, I was a little jealous.

We had a great Thanksgiving with family (both sides) and the best food.

We are grateful for all of you - family and friends.

Now to go cook up some holiday left-overs for Sunday dinner.

Not so Bad - Time for Thanksgiving

Whew! The blizzard came and went last night...and this is all it left.

Not a lot in the way of new snow. (Thanks to our sweet neighbor who had our driveway and sidewalks snow-blown before the dawn this morning.) We had about 12 inches more than that from the storm that came through on Sat./Sun. - plus that one knocked out our power and cancelled church. (If you can't get a school snow-day, a church snow-day is almost as exciting.)  Still I'm not going to be a scoffer. It was pretty hairy last night with the winds & driving was scary. I'm glad our Tuesday night schedule was cleared and I had my family safe and warm & home together for dinner (a very rare event for a week-night).

And I'm glad that the storm has moved on for the big events of the week. Thanksgiving tomorrow - it should be pretty frigid this year (20's). And of course, the big game on Saturday (you know the one I mean). Happy Rivalry Week. 

Happy Thanksgiving!