Fall Back (autumn in a bazillion pictures)

Tonight is the end of Daylight Savings (I am making a mental note so we don't show up an hour early to church tomorrow). I don't know what you are going to do with your extra hour, but I am going to use mine to catch up with those things I never get to...such as updating the blog.


I LOVE FALL. Always have. It's my favorite season of the year. The colors are spectacular. The light glows. Everyone starts nesting. And the anticipation of the approaching holidays is in the air.

Here are some of the things we've been up to this fall.

Out in Nature

The view up Yellow Fork

We spent a lovely warm afternoon strolling leisurely up Yellow Fork

It was so beautiful.

An afternoon at Gardner Village to see the witches

If you think Mike looks eerily like the Uni bomber with his hood up like that (especially when he has his sunglasses on)....you're not the only one.

Caramel apples outside the sweets shop. Delish.

Putting the garden to bed for the year...

Last of the carrots and beets

Eating the super SWEET fall carrots. The cool-weather carrots are the BEST.

The last few pumpkins ready for picking

Speaking of PuMpkins...

We made our annual pilgrimage to our favorite patch kind of late this year...the day before Halloween. They still had plenty of pumpkins to go around, and we got what we came for...in record time too. Since we also had to carve our pumpkins the same night, I told the kids we had to be outta there in 15 minutes or less. They came through. I was pretty impressed.

Not a bad view

This year's creations included several corporate and team endorsements. My lawyers have advised me not to comment on the question of whether we were paid or not. I'll leave it at that.

And then of course, there was Halloween

Party #1. Neighborhood harvest party / trunk-or-treat

Sully's and Abner's costumes were inspired by their nightly bed time stories which chronicle the adventures of the Super Kids, "Super S" and "Super A". They always save the day!

Here is a video of "Super S" and "Super A" getting pumped up before the big neighborhood party with the official Super Kids cheer that Sully made up. (I love how Abner can only see out of one eye hole of his crooked mask.)

DSCN5555 from Angie Melton on Vimeo.

Tillman and his bff came up with this costume duo for the neighborhood party. They were perfect.

Party #2. @ the Sullivan Hacienda
We celebrated again at the annual Sullivan Halloween bash. We had some fresh brew out of the witch's cauldron, a hay ride, festive food and dancing the night away.

Here are the Super Kids in flight with Mike (aka "Si") giving them a little push.

 The Super Kids took their super strength to the horse pasture where they rolled these 50 gallon barrels around while everyone else got busy on the dance floor...

Boogie time.

DSCN5627 from Angie Melton on Vimeo.

Party#3. Mike's company party for families. No pictures...but lots more candy.

Party #4. (Not technically a party) All Hallows Eve itself.
Halloween finally arrived, with Sully almost beside himself with excitement. After all the Halloween parties we'd been to over the previous week, I had a hard time of it trying to keep things laundered and together. We soon discovered that more than one necessary piece of clothing was still in the dirty clothes, and even more distressing, we couldn't even find certain crucial accessories. As I was getting frustrated searching for things, with the kids chomping at the bit and trick-or-treaters arriving, Mike reminded me, "It's just Halloween. Relax."  That was good advise. So what if Abner went trick-or-treating without his mask and a mismatched cape. He didn't even notice.

Halloween dinner. Spaghetti squash with marinara and meatballs, salad, french bread and strawberry soda.

The whole gang. Napoleon and Pedro were joined by Kip and Deb.

Noble and friends. Noble is in that grey area where it's about time to stop trick-or-treating, but then he's not sure what to do instead. He's embarrassed to wear a costume, but wants the candy. We told him if he went trick-or-treating he HAD to be dressed up. He rounded  up a few friends and some half-hearted costumes and hit the road.  We later learned that most of those friends were not supposed to go trick-or-treating per their parents' policy of no trick-or-treating after 12. I apologized  the next day when I found out, for being that irresponsible parent who allowed her son to trick-or-treat at 13, and drag everyone else along. Sorry again guys. 

J. and her good friend manned the door and the candy bucket at our house. They were pretty good: teasing the older kids and being sweet to the little kids. (Although I was a little disappointed when they didn't chase down that one kid dressed as Beetlejuice after he absconded with and extra fist-full of candy. Little punk.)

Abner expounding on his trick-or-treating adventures over some of his cheese puffs and a strawberry soda.

Happy Fall!!! (And don't forget to set your clocks back tonight.)

A Book Review: Unbroken

Some of you may have heard about this one. I was hearing great things about it, so I added it to my kindle this past week. I could barely put it down for the 3 days it took me to read it. I stayed up until 2:00 this morning / last night finishing it, and decided I had to blog about it right away. I give it 5 stars. In fact, this may have become my new all-time favorite book.  I love stories of human triumph. This one is unsurpassed. In the same spirit as Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning (though in the form of an AMAZING story and less of an analysis), this book shows the depths of human endurance and the POWER of forgiveness and love. It's the story of an American Olympic distance runner, Louis Zamperini, who was easily on track to be the fastest miler in history up to that point, when the world descended into war. His journey and the horrors he and others experienced over the next several years is unbelievable. It's got just about everything: Running, the Olympics, Hitler (up close), air battles, a particularly beautiful "Joe vs. The Volcano" kind of  moment, angels, Japanese POW camps, Billy Graham, skateboarding... I won't spoil anything for you here, in case some of you wanted to read it. But I have to say that my admiration for "the greatest generation" and my own determination to live in gratitude and forgiveness have increased.
The author (of Seabiscuit fame) is an incredible story-teller. Fair warning: the descriptions of violence and degradation in the POW camps is graphic, and really tough to read. But the redemption of a human soul is so beautiful and inspiring I was brought to happy tears. This guy is one of my new heroes.

Life is beautiful

Louie Zamperini, who took up skateboarding in his 70's, here at 81

Crossing the Finish Line

Five years and six races later I am hanging it up as the official race planner / timer of the NPA 5k/1 mile fun run. It's been a lot of fun, and at times a lot of stress. I have gotten to know some great people better, and we've made some awesome memories.

 

**Sigh**

 

But life goes on.  Next year I plan to participate as a private citizen. :)

 

This year the kids put up some great times. Noble decided he was going to see how fast he could run the mile. He ran it in 6 minutes 11 seconds. He didn't beat his previous record of 5 minutes 46 seconds...so he was a little bummed, but he still won by quite a bit. 

 

 

 

The next runner was some awesome 2nd grade girl about a minute behind Noble. Then at around 7 min. 30 sec. this guy who had run the whole way CARRYING his baby, crossed the finish line.  That's hard core.

 

 

Tillman came in with his friend at about 8 minutes, Grace about 10 minutes.

Sully finishing strong with a time of 12:16.

 

Here he is with our old friend Michele Rosqvist who ran the mile with him so I could take care of business at the finish line and Mike could direct traffic out on the 5K route. She saved the day. I am so thankful for good friends.

 

Tillman, Sully and our neighborhood/carpool buddy at the finish line.

 

Jessie finishing strong in the 5k. I don't remember her time, but it's faster than I can run.

 

A good time was had by all.

It's a little sad to step away from something you've been a part of from the beginning. But in other ways, I am happy to let others take it on.

 

 

 

Sully Has Lift Off

 

 

Sully recently took one small step for him, one giant leap in the realm of childhood milestones...he graduated to riding a two wheeler.

 

Like his brother Tillman before him he took to it naturally. Not a lot of fuss and anxiety...just get on and go.

His universe has just expanded. And he is pretty excited. Go Sully! Safe travels.

J. In The Driver's Seat

This has been an exciting month for Jessie.  The end of September found us at the Golden Spike Arena in Ogden for the State 4H Horse Championship. 

She was kind of disappointed with Dolli's performance in show events on the first day. Usually, show events are Dolli's bread and butter, but especially in Halter (a ground work event) she came unglued.

In the warm up arena before show events. Looking sharp!

Jessie lunging Dolli before events on day 1.

Trail

A beautiful pivot in the box

But day 2 - speed events - was a different story all together. Historically, Dolli hasn't displayed lightning speed. She's respectable, but Jessie's always just resigned herself to the fact that Dolli would never be winning any ribbons when it came to speed.

She proved us wrong at State. Jessie was blowing past personal bests all over the place. Quadrangle, Poles, and then Barrels. And at the end of the day, Jessie ended up taking 19th overall, out of about 150, in speed. (We didn't see that coming, so we left before the awards ceremony. Oops. We are still doing penance for that one with Jessie. Another demerit on our parenting record. In our defense though, we had been away from home a LONG time, and were anxious to get back to our other children.  Her friend collected her ribbon for her, and she got it at practice later. Sorry J. )

Sun rise on day 2.  Waiting to run.

Here's the video of her Barrels run. She had quite a fan club, as you will hear.

DSCN5403 from Angie Melton on Vimeo.

Here, at the end of another State Championship with the man of the hour, Grandpa Sullivan.
The memories are priceless.

 (By the way, that horse on the left, another of Grandpa's project horses, took first in State...second year in a row for a Sullivan-trained horse, Megan L. riding. Not too shabby. Congrats, Meg!) 

In other Jessie-related news, the long-awaited day finally arrived when Jessie took the wheel. It was long-awaited because I didn't realize that to get a learner's permit she had have her social security card, which I lost years ago and hadn't taken the time to replace yet (more great parenting). So I spent a day at the social security office (thank goodness I squeaked that one through before the government shut down), and then we had to wait a week for it to arrive in the mail. THEN.....there was the written test to take...and then take again....and then take again. (To tell you the truth, she knew her stuff, so I think that the DMV must have intimidated her. Which I can totally understand.)  

Third time's the charm. On her last attempt she passed with a 95%...so I guess she's qualified.

She is now legal on the roads (with a parent). It's hard to believe, but we have a teenage driver in the house. 

...And suddenly, for some reason, I find myself marking the time until she leaves home (can you believe it?) ...because if the day came when she's old enough to drive a car, the day will inevitably come (sooner than later) when she leaves the nest. It's really happening.

We're trying to enjoy it all.  Love you, Jess!

A Smattering

I usually like to follow a specific theme in a blog post. It keeps me focused and I draw meaning from the experiences of our lives that way. But when I go a month between posts that's kind of hard to do. I don't want to leave stuff out...so let's try a little thematic scatter-shot... stay with me.

#1. Outside Enjoying the Last Warm Days

Sully and Abner taking flight on the swings (in the play area that is STILL a work in progress -- into year 2 of this reno, and it will probably be next year when we finish this up). I love Sully's face. ha ha ha.

 A LOVELY late-summer sunrise.

 And and equally beautiful sunset. 

 Noble getting after it on the soccer field. He is really enjoying soccer even though, by contrast  to last year, his team hasn't won a game yet.

#2. Abner the Master of Cuh-Razy

The award for the busy, busy, busy, busiest Melton EVER goes to.....Abner William. He is wall-to-wall action, all day, every day. He can climb ANYTHING, get into just about any kind of container, get out of his crib, and open doors. He loves my make-up, throwing sand and flour and powdered sugar, drinking out of the toilet, eating gum from....who knows where?, head-butting, biting, tackling, spitting, pouring his own milk (!), NOT napping, helping himself to the fridge and pantry anytime, terrorizing the cat and even Jupiter, and running (away from me) at a VERY impressive pace (if we can channel his abilities, we may have an Olympian on our hands). Now that he can get out of his crib and open doors, nap and bed times have become a tricky business, usually including Ab ransacking the room, wrestling (sometimes beating up on) Sully, escaping,  me chasing him around the house (did I mention how FAST he is?), and finally resulting in him running suddenly out of fuel and crashing somewhere on the floor or at the foot of Sully's bed, after which we scoop him up and deposit him in his crib. (And then collapsing into bed ourselves.)

Doesn't he look angelic when he's asleep? This is my favorite time of the day.

We call this picture "Abner: The Acoustic Version"

(FYI, he loves Jessie's old baby doll and insists on having her with him at bed time. He does have a sweet, tender side.)

 We tried the door knob covers that we used when Sully was little. That worked for about a week, and then he just figured out how to break it apart to get access to the door knob.

This was plan B...so far so good.

#3. Jessie's Quinsinera (sort of)

Jess recently celebrated her 15th birthday. I agreed to let her have her first (at least since about 1st grade) "integrated" boy/girl party.

We spent the afternoon before the party cleaning the basement. This crew of neighbor kids wasn't necessarily helpful in that effort, but they were pretty awesome in their ninja outfits.

Once the teenagers arrived, things got exciting. The music was loud (they plugged in someone's ipod with lots of Queen and Twisted Sister...? Flash back to 1985. That was weird.), and the kids were louder.

"We're not gonna take it!!!....."

Dancing, games, eating, running amock in the back yard / trampolining, presents and a movie... could a 15 year old ever want for more?

Pizza, Italian sodas and munchies (in our unsightly unfinished basement kitchen).

Jessie reported that the word on the street was that this was the best party they had ever been to.

Booyah! We're popular! ...ha ha ha ha... 

Actually, I was just glad when it was over. So much noise and commotion (and a lot of sweaty teenage boys in my basement...ick) was enough to make me a little tense for those 3 hours. In fact I excused myself for about an hour to take Grace and her friends to the tennis courts -- just to get away.  Mike on the other hand, was loving it. He hung out a lot of the time in the basement keeping an eye on things, but also teasing and laughing....and rocking out I'm sure. ha ha ha.

#4. In the Garden/Kitchen

Oh man, we've got produce coming out of our ears.  I have just totally given up on keeping on top of the cucumbers, squash and chard.  Some weird fungus has taken hold of my tomatoes, so we haven't gotten a lot off of them for the past 3 weeks...just enough make it for eating fresh, which is fine by me since I didn't have plans to can any this year. The beets are gang-busters still, so I need to put borscht into the menu about once a week for the next month. And don't get me started on the piles of peaches falling off the neighbors' tree into our garden. Most years we (and the neighbors) have been on it. Not so this year. Too much going on I guess. I get a guilty feeling every time I look in the direction of the peach trees, knowing that hundreds of them have fallen and are moldering in heaps. I have collected some here and there to use in pies, and just to eat. But today I went out and tried to collect most of the usable fruit from the ground to make into fruit leather. I knew I wouldn't be canning any peaches this year, but I decided to try out the dehydrator my brother Sean gave us for Christmas last year.

A little bit of this and that...

 Humming away on the back deck.

#5. My Little Brother Got Married

Speaking of Sean.... His big day arrived this past Saturday. Unfortunately, so also arrived a nasty virus, making Sean a very sick man. Can you believe it?! We all felt bad but he was awesome. He smiled and toughed it out, even though he was literally ready to pass out by the end of the evening. 

I am so happy for them. I love Kim. Somehow I didn't take any pictures with my own camera during the day of the bride and groom together, and I haven't seen the official photos yet. 

The temple ceremony was awesome. My siblings and I all agreed that we wish we could have a recording of what was said, for our future reference.  It was so happy.

Sean with all his beautiful nieces. 

The boys 

 Mike having a pre-reception chat with my pretty grandma. She looks so young for 87!

I, for one, had a fantastic time! I love weddings! I love seeing old friends and neighbors and beloved family.  I love that a new family has been formed. I love that my brother is loved and is in love. I wish it could have been an easier day for Sean and Kim (with Sean being so sick compounded by the stress of putting on a reception with all its moving parts). They did an awesome job. I am grateful to have Kim as a sister. A new sister! Yay! Welcome to the family, Kim. The eternal family is what it's all about.