Long time, no one blogs!

Hey familia! I have been thinking forever about how I need to blog. So here it goes. I will start with the most recent. I spent last week in Montana at Hebgen Lake, which is near West Yellowstone. I was able to go up to Montana with the lady I take care of. her family owns four cabins up there, and so I went for a week with them. It was great to get away from utah and everything. The whole week I actually felt pretty good about my single life, and immediately upon my return I was instantly reminded how I am single and everyone looks down upon that here. Oh, Utah you are so interesting. Montana was absolutely gorgeous. We spent most of our days out on the lake. One evening we went to the local theater and watched Joseph and the Technicolor Dream Coat, it was pretty good. We had a pretty good firework show and were able to see the entire valley full of fireworks. SO pretty much I think each of us siblings need to invest in a summer home somewhere in Northern California, some where close by. I am totally down!!! Plus, I think all my ideas are good ones, so i am definitely in.

My birthday was a little over a week ago. I am 25! A quarter of a century! I love birthdays! even though I still feel like  I am 21! Which is perfect because lately everyone I talk to thinks I am 21, its great to have a baby face! or maybe its my immaturity?! my birthday ended up being absolutely perfect. so, as you are all aware or maybe you aren't but now you will be, I have very little friends. I know it s surprising for a girl like me, but its the truth! Well, I have met lots more people since being in Provo, and they are actually single, surprise! Well, the morning of my birthday was our ward temple trip. it was a perfect way to start out my birthday! Then we went to breakfast, paid by the ward! Then I went to a park with some kids from my ward and celebrated my birthday with another kid in my ward, Alex. We shared a cake and hung out at the park. Then I went to Jane and Kennys for a bbq, hosted by me! It was the Folletts and then Terra, one of my close friends from the YSA ward in American From and Landon and Whitney, A couple that are good friends with Jake and AShley and now me too. Well we played some grass volleyball and ate. Afterwards, Landon, Whitney, Jake, Ashley, and me went to the movies to see  "Million Dollar Arm" (soooo good!!!) and then as we walked outside the movie theater there was a firework show to market the firework company! it was an incredible show and super long! it made my birthday extra special because i love fireworks and i love the fourth of july! it was great! Then the next day I left for Montana.

I flew home for Tait's graduation the first week of June. That kid makes me so proud! He is such a sincere, humble, and genuine young man. I am so happy for him and the opportunities that lay ahead of him. I love you Tot!

 yes, i know i look like a bald man in the above picture.

I have been out exploring Utah with the time I have off, it has been adventurous and so lovely!

This was on my run the other day, The cotton looked like snow! Thank goodness its not snow or I would die.

I got new glasses for my eyeballs!

My PA applications are in! So, now I wait until I get an email about an interview! I hope by august!

See y'all in two weeks! God Bless Texas

A visit from Aunt Becca

My kids are seriously blessed with the greatest family. Everyone in our family is so perfect for the kids, in their own way. Aunt Becca drove from Utah to Colorado this weekend to spend time with us. We picnicked at the park,  strolled through shops and the farmers market, rode our tricycles, and read books. Harper screamed her way through Target, but we won't talk about that. Ha.

We love you Aunt Becca. We miss you Aunt Heidi, Lauren, Faye, Elle, and Candace. Seriously, my kids have no shortage of terrific women they can rely on. And that doesn't even include grandmothers and great grandmothers.

March 10, 2014 WE DID IT!!!

dad and i have been trying to figure out how to make a post, technology is hard stuff.

thanks becca for giving me another lesson.  i think i can do this.

thanks to you girls for being so good about posting things, dad and i will get better i promise.  i wanted to post tait's surgery information for all but couldn't figure it out and then dad had some pictures he wanted to share and  there was another hour with no luck.

i spoke with grandma this week and some things i wanted to share about the beach house this summer…

1.  we need beach towels.  bath towels are provided with each house but not beach towels.  there are washing and drying machines which will be great.
2.  for pictures, we are asking everyone to wear white shirts with jean bottoms.  i don't know if you remember the picture in our home from the last trip, clothing is the same.  i just had the boys/men wear their white church shirts and us girls wore anything white that we had, some t-shirts and others shirts.  bottoms can be shorts, pants, skirts or anything in-between.  our hope is to make this super simple so there isn't much if any cost involved.  please have the shirts plain with no designs or words.
3. we are in charge of our own breakfast and lunch and for dinners each family will get assigned a night to provide food for all.  it is still a little while away so i will gather ideas as it gets closer.

i know this isn't exciting news to post on the blog but i just wanted to use it…maybe it will help me get used to using it and learning how.

love you all
thanks for all the calls, cards and texts for my birthday.  it was wonderful!

dad is home sick with the norvo virus!  hopefully tait and i don't get it!!!

Everybody is growing like weeds!

Okay y'all. Time is going by too quick.

Harper is 18 months now. She has a terrific personality. Very sassy. I don't know what I'm going to do about that. !! She loves stuffed animals, baby dolls, and books. She can say all her ABCs and she knows the sounds that each one makes. She says new words every day. The pediatrician was afraid that she has mild hearing loss, but I think the fact that she can repeat what we say and answer our questions proves that theory wrong.

She amazes me everyday.

Big Jed has been working hard, as always. He never takes a break. (Well, he does, to read the news or bake me a cake or something.) We applied for a co-manager position in Kentucky. If he gets accepted, it will be a definitely new adventure for us. But if he doesn't we will keep applying to other places. Our next place to apply to if Kentucky doesn't work out is either Arizona or Northern Idaho.

Little Jed is quite the character! He loves to make faces. He pretends all different types of emotions in one setting. "Mom, I'm sad (Frowny face). Now I'm happy! (Smily face) Now I'm scared!! (surprised face, with twitching eyebrow)" He is hilarious.

Robbie and Jeddie are best friends, as always! They love playing together trucks, tractors, trains, and their recent adventure together is cooking in their brand new play kitchen Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Jim got them for Christmas. They pretend to bake all sorts of creations with their ingredients, just like Dad does.

I'm (Madeline) getting off my lazy bum and training to run a 5k. That might not sound like much, but for me, I get winded at just running for 3 minutes. My goal is to be able to run 3 miles without stopping or getting out of breath in just 10 weeks. My reward, if I can do it, will be a new pair of shoes! (my current tennis shoes were my running shoes in high school, ha!)  I've already gone out to train 3 times now, and I'm already walking around like I'm 80 or something. My legs are so sore.

But other than that, I just play with the kids, keep the house tidy (yeah right, still working on that) and serve in my calling at church. I'm trying to keep it simple and pay as much attention to the kids as I can. I know they won't be this little forever.

We are all so excited for this summer! I can't wait to see you all. Robbie is always asking to ride the airplane to Grandma and Grandpa's house. He'll be so happy to go to the beach and see you all there!!

Loving Life on Valentine's

     Well since it's pretty much just been Becca and our Jake Mele family on here as of late, we figured it was our turn to blog! As usual, a lot has happened since we posted last - Christmas, Candace's birthday, family coming to visit, and now it's Valentine's Day! For Christmas Candace & Weston braved the cold in Illinois and spent longer than planned there because they got frozen in. Literally! The temperatures were 20 degrees below zero with wind chills making it close to -50 degrees. Needless to say, we didn't venture outside much. The whole time was pretty much spent in doors with family, but it was a good holiday, and Weston loved playing with his cousins. He thought he was such a big man, when all the older cousins were wrestling Weston would try to crawl right up to them and get into the mix. He learned to crawl up stairs while there, and also now dances, claps, and waves! He also loves to growl, which Uncle Tait caught on video when he came down here to visit us.

Weston's first Christmas!

     

    Opening up presents on Christmas morning

     When we finally made it home we had lots of catching up time with Daddy, and Weston was so excited to see him. No one can make him laugh like his Dad! In January, we worked a lot on getting Weston to sleep through the night because he became accustomed to getting to sleep with Candace in the big bed when they were in Illinois. It took about three weeks of him crying for 30-45 minutes at night in the crib when he first laid down (torture!) but now most nights he will lay down and barely cry or not at all, if his schedule hasn't been messed up too much. So we're slowly making progress. Getting him to fall asleep and stay asleep in the crib without waking up is another story...!

    We were so happy to be able to see Grandma Sharon and Grandpa Jim, Uncle Tait, and Aunt Becca within two weeks of each other. First Sharon, Jim, and Tait came and we had lots of fun going on walks, getting ice cream, and devoting lots of attention to Weston. It was also nice because it was Candace's birthday so Jake and Candace were able to go out to dinner and see Frozen, while Tait and Sharon watched Weston. The next weekend Becca came to visit and time was well spent again playing at parks, going on walks, and getting ice cream...pretty much everybody's favorite thing. We felt so spoiled getting to spend so much time with family. 

     Now it's back to just us three and the everyday routine of normal life. We feel so blessed to have Weston brightening up our day every single day. He is such a happy, fun, playful little baby and we can't believe he is growing so fast before our eyes! Enjoy some pictures of the amazing little man.  

Rockin' the "faux-hawk"

He looks like Jim here! Hey, would you like some corn?

We love those rosy cheeks and big brown eyes

"You talking to me?"

 Jake likes to pull off clothes and leave them on Wes' head for fun!

Just swingin' away!

85 degrees in mid-February! Crazy!

Happy Valentine's Day!