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! 

Ciao 2013!

This year has come and gone so fast, I can't believe it!  It has been a great year for me.  A lot has happened, especially since being in Utah.  I am starting to like Utah a little more.  Here is the update:

We have had three huge snow storms, well I think they are huge! Utah has no idea what a snow day is!  It is much easier to drive in Utah snow then it is to drive in Sonora snow.  Utah snow is dry and is still drivable.  The other drivers scare me though! Right before I flew home fro Christmas I went to a wedding reception.  As I was leaving I got stuck in the snow, it was awful! I didn't know what to do, so I called mom and started crying! Luckily,  a friend and his wife from the reception were walking by and he was able to get me out.  It was so scary.  It doesn't matter how many times I've driven in the snow, it still scares me. This was the first snow storm of the year, i parked my car on campus at 8 am and then came back at 4 pm to this lovely surprise.  That night I had to drive up to Salt Lake and it took me 2 plus hours to drive up there.

School is done! I was taking two classes this past semester and I passed them both! I am just so happy my biology class is over! My EMT class is also finished.  January 11 is the state practical and then I have to take the written, then I am a licensed EMT!!! I am hoping to get a job as an EMT once I am licensed then hopefully move to Salt Lake.  Now that school is out my plan is to work as much as possible, get some volunteer hours, and job search!

With the holidays, Temple Square was lit up.  Jake, Ashley, Raymond, Luke, and I took the trax (its the  public transportation) up to Salt Lake to check out the lights.  We had lots of fun!  Luke is the cheerleader and this basically sums us up!

This Christmas it was Tait and I, so it was pretty quiet.  But we had fun. We went shooting, went to the movies, had a Christmas party, and watched lots of movies at home! But it was a perfect week for me to relax and not have to do anything! So, next year it is the Mele Ohana Christmas, and y'all better be there (Tait is the only exception!).

BYU Men's volleyball has started and I can't even wait for the games when I get back!

Busy Bees!

Well no one has updated the blog since October (thanks Becca!) and now it's December so I figure we are overdue. So much has happened with our little family since we last checked in. Weston took his first ever trip up to Sonora to see Uncle Tait play football. It was a great game to go to because they won and Tait was awesome!

When we got back it was Halloween week and Weston had so much fun dressing up and going door to door. We met up with Candace's family and went trick-or-treating with Wes' cousins Zach and Lily and their parents, Jeremy and Renee. Weston got lots of candy which we are saving for him. Can you tell what movie we are from? Jake and Weston were such good sports dressing up to support Candace's love of Halloween!

Later that week we took some fall family photos, Weston did so well and was such a little ham for the camera. Here are some of our favorites:

We went up to Sonora for the second time in less than 2 months to celebrate Thanksgiving. Although we weren't able to stay very long, due to Jake's work schedule, we had so much fun with the Mele family and it was so good to be able to see all of them. We also got fed amazing food by the lovely Sharon who made 5 pies for the 6 of us! The grandparents also spoiled Weston for Christmas and got him an amazing little car that he just loves!

Happy Halloween!

A lot has happened since my last post.  I am about half way through the semester and I cannot wait for it to be over.  I love learning but that year off was so nice.  I didn't have to worry about deadlines or tests or homework.  What happens at work, stays at work.  School seems to follow you everywhere you go.

So lets go back to general conference.  For conference weekend Ashley, Jake (her boyfriend) and some of his friends, and I drove down to Richfield. Which is about 2 hours south of Provo.  That is where Jake is from.  So we stayed at Jake's house and had a great time! Between sessions we played football outside, rode bikes with all of Jakes nephews and nieces, and explored Richfield.  It's a small town, I think Sonora might even be bigger.  It was a fun weekend and nice to just get away.

This here is Luke, the cheerleader.  That is how we always refer to him. He is cute but about 5 foot nothing.  So that's not going to happen.

The next weekend was my mission reunion.  Which was super fun! It was a complete success and I am so happy becuase I was on the planning committee.  I am so sad that noone of you have ever met President and Sister Wilkey.  They are the closest thing I know to perfection (besides Christ of course). I am waiting for them to get translated.  As you can tell I am slightly obsessed with them.  On my mission I would dream about them! Just an example of how sweet and tender they are: on my mission Elle was struggling a bit so I shared this with my mission president.  Ever since then he has invested in Elle and been interested in her life.  So it has been almost 2 years since I've seen them and after we caught up he asked how Elle was.  They make you feel like you are the most important person ever and you are the only thing that matters in thier life.  It's a special feeling to be loved and cared by them.  I also got to see some of my companions.

Kate Peterson (my baby!), me, Anna Bullard (my trainer), Angela Walter (my baby!)

That weekend I also went hiking with a mission friend.  I haven't seen him in 3 years.  We went on a hike to see the colors in the canyon.

The next big event in my life was my Nike Women's San Francisco Half Marathon! That was such a fun experience. I would defintily do it again.  That weekend I was able to fly home.  Mom picked me up from the airport so we spent about 2 hours in the car together, 3-4 hours during Tait's football game, and then a few hours the next day together.  It was a much needed weekend for me.  I needed to see my mama! I also got to watch Tait play football! Which was so much fun! I am so proud of Tait and the young man he is becoming.

I rode to San Francisco with Jenna (a physical therapist from Bones).  We chekced in and got our bags and checked out NikeTown and the expo for the runners. It was sponsored by Nike, Neutrogena, Luna, Tiffany & Co., so basically we got so much stuff! We stayed in a hostel that night in San Francisco.  We had two korean room mates. I woke up a couple times in the middle of the night to hard core rap music. So when my alarm went off I was so happy it was time! There were 30,000 women and some men that ran the race! I was doing great till mile 6, it started getting extremely hilly.  Then by mile 10 I was ready to be done! My legs were numb, I couldn't feel them, so I don't know how I was getting anywhere.  The end was the best surprise.  There were Firemen in tuxedos  handing out our Tiffany & Co. necklaces.  I am so proud of myself for doing this! My goal was to run the whole thing and I did so I am a winner! I wasn't able to walk for a few days but it was well worth it!

This was Nike Town.  They had the names of everyone that ran the race on the glass. Can you find mine?

I got to see Pat and Debbie at the home BYU game!

Here are some of my new friends! This is the worst picture of everyone except me and Ashley  Jake looks super fat.  Nate isn't looking.  Raymond is trying to act cool. Jack looks evil. After the game we went to Krispy Kreme and ate our weight in donuts.

This would be the family ward Halloween party.  We dressed as cops and robbers.  Jack has the best costume! We even bought him a donut.

After the party, Ashley tried doing homework.  But I was ready to dance and get my groove on! So this is what happened....consider yourselves lucky to be able to see the full unedited version.