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| Mel at 2 years old! |
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| Melia with Otto and Kobi on her 16th Birthday |
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Happy Happy Birthday, Baby Mel!
Wow, Melia is 16 today! She's my only kid who's not going straight to get her license on her birthday. She's still finishing up some drivers ed stuff this week. She was really bummed to hear the driver's license division isn't open on Saturday. She'll have to wait until Monday. Since she went to Hawaii with Keenan and they took Kobi, her birthday didn't include many presents today. She got some shoes from Allie and a Mickey Mouse birthstone necklace from me and Keenan. We also gave her some Mickey socks and a copy of a house key and Subaru key.
Mel is smart, funny and loyal. She loves naps, pizza, soccer, fashion, kitties and youtubers. She really has a fun sense of style and is very creative. She's been asked to be an editor for yearbook next year. She is a good friend and chooses good friends, for which I'm super grateful. She also has a great relationship with both her brother and sister. She and Kamiko have a great time together and are really funny together. The both like soccer and have similar taste in music. Melia and Allie have a great sister bond. I'm so happy they get along as well as they do. They love to shop, go out to eat, and just hang out together. I love that girl. Can't imagine our family without her.
AFHS Prom 2014
Allie went to Prom with Kelton Burns, also a senior at AFHS. They had a great time. We found her dress on clearance at Dillard's. It was a $180 Calvin Klein dress on sale for $65. We just had to add straps/sleeves. Prom was at the U in SLC, so the group took some beautiful pictures on Temple Square. It had rained all day, but cleared up in time for pictures.
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| Even Otto matched the cute couple! |
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| How cute are these kids? What a great backdrop! |
R.I.P Honu...Meet Otto
Honu died while Mel was on her trip to Hawaii. It was sad to call her and let her know, but I thought she might want to bring a trinket home to put on his grave. It appears that he was hit by a car on Thursday, April 17, sometime between 2:30 and 3:30 pm. His body was right on 9th East, between our street and Murdoch Ave. Sad. I know the timeline because I had gone walking that afternoon and passed the spot around 2:30, then ran errands and he was there when I returned.
I was alone, as Allie was at work and Keenan and Mel were in Hawaii. I called Sandy and she came and helped me. Patrick Smart, our home teacher, was home. He and his son Josh put honu in a bag and a box. Josh carried him to the house. I then began the job of digging a 2-foot deep hole in the back flower bed to lay our buddy to rest. Boy, that took a while. Mel brought home a little green glass turtle that's now on top of the grave.
I told everyone we weren't getting a new cat. That had been the deal all along. Well, a cat is sitting on my foot as I write this blog. Otto came along about a week after Mel got home from Hawaii. Some friends of Kobi had accepted 3 kittens. They got rid of two of them, but needed to find a home for the 3rd. The dad was going to kill it if it didn't go. Kobi took him in, but Burke is allergic to cats. He was out of town and told Kobi to find it a home before he got back. So, she brought a cute tiny gray kitty to our house for a Saturday. That's all it took. I left for California, the girls got feedback from Kamiko on a name and he's Otto. I usually call him O. He is really cute, but a rowdy kitten now. At first he was really skinny and tiny. He was young. He still only eats kitty formula out of a bowl, but will graduate to food soon. We love him already.
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| No, he's not dead. This was the last picture of Honu, taken on conference Sunday |
I told everyone we weren't getting a new cat. That had been the deal all along. Well, a cat is sitting on my foot as I write this blog. Otto came along about a week after Mel got home from Hawaii. Some friends of Kobi had accepted 3 kittens. They got rid of two of them, but needed to find a home for the 3rd. The dad was going to kill it if it didn't go. Kobi took him in, but Burke is allergic to cats. He was out of town and told Kobi to find it a home before he got back. So, she brought a cute tiny gray kitty to our house for a Saturday. That's all it took. I left for California, the girls got feedback from Kamiko on a name and he's Otto. I usually call him O. He is really cute, but a rowdy kitten now. At first he was really skinny and tiny. He was young. He still only eats kitty formula out of a bowl, but will graduate to food soon. We love him already.
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| Taken on Easter Sunday. Look at my beautiful girls and their new brother. |
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| Mel Loves kitties! |
Fabulous California!!!!! I love home!
Since I had a two-week break from work and a $50 credit with Allegiant Air, I decided to go to the Bay Area and visit Kris, Kim and Maria. I don't know why I thought Mon-Fri would be enough. I should have really stayed a whole week. We had a blast. We didn't do much of anything. That's probably why we had a blast.
I flew from Provo to Oakland with Morgan Rogers. She was surprising Sierra Trump. Kris picked us up at the airport around 3:30. Traffic was horrible and it took us forever to get home. Poor Morgan. She was so excited to see Sierra and she doesn't know our traffic. We finally got to Kris' where Maria and Sierra were waiting. Maria told Sierra they were picking me up. The girls squealed, then just hugged and cried. It was so cute. Maria left with the girls, then Kris and I got on with our sister vacation.
We just visited while fixing dinner. Doug got home and gave me a big welcome hug and filled the spa for us. We watched TV. I got introduced to a show they like called "Naked and Afraid." It's a crazy premise. They drop two strangers off, a man and a woman, naked, in a jungle or on an island. They need to find food, water and shelter and get by for 21 days. We just chilled and made plans for the rest of the week.
Tuesday was the day with Kim. We got to her place around 9:00 am. We walked their dog, Lucy, then went to the mall for lunch after freshening up a bit. We had a great time, just catching up. Kim is a great friend. It's like no time passes at all when we get together. We walked around the mall a bit because Kris had some returns to take care of. The funniest part was that Kim, who is 5'11", decided to wear platform sandals that day. While walking in the mall, with her between us two shrimps, I asked "Did you REALLY have to wear THOSE shoes today?" We got a good laugh out of it. She's elegance, class, refinement, old-fashioned values and kindness all rolled into one. I love that girl. Then it was time to go pick up her kids from school, so we went with her. We also drove by our old houses. It was a great day. Kris and I got home and worked on dinner and chilled. She had some Relief Society stuff to work on, too. We went at night to see the movie "Heaven is for Real." It's a great movie about a kid who had a near-death experience at the age of 3. The family wrote it into a book and now it's a movie.
I love the good things her ward does. It's the gospel in action. There's a lady, who isn't a member, but uses the resources at the Bishop's Storehouse, including the employment center. Thanks to the workers at that center, this lady has a new job as a manager at McDonald's. They catered lessons to her and helped he in mock interviews. A brother in Kris' ward, who serves at the storehouse, would give this lady rides whenever he went. Kris' RS presidency also goes early in the morning every Friday to get day-old bread from Panera Bakery. They then deliver the bread to families in need or to families who just need a "thank you." They make up to 30 deliveries every Friday. Wow, what service! It was great to hear what they're up to.
On Wednesday, we went on a long 6-mile walk. It was beautiful. We had a great time and followed it up with donuts and donut holes at Donut Wheel, Kamiko's favorite. Then I got my haircut. It had been driving me nuts. I met Kris' Sandy. I have Sandy that cuts my hair and Kris has a Sandy. It was a nice afternoon. We finally got in the spa that Doug had filled just for us (not really, but he wanted us to think that). After a yummy dinner of steak salad, Kris and Doug took me to ice cream at Loards on the way out of town to go meet up with Maria in Tracy. I spent Wednesday night and Thursday with Maria and the girls. Of course, I saw John, but he's not a girl, so he doesn't really count.
Maria and I went out Thursday morning to take Abby to school and to pick up some delicious strawberries. She gets them right by her home in Manteca, at a field where they're picked daily. I ate them right in the car. Not all of them, but a lot. We went on a quick walk, then got cleaned up for a day in Old Sacramento with the girls. I'd never been to Old Sacramento. It was really fun. It's right on the waterfront and has lots of cute shops. A candy shop, a sock shop, souvenir shops, etc. We also had lunch at Farrell's ice cream place. I was too full for ice cream, but they sang to Morgan, complete with sirens, lights and drums. It was great. I got a delicious cheese and garlic stuffed sourdough loaf to take home to Kris and Doug's for dinner. We met up with them in Tracy again.
Thursday night we had fish, veggies and BREAD. I then introduced Kris and Doug to my TV find, "Call the Midwife." It's a show based on a midwife's diaries. She worked in the East side of London in the late 1950's. I really enjoy the show. It's got strong female characters, since it's mostly about nuns, midwives and women giving birth. Oh, and we went to Loard's Ice Cream again because I needed to try a second flavor. I need to move to Livermore, because Kris and Doug go to Loard's every Friday for date night.
Friday morning Kris went off to work and Maria and Morgan came to get me. We headed to the airport and came back home. When I got home, Melia asked me "What's for dinner." THE OFFICIAL END OF MY VACATION!
I flew from Provo to Oakland with Morgan Rogers. She was surprising Sierra Trump. Kris picked us up at the airport around 3:30. Traffic was horrible and it took us forever to get home. Poor Morgan. She was so excited to see Sierra and she doesn't know our traffic. We finally got to Kris' where Maria and Sierra were waiting. Maria told Sierra they were picking me up. The girls squealed, then just hugged and cried. It was so cute. Maria left with the girls, then Kris and I got on with our sister vacation.
We just visited while fixing dinner. Doug got home and gave me a big welcome hug and filled the spa for us. We watched TV. I got introduced to a show they like called "Naked and Afraid." It's a crazy premise. They drop two strangers off, a man and a woman, naked, in a jungle or on an island. They need to find food, water and shelter and get by for 21 days. We just chilled and made plans for the rest of the week.
Tuesday was the day with Kim. We got to her place around 9:00 am. We walked their dog, Lucy, then went to the mall for lunch after freshening up a bit. We had a great time, just catching up. Kim is a great friend. It's like no time passes at all when we get together. We walked around the mall a bit because Kris had some returns to take care of. The funniest part was that Kim, who is 5'11", decided to wear platform sandals that day. While walking in the mall, with her between us two shrimps, I asked "Did you REALLY have to wear THOSE shoes today?" We got a good laugh out of it. She's elegance, class, refinement, old-fashioned values and kindness all rolled into one. I love that girl. Then it was time to go pick up her kids from school, so we went with her. We also drove by our old houses. It was a great day. Kris and I got home and worked on dinner and chilled. She had some Relief Society stuff to work on, too. We went at night to see the movie "Heaven is for Real." It's a great movie about a kid who had a near-death experience at the age of 3. The family wrote it into a book and now it's a movie.
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| 1870 Tanglewood Way. My bedroom was the one on the top left |
I love the good things her ward does. It's the gospel in action. There's a lady, who isn't a member, but uses the resources at the Bishop's Storehouse, including the employment center. Thanks to the workers at that center, this lady has a new job as a manager at McDonald's. They catered lessons to her and helped he in mock interviews. A brother in Kris' ward, who serves at the storehouse, would give this lady rides whenever he went. Kris' RS presidency also goes early in the morning every Friday to get day-old bread from Panera Bakery. They then deliver the bread to families in need or to families who just need a "thank you." They make up to 30 deliveries every Friday. Wow, what service! It was great to hear what they're up to.
On Wednesday, we went on a long 6-mile walk. It was beautiful. We had a great time and followed it up with donuts and donut holes at Donut Wheel, Kamiko's favorite. Then I got my haircut. It had been driving me nuts. I met Kris' Sandy. I have Sandy that cuts my hair and Kris has a Sandy. It was a nice afternoon. We finally got in the spa that Doug had filled just for us (not really, but he wanted us to think that). After a yummy dinner of steak salad, Kris and Doug took me to ice cream at Loards on the way out of town to go meet up with Maria in Tracy. I spent Wednesday night and Thursday with Maria and the girls. Of course, I saw John, but he's not a girl, so he doesn't really count.
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| We're old, but we've still got it. Actually, it was really hard for us to climb these and Kris kinda hurt her shoulder. We're old. |
Maria and I went out Thursday morning to take Abby to school and to pick up some delicious strawberries. She gets them right by her home in Manteca, at a field where they're picked daily. I ate them right in the car. Not all of them, but a lot. We went on a quick walk, then got cleaned up for a day in Old Sacramento with the girls. I'd never been to Old Sacramento. It was really fun. It's right on the waterfront and has lots of cute shops. A candy shop, a sock shop, souvenir shops, etc. We also had lunch at Farrell's ice cream place. I was too full for ice cream, but they sang to Morgan, complete with sirens, lights and drums. It was great. I got a delicious cheese and garlic stuffed sourdough loaf to take home to Kris and Doug's for dinner. We met up with them in Tracy again.
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| THE sandwich. Oh, this is only half. Maria and I shared. |
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| Syd, Morgan, Sierra and Maria |
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| Yes, these were sitting in my lap! |
Thursday night we had fish, veggies and BREAD. I then introduced Kris and Doug to my TV find, "Call the Midwife." It's a show based on a midwife's diaries. She worked in the East side of London in the late 1950's. I really enjoy the show. It's got strong female characters, since it's mostly about nuns, midwives and women giving birth. Oh, and we went to Loard's Ice Cream again because I needed to try a second flavor. I need to move to Livermore, because Kris and Doug go to Loard's every Friday for date night.
Friday morning Kris went off to work and Maria and Morgan came to get me. We headed to the airport and came back home. When I got home, Melia asked me "What's for dinner." THE OFFICIAL END OF MY VACATION!
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