Baby Boy #3

On Wednesday, December 22, 2010, we had the ultrasound for baby #3. It's a boy!!!!! It was a little surprising that we were really having another boy. It seemed like the odds were really leaning towards a girl but we will have three little boys running around the Mellen house very soon.

Christmas 2010

Our Christmas holiday started the first weekend in December when we attempted to go out and cut our own Christmas tree. Chad's friend Matt bought he and us a cutting permit. On December 4, with Shelli in tow for yet another Mellen adventure, we headed out Highway 89 towards Paulden, following a map provided by the forest service. We drove and drove and drove and drove but had no success. We did a large loop back to Chino Valley and came home empty handed. Part way through we split up from Matt to head home, while he headed in another direction to look for trees and we gave him our saw. It was after we split up that we did find a small area that had decent trees. However, instead of going out again the next day we went to Walmart that night and bought ourselves a tree. It was easier.

Our Christmas holiday also never really begins until Aunt Kitty sends the boys their matching Christmas PJs. This year she found cute red ones with snowmen on them. We realized that every year since she started this, the PJs have also had snowmen on them.

We decorated our tree on December 5. It was all Grant could talk about that day until we got it done. Grant was a huge help wrapping the lights around the tree, hooking up the ornaments and hanging them on the tree. He also handed me pins to hang the garland and did some great supervising while I hung the outside lights. Grant was definately excited about Christmas and everything that comes with it this year.

This year did not bring a lot of parties but we did do our annual graham cracker house decorating party on December 10, 2010. As soon as Christmas began to be discussed, Grant started asking to do another party. Of course, I said yes to something as fun as that. We invited several of Grant's church and preschool friends to candy up some graham cracker houses. The kids had a blast. We had to do it on the floor because I don't have a big enough table so there was candy and frosting everywhere but the dogs quickly took care of that mess after the party was over.

We got our first snow of the season on December 23, 2010. It was just a light dusting that melted before the day ended but it was beautiful and the kids had a great time playing in it. Grant got to do a little sledding with Ava and spent a good part of the day outside with her.

Christmas Eve was low key but we had a good amount of family time. Chad was sick with a stomach bug but still managed to come with us to swim at the Y as a family. It was a cold day and agreeably a strange activity to do on Christmas Eve but the boys love to swim and we had a good time. Grant looked hilarious dressed in his swimshorts and snowboots. It was quite a fashion statement.

Of course, Christmas Eve would not be complete without a fondue dinner. We weren't sure if we were going to get to have fondue with Chad's stomach issues but he started to feel better so we went ahead with it. It was as delicious as ever. Even the boys enoyed a couple of kabobs each. Cole actually preferred the uncooked sweet potatoes to the cooked but that kid always makes weird food choices. The champion fondue eater of the year was me, surprisingly. It was still going strong when even Chad was done and the Mellen boys retired to the couch to watch the Simpsons Christmas episode from season 1 (another family tradition).

On Christmas Eve, was also read the obligatory Night Before Christmas, put out chocolate milk and gingerbread cookies for Santa and let each boy open one small present. Grant and Ava exchanged presents this year so he chose Ava's to open. It turned out Ava chose his to open Christmas Eve. Those two are quite the pair.

Christmas morning the boys were awake before 6 but we kept them in our bed until about 6:15 or 6:30. Our Christmas morning present opening was done before the sun had even risen. Mom and dad were tired and the boys were wired with present adrenalin and stocking candy. The big people went back to bed for a little while, while the boys watched their new Toy Story 3 movie and played with all of their new toys. Grant got his first video game for Christmas, the Wii Play Resort and Cole got a giant Optimus Prime Transformer robot. Barry, as usual, got himself buried in the piles of wrapping paper. It's his favorite Christmas activity.

After a little rest, I got up and made our traditional Christmas morning breakfast of aebleskivers at about 11:30 AM then I immediately got started on Christmas dinner of turkey, stuffing and the rest of the traditional works. I did a lot of cooking on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day but didn't mind. I had a good time and took my time with things. The boys just played and Chad played his video game. Grant worked his way through every toy and art supply he got for Christmas. It was hilarious. For Christmas dinner, we had Matt and Lucy over. They both had to work so they couldn't go to their families' homes. The turkey was delicious and the company was great. Our Christmas was nice and relaxing, just what we wanted this year.

On Sunday, December 26, my mom, Kristen and Brad came up from Phoenix for an overnight visit. Chad had to go back to work that day. They did not come empty handed. Kristen brought about 20 -25 small wrapped presents from the dollar store for the boys to open and play with. They were in heaven. Oma made Grant's Christmas dreams come true with a remote control car for him. I had asked him the day before if he had gotten what he wanted for Christmas. He said he liked his presents but still really wanted a remote control car so when he got one he was thrilled. Cole loves it too. The favorite gift from Aunt Kitty was the whooppee cushion she got for each of them. It was hilarious watching them sit on the whooppee cushion and then laugh hysterically. Cole doesn't quite weigh enough to make it deflate so we had to give him a little push to make the noise.

On Monday, December 27, my family headed back down to Phoenix with both of the boys. Chad and I went out on a date to celebrate our anniversary. It turned out to be a bit of a fiasco. We tried to go to Pasquales which closes at 3 PM on weekdays. We then tried both the Dry Gulch and Willow Creek Restaurant but both are closed on Mondays. We ended up eating at Red Robin. It was a service disaster. We went to see True Grit after dinner and did enjoy that, thankfully.

On Tuesday, December 28, Chad went to work and I took my own sweet time getting myself ready to head down to Phoenix. It was a welcome treat to be alone in my own home. Who knows if or when that had ever happened before? I met my family at Chandler Mall with the boys. Chad was left alone in Prescott for a few days. On Wednesday morning, I headed to Tucson with the boys, Kristen and Brad to visit Papa. We had a nice visit. We saw a movie, ate some good food and relaxed. I also visited my friend Adrian. On Wednesday all of northern Arizona was deluged with a day long blizzard. Luckily, Chad had the day off and stayed home. On Thursday morning, I was wakened at 7:30 AM to a phone call from a very frustrated Chad. The Camry battery was dead, the temperature was below freezing and he had to get to work. He did get the Camry started but then got it stuck in the 1 foot + snow in our driveway. Eventually, a 4x4 vehicle from the VA came to pick him up. He started call that night at 9 PM and needed a vehicle in case he got called in so instead of heading back up to Phoenix Thursday evening and back to Prescott Friday I went all the way home on Thursday night and got home right at 9 PM.

Sadly, the days ahead only got worse. With the Camry stuck in the snow and a terrible snow vehicle anyway, Chad took the Tahoe to work on Friday (New Years Eve) and left me home for the day with the boys. He made it to work without incident. However, getting home wasn't so smooth. He slid down our road coming home from work and our Tahoe's back bumper got stuck on a rock. There was no way it was coming lose without help so we used our free towin service on our insurance and had them send a tow truck, which arrived about 6:30 PM New Years Eve. Chad went down to meet the truck at the bottom of our road and the first thing the guy demands is $50, saying the insurance wasn't paying enough for the job. After speaking with our insurance company, we sent the guy away and another tow truck was dispatched. It finally arrived just before 8 PM New Years Eve. Chad was so done with car and ice trouble that I walked down to meet the truck. I have never been so cold. The temperature was in the single digits and my nose hairs froze everytime I breathed in. This guy was much nicer. He warned me it may cost more but I told him to go until we met the insurance coverage and then we'd assess. He hitched a winch to my tow hitch, had me sit in the car wiht my foot on the brake and literally lifted the back end of my Tahoe off the rock and back onto unstuck ground. It was pretty crazy and cool. Our New Years Eve ended at 10:30 PM because Chad worked the next day.

On New Years Day, we woke up to no water in our house. The pipes in our house were frozen. Our neighbors had water so in an emergency we weren't in terrible shape but it was annoying. I kept thinking that as the day progressed things would defrost and water would return. However, defrosting only happens if the temperature gets above freezing. It never did that day. By 3 PM, I called our landlord and asked what I should do. Per his instructions, I took a hairdryer to the pipes by our well pump and water heater. Within a few minutes, water started gushing from an unknown source. I panicked for about 30 seconds, quickly moving as many things off the ground that could get ruined, before I realized I could turn off the main water switch from where I was. With the water thawed, I waited for Chad to get home to figure out why water was gushing everywhere. Thankfully, it just turned out that the bottom of one of the plastic well filter casings had cracked off with the change in temperature and pressure. We took an emergency road trip to Home Depot and had water before bedtime. Our Camry was still dead and stuck though so on Sunday, while Chad was at work the boys and I hitched a ride to church from the Henries.

On Monday, school resumed and I had to get Grant to preschool. His teacher lives at the bottom of a horrendous hill that had not been plowed. I did not want to get stuck again so I took a back way that included a little snow hike to her house. I pulled the car to the side of the road so as not to block the narrow road, got the boys out and walked Grant to school. Cole and I trooped back to the car, Cole throwing a huge fit because he couldn't stay with Grant. I finally got Cole strapped in and went to leave when I discovered that my Tahoe was stuck again. I thought I had pulled over into a patch of snow but it turned out it was about a 1/2 inch of snow over about 3 inches of solid ice. After trying several things, I knew I was stuck so I ended up calling a friend who came with his giant truck that had a winch on the front to get pulled out yet again.

While I love snow, I do not love perpetually freezing weather. It makes life and functioning near impossible.

After things warmed up a bit and we got over the shock of our New Years weekend, Chad took the boys out after work to build a snowman. They had a great time rolling and packing snow and I supplied the carrot nose.

Our Christmas and New Years was quiet yet memorable to say the least. We are looking forward to this coming year, which will bring kindergarten for Grant, preschool for Cole and a new baby for the family.

Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving was a fun weekend this year. We had Brad, Shelli and my dad for the weekend. Thanksgiving day was typical with too much food, football and relaxation. I cooked another delicious turkey. We had the usual accompanying fare of cornbread stuffing, mashed potatoes and sweet potatoes, homemade green bean casserole, homemade rolls and way too much pie.

On Saturday, we all went out to Las Vegas Ranch to do some shooting. My dad brought his rifle, shotguns and hand gun and Brad brought his handgun. We had a good time shooting random targets of baby diaper boxes, empty soda bottles and soda cans and clay pigeons. The boys were really good. They sat in our car and watched a movie while we shot. I brought the boys to Shelli's car so they could watch everyone shoot at clay pigeons. I didn't hit one pigeon but miraculously Shelli did. I'm not a good aim at all. Shelli loved shooting the little .22 and Brad and my dad had fun firing everything and anything they could. Chad had me practice shooting our shotgun too, which kills my shoulder.

(Brad shooting Dad's hunting rifle)

(Dad shooting his hand gun)

(Our targets)

(Shelli trying out my handgun)

(Chad shooting the little .22)

(The poor diaper box baby)

Grant's soccer season

Grant had a great first season of AYSO soccer. He got better as the season progressed and really enjoyed himself. We had great weather too, except for the very last game, which was absolutely beyond freezing. Grant was so excited at the end of his last game when he got a medal.