October 2013

For Columbus Day weekend we headed to Tucson to visit Papa and Janet and see their new house. We arrived late Friday night. Saturday we tried to go to Reid Park Zoo but by the time we got there it was closing because they were setting up for Zoocuson. We had to make a quick change of plans and go to Desert Museum instead. We saw all sorts of cool and interesting animals. The funnest part was stamping Cole's torso. You're supposed to pay for a stamp book and collect the foot print stamps throughout the museum but who needs a stamp book when you have Cole's belly. Grant loved stamping Cole at every stop. Eventually, Tyler and Grant got in on the action but Cole definitely had the most stamps. On Saturday night we had a delicious BBQ of ribs and steak. While we were preparing for dinner I walked straight into the closed screen door at full speed, knocked it off the track and landed flat on my back fighting the attacking screen. That morning I broke the shower head off of Papa's guest shower trying to fix the crazy spray.

On Sunday, I woke up with the stomach flu which put a damper on some of our plans. Chad and I still went and stayed the night at Marriott Starr Pass Resort while the boys stayed with Papa and Janet. We ate at a yummy new restaurant in downtown Tucson. I forgot my swimsuit at Papa's house but Chad hit the hot tub and tried out the lazy river. The resort is high on the mountain so the view as amazing. The boys a BBQ and feet in the pool with Papa and Janet.

We got home Monday afternoon and took a walk with the boys to the park by Papa's house. On the way home Chad was leading the boys in a rabbit chase. Cole wasn't watching where he was talking and ran right into a cactus before Chad could grab him. He got a good chunk of cactus in his hand and screamed the entire walk back. Papa put on his dentist magnifiers, grabbed some tweezers and pulled out the tiny remaining spines. I somehow ended up with a big spine in my thigh and Chad had some in his hands too from helping Cole. Before our walk Cole and Grant were running around Papa's car and Cole smacked his head straight into the rearview mirror of Papa's car. That night while getting ready for dinner outside, Janet walked straight into the sliding door that Papa and Chad had put back on earlier in the day. She stabbed it with a knife and knocked it back off the track.

Tuesday we took the boys to the zoo, ate delicious Magpie's pizza then dropped off Chad at UA for his preceptor preview. He's trying to recruit 4th years to do rotations in Flagstaff with him. While Chad was at the function, I took the boys to visit Donau & Bolt and see Papa one last time. When we finished there we parked at UA and played on the grass until Chad finished up. We then headed home to Flagstaff.

On October 16, Cole went on a field trip to the fire station with school like last year. On October 17, Grant participated in his school's annual jog-a-thon. He had a great time running laps with his classmates. Last year he only made it two laps because he was really sick. This year he was able to redeem himself and ran quite a few laps. Cole and Tyler cheered on Grant and they all got popsicles at the end. Tyler gets to go to open gymnastics when we don't have anything going on. He loves to jump in the foam pit and climb on the giant shapes.

Of course, October is Halloween season. Our house was decorated up for the season starting with Cole's zombie birthday party at the end of September. Grant wore three different costumes and Cole wore two. For the ward Halloween party, Grant and Tyler were zombies and Cole wore an Indiana Jones costume he found at the Mountain School clothing exchange. For the school Halloween parties, Cole decided to be a zombie and Grant decided to be a vampire. However, for trick or treating later that night Grant changed his mind again and put on his hockey gear to be a hockey player. Tyler was a zombie all season and loved wearing his bloody t-shirt and scary face paint. Cole, Tyler and I spent a night in Phoenix with Oma because I had a hearing in Phoenix. Cole and Oma carved a pumpkin together, which Cole was proud of all season long. Just before Halloween, Chad and the boys carved another, larger jack-o-lantern. We didn't pass out candy this year. We took the boys to Walnut Meadows for trick-or-treating. The boys didn't last very long though so their haul wasn't quite as plentiful as last year.

The boys got worked up one night and started belly sliding across the ottoman:
http://youtu.be/tDroVQ0wmBg
http://youtu.be/3hnD-wVujSY

The home teachers were over one evening and all of the sudden during their visit, Tyler started singing his version of "If You're Happy and You Know It." A couple of days later I convinced him to sing it for me on camera. It was a feat to get him to do it.
http://youtu.be/OOfdOufIWjc

These are my other attempts, which show just how coy, cute and stubborn this boy can be:
http://youtu.be/JCDw8zE1HuI
http://youtu.be/-5I6goz_Tys
http://youtu.be/17Jchxs8x_g

Cole turns 5

On September 17, Cole turned five years old. He got to celebrate his birthday with us, Oma and Grammie, who came up for the day to visit. Cole started his special day with honey puff pancake, one of his favorite things. Chad bought him a Smurf cake for his birthday cake. We had basagna and asparagus for dinner, per Cole's request. He received a Spiderman mask, a Superman shooter thing, some zombie t-shirts, a Ninjago glow in the dark t-shirt (Oma and mom both got him the same one) and his very own baby doll (so he and Tyler don't have to fight over them anymore). A week or so later he received a zombie bowling set and some other zombie things from Grandma and Kitty.

On September 27, we had Cole's birthday party. It was a zombie birthday party. Grant, Gavin Peterson and Joel Ward dressed up like zombies while all of Cole's friends ran around and shot them with Nerf guns. I made red velvet cupcakes topped with zombie brains, candy bones and a glow in the dark finger. The kids each got to keep their Nerf guns. They loved running around chasing the zombies and shooting them. Cole has a good group of friends who were all very generous with gifts of superhero items, art supplies and even cash.

We love our 5 year old Cole. He's growing up fast and has decided that now that he's 5 there are things he can now do that he couldn't before. We're going to work on getting him to ride a bike, buckle his own seat belt and stop the finger sucking. Cole is a very social boy. He loves school and his friends there. He's working on learning his letters and writing. Cole still loves his Netflix and video games. His sense of humor is hilarious and he's usually the comic relief of the family.

September 2013

On September 1, we went camping again. We went to one of our favorite spots. Cole ate his usual bag of chips. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. We took a small hike, played catch, shot the bow and arrow and let the boys run around.

On September 10, Grant did his belt testing for his yellow belt. He did a great job. He tested with his two friends, Blake and Wesley Ralston. Tyler has taken a new liking to baby dolls, spending lots of time dressing, undressing and feeding his doll.

Videos of Grant's belt testing:

http://youtu.be/Uqh6Yx1iao0

http://youtu.be/vdwrFlVM1Ds

http://youtu.be/GIVCC93edpw

http://youtu.be/otbGfmfUaho

http://youtu.be/14CkiMgHkf0

http://youtu.be/BLDpUieIDiE

http://youtu.be/im1xNIg46lA

http://youtu.be/Kq6HmBxiG1U

http://youtu.be/yJ3FWHyFB_Q

http://youtu.be/oFMFyX8DjB0

On September 20, we attended the annual Mountain School Chili Cookoff. I brought my usual crockpot full of regular old chili and made a few loaves of cornbread. That morning before 8 AM I had made my batch of chili and 4 loaves of cornbread. The kids ran and played with their friends and Grant participated in the entertainment. Here are the videos of the performance:

http://youtu.be/cKSq9uGoBW4

http://youtu.be/4ORt5wd9hSI

http://youtu.be/7bBedAhkDik

http://youtu.be/sUi75bEHDqI

On September 22, after Stake Conference we headed down toward Payson to try out another of the Flagstaff Hikes hikes. This one is called the Railroad Tunnel trail. It is a fairly challenging but luckily pretty short walk then climb to an abandoned partially blasted railroad tunnel. It's literally in the middle of nowhere. You can't see it from the road and when you're at this tunnel it's impossible to even imagine how someone planned to put a railroad there. The tunnel is fairly shallow as it was started in anticipation of the railroad and then abandoned when the railroad venture went bankrupt. You can climb all the way to the back of the tunnel. There is some pretty challenging up and down climbing to get to the tunnel. All of the boys made the climb really well. It was far more challenging than we anticipated and yet again we were in way over our heads with nothing to do but keep pushing through. I had to carry Tyler most of the way out toward the end. The adventure didn't end there as we decided to finish driving the Mogollon Rim road rather than backtracking. The drive was far longer than we thought and we ended up in Payson at about 8 PM. Our adventure started at about 1 and were thought we'd be home by 4 or 5. We had to make an unplanned dinner stop at McDonald's and finally made it home about 10 PM with five exhausted Mellens. Despite the "3 hour tour" it was a hike worth doing. Where else are you going to get to climb in an abandoned railroad tunnel?

 The boys started hockey on September 23. Grant and Cole were both ready to get out on that ice and start skating.

These are other cute pictures of the boys from the month.

Tyler kind of walks like Cam from Modern Family. I was trying to get a video of him doing the walk but he saw me and didn't like it. Here's my attempt:
http://youtu.be/8bGg_mhzq3Q

August 2013

On August 11, we took a Sunday family walk on the trail behind Foxglenn Park. There are huge boulder piles to climb on and the wildflowers were goregous.

On August 15, Grant and Cole started school. Grant started second grade and Cole started pre-k. Tyler of course had to be part of the group with his backpack. Cole started pre-K at Mountain School but moved back to Acorn at the beginning of October because the program is better. Grant's teacher is Miss Mary. He has nearly all of the same kids in his class as he did last year. The teacher just changed.

On August 19, we took an evening fishing trip with Melody and Dave Ward and their kids. Dave is a fish biologist and so knows all of the best secret places in town to actually catch fish. He took us to a watering hole that has been illegally stocked with tiny fish. All you had to do was drop in your line and a fish would hook on. I caught one on accident when I was trying to reel in a bad cast. It made Grant's night as he is obsessed with fishing and was desperate to catch his first fish. We all got extremely muddy and smelled like fish so the trip was successful. When it was getting too dark to fish we built a fire and roasted marshmallows before heading home.

Grant chose to do summer hockey instead of soccer this summer but a compressor broke at the rink so hockey had to be cancelled. To give him an activity we signed him up for a six week session of Tae Kwon Do with his good friends Blake and Wesley Ralston. Grant had a great time with it. He loves things with discipline and structure. We let him keep going past the six weeks to earn his yellow belt and then he stopped to start playing hockey.

We signed up Cole for Kids First hockey which let him try out hockey for free for four Saturdays before the season started to see if he liked it. It took him less than two sessions to get his feet under him and start skating. He never cried and kept telling us how much he loved it so we were sold. These are his first attempts on the ice.

Below are some cute random pictures I took throughout the month.

Here are some videos Grant took with my phone:

http://youtu.be/KzDehDHY03c

http://youtu.be/yfsaEWXweRg

July 2013

July started out with Tyler having tubes put in his ears. The poor guy had five ear drum bursts in the previous year and couldn't hear very well so it was time. He was a trooper. He looked adorable in his little gown, had fun playing with the toys before surgery and didn't even cry when he was taken back by the nurse for the procedure. When he came to after the surgery he was bawling and let me hold him for about 1 minute before he was climbing out of my lap pulling on his gown and saying he wanted to leave. From there on out you wouldn't even have known he'd had surgery. 

Grandma Mellen came to visit for the 4th of July. We BBQed, went to the parade, watched the fireworks and explored the art fair at Wheeler Park.

We took Grandma hiking at Sunset Crater and to see the Wupatki Ruins. Of course, it was pouring down rain and lightning but we still had fun. It was beautiful out there with the clouds and storm.

On July 12, we went with Shawnie, Carter and Gavin to Ace Hardware for a free craft day. They showed the kids how they cut glass, let them climb on some of their big trucks and let them paint some wood door hangers. The boys also each walked away with a tool apron filled with a measuring tape, contractor pencils, stickers and other goodies.

On July 13, we went to the annual city sponsored Touch-A-Truck event at the Aquaplex. The city parks various city owned vehicles in the parking lot for the kids to climb in and look. There was a fire truck, police car, Zamboni, giant dump truck, SWAT truck and many other vehicles to explore.

On July 19, we took the worst camping trip ever. The fireban was finally lifted so we couldn't resist but with the lifting of the ban also comes monsoons. It was pouring down rain the whole time we were trying to set up camp. We were all in a bad mood, soaking wet and cold. We managed to get shelter up, the tent up, the beds set up and then the rain let up as we finished. Thankfully it didn't start up again but the damage was done. We managed to get a fire going with the damp wood and eat our hot dogs. It was a cold damp night.

More of us on our regular summer activities of bowling, climbing at the Aquaplex and playing in the theater arcade before summer movies started.

Cole played hockey for the months of July and August when his games and practices weren't getting rained out. We had a hard monsoon season this summer. It was Cole's first year and he really enjoyed it. He just ran up and down the field not always knowing exactly where the ball was. It was so cute. 

June 2013

Summer started with a bang. On June 3, 2013, I took the kids to Halfway for some swimming in Oak Creek with friends from our ward. The boys spent the day wading, swimming, catching fish, snacking and playing on the shore. When we were done with our fun in the sun we changed in our car and headed to Cordes Junction to meet Oma.

Oma took the boys to her house for about a week while I went to girls camp. Oma also had Andrew while David and Melissa went on a cruise. Shelli came for a bit of the time and helped out Oma but it was a wild week with a trip to the zoo, a visit to the splash pad, walks to the park and a few swims in her pool.

Here's a video Shelli took with the boys to send to me:

http://youtu.be/l3Fv0Qfv19s

On June 12, David, Melissa and Andrew came to visit for a few hours on their way up to Utah. Tyler and Andrew love to play with each other. It was a scary sight watching the two of them try to drive the Jeep together. On June 13, we headed to Crescent Moon Picnic Area with friends for some more swimming in Oak Creek. The kids slid down the rapids on the slick rocks, catching crawdads and swimming in the water. It was a great day of fun, food and sun.

From June 16-22 we took a family vacation to San Francisco. We drove the first day to Bakersfield where we slept, swam and rested up. On June 17, we drove to Monteray to go to the Monteray Bay Aquarium. We spent the day looking at sea animals. For dinner we went to one of the yummy seafood restaurants at the end of a pier. While we enjoyed fresh seafood dishes we watched sea otters and seals swimming in the marina. After dinner we drove to San Francisco and checked into our hotel.

On June 18 we went to the wharf. We went to the Exploratorium on the wharf. It was an amazing hands on museum with all sorts of hands on and learning exhibits and experiments. It was a jam packed museum full of people and and things to do. We didn't get to see all of it because it had so much in it. From the museum we walked over to Pier 39 and picked up our tickets for a San Francisco Bay cruise. While we waited for our cruise we walked around the boardwalk. We ate crab sandwiches, fed the annoying seagulls and watched them make sourdough bread. At the sourdough restaurant the boys drew the attention of the manager in the bakery. She came around and gave each of the boys a small, sourdough bread turtle to much on before the cruise.

The bay cruise was so much fun. We took a big boat out and around Alcatraz, out and under the Golden Gate Bridge and back to the wharf. They told us interesting facts about the architecture and history of San Francisco. It was a gorgeous day and a gorgeous view. After the bay cruise, we left the wharf and drove down Lombard Street, drove by my first ward building and apartment then headed back to our hotel for dinner and bed.

June 19 brought the true, underlying reason for this trip ... Chad's pilgrimage to Giant's Stadium and a Giant's home game. We took the commuter train from our hotel straight to the park with a lot of other fans. We spent the day at the park watching the game and exploring all of the fun things they have. The boys loved the huge slides and the small baseball diamond for batting and running. We had great food and watched a great game.

After the game we took the train back to our hotel then hopped in our car and headed to Oakland and Berkeley for Fenton's ice cream and a drive around Berkeley. Needless to say the boys were in love with the heaping mounds of delicious ice cream. We were supposed to visit Grandma June but she got sick and wasn't up for visitors.

On June 20 we drove out of the city to Muir Woods and Muir Beach. The road is a treacherous stretch of horrid switchbacks but luckily we all kept our breakfasts down. By the time we got there parking was backed up on the road a mile at least so it was a long walk from our car to the park but it was worth it. We walked the path and enjoyed the cool forest of gigantic old trees.

From the woods we drove further on to the beach. It wasn't quite what we'd hoped but the kids still had fun. The wind was so hard it was blowing the sand sideways off the beach straight into our ears and eyes. It was freezing and the water was colder. Tyler hated it and wouldn't leave the blanket. Grant and Cole on the other hand weren't phased one bit. They were in the water up to their hips, splashing and making sand castles.

That night we had dreams of authentic Chinese food in China town for dinner but that didn't quite happen. We made it to China town but the food we ended up with was far from delicious. We ended up with still mostly unknown dishes that were luke warm at best then heated in a microwave. Chad tried to be adventurous and eat what we'd purchased but that backfired on him later. Luckily, the boys and I were less willing to be brave and daring. We did discover the Chinese bakeries with their delicious treats. The boys were all over the donuts and cream filled pastries we kept finding. Our day at Muir Woods wore us all out. The boys passed out when we got back to the hotel.

Our last day in the city was spent at the California Academy of Sciences, which had a mixture of sea life, science, animal life and all sorts of other things. There was a lot to see and do. Chad and the big boys went on a real earthquake machine. I took Tyler to the toddler play area. There is a full size dinosaur skeleton on display as well. 

The museum is in Golden Gate Park so after we finished at the museum we drove and found a spot by the big duck pond for a picnic then took a walk around the lake. The boys chased the pigeons and ducks. We explored the Japanese pagoda. The boys played, ran and enjoyed a little bit of citified nature.

When we'd had our fill of Golden Gate Park we left the city for Bakersfield. We left right at rush hour though and a trip that was only supposed to take 4 or so hours took closer to 7. It was rough going and we were exhausted but we finally made it to our hotel. We went to Las Vegas from Bakersfield and spent a night with the Wadleys before coming home.

When we weren't roadtripping or swimming in Oak Creek we could be found at the Aquaplex playing air hockey and climbing or at the bowling alley, the movie theater or the soccer fields.

Here's a cute video of Tyler:
http://youtu.be/vS1cmkFUYHk

Grant turns 7

Grant turned 7 on May 24. His birthday was celebrated in three parts this year. On his actual birthday we went camping for Memorial Day with friends so in a few brief moments between Chad getting home from work and leaving for camping Grant opened his presents. He was alright with leaving it at that and postponing cake because he loves camping.

On May 26, when Papa, Janet, Kristen, Tyler and Shelli came to visit we had a cake for Grant complete with candles and Happy Birthday. We even had his favorite dinner, t-bones.

On May 29, 2013, Grant had his birthday party at Foxglenn Park. He invited his entire class and all of his friends from church, hence having it at the park. Not everyone came but there were a lot of friends there for Grant. He is a well-liked child for sure. I made cupcakes, the kids played on the playground and Grant opened his presents. He received a lot of Legos.

Our Grant is growing up too fast if you ask me. I can't believe his next birthday will bring his baptism. Grant is friendly, calm, athletic, helpful and a good example to his brothers. He gets along with everyone he meets. He loves hockey and baseball. He's developing a deeper love of video games, fishing and dinosaur shows and psychologically tormenting Cole. All in a days work for a big brother I supposed. We couldn't ask for a better oldest son. We love him.

Tyler turns 2

On May 4, 2013 our baby Ty Ty turned 2 years old and isn't such a baby anymore as you can see. He's not a big fan of pictures so getting him to smile in a birthday picture was challenging. His birthday celebration was quick because Chad and I had plans for the evening but luckily he's only 2 and didn't notice.

Tyler is by far our most independent, resourceful, stubborn and demanding child. If his smile and his voice weren't so cute he'd be in a lot of trouble for most of everyday. It's hard to put such a cutie in time out though. He insists upon getting himself up in his own chair, climbing into the car and his car seat by himself and anything else he can even remotely do alone. He loves to get his own shoes and socks, get himself water and do whatever his big brothers are doing. It's hard not to love this cute little boy.

May 2013

May started out with a bang and didn't let up until June rolled in. 

On May 3, 2013, I took Cole and Tyler to the annual science festival at Acorn Preschool. Shawnie and Carter Peterson joined us for some hands on fun. 

May 4, 2013 brought the 5K Color Run for me and my friends, Linsey Cardiff, Shawnie Peterson, Mandi Buxton, Annie Schultz and Andrea Sexton. As we ran the 5K we were sprayed with various colors of cornstarch ultimately ending up looking like oversized Smurfs. It was a blast. We ran and danced and acted too silly for our ages. It was a great girls morning out. While I was at this run, Chad was with Grant and Cole at the Fathers and Sons campout at Pumphouse Wash. Of course, there are no pictures of that but fun was had by all. Tyler was home with a babysitter sleeping like a baby.

On May 7, 2013, Cole's school held their Mother's Day Brunch. Oma, Shelli, Melissa and Andrew were visiting that day from Phoenix so Oma got to come with us for the brunch. Cole was so excited for this event. He couldn't wait to serve me my food and told me more than once how they were supposed to serve us and take care of us. His class did an adorable program of mother's day songs.

Cole's Mother's Day program: http://youtu.be/AQ0_aJf3F3s

After Cole's brunch we headed home to spend the rest of the day with Shelli, Melissa and Andrew. We went to lunch at Crystal Creek and relaxed at home. Shelli had fun harassing the boys and letting the boys harass her.

On May 11, 2013, we went to the Kite Festival at Foxglenn Park. We bought ourselves a $5 kite and let the boys enjoy the new experience. We all had so much fun relaxing on the field, flying the kite when the wind was up and being awed by the high-tech and fancy kites.

On May 13, 2013, Chad took us all fishing at Dogtown Lake. It wasn't quite what we thought it would be. The water level was very low. No fish were caught but Grant's budding love of fishing was further fueled. Cole and Tyler were relatively patient for this trip with not much to do except hang out on the bank. The only two pictures I took on the trip are below. The boys managed to wear themselves out as is usual when they are out doors. We came across this bus parked in the middle of the forest while driving out. I still wonder who lives there.

We can't forget baseball which still consumed three days of each week for the entire month of May between practice and games. Thankfully they were still having fun.

On May 18, 2013, we hiked Griffiths Spring, another of our Flagstaff Hikes hikes. It is a short loop which changing scenery. We had a fun couple of hours enjoying nature.

On May 20, 2013, Grant's class had their author's tea. Grant's class was Miss Gina's most writing obsessed class ever. They all wrote multiple reports and books about varying topics. In addition to the mountain lion report Grant wrote in March, he did a report on the Phoenix Coyotes and wrote a book about the mosasauras with his best friend Samuel Simonsen. Grant's other hockey buddies in his class wrote reports on their favorite hockey teams. Miss Gina set aside a couple of hours for parents to come in and see the work and listen to some of it read. It was truly amazing to see how far kids who could barely read and write at the beginning of the year had come.

Cole finished up at Acorn the week of May 21, 2013. The class did their end of year program on May 21. They re-wrote and acted out three different fairy tales. May 23 was Cole's last day of preschool. He brought Miss Michelle flowers to say thank you. It was a sad day because we thought we weren't coming back and Acorn is such a great school for Cole.

Here are videos of Cole's program and last day of school:

http://youtu.be/uA9ppojGwBE; http://youtu.be/9smUGZ7k0EA; http://youtu.be/qzAjN-APyN8;  http://youtu.be/pTRa5pfWSis

Cole and Tyler attend a weekly music class called Sound Beginnings. They both love it and are learning a lot. Cole gave his performance impromptu when asked to express how he felt listening to the opera aria:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZUbcSnBYLM

Memorial Day weekend was busy for us. We went camping on May 24-25, 2013 with other families for our ward. They go annually and we were invited to tag along this year. Of course all of our friends have giant 5th wheels, quads and rhinos. We brought our Coleman tent, our bow and arrows and our baseball gloves. They projected a movie onto the side of one of the 5th wheels after dark for the kids. Unfortunately, the fire ban had already gone into effect so we were camping fireless. We spent most of the 25th at the campsite hanging out with friends, riding quads and rhinos and letting the kids get good and dirty. It's not a successful campout if the kids don't come home filthy.

Within a few hours after getting home from camping Papa and Janet arrived for the night. Kristen, Tyler and Shelli arrived the next day. Kristen brought Tyler to Arizona for the first time. They made a trip up north to visit us and see the Grand Canyon. We spent Sunday afternoon driving to and from the Grand Canyon and showing Tyler the sights.We BBQed that night and they headed out the next morning. It was a quick visit but fun to see family and meet Tyler for the first time. Video of the boys playing rock band: http://youtu.be/RTYXvgAKqKI

Because Tyler doesn't have many activities of his own yet he doesn't get much highlight in these posts so here's a collage dedicated just to Tyler and his cuteness.

On May 31, Grant had his end of year get together in his class. Miss Gina wrote a card for each child about what made them special. Miss Gina was an amazing first grade teacher. Grant learned so much from her and really loves school. Here is what she said about Grant: http://youtu.be/t6V2JZbymis