We have moved

It has finally happened. We moved to Prescott. We spent the first 17 days of July packing up everything we own and getting our house ready to rent out. On Saturday, July 18, we headed out and drove to Prescott. We had a great amount of help from friends and family to get this move done and we are very grateful. Chad's mom and brother, Vance, came into town for a few days to help pack, make repairs and paint rooms. While Vance and Barbara were here Chad and I made a deal. I could hire someone to clean the house instead of doing it myself and he could purchase Guitar Hero for our Wii. We both won and we were both happy. That's the best kind of deal. We had several guys from the elder's quorum in Tucson come help us load the truck. Our 26' truck was loaded in less than 90 minutes. My brother David came into town to help us drive a car up to Prescott and unload. We had several members of the ward here in Prescott meet us to unload. It is sad to be gone from Tucson but we are enjoying our new home. We have more space inside and out and the weather is much more tolerable although significantly hotter than when I was growing up.

(The door that was finally repainted - Sooner scratched it up and now it's good as new)

(Grant playing Guitar Hero)

(Barbara playing Guitar Hero)

(Our living room while being packed)

(One of many stacks of boxes and bins)

Just a few short days after moving to Prescott, we headed to Estes Park, CO for a Jones family reunion. That is Chad's mom's family. It was great fun but much too short. We headed to Phoenix Wednesday evening and flew out Thursday morning. We had a fun Chuck Wagon dinner on Thursday night. We got to see all of the family that we haven't seen in ages. Grant met up with his "friends" and after dinner disappeared for the rest of the evening. On Friday, we went hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park. We took a fairly easy trail to a lake and enjoyed lunch and the view. It took longer than it should have to get there because Grant was whiney and very slow. He made it though. We wee going to head back after that but Grant said he wanted to hike more so we went on to the next lake. Of course, he whined and was very slow up to the next lake but we made it. We took a detour on the way back and found a beautiful flowing stream with waterfalls. Friday night was the adult dinner. We left Grant with his cousins and some babysitters and went to a church our family rented (not one of our churches). We had dinner and enjoyed a hilarious skit by Barbara and her siblings. Cole slept the whole time in a crib in one of their nurseries. We need some of those at our church. On Saturday, very early, we headed white water rafting. We left with the boys with Kim, Barbara and her kids. The boys had fun with their grandma, aunt and cousins while we floated down the river. I have not had so much fun in a long time. I definitately plan to do that again. Chad's cousin Julia fell out of her boat and a boat of younger kids flipped on the easier rapids but no one was hurt and everyone had a great time. We all rushed back from rafting to watch a video Vance made of a bunch of family photos we all submitted. It was great to watch. We watched it in an actual movie theater we rented. Saturday night was family game night. We were back at the same church from the night before. All of the kids were playing in their fantastic nursery with tons of toys. At one point I went to check on Grant and he actually told me to go away and leave him alone. I think he was afraid I would say it was time to leave. Overall, we all stayed up way too late with our family relaxing in the hot tub and hanging out. Grant had so much fun with his cousins. I am in love with Colorado now and want to go back and even move there. Sadly, we were only there for two days really. We left Sunday morning to fly home.

(Lindsay, Cole, Grant and Chad on the wagon ride before the chuck wagon dinner)

(Kym, Trent, Vance, Barbara and Alisha on a wagon ride before our chuck wagon dinner)

(Alisha, Vance, Ellie, Trent, Jake, Barbara, Chad and Grant at the chuck wagon dinner)

(Chad and Vance at the chuck wagon dinner)

(The cousins, Hayden, Brookie, Sage, Ellie, Little Vance and Grant with Trent relaxing in the hot tub)

(Chad with Grant trailing behind hiking to Bear Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park)

(Chad, Lindsay, Cole and Grant at Crystal Lake)

(Brooke, Vance, Ellie, Brookie, Kim and Little Vance at Bear Lake)

(Chad, Lindsay, Cole and Grant at Crystal Lake)

(Trent, Brooke and Cole - the three redheaded Mellens)

(Trent with the Siebers, Hayden, Steve, Sage and Jake at Bear Lake)

(Cole and Jake hiking)

(Brooke and Cole hiking at Rocky Mountain National Park)

(Grant and Cole taking a lunch break at Bear Lake)

(Brooke, Brookie, Little Vance, Vance, Ellie, Cole and Jake at the secret waterfall we found)

(Kim with Little Vance, Ellie and Brookie at Barbara's condo)

On Tuesday, July 28, Amy, Nicholas and Zachary Studley came to visit and see our new home. Grant and Nicholas had a great time as usual. Those two are more like brothers than friends. I loved having Amy here. She is like a sister to me and I will miss seeing her daily. Grant and Nicholas spent a lot of time driving around in the Powerwheels. They figured out early on that Grant was the better driver and Nicholas the better gas pusher, so despite repeated warnings from moms that it was too dangerous, Grant steered and Nicholas pushed the gas. We spent a full morning at Goldwater Lake on Wednesday. We took the boys on a hike to the dam and back, had lunch and threw rocks in the water.

(Nicholas and Grant enjoying a chocolate chip cookie outside before bed)

(Nicholas, Grant, Zach and Cole having breakfast before going to Goldwater Lake)

(Grant and Cole at Goldwater Lake)

(Nicholas and Grant at Goldwater Lake)

(Nicholas, Grant and Zach on the swing after hiking around part of Goldwater Lake)

(Nicholas and Grant climbing a tree at Goldwater Lake)

(Cole at Goldwater Lake)

(Amy and Zach hiking at Goldwater Lake)

(Cole on the grass at the Square dancing to the music from the cloggers)

We are enjoying our new home here. Grant did finally figure out how to steer his PowerWheels Jeep by himself and loves to drive around our property. He particularly loves it when Cole rides with him. We have done some hiking at Pioneer Park and the Willow Lake trail. I plan to do more with the boys and dogs. The dogs are loving the freedom and the cooler weather. They are free to run here and Sooner has become a whole new dog. I almost don't hate my dogs anymore now that they are outside more. I have started a garden. I am still trying to dig up the dirt and remove the rocks but by the end of this week it will be planted.

(Grant and Cole Jeeping)

(Grant and Cole hiding in a bathroom cupboard - my whole bathroom is unpacked and this cupboard is still empty Yeah!!!!)

(Cole in our new giant shower - he climbed in while I was showering so I took off his diaper and let him play - yes, the shower is as big as it looks)

(Cole stayed in the shower and played while I was getting ready)

It's over!!!!!!

Chad's residency has finally come to an end. It ended June 30, 2009. Yeah!!!!!! On Saturday, June 27, we went to the end of residency BBQ. We went last year to start off his residency. It was quite a different experience this time around. The residency is behind us and Chad was one of the ones being honored. It was a lot of fun and such a weight has been lifted. We can finally get on with life.

(Chad with all of the other residents and their boss, Kristina)

(Chad with his fellow resident, Matt Wade)

(Chad with his boss, Kristina)


(The happy Mellen family)

Now that Chad's residency is done, what are we going to do, you ask? Well.... we are heading to good old Prescott, A-Z. Chad was offered and has accepted a position as a pharmacist at the VA there. He will be working with his friend Matt (see above). Chad starts his job on July 20. We went up to Prescott from July 1-3 to look for a house to rent. After looking at a ton of houses over two very exhausting day, we rented the very last house we looked at. For all of you Prescottonians reading this, we are renting the Shelstad's house on Williamson Valley Road. Matt came up with us and did his house hunting too. We stayed at Alison Stanford's house because she was on her honeymoon. Shelli came up too and helped us out by watching the boys while we house hunted. It was such a huge help. Grant had a great time playing at the Gould's house. He also loved all of the new, fun toys at the Satnford's house, particularly the big bucket of Legos. Both boys also loved a fountain that was on the back deck.

This is evidence of just how exhausted we all were.

We were able to have some fun up in Prescott too. It was July 4 weekend so we were able to go to Fair on the Square on Friday before heading back to Tucson. Sadley, it was pourding down rain for much of our outing. We had enough dryness to make it part way around the square, buy fry bread and make it to the gazeebo before it started downpouring. I sure love my 4th of July fry bread. All three of my boys do too.

(Grant helping to push Cole. He was in a bad mood so he was hiding from the camera.)

(Cole enjoying fry bread.)


(Chad and Grant)

Our 4th of July was also fun. We went to see the movie Up in the late morning. Grant loved the movie. He also loved the popcorn. We bought a Jumbo popcorn and Grant ate almost the entire bucket himself. Both boys enjoyed the movie. Grant laughed a lot at the dog in the movie. In the afternoon, our friend Rachael Prussi, come over for a BBQ. We had a lot of yummy food and had a relaxing afternoon while we waited to head over to the fireworks. Grant was so excited because we made homemade ice cream. He loves to put the ice and the salt on the ice cream maker. Cole and Barry also had a fun time with the ice and salt.

(During dinner we put the dogs outside, or at least tried to keep them outside.)

(Barry and Grant making ice cream)

(Cole and Grant making ice cream)

(The finished product)

(Grant sampling his masterpiece)

I took this picture on our way home from church last Sunday. I was talking to Shelli on the phone on our drive home. All of the sudden, I realized it was very quiet in the car. I turned around and saw Grant looking like this. Notice the upside down Cars sunglasses. Nursery sure can be exhausting.

I was at Joanne's the other day looking for some things and Grant found a small wood birdhouse for $1. He has been very into painting and other art so I bought it for him. He had a fantastic time painting the little house. He was so proud of it too. I wasn't supervising the painting very closely so when I did go to see how things were going I found that half of a large bottle of red paint had been poured on to the paper plate. Oh well, all's well and good in the name of art right? When Grant was done painting, he took it outside and tried to call for birds to fly into it. We hung it on our pomegranite tree. He goes out periodically to check to see if there are any birds in it.

This picture of the dogs perched anxiously below Cole's highchair is a daily occurrence. You can see the dogs learned early on that this was the cashcow of food.

Grant loves the ability to get food for himself out of the refrigerator. He loves to get himself out pieces of fruit when he wants a snack. The other day he pulled out a peach to have a snack. He sat down on the floor across from Cole and said he wanted to share with Cole. He would take a bite or two and then hold it out for Cole to take a few bites or sucks. They did this for a little while then Grant decided he was done with the peach so he gave the peach to Cole to finish. Cole was working on the peach and then Barry decided it was his turn so he grabbed it and ran. Such is life in the Mellen household...protect it or lose it. Cole will learn soon enough. Thankfully, Cole did not seem to care that it disappeared.

These pictures are also evidence of the first lie Grant told me. Years from now, he will be mortified about the story I'm about to tell but I'll deal with it then. Grant has this weird need to remove all of his clothing and I mean all of it before he poops. It drives me crazy because I hate redressing him several times a day and it's particularly annoying when we are in public and he feels the need to do this. Several weeks ago, I made a new rule that he had to poop with his shirt on or he would have time out and no treats for the rest of the day. He has been doing really well with this new rule and has been so proud of himself. On this particular day, he hollered at me from the bathroom that he had pooped with his shirt on. I started giving him all of the requisite mom praise on my way to the bathroom. When I opened the door, I found him with his shirt on but inside out. He sat there so proudly telling me he pooped with it on. I had to sit there and try and explain about lying and that he was telling me a lie. It was really hard not to smile and laugh. He was so proud of himself. I was actually proud he got his shirt back on by himself, inside out or not. It also made me wonder how many times previous he had successfully put his shirt back on.

One Sunday evening, we were outside enjoying the semi-cool weather and surveying the needs for our backyard. We were particulary focused on our ever brown small patch of grass. Chad pulled out the hose to soak it and try and revive it. Grant had a great time running through the hose and soaking himself. He started out with his church pants on but we had him take those off to keep them from getting ruined. Hence, the shirt and boxers in the pictures below.

One of Cole's favorite foods is blueberries. I buy the big containers of them from Costco and put handfuls on his try in the morning for a pre-beakfast snack while I prepare the boys' breakfasts. He eats them up and loves them.

Grant asked me to take this picture of him after I took the pictures of Cole eating blueberries. Isn't he a cutie?

These are my boys relaxing on the couch. Cole loves to role and flip around on people and things. He and grant were wrestling and flipping next to daddy.

One more Grant story: I realized after learning some very sad information about someone else that I needed to start talking to Grant about strangers and keeping his personal areas private and things like that. I have only talked to him a couple of times about it and wasn't sure he was really grasping what I was saying until the other morning. These days when Grant wakes up, he heads downstairs for the pieces of bread I left out for him in the refrigerator then heads back upstairs to watch cartoons until Chad and I get up. This particular morning, he was on our floor watching TV and banging on a big metal bowl with a pen he found on the floor (mom and dad were so happy). All of the sudden, we hear Grant chanting, "No one can touch my penus or my bum," over and over. Chad and I just looked at each other and tried really hard not to laugh. I guess your kids really do listen.