Father's and Son's

The boys and Scott went to the South Hills (Cottonwood) with the men and boys from our ward for the annual father's and son's camp out. This is something the boys look forward to each year. They try to go around the time that the priesthood was restored for our days (a great website that explains this much better than I do...
http://mormon.org/restoration/#god-restored-christs-church-through-joseph-smith
) This year they were able to do it on the same weekend.

Why camping and the celebration of the priesthood being restored together...??? They go and have a great time together ...bonding...(this year they 4 wheeled, shot guns, at good food, hiked, and hung out)...but the real reason is for the meeting around the campfire at night when a leader speaks about the priesthood. They enjoy doing this and I'm glad they do.

I invited all the women and girls from our ward to my house for dinner and a movie. We had a great time...not a huge turnout but large enough. I made pizza dough and they brought toppings and the girls each made their own pizza. We did not get to the movie but the girls did paint nails while the moms visited.

watching the grass grow

It is so fun to take an "umrella" outside under the sprinklers. This is how Lili and I are spending the afternoons while the kids are in school...it will be nice when our subdivision pump is turned on.

A visit from Jenessa

We had our sweet friend Jenessa come visit us for the weekend from BYU-I. We were all so excited to see her and sad to have her go. Next time we hope she'll come for longer. I'd like to know how many hours she has spent babysitting our kids...lots! We just hung out with her and planted our garden. She promises to come help harvest the garden.

Baptism Trip

Reese turned twelve recently and with that comes receiving the priesthood, mutual on Wednesday nights, and temple trips. This is a picture of his first temple trip. He was really excited and said it was a great experience. Scott took Mckenzie and Reese since he serves in the Young Men's organization.

Side note...can you tell how much Scott loves his picture taken...ha, ha... I took two but the other picture is blurry so the cheesy photo wins a place on the blog.

Reese receives the Priesthood

We had a great day! After church we met in the High Priest room at the Filer Stake Bldg and Scott ordained Reese to the office of a deacon and to be an Aaronic Priesthood holder. Grandma and Grandpa Hunsaker made the long drive from Washington...Grandpa Randy and Grandma Criss and Leslie came, and the Meyerhoeffer crew. After, we had a lunch at our house...the Ridenours came to eat as well as the other families...I wish I would have taken a picture with my parents and Scott's with Reese...oh well, I should be happy for the pictures I took.

a visit from G&G Hunsaker

Loye and Vaughn were so nice to come a few days prior to Reese receiving the Priesthood so they could help with our many projects around the house. We appreciate them coming to help. Vaughn and Scott were able to work on the sprinklers and on the chicken coop. Loye helped Mckenzie and I do our Saturday house cleaning...which was so nice. (Meili was asked by a doctor if she had 3 wishes what would they be....Meili thought about her answer for a bit and said with conviction, "..., I'd have a bunch of moms to help us clean and I'd work in a zoo" I understood her wisdom while Loye was here helping...it would be nice to have lots of moms help us clean each Saturday)

Davis loves, loves this basketball hoop that we have. We've had it for ages but it was not used at our last house. All day long we can here him bouncing the basketball and making shots. He hopes since he had his tonsils removed that he'll grow a lot so he can be an NBA basketball player or football player.

Reese went on his first camp out with his deacon quorum. He had a great time but came back absolutely beat. He spent the afternoon sacked out on the couch with his new ds Black and White Pokemon game that he received for his bday.

The little girls are absolute pack rats. They love to make messes and have as much stuff out as possible where ever they are. It is always interesting stuff...stuff I would not think of playing with...glad they are friends. They enjoyed sitting in their chairs, eating cheese its while watching the chicken coop take shape

In March we bought 12 chickens. We still have 11. They have been living in our basement in our water heater room. At first they were okay in the house but by about this size...it was time to get them out of the house. Scott has worked and worked on the chicken coop. He just said (5/20), "If I'd have known how much time this would have taken I would not have started it"...I said well I'm glad you did not know and he said he is too but, if he would have known... The chickens are fun...I'm not sure why but they are. I never have to get after someone to go take care of them because it is always done...not like a cat or dog that loses excitement when they get big...chickens seem to get better and better as they get older. They should start laying eggs in a month or so. We'll get an egg a day from each of them. A friend told me it is like Christmas everyday once they start laying and she never fights her kids to go gather eggs...they just do it...hopefully, we'll have the same luck.

Our little Native American

Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. We are looking forward to spending it with Scott's family (those who can make it) at our house. Our kids have the entire week off next week. I am looking forward to having them around.

Meili's kindergarten teacher came out to the car today after school because she said that she had to tell me something...yikes...
She said that the quote of the week is, "practice makes perfect" and that they were discussing this and the fact that no one is perfect. She said that Meili raised her hand and said, "My dad is perfect. He knows the scriptures really well, knows bugs and everything else."
She thought it was pretty cute. I have to agree.

Well...do you notice a pattern...post lots, then not, post lots, then not. I do think I have a valid reason this time. Somewhere in the move we lost
one box. In this box were camera chargers and plugs, Dave Ramsey's book, my favorite white Eddie Bauer coat (I hoped it was at the dry cleaners...maybe it went to DI with Scott's suits - would serve me right)...it must have been the last little items because none of them should have been together. I'm posting photos from my camera although most are on Mckenzie's (and Kim's camera with our Hawaii photos) and I may have to order a new charger for her camera before posting...so, I may not post for another 6 months or so...??? I'm posting what I have (to make my mother happy and I'll get to the rest when I find the charger)
Not sure why I took this picture of Mckenzie...but, I did and isn't she cute :) and so nice :) The move has been a bit of a struggle for her. Luckily, she did not have to change schools so her friends have helped a ton. With time and a good attitude she will find her spot in YW and find ways she can serve there. She is dancing a ton this semester. We counted the classes she has each week and the number came to 13. She is on the school ballroom team and has this class each day, takes a ballet class at school each day, takes a ballet class at the college and has been in an "extra" in The Trey Macintyre Project and will be a party girl in the Nutcracker in a few weeks. She is also squeezing in violin and did really well in her classes. brag, brag, brag...how can I not...I have my challenges but she is not one of them...I will treasure and enjoy her :)


Davis just lost his top teeth. Luckily, the bottom teeth are almost up - he is missing 2 molars (thanks cavities), two on the bottom and the two up top...whew... you know what Christmas song I'm teasing him with.




Also, since Davis is now 8, he is an "official" scout. He earned his Bobcat a couple of months ago. He has been a "blueberry scout" for the past 3 years while I've been Reese's scout leader. They had zucinni boat races at pack meeting. Davis just made it into the "100% club" at school. He was the first in his class to do so. When you get in you have to get a 100% on the Greek and Latin test (spelling too). He is now exempt from taking the tests. Way to go Davo!!! He also played football this fall. He did a great job. One benefit to being small is speed and Davis has it :) He dressed up as a karate kid/ninja for halloween.




























Traditions...don't you love them. Each halloween we make sugar cookies (with orange flavor) and decorate them with candy corn and licorice- this is something I have fond memories doing with my family. We make lots of cookies and deliver them. We love doing this. We found a "new" pumpkin patch a mile down the road. The kids each picked a pumpkin and then we carved them right before halloween.
Lili loves to express her love to me. She says many, many times a day, "mommy, I love you". She has now added the little heart made from her fingers to help her express this to me. I've had a great time with her since I decided to keep her out of preschool and enjoy her myself. She is a chatty little girl and oh, so sweet. She dressed up as a monkey - she loves monkeys and bananas. This cute little costume has a banana in the pocket (thanks Lora and Mady)

Reese enjoyed playing football this year. He lucked out and got on a team with lots of boys his age from our ward. They are all really nice to him and he enjoys them all. He has started planting hints of wanting to go to school with them but then I remind him of all of the great friends he has at school and he stops. He did really well at parent teacher conference time. He has a great teacher and is enjoying the "banker" job in his class. Each weekend he brings home a group of kids ledgers and copies them to his own copy and checks to make sure the math was done correctly. He is the proud owner of his desk at school and is looking forward to purchasing classmates so he can collect rent from them. He is working on the cello and piano and he dressed up as a mad scientist (he wanted to be Einstein but I was too cheap to purchase the stuff...I hate buying halloween garb - it is not my favorite holiday). He is a peacemaker.

I wish I had a good picture of Meili (Lili is always begging to have her picture taken unlike the others). She started kindergarten this year. She is doing really well which is a relief to me. Her teacher is great and is very structured. I miss having her around 1/2 of the day but she really thrives having something to do...her own thing. She has lost two teeth and has another one just dangling. She won't let anyone pull them out....she likes them to fall out on their own. She is really starting to take off with reading - it is so fun to see her see the world in a whole new way. All she wants for Christmas are fake fingernails. She is such a funny girl...loves the girlie things. Love her to pieces.

Peace xoxo,
Melanie

Happy Birthday, Grandma Wallentine

Virtue Patterson Wallentine of Paris, Idaho, will celebrate her 95th birthday on Sept. 21, 2010. Virtue was born in Bloomington, Idaho, to Joseph P. Patterson and Elva Thornock. She was the fifth of 10 children. Virtue lived a happy small-town childhood. She attended Fielding Academy where she graduated as valedictorian in 1933. While in high school she was active in school musical productions. Music has remained a great love and influence in her life. She enjoys playing the piano and listening to her CDs.

Updated: September 17, 2010 - 4:30 pm

House Update...by Scott...

I thought I would post a few pictures. One obviously is the house with our dusty dirt yard with touches of kosha, lambsquarter and redroot. Also, there are pictures of the boys working on the mainline for our future sprinkler system.

On my birthday, we moved into our new house. It has been a fast month. My grandpa passed away (which is the microscopic photo below of all my family)...miss you grandpa but am glad you are there with Ryan. Two weeks after we moved in I had 30 Chinese students come to visit for 3 weeks. I was in charge of finding homes for them and making sure the activities went well and that everything was okay. They are now gone and life is settling down. Mckenzie just returned from BYU Ballroom Dance Camp. She goes to EFY here next week and then Scott and I are off to Hawaii with his siblings and parents (thanks Loye and Vaughn :) )...my kids have made us promise that when they are all married that we will follow grandpa and grandma's example of taking the kids and spouses on trips.
My mom says that I should now have a second to post a picture of our house...here it is...come visit us. We miss our old house, ward and friends but are enjoying the space, getting to know new friends at church and love the quiet, peaceful sunsets. I have pictures to upload and will get to it eventually... :) Hope all is well. Peace. xoxo

I need to update badly. At least that is what my mom keeps telling me. Very briefly (I'll do more later...not sure if later today or later in the month or later in the year)... we celebrated Davis' 8th b-day yesterday. We had a fun day at Bass Lake and Scott and I took him to Sushi Ya for dinner (his choice). I can't believe he is 8. I keep asking him if it is great to be 8...he is becoming a little annoyed with me now. He gets baptized next Saturday at 5pm. Can't believe it!
Also, Reese has turned 11, Meili 5 and Lili 4 since my real last post. I'm getting old(and Scott turned 39). All are such a joy and give us much happiness.
Our house is coming along nicely, except we have been at a complete standstill for 3 weeks. Hopefully, we will have cabinets soon...that is the hold up.
Also, yesterday we signed papers for our current house!!! YEAH!!! They want to move in on July 1st...perfect timing!!! I feel so much relief! My house is not clean this morning and it does not have to be :) yeah!!! we can start boxing things up and not worry about how the house will look in the process. We hope to be able to start moving things in a few weeks.
Mckenzie has dance tryouts today. She is so worried about them. I'm not sure why...she looked so great at the school spectacular last week. I'm happy she loves to dance. She did a very cool pointe dance and looked very graceful during her ballroom performances as well as a great solo in her choir performance.
Scott was not re-elected to the board. Yeah! Lots more time with us! No, he did a fantastic job and I'm not so sure the lady with a forensic science background will be better but not our worry :). Unfortunately, he had lots of issues the teachers did not like...aka...their pay cuts and insurance and uniforms. I'm fine with it and so is he...not so fine with the rumor of our marriage not being able to handle another term...odd...but, guess the vindictive handful had to make up something to make him look stupid...odd...
Anyway, we are doing well. I'll charge my camera batteries and try to update some pictures.
I'm off to double check our plumbing fixture order and pack a few boxes.
Oh, yah... my parent's just celebrated 40 years together! They have such great, loving children...we all forgot...so sorry!!! We love you!!!! We will plan something cool for 50 years.
Hope all is well. Peace. xoxox