Feb. 2014 Love Life

I set the goal in January to start writing in my journal. I am just getting to my journal. I always feel so overwhelmed writing because I am so . behind. We have had a wonderful few months here. Brielle was brought to us and we love her so much. She is truly a joy in our home. She is a very content baby. I get emotional just talking about her because she is so kind. She crys a little when she is hungry but that is about it. After her food, she cues and smiles. I feel like she has so much to tell me. I often wish I could understand. I can feel her little spirit. She is so special. I know she has a mission. We blessed her on Sunday her blessing was so tender. We named her after Laurie. I loved Laurie so much and still miss her everyday. She was someone I could talk to, everyones friend. Full of charity and so gracious, sorry getting emotional so I will go on. It is an honor to have Brielle named after her. In her blessing it touched on this. It said you carry name of your grandmother who has passed, you possess some of her qualities as well as other grandparents. Brielle was blessed with Charity and unconditional love like grandma; a source of light (even in there darkest times you will seek them out.) Non-judgemental (help them improve there lives; enjoy life have joy in life. Strong in gospel & strong testimony; Temple and be sealed. Brielle we love you I can already feel some of these traits from you. Kameron said today (Thursday) mom I could feel the spirit when we blessed Brielle. I haven't told everyone but I could feel it. Like the whole family. I know he felt it. I could feel it to. We finished off the blessing with a luncheon. It was perfect. I really wanted to be the morning to be about the blessing and not getting ready for the luncheon. So everything was ready to go Saturday. *Dave and I are having a great year so far. Dave gave me envelopes with individual dates in them. So at the first of each month I get to open an envelope and find out a special date for the month. Yeah me. I love it January we went to the Celtic River Dance., and tomorrow we go to a basketball game. It makes me feel like an 8 cow women. I love it. Dave has built fires almost everyday this winter. I love to watch him chop wood. Brianna, Naomi and him go out and chop about weekly he looks hot. Naomi drives her car around and Brianna puts the log on and stacks it. They listen to music it is so great. I tried chopping a piece with an ax. It is so hard. Great challenge for everyone out there. Brianna teases Dave about his strength. Holy cow no teasing he is strong, that is hard stuff. Work is going good. I am grateful for the priesthood and that he could bless our baby. It is always so special to hear him use his priesthood. Dave stays busy in his callings. I think he likes his meetings, because even if one person shows up to meeting he seems to stay and visit. There are some great people in our ward can't blame him. As a family we have a scripture reading goal. Dave or I read with Kyle at 6 a.m. he is trying to read the scriptures. We have also gone on a couple of dates with mom and dad the past couple of months to the Chinese acrobats and a basketball game. We spent the night down there it was so fun. *Brianna has really been fun. She loves the baby and helps me a ton when she isn't busy with 5000 things. She is excelling in piano, already on easy hymns and has only taken for a little over a year. She has found two things she really enjoys School plays and volleyball. She is currently rehearsing for a play called night of the living Cryonic dead. She is one of the main people playing a girl scout leader with red hair. She gets to do with with her friend Savanah so that is pretty fun. She will start club volleyball in just a couple of weeks. I have loved her attitude. She is all about being confident and being yourself. she has lots of friend and is so fun to be around. She is bueatiful. I love playing Racko or just hanging out with her. *Kyle just finished his science project for 3rd graders. He is engineered minded. So for his birthday he got a Thames & Kosmo's kit that turns air and power into power. He loves this kind of thing. Dave and him spent 2 hours building a cutter that ran by water and air. There are 10 different things he can build. He will love it. For his birthday he got like 6 different lego sets. He is so good at reading the directions and putting them together. It impresses me. I am excited for this trait he will help me put things together. He also has built a couple of things down at grandpa's lately like a hamster cage holder. He is in a tinkering class. He just loves to figure out how things work and how to build them. Way fun. He is getting so good at his reading and has the goal to finish the book of Mormon this year. He has lots of friends and is enjoying our ward. His birthday party was a blast we had an ice cream bar with different toppings (smarties, candy rocks, gummy bears, red hots, candy corn, animal cookies, chocolate pretzels) he choose the toppings. The kids loved it. They played plinko, pop the balloons, built lego cars gave each kid a sack with a cup of legos and let them build. Then we raced the cars and lastely we dropped legos from the banister onto big lego pieces of paper and kept score. It was pretty fun. Kyle, Dave and grandpa built a killer pinewood derby car this year and we won. It was so exciting. Kyle loves Boise state so we designed the car as a boise state football car. Last year our car was a very cool shark but it didn't race good. So this year we set on the stage to watch the races. We were about the only one on the stage. I wanted to jump up and do a cheerleading move eveytime Kyle raced and his car one. But felt like I needed to show composure so I clapped, but man I was excited for him. All of the kids did great. Kyles fastest time was somewhere around 185 miles per hour. Awesome Dave and Kyle! If Dave wasn't such a great lawyer, he probably could have gone into engineering. He and Kyle are already excited for next years race. Finally I have been proud of Kyle he opens my door and takes good care of me. *Kameron is just doing fantastic in Kindergarten. I think he really likes it. He has some great little friends and went to two birthday parties this weekend. He loves to pick out the presents for the birthday parties. He picked out and make your own airplane for one kid, and the other mom picked out because Kameron wasn't around. He is very thoughtful and I love when family members birthdays come up because I will ask him what he loves about that person and he will just start listing reasons. The greatest part is that each reason is very specific to that person. He really knows why he loves each person individually. He can't wait for his birthday (which isn't until November) and now that the snow has melted he can't wait to go camping and planting the garden. He loves his pumpkins. The other day I was proud of him. We had shells and cheese for dinner and it was hot without being asked he went over to the freezer and got a big glass of ice. He came back and said who needs ice to cool down there dinner. It was so thoughtful. What a kid. He is in love with popsicles the other day dave took him on a date and Kameron didn't understand the concept of getting an ice cream and going upstairs in browlimns to eat it with dad. (he has done it before) all he wanted to do was get popsicles for the whole family. He is also a little gentlemen and holds the door open for people when we go to church. What a cute kid. He has gotten really huggy lately and I love it. *Naomi- is my little free spirit. She loves to wear her princess outfits and loves when her friends come over. (She has decided that underwear is not necessary for some strange reason) and I often have to remind her to go get it on. (like I said she is a free spirit). She loves to have her hair done as soon as she gets up, but as soon as we come home from the stores for the day she takes it out. Yesterday she got a princess game, one that she was suppose to get for her birthday but never came. Anyways she spent the afternoon dressing up Dave and I with crowns, braclets and rings from her game. We just sat on the couch and watched our show as she dressed us up. It made me laugh. Today she tried to put on makeup blue eyeshadow and bright pink lipstick to wear to church. She loves her breakfast, actually right now she loves breakfast around 7 then again at 9. She sings all the time and loves to put on shows in the living room. Also this week we let her paint her own fingernails. She spent quite a few minutes in the bathroom putting on a color then wiping it off with a towel we gave her. Oh man does she love her nails painted. Shells and Cheese are one of her favorite meals so the other day she helped me cook them, set the table and couldn't wait the 20 minutes they had to boil. We praised her for her cooking abilities. She also is a gentlemen at times and if she doesn't open the door for us then she says we have to wait for a gentlemen so cute. Love her to pieces.

less effective parents!

I have heard you are officially a terrible parent when you have forgotten one of your children and left them stranded somewhere. Well, we can now say we have arrived! Yesterday we accidentally left Kyle at our new home construction site. Story-Melanie and I arrived in seperate vehicles. Kyle apparently went to play on the dirthill behind the house while Melanie and I went insdie to check the progress. After checking things over,I had to leave earlier than she did to go pick up Brianna from gymnastics. So I left Melanie inside the house and assumed she would bring Kyle with her when she came. Melanie eventually got in her car to leave and noted that Kyle was not there and assumed I had taken him with me. (He was actually still playing, but was behind the dirthill where we couldn't see him). Melanie and I eventually both arrived home and Brianna said, "Where's Kyle?" We both realized we had left him. Right about that same time my phone rang. It was one of our friends out by our new house. She informed us that someone in the subdivision noticed Kyle walking, he was crying and in distress. She asked who his parents were and she knew our friend and took him to her house until we could get there. Our friend took good care of him, letting him watch tv and eat a brownie.

Upon arriving I gave Kyle a big hug and told him it was all his mom's fault and that I would never do something like that. Of course I was joking and just hugged him for a bit and told him we were sorry. What a terrible feeling leaving child. At any rate we are very thankful to our friend in our subdivision and the lady that picked him up (who is also in our new ward). Things could have been much much worse as he was intent on walking home which is about 4-5 miles away on some busy roads.

It also made me reflect on other times I or my siblings got left behind. Dan got lost at disneyland and as a result had to wear a leash-lol, hilarious.

Mark informs me he got left at a mccdonalds in Pocatello but only walked a block or two until mom and dad picked him up. This is actually amazing if this was the only time as Mark was prone to wandering off.

I got left at Caesar's Palace, but don't remember it much. I think my parents figured it out really fast.

Anyway, we are glad Kyle was ok and loved our kids a lot, just don't rely on us to remember to bring you home.

Jason did you ever get left or lost?

We Love Grandpa Brown

Here's some memories from the kids.

Kyle- Grandpa Brown, plays with me and he doesn't care if I ask him for treats. He had my favorite peanuts in his car. When I go camping with our family, it reminds me that we went camping with him. I loved it when he would take us to garage sales. I miss buck cause he wouldn't run away when I petted him. I remember grandpa letting me cut his fingernails in church.

Brianna- Sometimes he had licorice in his kitchen; garage sales; he would take us camping; he bought a motorhome, but then it was to big, and so he bought a little camp trailer just to be comfortable for grandma. (Dave says that was hillarious he went through 3 camp trailers that summer.) He would usually fix bike tires, cars,etc.
He would take us to Rex's and buy us slim jims. He would take us to Thornton Merc and make sure I got a milkshake along with hamburgers and fries. One time they took me on a trip somewhere. I remember grandpa cutting his fingernails in church. I liked going to their house cause they always had good food.

Kameron-I like when he played with me. I liked going in the wagon visit grandpa and riding the lawnmower.

Dennis Brown Loved by all

I really have to get myself geared up to be able to write about Dennis and Laurie, I was way to emotional to do it on January 14th but I am going to try to do it tonight through the tears and also the laughter while I think about Dennis. To say that I love Dennis and adored him is an understatment. He was one of the greatest men I ever knew. I looked forward almost daily to seeing him. He reminds me so much of my wonderful husband that I just adored him and thought he walked on water. I don't know were to start with stories so I will just start writing. Dennis had a respect for me that was really heart felt. I mean who else would move a wall, take a rocking chair upstairs in the paint shop to just see if it would fit in the apartment and then take it back to his house, put up with my side hugs when they where in his space and let us live with him 3 different times. His dry sense of humor and hummmmmm, always made me laugh. I want to share some things I remember the last year of his life though. In January Naomi was born and he would come over almost daily to see her. On some occasions he would just do a drive by because he did not want to have to come in while my sisters and mom was there. So I would call him and he would say I was just checking. But other times he did not care who was there he wanted to see and hold her. He took tons of pictures of her so he could show her off to everyone in the bank. It made me laugh. He would show up quite often at our house with a few bags of chips and throw them on the couch. It was usually around 8 in the morning so I was not dressed. I would go jumping acrost the kitchen like a deer in headlights and he would say just dropping off something I got on a good deal. It would make my day. After Laurie and him would go to Chemo I would find a half eaten pizza on my table or Laurie's left over steak from applebees. Because Dennis knew I loved steak. He would come over all of the time in the evening after the kids had been tucked in bed. They would hear his voice and come running up the stairs just to see there grandpa. He loved them so much, and they loved him. He would always come and get the boys when it was time to mow the lawn and return them after he had mowed his and then ours. One day my washer overflowed and I called Dennis at the bank. (Not expecting him to show up within 5 minutes) but he was there fixing the problem immediately. I think he even cut his finger that time and had to go get stitches. But he didn't complain he was just glad to help. When I fell out of love with my dog checkers. Dennis offered to take him which was very generous until we got him back. The thing that made me laugh though after Dennis took him is that he showed up to our house with a stove he had found that was a good deal ( because two of my burners weren't working). I remember him sitting outside of the house with the stove in the little trailer. He said I found you a stove, it is payment for checkers. I was like Dennis you do not need to pay us for checkers. He laughed and then opened the bottom drawer of the stove and said hey kids I think the owners left some cheetos in here. Dennis had filled the drawer with little bags of cheetos because he found out how much my kids loved them.It was so great and reminds me of how thoughtful and kind he was. He was so selfless, one night Dave's fishtanks had overflowed and we found out in the middle of the night, so we called him to see if we could pull the carpet up. We did not expect him to show up, but he was there in minutes. Another time was when Dave and I lived with him in Rexburg, we got an apartment and needed to move. So Dave, Dennis and I jumped in the van and went to moscow to move us over the weekend. I throw up most of the drive and he had a great time teasing me. He would not let me lift a box when we got up there, just pack the stuff because I was pregnant. He loved my kids so much and it is something that I will be eternally grateful for. Kyle and Kameron played hop on grandpop all the time. He was extremely patient with them and didn't seem to mind a bit that they were climbing all over him. In fact I think he liked it. He enjoyed feeding them things like mountain dew, chips, pickles, bacon and etc. He fixed bike tires and would come to the church parking lot often to watch the kids drive the go kart he found for them. We all loved to wake up some Saturday mornings and go garage saleing with him. Dennis was just an incredible man an has left us an amazing legacy to live up to. He cared for Laurie unconditionally, and would do anything in his power to keep her alive. He wanted to be her cargiver in the end, he would not let anyone else take her to doctor appointments, and so much more. He had a whole slew of vitamins and protein drinks that he would give her. I found out that the doctors did not proscribe to her. He loved her and she loved him. They were such a bueatiful couple. As I think back on about the last month he was alive some vivid images come to mind. One day Kyle was helping grandpa hook up a trailer and something happened. All I remember is that Dennis was so patient, and perfect in the way he handled things. I remember thinking wow I need to be more like Dennis with my kids. I almost felt like he was extra patient and understanding the last couple of months. There was something extra special about him the last little while that I have thought of often but can't explain. But overall I am so blessed to have known him and to be married to his posterity. I love him so much. He has always been nothing but wonderful, respectful, serviceful and kind to me. I miss our our talks in the back yard, and downstairs while he was eating lays and drinking pop with his feet up in the recliner. I am so glad he was born. I hope to be with him again someday. Love always Melanie

Awesomest mom ever!

We wanted to take today and write a little about grandma. We watched the video that was made for her funeral and asked the kids to share some thoughts about Grandma.

Brianna-misses having fun laughing moments with grandma, garage sales, she was very creative, and talking with her, buying her twisters, sleepovers, sewing pillowcases for my dad and grandpa, going to chemo with grandma (grandma would pack a bag for us to take with treats like mcdonalds cookies), bought me the fairybook series books and we read it together, go to her house and play computer.

Kyle-misses grandma because she used to give me thomas trains, and she would read to me, when she was in a wheelchair she used to let me push her around, I spy with the dragon, sleepovers

Kam-loves grandma because she gave me an awesome water toy

Dave-The last few days I have had an opportunity to reflect about mom. She was the greatest mom and woman ever. After I finished school in Moscow, I didn't have a job and Melanie and I struggled to figure out what our next move was. After prayer and all that good stuff we ended up moving into Melanie's parents home while they were on a mission. Then shortly after that, dad began talking about a house in Rigby that could be redone. Initially dad was going to make the house a rental but then began suggesting that Mel and I could live there. I remember one day I found out that had I passed the bar, got a job offer, and decided to do the house with dad all in the same day. With the way the last few years have gone, I have no doubt in my mind that it was the correct course for us. We got to do so much with mom and dad-I am grateful that things transpired the way they did so we were able to have that time. Of course selfishly I wish there would have been more time, but I am so thankful for the time we did have. Our family got so used to walking over pulling the wagon, going in the door by the garage and hear mom say "Who's comin?" They loved anytime we showed up no matter what they were doing. They always stopped and talked and played with us.

Although It was emotional is was also fun to watch the video that was made for her funeral. Yesterday which was one year since she passed, we were celebrating Kyle's birthday a little early because I have to work late on his real birthday, I couldn't help but think if mom were here she would be partying right there with us and I know she was smiling down on us.

A few of my favorite things-One of my favorite stories is the one I shared at her funeral-she collected baseball cards with me even though she didn't enjoy them just to find a connection with me. That meant so much to me.

When she kicked Dan in the butt when he used his sock to wipe spilled milk on the floor.

When she used to write me letters or call just for the heck of it. I have gone through my missionary years and now cherish her letters so much. They didn't seem like a special thing at the time, but they do now.

Her listening ear.

That she would buy me fish ornaments for the Christmas tree.

Her mashed potatoes.

Still amazing to me in all her pain when she was sick, she never ever complained-unbelievable.

I miss how dad would come home with a new car or purchase without discussing it with mom and mom saying "that's news to me." but never getting mad at dad for it.

Her huge homemade soup pan.

Her Christmas punch.

I miss how much she loved my kids.

There's so much more, but this will have to do for now. I love you mom and am glad you and dad are together even though I hurt sometimes and miss you both. Dave

Melanie-will be posting tonight or tomorrow this is all we had time for right now.

Christmas Time

I love this time of year. It is so wonderful, everyone is filled with joy. Except for people in the return line at Walmart. Besides that people are pretty great. I have to ad though that I miss Laurie and Dennis even more this time of year. I have chocked up quite a few times thinking about them. I miss going over to there house, going to see Christmas light with them, Dennis handing us our Christmas money down the sacrament bench, right in the middle of the sacrament. He did this the past couple of years and had a big grin on his face both times. I guess I just miss spending the holidays with them in general. I went to visit aunt Fay yesterday, her comment was does it get any easier. She shared some stories of Laurie's younger years with Brianna and I and of course showered my Children with gifts. It only makes you miss Laurie more because aunt Fay is so wonderful just like Laurie was to everyone. Kyle called her grandma. It was extra special this month when all of the Brown boys got together. We miss Mark and Suzy's family so much so it was so fun to have Mark here at least. The boys really had a great time and I think it should be a tradition. I really appreciated all of the wives giving up there weekend so the boys could be together. On to the kids

Naomi- still runs around without clothes. She is not concerned about the snow outside. She can get her own coat and boots on when it is time to go; so who needs clothes. Tonight I was wrapping presents with the kids in the back and she decided to start unwrapping a couple under the tree. She unwrapped a dolly that grandma Brown and I bought 3 years ago. She loves it. I told her it was for her on Christmas we wrapped it back up together and then she set on the package for a better part of the night and said Na's baby. She loves to pester Kam. She sings with me when I play the piano. Every morning when she wakes up she wants her blankie aunt Farrah made when she was born, her sippy, and a cartoon on. She usually has a hope in her step and says happy a lot. Love it. Naomi also wants to participate in anything we are doing.

Kameron- Has not been feeling really well this week so he has watched a lot of diego. Today we were watching it together and he sang every song. At preschool he got to see Santa. He loved that. The other day I went to the grocery store and only had enough cash in my wallet to get the things on my list. Well he wanted popscicles because we were out and the kids eat them in the bath tub. I told him next time we go to the store he can get popscicles. So a couple of days latter we go to Broulims and the first thing he said when we pull up is yeah popscicles. He has a mind like a hawk. He loves to work on his preschool book and does a great job at it. I was having him do it while I was getting ready the other. I was very impressed. He is not the greatest eater but we are trying to work on it. He pretty much only likes toast, bannanas, peanut butter, bacon, corn dog skin. Such a fun little boy. He brings me joy.

Kyle- has been extra excited this month, because there is an elf at our house, her name is Mrs. Peeps. She hides at night and every morning when Kyle wakes up he goes to find her. She reports back to Santa. I have to say Kyle has been so good this month. He works so hard at his reading and is doing great. I love his desire to keep practicing. Whenever we go out to the house, he wants to get out of the car immediately. He is so excited. But the thing he wants the most with the house is a laundry chute in his room. We are seeing if we can get that to work. A couple of weeks ago he built an awesome book holder with grandpa Carlson for Brianna. I have to say he has a huge heart and loves to share. After Halloween I would ask the kids for a treat, Kam would say no, Brianna would say maybe one, Kyle would say take a handful mom. This is definately one of his gifts. He really does have a huge heart.

Brianna- loves to play the old school nintendo and WII with dad. I am not great at the games so it is really a dad and Brianna thing. She is getting old enough to watch the kids for a little bit. She is really responsible for her age. She always has been. She is growing up to fast. In fact today she was playing with the kids in toys r us and riding lets just say a little kids bike. I told her I was glad to see her on it because I don't want her to grow up so fast. She has an incredible singing voice. I love to hear her sing her pitch is so perfect. Her and I get to sing in Primary in a couple of weeks. She continues to be extra creative playing spy games with the kids and creating awesome houses for all of the kids to play in. She is so smart in school and continues to excel there. I just love having her around, she is my friend.

Dave- I love the man a ton. What can I say. His biggest accomplishment of the month was getting the fish tank and air hockey table lowered into our basement. I think it was a burden off his shoulder. He was very smart about doing it to. He got the hockey table up on two jacks and then tried to drive the yellow trailer under it. I love him tons. His work continues to grow and the people that hire him always have great things to say about him. I love reading the reviews on google. The other day he came home with a fish themed gift basket. It was from one his clients thanking him. It said that they were so glad they hired him' and they appreciated how personable and proffesional he was and that he gave them 100%. I love that Dave takes his work so serious. This kind of stuff always makes a wife feel good. Anyways all is well in our family. Merry Christmas

Life is going great!

Just time to drop another blog. I have to say that we are feeling so blessed lately. We live in a wonderful ward, great neighborhood, good school for the kids and are have great family. The Lord is definately blessing us. The house has the footings poured and they are suppose to be building the cement walls today, crazy. It has been intresting how it has all started to come together the last couple of weeks. So I will start to write about the kids

Naomi- Still hates her clothes, will wear them if we are going somewhere she would not want to miss the party. But the second we step into the house she expresses her independance by ripping them off. She is so funny. Last week they were watching Calliou and I decided to go take a bath since that doesn't happen very often during the day. I got in the bath and I heard something break. She had thrown the remote control on her bowl of cereal and shattered the bowl. So I cleaned it up and went back to the bath. She followed me ripped off her diaper and jumped in with me. I thought wait I did not invite you, less then two seconds later she peed on me. We both got right out of the bath. It is bueatiful being a mother it makes me laugh. Bath time for me will have to be after the kids go to bed. She is talking a lot. She says bye daddy, and night night mommy, and all sorts of words. Sometimes she just starts saying a whole bunch of sounds I just smile nod my head and say yes.

Kameron- is my big helper. He does whatever I do during the day. If I make cookies he is right there on the counter pouring the ingredients in, he has to put the milk in the shopping cart and he just helps a lot. So the other day him and I were folding laundry and he told me he was going to get the hangers out of his closet so I could hang up the kid's clothes. I went to check on him and to my suprise he had gotten the hangers. He would take down the hangers that allready had clothes on them and pull the clothes off. It was kind of funny, but created a little more work. He was so excited for Halloween he could not stand it. He got this big old pumpkin bucket at a garage sale and he put it under his bed. He kept asking when we were going to go fill it with lots of candy. He loved halloween and can't wait for next year when we go trick or treating and fill our pumpkins again.

Kyle- got a huge pumpkin this year it was 28 lbs. He was way excited. When it came time to carve it, he did it all by himself. He loved it, he gutted it and cut out the face. We were proud of him. Last week Brianna and him helped me paint a chested drawers for her room. Kyle was in charge of sanding the old stuff off. He loved that job and rocked at it. I was so fun to watch him with tools. He and Kameron spent lots of time outside in the snow. They filled up the swimming pool and made a snow box and then built a snowman. Kyle is creative and so fun to watch. He is also one handsome man and he has lots of friends.

Brianna-had a great time with Halloween. She found a movie star costume and looked so bueatiful. She did her hair curly and really dressed the outfit up with jewelry. We had such an awesome time trick or treating. First we went to Farrah and Dougs neighborhood which was awesome. Then Dave went home with the two little ones and Kyle Brianna and I went out in the country. It rocked. At the first house they got a big candy bar. We were all so excited. The other houses were fun to most of them gave out 2-3 little candy bars and one gave a pop. They came home and sorted out there candy. It was so fun to watch there excitement. I got to go to Brianna and Kyles classroom for there parties, they helped me create the games. Brianna has lots of friends. She can read from 4-6 grade books. She got the love of reading from Grandma Brown. She reads her scriptures every night we continue to be so proud of her. She still loves to play barbies and creates these awesome rooms, it really impresses me. Dave and I have been called to be her primary teacher, I love teaching my kids primary classes it is the best calling in the world.

Dave has implemented a great routine before bed. They have 5-7 minutes to get ready for bed and then we sparkle the living room and do dishes together, then read scriptures and go to bed. Love it.

House!! Yeah we're excited!

Tuesday October 17

I think I will start with things the kids have done and then sum it up.

Naomi- Hates clothes, hating is an understatement. She runs around with a diaper on only almost all day. I do not know what she is going to do when winter comes. Sunday we put her dress on for church and she threw a 30-40 minute tantrum trying to get her dress off the whole time. She took off her shoes and put white ones on. I decided it was not worth forcing the black shoes, so she wore white shoes with a purple dress and black socks. Dave called them Na quakes. (Earthquakes) She even had after shock tantrums. AMAZING. This week we took the kids to the temple visitor center for family home evening. Naomie loved the large statue of Christ. She kept going over to it and touching it and saying Jesus. She was reverant and could not get enough. We watched while we were there. It was called Gordon B. Hinckley lessons learned. It is about two boys that see some boots in a field. They were going to steal them and see what the owner would do. One boy suggested they put a silver dollar in instead. When the man came from the field he found the dollars and was overjoyed. He kneeled and thanked the lord because his family did not have bread. When we got home Naomi found some rocks and put some in each one of dads shoes, she borught them to him. I can't believe that she learned that from the movie.

Kameron- loves his preschool, he is so done potty training. He loved it. He walks around in his underwear all of the time. He is so witty and always says the funniest little things. Our daily routine is snuggle and watch a show, then he insists on unloading the dishwasher, then Naomi and him take a bath with a popsicle and then we do an activity. After lunch he watches a movie and if I get a chance I lay down for a minute, he makes me lay on the couch right by him. He also loves hide and seek, he is pretty good at it to. He hid in Brianna's barbie house on the second floor today. I could not find him. He is a joy.

Kyle- is starting to love school and is really coming along in his reading. Everynight we get to read for 20 minutes. It is so fun to see his progress. He is pretty funny and thinks it is him job to make sure everybody is doing what they are suppose to. If Brianna isn't hurrying to the bus for example he keeps telling her to hurry. He has built lots of ramps for his bicycles lately and is pretty creative at it. The other day he made one using Daves old fish tank stand and rocks to make it higher. Dave put a paint can under it to stableize it a little more. He is a builder.

Brianna- is way into fashion right now. It is so fun to watch, every morning she goes into her room and comes out looking like a super model. She really is creative and has a real fashion sense. In fact I may take tips from her. She went on a daddy daughter date with Dave last Wednesday her costume is a super model, Dave came up with the perfect outfit to go with it, he was a security guard for her. He made a tag and wore a white shirt. They had tons of fun, there was a spook alley and dinner, it was awesome. She is doing excellent in school and continues to love to read. We found a new website I think it is called cutegirlhair.com anyways we have had fun doing her hair many new ways.

Our family has had an awesome week. On Saturday the kids and dave spoiled me rotten on my birthday. Kyle gave me a gold Christmas tree, Brianna a musketeer bar and junior mints, Kameron a green tree (he wanted a blue one for me so him and I went and got the blue one, he carried it around the next 2 days), Naomi gave me a snowman. I went out to lunch with my family and Brianna way fun. Shalee brought over an awesome necklace way excited. Then that evening we went to the pumpkin patch. It was sooooooo much fun. Kyle choose a 28 lb pumpkin, the other kids got fantastic pumpkins to. That night we came home and Dave made popcorn in his awesome popcorn machine. We had $5 pizza and watched a movie. Thanks everyone for making it an awesome birthday. Life has been pretty great lately. I am thankful everyday for the church in my life and I know that the Savior loves me and each one of my family members very much.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE!!

I was going to write dave a personal letter, but I felt that I would put it on the blog, because if I put it on a simple piece of paper it gets lost and I want my kids to remember why I love ther daddy so much.

Dear Dave,
Happy 34th Birthday according to Brianna. I wasn't sure how old you were. Seriously though I know you have to work all day today, but I want you to know how much I love you and why. There are many reasons why but I this last year the word strong comes into my head. You are strong in many ways. You are a strong in the gospel. I love that you have a testimony and love of the savior. I love that you honor your priesthood and give our children and myself blessings. I love that you always fufill your church callings. You are physically strong. You definately can do all the man work around here and I love it. You are always fixing things, lifting things, taking care of things and etc. Love it. I disagree with my dad I know you can lift the snow blower into the attic. J/K you know he was kidding and loves you tons. While these Strengths are awesome, there is a different Strength that I have seen from you this year. Dave the kids are throwing your birthday balloons at my head, maybe to make me laugh because as I write this I am tearing up a little. I have to say that I always knew you were amazing and that you could do anything you put your mind to, but this last year I learned so much more about the qualities, abilities and strength you really have been blessed with. Dave at a very young age you were faced with things that most do not have to face in a lifetime. You loved your mom and dad so much and have endless memories with them. But when your dad passed away it was no question in your mind that you would care for your mother. Dave I know you have heard this many times but again I want the kids to know this. You were so selfless and mature during this time. While it was hard you still balanced work, church, your mom and each one of us. You tried to take care of all of these things and gave all you had to these categories. Your concerns were towards making sure we all were ok and that your dad would know that we loved your mom and would do anything we could for them. I think you thought little of yourself during that time. You were suffering from losing your father, but put all of your energy into what needed to be done. Dave those few months taught me so much about you. You are a selfless giant. Thank you for your example. You have an incredible amount of inner strength and abilities. My love for you is deep and I am grateful that I have the privelage of calling you my husband and father of my children, besides you make me laugh almost everyday. Love you tons hun. Happy Birthday Love always Melanie

Kam trying to hit a baseball hilarious

This is pretty good. He's a little delayed on the reaction, but after each swing he yells "Dangit". Sorry you might have to turn your computer screen sideways, this was taken from my phone

Doing well I think? after a year

I wasn't going to post anything on the year mark of Dad's passing, but it was really good and fun to read Mark and Dan's, and Shalee's blogs today-and it made me happy-thanks guys

I do miss mom and dad terribly but in a happy way. Dad was my hero and one of my best friends, I am sured we all feel that way. He was the awesomest awesome guy I know. Dan and Shalee had a great idea to get together tonight and have some of dad's favorite foods-I am looking forward to it and what a great way to remember him-to get together and hang out!!

Most of the severe, deep hurt for me has left. It comes from time to time but it is more mild and less frequently. I think I am transitioning into remembering and memories as Shalee mentioned. It is so fun to think about all the fun things associated with dad and it makes me laugh. Just last night Jason and I were talking about the hell-o-mighty box and dad's scrabble playing and trying to count tum as a word. Jason said that dad's argument was that if you have a bottle of tums that is plural. But if you just need one tum, you call it a tum because there is only one, not a tums. Anyway it was hilarious.

I think I drive my brothers crazy cause I want to hang out and spend time with them. I think it makes me feel comforted because I get to see more of dad's qualities in them, so I guess I like to try and hold on to that as much as possible-and I just like hanging out with them in general. (and Mark I have enjoyed our long distance texting relationship). Just know that I love you guys and I appreciate your brotherhood more than you will ever know-it gives me strenght. I know we are brother's but I also believe and hope we can be good/best friends-that is very important to me.

I have appreciated Melanie's strenght, love, and support over the past year. Over the past year she did some incredible things that I can't even believe sometimes. This year was defnitely the most trying year of our marriage and that is my issue. I was kind of a mess there for a few months and Melanie supported me in everyway possible even when she was having a hard time too. I love you. Our kids and my wife's needs were put a little low on the priority list due to the situation and I do wish I could have handled things better. I certainly wouldn't change anything related to the experience with mom because we had some very neat experiences and grew a lot, other than I wish I could have been a little stronger. I think we are getting back to a good place now. At any rate, back to dad.

Today hasn't been that bad for me. Joe (my father in law) invited me to lunch and when I got there my other two brother in laws were there too. That was cool, they asked how everything is and all that. I am glad to remember dad. I listen to the funerals often and for some wierd reason they give me strenght. What a guy. I run into people who will say how good of a person he was. I am glad they are together-that makes me happy. I know at times they are able to check in on us, I just wish I could feel it more, or just be able to chat with them or something. Anyway, dad is the man, I can't think of a time where he wasn't able to support, help, fix, or whatever, he was always there!! I just want him to know that I love him and miss him and think about him daily.

What happened to Memory Hoard Monday?

Holy cow time is flying. But I have to say that our life feels peaceful. It is such an amazing feeling. We moved August 22nd into a rental since our home sold in 2 days. We needed some temporary housing. The ward we moved into is incredible. Within the first week neighbors stopped by to say hello, and invite us to the ward party. We went to the party and there was tons of kids. My kids found friends immediatly. Sunday a couple stopped by and invited us to dinner. It has just been awesome to be so welcomed. I know the stay here is temporary but we feel so blessed to have it be good. It was so hard to say goodbye to the house on Circle Drive. There was a lot of memory in those walls. The hell-o-mighty box was created there. Dennis stopping in with a bag of chips while I am still in my garments, or a half eaten pizza after Chemo, or Lauries left over steak because I love steak. Moving the wall a foot back and forth. Having Dennis drop by almost nightly to see the kids. The playhouse and many upgrades. When we look at the house on circle drive we see so much of Dennis and Laurie. We also see my parents involvement and so much more, but like Brianna said about the playhouse it is hard to leave it because grandpa can never build us another one. So leaving the house felt that way. We all cried some the Friday before we had to leave. Like Brianna said it was hard to leave because Dennis & Laurie won't be able to be a part of our next home in an earthly way, but I told Dave that I

Kam- Flush it away captatin, somebody stole our house, preschool slept throw sunbeams
Naomi- beats up kameron, plays in sink, rips out hair, loves babies
Kyle- idea sled behind 4 wheeler, flag football, trailer with bike
Brianna- memorized church part Mistress mom, making friends

Memory Hoard Monday July- August 8

Has it already been 2 weeks? I can't believe it. Well I guess I will give a brief run down. It has been a busy and exciting two weeks.
*But first off I must write about my grandpa Hendricks. Grandpa passed away Thursday July 28th. He was in his 90's and quite an incredible man. He stayed positive to the end. He was ready to go to the other side. But at his funeral it was so fun to hear about him. He loved the ham radio and was a master at it. He talked to kings, and his grandson, people in disasters and so much more. He was a farmer and loved working the land. He was a great patriarch, father, husband and grandfather. He loved chocolate. I inherited this from him. He was one of the most knowledgeable people. He loved to learn. He will be greatly missed, but he has left a bueatiful legacy. I have been proud and grateful for my mothers example, for the past 3 years she has faithfully gone down about weekly to care for her parents. She showed true compassion and love towards them. I had the oppurtunity to go to Utah to pick her up on Friday. It was so neat to be with Grandma, dad and her that day. I sang while grandma played the piano and will cherish listening to them explain the events that occurred the day before. It is always so sacred when someone passes to the other side.
*Friday or I should say Saturday around 2 a.m. it was early Christmas at our house when the Brown clan from Moscow arrived. I can't even tell you how excited and anxious our family has been to see all of them. We love them so much. I haven't seen them since the funeral. We loved the few days we got to spend with them. On Sunday we had family dinner with everyone. It felt good. We missed Mark & Suzy's family. But I was glad to have those that were here. Jason and Mindy's family was so easy and such a delight to have around. We put all of the kids in the camp trailer except Naomi and just had fun everyday. Monday we went to my grandpa's funeral and when I arrived home the house was very clean and Mindy was doing my laundry. Quite a woman. Tuesday we went bowling, minature golfing, balldardash and to Rigby Lake. Again we are so glad to have some more family close.
*We found a house to rent for the next few months. After searching and searching and no luck. 3 homes became avaliable. Nobody wanted to rent to us for 6 months. But one house said they would. After that all 3 said they would. They were all in the same ward in a country so I guess we are headed to that ward. We just feel blessed to find a place since we will be moving in 2 weeks. Crazy I will miss our home on circle drive. It has a lot of special memories. Not only ones living here, but also of the house being built.
*Dave and I went to a much needed night out. Friday we went to see Dirty Rotten Scoundrals at the Play Mill. It was hillarious. When I married Dave, Dennis informed me that ruprickt lived in there basement in Rexburg. It made me laugh and think of him while we watched the show.
*Dave had so much fun Friday that he decided to take Kyle and Brianna to High School Musical at the playmill. They loved it they came home way hyped up. I was so glad they got to go on a special date with dad. I had the oppurtunity to go out with my dad while they were gone. It was so fun. We shared an alfredo at olive garden, then went to get an ice cream at Reeds dairy and walk the green belt. It is always so fun to be with dad.
*Naomi said the word chocite. I was a proud mom. She also took the Sunday paper and waded it up and threw it on Dave. It was cute. Today she found a big mud puddle in our front yard and went and plopped down right in the center of it. She was quite messy. She is a climber, she climbs the sink in the bathroom. Climbs metal bars at the playground and so much more.
*Kam Bam love to learn from Kyle. He plays trucks at the dirt hill almost daily. He has moved from Calliou to Word World. He loves to read books on trains and cook with me. Today he played playdoh for hours. We played computer this week a game called star fall and he wanted to play the same game it was a pumpkin where you choose the faces. He would choose the same face over and over and over.
*Kyle. Tonight while we were at the store to get a family home evening treat, Kyle looked at the guy in line that was teasing him and said you have lots of sugar bugs because your teeth are yellow. While I was a tiny embarrassed I had to agree with him. The guy was obviously a chain smoker and was missing some teeth because of it. But when we got to the car I explained that we need to say those things to mommy in private. He is so loveable. I love to snuggle and watch T.V with him. He is such an amazing brother to Kameron. I love how patient he is with Kam. They play all day long together. It is usually trucks at our neighbor Bud's dirt hill.
*Brianna- sand with me and all the grandkids at grandpa's funeral. She really has a great voice. She can listen to a tune and sing it. Her pitch is great. She accomplished her backbend kickover in gymnastics. She has been working on it for a while. She loves Naomi and tucks her in for nap a lot of days. She is really tender with her and I love it. Kyle and her play polly pockets, legos, barbies and all sorts of things when they get playing them, they can play for hours. They really have impressive imaginations.
They are all excited to see there cousins again soon. Kameron keeps asking for Jonah.
*Tonight for family home evening we buried the lizard. The kids wanted her buried out on our lot in Terrace Hills. So we put her in a toothpaste box and buried him. The kids put some flowers from our garden on her grave. I was proud of the kids. They were really sensitive and thoughtful. Dave gave the family home evening lesson on what happens to animals after they die. I guess they are no longer dumb.

*Another wonderful couple of weeks.

Mircale Memory Monday 20-25

MIRICALS
On Thursday night before boating Brianna told me she was a little scared to go boating Friday. She was afraid the boat would run over her. I told her that if she wanted to stay home that would be no problem. On Friday I was driving down to drop the kids off, and I felt like I needed to tell the kids how much I loved them. So I said kids do you know how much I love you. They said yeah lots your letting us go boating with grandma. I laughed and said no really I love you so much I hope you know this. After what Brianna said I was a little worried, but not worried enough to not let them go. I know that there are angels watching out for us, but I felt it again t on Friday. Dave and I had to meet with a financial planner, so my mom offered to take Kyle and Brianna boating. They had a blast. Farrah was bringing them home in her car. She had just called to tell me she was on her way and that they had the best time ever. I recived another call shortly after that and I could hear all of the children crying and screaming. She said Melanie we have been in an accident can you come. She said she thought everyone was ok and that it was on the rire highway. Time stopped I could not get out of the house fast enough. My babies were in an accident along with Farrah, her kids and Emily Dodd. We got down there to see both cars totaled. Farrah waited at the stop sign and proceded to pull out, she did not see the car coming and got hit right by her door. The other car was going 55-65 miles an hour. Farrahs car must have spun in circles and the impact of the crash turned the front passengar seat to the side, and made the car buckle at least 2 inches. The kids were all ok. Farrah was 20 weeks pregannt and on blood thinner, but she was so concerned about everyone else that she did not tell the officer about her pregancy. She is always thinking about others. She had a towel on her arm and I pulled it back to see cuts all up her arm she was hiding them so the kids would not be concerned. After all was said and done dad took her to the hospital to get her and the baby checked out. She did have glass fragments in her arm, her ear was cut about and inch, she had 4 ribs out of place and a concussion. One side of her body kept going numb, they do not know if this is from her medicine or concussion. She has headaches sometimes where her body goes numb. But she came home from the hospital about 2 a.m. Saturday. She is healing and we are so grateful and feel blessed she is ok. Brianna woke up that night dizzy and proceeded to be a little disoriented. She threw up about 7-9 times. (Some of it could have been from the boat ride and hot taquis.) But I am pretty sure she had a concussion also. Her eyes were glassy a little and she kept saying she was tired. On the way home from the accident Kyle and Ethan were talking and she could not stand the noise. She could not explain what was going on with her in the middle of the night and she just felt dizzy. The next day she was doing a lot better. But could not handle things like jumping on the tramp, swinging etc. It made her dizzy. So the miricale is that all in all they are ok. The lady that hit them was drunk and went to prison with her 4th DUI and 2 counts of child endangerment. While the accident was not her fault. I have to wonder if it could have been avoided had she not been drinking. It also made me sad to find out that she was drinking, because she had 2 little kids in her car. One of the children stopped breathing when the accident occured, they got the child breathing again. Enough about the accident. I felt like Dennis and Laurie were watching over my little family. I especially felt it when we were driving to the scene of the accident. The guy that witnessed the accident said it is a miricale that people were not more hurt. I know that we were extra blessed. I feel so grateful that the kids were ok. I am especially glad today to know that Brianna is doing better and so is Farrah. I love my family and extended family so much.

Potty Training Kameron- I know Kam is almost 4 but this last year has been so crazy that I have not gotten to the potty training. So this week we decided to take it on. He did pretty good. He was proud to wear his underwears especially Wally and decided that every piece of clothing had to come off every time he tried to go. So we let him cruise the house in just his undies. All of the kids were great cheerleaders and after he filled the first sticker chart we went out for a doughnut party. When he gets excited he says ha ha. Love it.

Naomi- Was pretty entertaining to this week. We were minutes from having someone come and look at our house. I had everything perfect. The front door was open while I finished the last touches. Naomi appears at the front door happy as a lark. She had found a mud puddle and was covered from head to toe. We quickly cleaned her and was able to leave before the showing. Brianna and I decided to make cookie dough on Sunday, when Naomi convenitally woke up from her nap at the same time, she set down on the couch took my bowl and spoon away from me and with the biggest smile you have ever seen proceeded to eat the cookies dough. It was the best day ever for her.

Kyle- had a great week, he brought mom in flowers, Bud our neighbor and him brought me red potatoes, carrots and onions. It was so good. He went boating with mom and dad and played on the dock the whole time. I guess he loved it. Trucks are his favorite thing, on Monday he got to buy a new Cars the movie truck with his own money. He is such an example for Kameron. He is also very good at figuring things out. We had to rent a car since mine is in the shop from the accident, it was a brand new 2011 Dodge Caravan. Kyle new every button to push and how to get the doors open and every gadget on the car in minutes.

Brianna- I look at her and am at awe how bueatiful she is and how quickly she is growing up. She loves to be Na's mom and if Na's cries and I do not get there fast enough she is there in a heart beat. She really gave us a scare after the accident, with her head but she seems to be bouncing out of it and getting back to normal. Grandma said she loved riding the tube behind the boat and that on a scale from 1 to 5. Five being the hardest ride she was riding at a five. Little dare devil. She loves board games and is just fun to be with.

OUR HOUSE SOLD!! Ok so we have to officially wait for the inspection and a couple of other things, but we put it on the market last Tuesday and by Friday we had an offer. I have not meet the people interested, but she is a teacher and he works at walmart and they have a baby. They weren't planning on buying a house quite yet, but they walked through our home and made an offer a couple of hours later. We are so excited to have someone love it. But we are starting to think we are crazy for saleing the house before we know were we are going next exactly. I guess we like to do things all backwards. Honestly Dave and I just felt peacful about the whole decision, so I know that things will work out. For now we will pursue building and look for a temporary apartment.

Memory Hoard Wednesday Jully 11-19

Another Awesome summer week.

Wednesday- triedd to take Brianna to a make up class for gymnastics, but Laurie and Dennis's neighbor Raini was backing out of her driveway and hit our car. It damaged both doors. Kameron has been hit on that side of the car before. He got out of the car and said mom look what you did to Raini's light. I laughed thinking this is not my fault. We will go to the local junk yard and get some new doors. There insurance is sending a check. Nobody was hurt and I just laughed at Kam's comment.

We went miniature golfing this week. The kids loved it. All of them are independant and love it. It is so cute to watch. Ribgy Lake was also an adventure this week. I love it we went over for an hour or so. Kyle spent a long time building and awesome sand castle with a lake over it. Brianna loved to swim and go over to the slide, she also loves to be dunked. Kameron likes to build swimming pools and dig the dirt. He throws shovel fulls in the air. Naomi likes to sit right on my lap and play. We were all pretty gritty when we got done but we had some fun. On Friday we headed over to Boise. The kids were so good on the ride. I love draminie nobody got car sick. We spent the night at Michelles. On Saturday they went swimming to the hotel pool with Abby and Caleb and on Sunday my nephew Josh had his missionary farwell. Josh had a lot of non-memeber friends there and the stake president spoke also. The spirit was very strong as he shared what made him decided to go on a mission. He talked about Dougs cancer and how doug was in a good place and even with Dougs trial he knew the lord would make everything ok. He talked about seeing Dave after Laurie passed away and that Dave knew that there was a hereafter. Dave had peace in his eyes even with a huge trial. He went on about other things but it was just such a great farewell. The kids loved playing with cousins.

I guess the biggest event for the week was putting our house up for sale. We finally listed it with a realtor so I hope all goes well.

Brianna loved to play her ds, watch my babysitter's a vampire and eat mummy dogs, she did awesome in gymnastics this week, and looked bueatiful in her new gymnastics outsfit..

Kyle loved to play with Devon on the dirt hill with all of his trucks. Kameron follows him everywhere. He also makes sure to take care of his strawberry patch. He is a good helper and friend.

Kameron loves to do homework. I ghenive him a color to practice coloring when I am doing homework with the other kids. He has to make sure every corner of the picture is colored. He also took up cutting with scissors. Loves it.

Naomi is our princess. At Michelles house she refused to sleep. Dave finally ended up sleeping in the car with her. We joked that there was a pea under her mattress. She loves grandma Carlson. When Grandma is around I become the mom that is only good for food. She wants to be with her the whole time and calls her mama. I love the bond those two have.

Kameron also loved the

Memory Hoard Monday

My sister-in-laws blog every Monday and they call it memory hoard Monday. I think that for a non blogger like me it is such a fantastic idea. It is a great way to keep a journal and not be to overwhelmed by it. It was another great summer week. I love summer we play hard and work hard. We finished helping my dad side his house so there was a lot of extra time last week.

Monday- Dave wrote about the 4th and it rocked. We love camping on the fourth. Kyle and Brianna took swimming lessons earlier this summer and they did awesome at the pool. Kameron likes to just set on the edge. Grandma and Brianna made awesome rice krispie stars with M&M's on them, the food was delicious and the company even better. Dad and Dave played horse shoes and the kids played on the playground. I am with Dave it was impossible to not think about Laurie and Dennis the whole time we were down there. The fireworks were so beautiful and every purple one. Brianna and I thought of Grandma. Kyle and Kameron are Dave's main little man when it comes to hooking up the trailer. They are better at it than I am. I love it.

Tuesday- Came home forgot about gymnastics and just relaxed.

Wednesday- Farrah and I wen out to Rigby lake. I love that place, there is a slide in the middle of the lake now. Kyle, Brianna and Ethan swam out to it a few times and loved it. All of the kids had such a great time. This is usually a weekly tradition. Kyle is begging to go camping there since he was sick last year.

Thursday- This day was a special day to us. It was Lauries Birthday and we wanted to do something to remember her. Brianna prayed the night before that we she would feel Laurie with us on her birthday. When we woke up in the morning. Brianna and Kyle went outside and there were two purple flowers in our garden, by night they bloomed. It was a little crazy because we did not plant flowers in our garden. Last year we did, I thought they were annuals. But we received a couple of special purple flowers for that day. Brianna felt she received an answer to her prayers. That night we got purple balloons and wrote notes on them and sent them up to heaven. Then we went out for a snow cone, Dave and I got Red Raspberry, since this was Lauries favorite and he got Dave a snow cone machine for his birthday and tons of red raspberry flavoring. We also ate salmon patties. Brianna has been begging for them and thought it was fitting to eat them on Lauries Birthday since she was one of the only people who would make them for Brianna. I was going to make Ghiridilla Brownies and take some to Dan and Shalee, but I can't find the mix for them. I guess I will have to go to Costco next time I go to Boise. Sorry you didn't get any Shalee but we were sure thinking about it.

Friday- Was Grandma Carlson's birthday. Another great day. We went to breakfast, then down to Shelley for a great party. The kids played outside in the backyard with all the cousins. Mom is such an amazing person. I am really blessed to have had the influence of two great moms. My mom and Dave have a great relationship. I love it but mom always says your sweet husband. So that night Dave did a couple of dishes and mom gave him the credit for doing all the dishes. It kills me. She seriously adores and appreciates him so much. I corrected her and told her Dave did not do all of the dishes. Seriously though I love that they have a great understanding and love for each other. I guess Dan brought over some slim jims from Rex's and Dave wanted to know were they were the second we got home. Thanks Dan and Shalee. He wanted me to hide them but Na had a game where she would bring them to him on the bed and he would throw them on the floor and then she would fetch them and bring them back to him. It was a great game it gave me some time to get things done.

Saturday- Was another Carlson get together. Mom and Michelle found tadpoles while they were out on the motor scooters in the morning. So we all got nets and went out to catch them. The kids loved it. Kameron would wait so patiently and then scoop one up. He would catch it without getting any dirt in the net. Then he would run around laughing and saying ha ha I got one. I think he had the most fun. Kyle wanted to bring some home and put it the fish tank. But Dave said it would pollute the tank. Dave and my nephews play basketball almost every time they come down. In the past they have had a potato head trophy that they passed to the winner. Dave always comes home sore but it is an awesome tradition. We then just played in the backyard until evening. Dave took the kids home and I got my nephews to play aquire with me. I even stayed home from the shopping trip to play aquire. It was so fun. The boys loved it and we laughed for about an hour and a half. It took me back to many games with Dennis. We would put the kids in bed and then he would come over and play a game with Dave and us. There was usually popcorn, crunching of ice and a lot of sarcasm. We had so much fun with this game. Dennis won the very last game we played.

Sunday- This was an extra special day. I had the privilege of going back to a BYU-Idaho ward and watching my dad get put in as a bishop of the 88th ward. I know my dad will be amazing. I love that every time I go down there he gets excited to see us and greets us with a hi Mel how are you doing and a great big hug. Then when we leave it is the same big hug and a wave goodbye. I know that the kids at College will feel his love and fun personality. He is such a wonderful dad and with a mom that it so much fun and full of life. Those two will be a great asset to BYU- Idaho. I know they will love the kids and the kids will love them back.

Memory Hoard Monday July 4-11

Ok I just wrote a huge blog for the last week and Naomi posted it when I went to help Kam. When I came back I realized that I accidentally put it in Dave's blog instead of our brown blurbs blog. Does anyone know how to fix this problem. I need to finish the post by writing about each of my kids.

Dave- Got the camp trailer ready for the 4th and did a great job. He wrestled the kids on the trampoline which is Kyles favorite thing to do. Watched his garden grow. Continued being successful at his work and had a great week. I am lucky to have a guy that does it all for us. I really am amazed by him and feel blessed to have him as my husband.

Brianna- It loving the Tennis shoes among the Nephite series. We have been getting the CD's at the Library and this week got a book instead. She is truly amazing and I love to hear her prayers. She is still into style. I loved to watch her swim out to the slide at Rigby lake and she continues to help around the house.

Kyle- Is a big help. He is so thoughtful and compassionate. For my mom's birthday this week he wanted to get her a flower with his own money. He helped dad hook up the trailers. He is so smart at figuring these things out. He has this dog he got at a neighbors garage sale named clifford. He is red and has 7 holes. Kyle takes clifford everywhere. Sometimes I wonder why we spend money on toys. This one is his favorite right now and it was free. It is fun to watch. His favorite weekly activity is wrestling with Dave.

Kameron- Loves life. He doesn't like to eat a lot of things but when he eats something he likes. He says that is delicious mom, it makes me smile. He loves to fill up the swimming pole in the back, and really loves catching tadpoles this week. We got so excited and did his little ha ha after each catch.

Naomi- is our little princess. Everyone does whatever she wants them to. She loves the song Sunbeam and jumps whenever it is sung. She is my moms little girl. Whenever we go down there, she calls my mom.... mom. She loved her corn on the cob on the 4th. She just cracks us up. When she does not get here way we all know about it.

Me- Well I am just maintaing my weight watchers diet this summer, not trying to loose because there is to many fun things to do and to much delicious food. I love playing with the kids and I have been getting the house ready to sale.

4th Party

It was a very fun 4th of July. We went down to the campground in Idaho Falls and spent two nights there. Melanie's parents came the 2nd night and we had a blast-swimming, playground, smores, movies, A/C, it was great and the kids loved the fireworks as well.

Mark's post reminded me of our trip last year with mom and dad. It was so fun. Dad was on an rv kick at the time. He had his motorhome at that time. Then after that he proceeded to switch to rv trailers instead. He sold his motorhome and got a little trailer. He decided that one was a little too heavy so he sold that one and got another one. He did these transfers all within about a month or so-so hilarious and reminds me of dad to a tee-always trying to improve things till he gets it just where he wants it. Mom and dad had a fun time on the camp trip, as did we. Of course our kids wanted to sleep in Grandma and Grandpa's outfit and not ours. Mom was doing pretty good and Dad was escorting her around the campground to the pool and playground, and eventually the fireworks. The fireworks were great and after I remember her saying she thought this would be a fun family tradition, which is kind of why we did it again this year. We also had a great time this year as well. Melanie's parents came and we had a blast. As the fireworks started I all of the sudden got a little emotional and teary. I couldn't help but think mom would have loved the show, but I also felt like she was watching them somewhere and that she had talked dad into going with her. Sometimes I feel they are a lot closer than we think and that makes me happy. Last night just made me miss them and love them more at the same time. Dave