Lately

So, I promised myself I was going to post more often, I just haven't figured out where to fit it in yet. I need to create the habit again. For now, here's a little of what we were up to at the beginning of the month. I need to do a catch up post, but that will have to wait.
To explain the photos, Simon got a cold and had some really gooey faces! He also discovered markers, and thinks they are really tasty!
The kids had a great time decorating the Christmas tree. I ask them to hang the ornaments high enough that Simon can't reach them. So the decorations ended up in a limited area based on Simon's reach and the other children's reach. Funny tree this year. I have since spread the ornament love around the tree!
I hope you are all enjoying the festivities and fun of the Christmas season.

Fishing and Dad

Today I'm thankful for my Dad. We always have fun fishing, hiking or the like when we get together. We love it! This is Simon's first time fishing. It looks like he'll be angling with the big boys in no time! That will make his Dad and Grandpa R. Proud!
We didn't catch anything all morning at the lake, so we gave up and went for a hike. Summer gave us her best "exhausted" pose!
After that we decided to try the creek. My Dad tool one look at it and said, "There's no fish in there."
We were standing around talking when T Jay yelled, I've got a fish and I didn't even have any bait on my hook!" We didn't believe him at first, but sure enough, he had a tiny large mouth bass on his hook! While Grandpa was holding it for the kids to look at it, Simon walked up and grab it out of his hand. He held for a second and looked at it and then threw it on the ground! It was so funny! My kids had a great time, thanks Dad!

Halloween

A little late, but here are the kiddos in their Halloween costumes. Simon was way more interested in the pumpkins than with being photographed! If you can't tell, we have two ballerinas, bumblebee transformer, a ninja and a baby Dracula. I hope your Halloween was Spooktacular!

Washer and Dryer

I am thankful for having a washer and dryer. I usually fold as I go, but this day I washed and dried all day long and folded at night while watching T.V.! 7 people's worth! I couldn't imagine having to do all of this on a wash board! Yikes.

Thankfuls!

It's been a long time! I think ill dust things off and get back to it. I'll start small. (Hi Happy!)
I always love November, because I really get to think about what I'm thankful for. So this month is dedicated to things I am thankful for. Today I am thankful for the great outdoors. This photo was taken at Sims Flat campground, not too far from lake Shasta. It's our favorite camping spot in CA so far. I love being outside!

Monkey business

More often than not, this little monkey sneaks into our bed, either when he's falling asleep or during the night. I asked him how much longer he was going to come into our bed and he told me when he was 10, he would stay in his bed. I asked him what he would do when he needed to snuggle, and he said he would make a statue of himself, like a robot, and snuggle that! What a solution! I'm not sure I will like it when his late night visits stop. Jess may feel differently as he is the one who gets woken up and often times kicked out of bed.

Baptism

 Summer is excited and ready to go!  She's rockin' the jumper!

 Pround parents

 Father daughter

 Grandparents

 Grandpa and Grandma Melin with the wild bunch.

 Grammy Riggs with the wild bunch.

 Family

 The whole crew.

 Summer absolutely loved how the dress twirled.  She twirled and twirled after the baptism out on the lawn of the church.

I (Jess is writing this) told Summer that she is never allowed to get married so this may be the last time you see her in a white dress on the lawn.  Actually that day will undoubtedly come way too soon.

 Can you guess which one we call 'Monkey'?!

 Summer with Grammy.

The beautiful Melin girls.

Baptism Photo Shoot

 I took Summer out early in the morning to try and get some photos of her in her Baptism dress on the day of her baptism. My sister in law's Mother made Summer's dress from my wedding dress!  I am in love with it and it meant so much to me to share my dress with her.  It turned out so great. 

 I still haven't had (taken) any time to work on my photography skills, so I am strictly working in auto settings.  I hope to be able to find sometime somewhere to learn some things.  Having five kids is always my excuse for everything!

 Back view of her dress.

 CTR!

 She did this pose on her own.

 Lavender is the "it" color in Summer's world right now!

So beautiful!

Lavender Bunny party

For her 8th birthday, Summer decided that she wanted to have a lavender bunny party. 

Here's what I came up with:

Summer and her friend working on the bunny embroidery.

Three of her friends from her class.

The bunny cupcakes!  I got really lucky and found these bunny candles in an Easter clearance section in a shop downtown.  I got the bunny news just in time to find a few!

The finished embroidery projects.  I got the frames at the Dollar store and painted them lavender and sprayed them with glitter.  So cute!

No party is complete with out an appearance from grocery bag man! 

 Welcome to a day in the life of me!

Happy Birthday Summer girl!

San Fransisco!

We went into the city on Thursday after lunch.  It was fun to show the Grandparents around.

 My Mom near the Golden Gate bridge.

 Tom and Rosalie with summer girl.

 Happy Grandmas!

 I used to walk like this with my friends.  So sweet.

 Feeling smarty pants because the found a short cut!  What a team.

 Grandma and Lex holding hands on the carousel.  Priceless.

 That's right, folks!  We found a place for Dad M.!

 We are quite the site walking around!  We really get stares in the city!

My kids have an obsession with riding on Jess' shoulders.