Melinda's 50th!

So this post is way late but I wanted to put it on my blog to show that Melinda was documented to have an awesome birthday! She does everything for everyone and she is appreciated and loved... and to prove it I present her 50th birthday pictures.

Dad flew Jessica and Kevin out for Melinda's birthday and you can see in the photos how happy and surprised she was. We had just come from our ward Trunk-or-Treat so that's why she's dressed 50s style (seeing as it was her 50th birthday it was fitting though)



For her birthday breakfast the next morning we went to Golden Corral. Mmmm-mmmm.





As for her presents... we had been planning them for a while and she loved them.


She was making this face because she thought that we had spent what a Cricut actually costs but we got a way awesome deal!





We got her a cake from Sam's Club and had a poem put on it. Dan wrote it and this is the poem:

"50
Wow! What a number!

Is that how many hours you work in a day?
Is it how many costumes you've sewed for the play?
Maybe how many lives you've touched when the sun's not yet up?
Or how many times today you've washed everyone's cup?

Could it be the number of Eagles you've "raised"?
Or the number of items on your to do list today?
It could be the play days where you worked instead,
Or perhaps how often you've told Eric to go to bed?

50, for you in a day could be:

Cans that you canned or weddings you planned,
Dresses you sewed or gardens you hoed,
Diapers you changed or lives you arranged,
You've done 50 of everything when "go getters" do one,
But today we celebrate you, oh you'll have so much fun!

No dishes to do, no stress to be had,
You'll get what you want, oh won't you be glad?
50 great years you've been on this Earth,
And today we want to show you how much you're worth!

We love you!"

To finish Melinda's birthday we went to see a movie and also had dinner at Cracker Barrel. It was a great day and we hope that Mom knows how much we love her!

Halloween!

Dan and I love Halloween and this year totally snuck up on us because we have been so busy. We got Orson a costume a while ago and threw ideas around about what we wanted to be as a family. So because we had a monkey costume for Orson we came up with things like Aladdin, Jasmine and Abu. I said no because #1 I don't like Jasmine and #2 I wasn't about to dress like her when it's cold and I had no money and time to make a costume. We also thought of The Wizard of Oz and Orson could be a flying monkey. We also had other ideas, but here's what we settled on because it was fun and original, and easy.

We're Organ Grinders with our little dancing monkey!



Melinda has some neat Halloween decorations that I decided to take advantage of.




Sitting by the pumpkins






Orson's first Halloween candy stash from trunk-or-treat. He didn't get to eat any of it but it was fun to play with it for a while.

Six Months

Well, Orson turned six months on the 26th and it was so cold and windy outside that I didn't want to take him out for pictures. So I waited a couple days and it was gorgeous all day. Well, until we get to the pumpkin patch and the wind started blowing. I was way bummed and I tried to take some good ones but not my best photography ever.

Anyway, Orson is six months now. He rolls all over the floor or anywhere else. He loves bananas and we've also tried avacado and sweet potatoes. Bananas still remain the favorite. He babbles all the time and just started waving at everyone. But I would say the thing he does most is blow raspberries. He's growing up so fast!











I liked this winged squash. I think it looks like a he's holding a mace with his ogre face.

Sunday Clothes Just Got Better

So Kristen, I know I forgot to call you and tell you that I got you're present. THANKS! It's adorable and I wanted to post it so you could see.

Kristen got Orson a tie to wear for church and it's a real tie... none of this zip-up or clip-on stuff! It actually took Dan about 6 tries to get it this perfect. Thanks Kristen, it's perfect! We miss you guys tons!

How Orson Trains His Dragon

Dan and I went to Grand Junction for a quick weekend and this was in the Wal*Mart where I developed some pictures. I couldn't resist. If you haven't seen this movie, it's great and Dan and I recommend it!

When You're Helping We're Happy

Having this house is a lot of work because we've had to make it into a livable space for us and a baby. We could NOT have done it without all our amazing helpers! Thanks Melinda for all the hard work and time you've put in to help us! Thanks to Michael who was preparing to go on a mission and was selfless enough to come and do an awesome job! Thanks Haelyn for spending that week to work on the house when you could have hung out with friends! It was great to work alongside my brother for that time. And thanks to David for helping with the water heater and the neverending process of our plumbing. I don't know what Dan and I could have done if this was a place we bought in Utah. I would have cried everyday (several times). Thanks for the hard work... our house is a home because of you.

Orson is so happy that everyone is helping :) Like his "work" clothes? lol

Melinda sanding the wall to prep for painting.

I surprised her with a picture.

Michael painting over the yucky purple color.


Haelyn filling up holes with putty... there were about a million holes (no joke)



I would also like to take this moment to say how proud I am of Dan. He works so hard in all that he does. He has been doing school (which is an all day crisis), work and still finds time and energy to go work on the house. No one really knows but him what effort that takes and I love him so much for being such a trooper. I love you babe! Thank you for all you do for our family.