We Wish You A Merry Christmas!!

This year I only sent out a few Christmas cards. I wanted to send out more, so if you didn't get one, here it is! We hope that your Christmas is full of love, family, and remembrance of the reason we celebrate the season; the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.

2008 has been a wonderful year filled with so many blessings!
The first and most important blessing of this year was the beautiful addition to our family. Brielle Mary Jane was born on September 23rd. Her calm sweet spirit has been a welcome addition to our home. Recently she has started smiling and cooing, laughing, and is really alert and wide eyed. She loves the smothering love that she gets from her brother; she seems to save all her biggest smiles for him. She loves when we sing to her, and she loves her binky!

Kaid has been the best big brother! Sometimes when he is grumpy, the best way to cheer him up is a kiss from his little sister. He loves to “save” her when she cries, share his toys with her, lay by her and love her. He often calls her “Princess B-rell”. He truly is a blessing in our lives. His naturally buoyant, happy spirit really blesses the lives of those he interacts with. He loves to laugh and he enjoys every small detail of life. Kaid loves his daddy, and enjoys the time that he can be his shadow. He loves airplanes, trains, and cars. He is truly 100% boy! This year, to my great relief, Kaid finally decided he would start talking. I love to hear his little voice! He knows the whole uppercase alphabet, and most of the lower case, he can spell a few small words, he counts to 13 by himself, his favorite color is red, and each day he amazes me with something new he has learned!

Brian has kept busy this year with work. We are so grateful for his awesome job and the blessing that it affords us! This year he finally got the backyard put in. He did an awesome job making it a fun place for Kaid to play! He and Kaid love to collect and polish rocks, a hobby he picked up from my grandma.

This year I am truly blessed that I can continue to be a stay at home mom. Each day brings new adventures and lots of fun with my kids. I am grateful for them and the new things that they teach me each day. I keep a full schedule of students that I tutor, and I enjoy getting that professional fulfillment. I also started “couponing”, and believe it or not, I really love it. It’s actually fun to save so much money! These days I enjoy exercise, a good book, homemade granola, cooking, and my family.

We hope that 2009 brings you continued happiness!

I love being a mom!

On Wednesday Kaid and I ran some errands together while Brian stayed at home with Brielle. I love the time that I get to spend with just my little man! I can't remember where we were, but I really had to go to the bathroom. Of course Kaid had to come with me, and when I was done he jubilantly exclaimed, "Hooray!! Mommy pee pee in potty!". I then a chorus of giggles from the other women in the bathroom. What a joy potty training is, and did I mention that I love being a mom?!

Christmas with Oma!!

As we go through the Christmas season, I am grateful that I get to share a part of it with my Oma! This year was really exciting for me because it was the first time that she (and the others living with her) has been healthy enough to meet Brielle. This year Oma smiled for pictures, danced with me, and sang along (with all the right words) to Christmas carols. What a blessing Oma is in my life, and how grateful I am to have her close. I wanted to share with those of you who also love her, a little piece of that Christmas party. Enjoy!

Brielle's Blessing Day

Because the Melcher family was all here for Thanksgiving, we got permission from the bishop and blessed Brielle Sunday November 30th. With help from my mom, (thanks again for your time and your AMAZING talents mom!) Brielle had the most beautiful blessing dress. On days like these I am especially grateful for the gospel, for the plan of salvation, for the covenants we make in the temple, and for the priesthood that Brian faithfully holds. I am grateful for my eternal family that now includes Brielle. What a blessing she is in our home. She has the most beautiful spirit, and each day I am grateful for her bubbly personality.

Isn't she just the cutest?

A Melcher Thanksgiving!

This year for Thanksgiving all of Brian's family came to Arizona. We had a house full, but it was so much fun! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day, the girls had fun day-after-Thanksgiving shopping, and a weekend filled with lots of sports! We were were so glad that everyone could come....we love our family!!

Zoo Fun

Kaid loves going to the Zoo! We always go with his two best friends Cooper and Ella, which makes it that much more fun for him. This time at the zoo we watched the iguanas for 30 minutes! The kids would just giggle and laugh every time the moved or stuck out their tongues. It was really fun to watch them. Kaid's favorite animal by far is the Giraffe. I love watching him as he watches the animals in amazement. We love the zoo!