Melville Memories!

The Melvilles send you a very Merry Christmas! We have had such a fun year (again) with blogging, that we are going to continue with the tradition! Blogging has allowed us to keep in contact with our family and friends on a regular basis rather then in a once a year Christmas Card! We are truly thankful to have you in our lives and enjoy having you share in all of life's adventures! We treasure all of the comments that we receive from you and look forward to hearing from you in the year to come!

Click on the link to see our cheerful Christmas card!

http://sendables.jibjab.com/view/o1FKCURMuYA1pUa5

(with badly cropped mouths as we all have mustaches!)

May you be wrapped (as tight as this gift) this Christmas Season in all the love that surrounds you!

(This gift is from Ethan to his baby brother Garrett on his first Christmas!)

Our 2011 year summed up…NEW BABY…NEW HOME…NEW BUSINESS (for AmySue)! Can we say a very exciting, fun filled year?

If you have been following the blog, you have had the opportunity to grow with us in parenting both Ethan & Garrett! What great joy they have been!

Grant continues to be very happy at Holt High School. In the true Grant Melville style, he continues to be involved in the students lives outside of the classroom. He coaches both track (pole vaulters) and JV football. Grant has had some success in the woods this Fall - 2 bucks and a Doe and continues to go out for more great hunts!

AmySue continues to balance work and motherhood. She serves on the Board of the Junior League of Lansing (a women's organization serving women and children in need) as the Membership VP. AmySue has also taken the recent steps to opening up her own Recreation Therapy business. She plans to continue with some contracts until juggling both of them is too much to handle.

We continue to enjoy our involvement and the friends that we have made through our Church!

We wish you a very Merry Christmas!

Grant, AmySue, Ethan and Garrett

These posted pictures are in chronological order from the beginning of the month to Garrett's 9 month Birthday!

Compare the pictures..one from this month...the other from the summer...oh no, both the boys got there Dad's fashion genetics!

Whatever makes you happy! Who needs manners?

Just let me see outside!

Out our back sliding door! Beautiful yet...lets fill our freezer!

Baby Yoda!

Garrett loves to get into the Christmas tree and knows that it is wrong. Although this picture is fuzy, it shows how he thinks that he is getting away with something. Crawl fast and don't look at Momma!

The start of Ethan's 5th Birthday - His wish was a Rainbow theme! Grant baked all layers to the cake and I....

get new parts to my blender as he put two different things in the blender at the same time.

Start your Birthday out the Rainbow way with "Rainbow Cereal"

Trying to stay up for birthday festivities with drool on the face!

Garrett unable to hold out for the mid-afternoon birthday festivities!

Grant eating his words as whenever they were in Gander Mountain, Ethan would bug to play this game and Grant would say "When you are five" just to avoid it. Well guess what, memory sucks sometimes as Ethan states "I'm five today, lets go play that game!"

A Birthday is not complete until you can party with your good friend Justen!

Lunch time fun at Johnny Rockets!

Designer ketchup plates!

And they let you dance in the booths!

A stop to Maggie Moos icecream! Notice Ethan has funny faces in all the pictures. You can tell that he's 5!

To complete the Birthday adventure there was a stop to get 2 goldfish!

Setting the table = taking time to build a tower with the glasses.

Rainbow birthday cake and gold at the end of the rainbow!

Can I please just get a nice picture?

Think about it!! Think about it!! Papa is easy to sucker into building legos with him.

Rainbow buffet!

The best Birthday gift ever...a brother to share fun times with. I think I am goingt to print a big black and white picture of this one! It truly makes me smile!

At least I got one serious picture!

Ethan enjoyed being able to hand out "5's" to everyone he saw saying, "Here's 5, because I am 5!"

The three G's...Grandma, Garrett, Grandma!

Our nice family picture!! Ethan is holding a picture of a rainbow and that kid doesn't miss a trick. Very detailed orientated (don't know who he gets that from) as he looked at the picture for me to use as a decoration and stated "Ummm, this isn't going to work the colors are backwards." Ethan truly knows ROYGBIV!

Yum!

Complete with Rainbow icecream!

Somewhere over the rainbow!

Fill that freezer!

Notice... Garrett has camos too!

Grant took my Dad hunting...it has been since 1990. This is Papa "Dee/a/r!"

Ethan and Matthew. Dumb and Dumber. No shirt one and no shirt two. These two crazy kids celebrate their Birthday together.

Garrett loves climbing in our stools!

And the stools get moved all around the 1st floor for some "fort fun!" Notice the bikes, they are each parked in their side of the fort (Ethan's idea).

Going out shopping the day before Thanksgiving with Momma!

Garrett didn't last to long with his turkey hat! I love that he is a thumb sucker, too cute (for now)!

Thanksgiving Day! Papa watches football, boys sleep. Please make sure Ethan is still breathing!

The Little Turkey that is always smiling!

Did I say, always smiling!!!

Who me? I see nothing wrong momma. The dog dish is suppose to be here!

Water table fun in our kitchen! Garrett loves to stand and play and to add water to it, made it all the more better as he played...

and played...

and played....

and played...

and played some more!

Melville Men line up...please pray for me!

Darn it, she caught me. Maybe if I smile, she won't mind!

Hmmmm....how can I get that ribbon up there?

I will just sneak away like nothing ever happened.

Grant stated "Hey, that's how my students look!"

Baby Garrett is already 9 months old and full of life, love and pure happiness! And not a care in the world that his diaper is about to burst from the seems with urine!