The Final Frontier

We have been in Arizona for about six months, and knew we wanted to buy a house. After a few months of semi-interested looking, we found a great house in a nice area. 

So now this will be our home.

Let me take you on a short tour of the new Castle de Meldrum 

(since all cool houses have special names like the Biltmore, Mount Vernon, Monticello, Tarra, etc).

A view from the street. 

You can see the nice big pine tree in the front yard and the tropical palms.

Here is the front doorway. 

Very regal looking isn't it?

 

This is what the living room could look like (if we had fancy furniture like the real estate agent, but alas we do not). Allie really wanted to be in the picture. 

I like the stained wood ceiling.

When we first looked at the house, 

Allie wanted it right away because there is a lion at the front porch. 

(This is my favorite part of the house too. 

We have our very own lion! Just like in front of a castle!)

This is the fully refinished kitchen 

(which is basically why we bought the house, because Rachel walked in and saw this). 

It has every thing a chef could want.

(On a side note, Rachel now has her gourmet kitchen

 so there are no longer any obligations on her list before I can get a dog!!!)

The happy new home owners after we picked up the key. 

We are very excited for this new phase of our life.

Christmas Day 2012

It was a fun and bounteous Christmas this year and by Christmas morning, most people were feeling well enough to participate in the morning activities and that was enough cause for celebration.  While the girls were sleeping Santa came and brought them a new princess bike for Allie and a cash register for Hadley (who in turn got Allie's trike that she grew out of).  The girls were the definite winners of the morning and had so much fun playing with each present as we opened them, it took a couple of hours to get through it all.  

 

Hadley and Allie were always willing to help everyone else open their presents and see what they got.  

There were impromptu jam sessions with the new guitar and drum/percussion set.  Hadley might take after her mom and play the drums.... or she is almost 2 and likes to make loud noises and hit things.

Allie has already learned all the words to the pre-recorded songs on her guitar and sings about dogs all day long.

There were plenty of books to read, per Meldrum protocol  

And not one set of Minnie jammies, but 2 each!  They each got a pair of flannel Minnie jammies and a Minnie nightgown for when the weather is warmer.

This picture just makes me laugh.

 There was lots of doctoring going on, making sure everyone had enough shots and threw up in the little throw up tray.  Gross.

 But who could say no to these cute little doctor faces?

Here is the majority of their haul... and it was a haul!

Not to be left out, Aunt Melanie also got Minnie jammies so she could be part of the cool crew.

 

Also per Meldrum tradition, grandpa put together a scavenger hunt including things like get grandpa a drink, do a dance, etc.  Allie was more than willing to participate. 

  

At the end of the hunt was Mike and Melanie's easel that they grew up with that their Grandpa Pagel made.  The girls love it and it remains a part of our living room decor because it is so loved.  

 

Donut reindeer were made during nap time on Christmas day with Grandpa.  What girl wouldn't love donuts with M&Ms and chocolate covered pretzels?

There were a lot of bike rides around the neighborhood and to the park to try our the new bikes.  Allie is a speed demon and is much harder to keep up with now that she is on 2 wheels.

 

To end the night, we had a wonderful traditional Christmas dinner of ham, potatoes, green bean casserole and cherry 7up (the really exciting part)!  It was so fun to have the Meldrum's here for our first Christmas in Mesa.

Silet Night and Christmas Bells

This was a very special Christmas eve. Allie and Hadley were both excited to play the nativity and celebrate Jesus' birth. We had the Meldrum's in town with us this year, but they all got a nasty case of the flu (sorry)!  Thus to preserve their decency they will not be pictured in this blog post).

Allie got to play the role of Mary (she was so reverent while holding the baby, rather cute)

Hadley got to play the angel/star in the heavens. She liked the wand and star (and was a little less reverent).

Acting out the nativity. They both did a wonderful job in the first annual Meldrum family nativity scene. 

After the reverent part, then we decided to get the girls all jacked up on anticipation. We opened pajamas from Grandma and Grandpa Shaw which were matching Minnie Mouse (both girls loved them).

Then we started the parade of presents in preparation for Christmas. 

Hadley understood what was happening a little better this year. 

When the bells ring she tried real hard to close her eyes. 

(We have a different meaning for Christmas Bells are Ringing)

Little eyes started to peak a little, so mom had to help. 

(The presents stop coming if anyone opens their eyes, 

and mom wanted to make sure she got all of hers)

In the end they gave up. Both mom and Hadley were blatantly peaking. 

(That's cheating!)

Checking out all the goodies under the tree. 

Now the girls are so excited they may not fall asleep for days!

Merry Christmas 2012

Christmas lights

As part of our Christmas celebrations this year, we were able to go see the lights around the Temple. This is sure to be a fun new family tradition since there are so many lights. 

We decided to take Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Melanie with us this year.

Everyone at the lights!

(except Mel, I promise she was there. Photographic proof coming later)

The lights were really bright and vibrant, mostly LED lights.  Allie loved the purple and Hadley loved the blue ones.  She is just really understanding her colors and this was the perfect place to practice.  It was a bit chilly, but nothing like seeing the lights in SLC.  I think I might prefer the not-freezing-your-nose-off cold while looking at the lights.

 Because Aunt Melanie was there, we actually have pictures of us as a couple!  

Amazing!

Hadley also enjoyed the flower-shaped lights and 

generally running around like a crazy girl amidst the large crowd. 

(See the aforementioned photo of Mel)

 Grandma and Grandpa were just happy to be around the grandkids.

This was a great way to kick of the Meldrum Christmas week and 

for the girls to get their endless energy out. 

Allie decided to wear the hat for fun, because when else do you get to wear one in Arizona?

My Best Friends!

We were lucky enough this year to have the Tingey girls come stay with us a week before they headed up north for Christmas!  Allie was so excited the whole month and kept asking when Madison would get here.... until she got the stomach flu the night before they got here.  After Allie, it passed on to Mike and Hadley the week that they were here.  We were not quite the fun hosts, but it sure was fun to have them with us and towards the end of the week, most people were feeling a bit better and we were able to get out for a little bit. 

Angie also got to experience the Phelps Family Night of the Month which was a Lasagna dinner with Christmas caroling on a cool caroling trailer (like 2 church benches back to back, and 4 benches long).  We drove through the neighborhoods slowly while having the music blasting and singing along while the teenagers would run ahead, knocking on the doors for people to come out and see us.  It is one of my new favorite Christmas traditions!  Luckily, this was in between Allie and Mike getting sick, so we could get out.  Mike got sick the next day and ended up having to go to the instacare to get an IV because he saw severely dehydrated.  Not a fun bug!

In the end, the Tingeys did not get sick (they had the flu in the fall in TX) and Rachel did not get sick.  We must have all had it before because it was a very contagious flu.  Poor Meldrums who came the night the Tingeys left all got it within 18 hours of being in our house.  We loved having them with us and hopefully next time, we can actually do a bit more, not throwing up every 15 min.  Thanks again!