Scott and Melanie

In Memory

2010-03-26T09:07:00.003-07:00

Wednesday we got the shocking news that Dr. Chris Harris tragically and unexpectedly passed away. Scott worked for Dr. Harris before he purchased his own practice. He was a mentor and a friend. We know Scott wouldn't be the dentist he is today without Chris. He leaves behind an amazing wife and 5 beautiful children. I loved photographing their family. Please keep this beautiful family in your prayers. Click on my photography blog link on the right to see more pictures.

I'm just not a blogger

2009-11-02T14:15:00.002-07:00

I know I am a horrible blogger! But I am sick of looking at that wedding picture and I thought some new pics of my cute kiddos would be much better. Here's a few from Halloween. Annie these pics are posted because of you! :). Thanks for encouraging me to update. Charlie really is getting so big!

Nine Years!

2009-03-19T21:51:00.003-07:00

I know, I know--sweet picture! You all wish you looked so good on your wedding day (LOL)! We both can't believe how young we looked--I guess nine years really is a long time! And Scott with his Marine Corps regulation haircut. Nice. Our anniversary was March 14. I must say, it has been one crazy ride! Who knew that summer we met as EFY counselors would lead us here!! Only a little has happend-me graduating from Utah State, Scott sent to California with the Marine Corps, and later the war in Iraq where he was shot, Scott coming back graduating from Weber State, backpacking through Europe, moving to Ohio, having Hannah and Charlie, and arriving to where we are today in Arizona. I never would have imagined all we've been through! I really was lucky to have Scott to go through it with and I wouldn't change a thing! He really has been the best thing for me and the best friend.
So this anniversary was probably the best one we've had! Scott planned out a whole getaway to Sedona and surprised me! He seriously had an itinerary, and it was a blast! Sedona is beautiful. I couldn't believe the red rock towers--and they really were towers! It was amazing.

This is a panorama of some of the red rock--doesn't do the picture justice on a small screen.

Scott found a great bed and breakfast and hired a babysitter to watch the kiddos. We went mountain biking--too bad we are NOT in the same shape we were in nine years ago! I was so sore!

Whoa! What a Hottie!--and with that helmet...Yummmm :) (okay but he really is hot!)

Then he researched all the jeep tours and decided to take us on a trail called broken arrow on a pink jeep tour. I had heard about pink jeep tours and I was really excited to go.

I love all the people in this picture (okay not them personally, just that they are there!). It shows how tall the red rock was!

We were seriously going straight down here, it was really fun!

We finished up the night by going to eat at a restaurant called Elote. I had a chile relleno--I'm not sure if I have ever eaten anything so delicious!

The next day we went and visited some indian ruins where cliff dwelling indians once lived.

This is not the unstable ruins (I know it would have been cooler if it was, but we followed the rules and only went in the ones we were allowed in).

It was a fun trip with my best bud!

I love this boy

2009-01-30T23:22:00.002-07:00

I had to post this picture. It was a such a sweet moment. Scott had just got home from work and Charlie was so tired, but was content just to snuggle up to Scott. I love the golden evening light coming in from the window. I know this may be a mother's love thing, but it really was just one of "those" moments. I'm happy I caught it.

A little family vacation

2009-01-29T23:52:00.002-07:00

This post is way after the fact, but I was looking through these pictures and realized most of my family had not seen them yet. Hannah was so cute as a little princess her first time at Disneyland. We went for Scott's birthday in November. My parents were so nice to come and watch Charlie while we took Hannah. I'm not sure if Hannah enjoyed it as much as Scott! Hannah's favorite rides were the roller coaster in toon town and Monster's Inc. in California adventure.

Cute little bug!

Hannah loved Minnie and carried a little Minnie doll the whole time we were there!

One night we took Hannah to a dinner with the princesses so she could meet them all. It was a really fun night! Hannah could hardly wait for the princesses to come to our table. She tried to run to give them a hug every time one walked by!

They were all so cute with her. They would sit and chat with her and teach her to curtsie. It was adorable!

I don't know what was wrong with Cinderella...

They have another area at Disneyland where the princesses tell stories and teach dances. Of course we had to spend a lot of time there!

A boy and his hair

2008-12-14T23:52:00.004-07:00

So I know it sounds like a totally wierd post for my first post in a long time. I am posting this for a few reasons. First to appease my friends and family (you know who you are). Sorry I really am a horrible blogger. Second to share with you the many struggles we have with this poor boy's hair. And third, even though it's focused on Charlies hair, babies change so fast and I thought since I'm such a terrible blogger, it would be a good way to show how much this adorable boy has changed!

Here is cute little newborn Charlie. I LOVED all his dark hair and I thought it was great that we had Hannah that had Scott's color hair and Charlie with mine....

You can see in this picture that his hair is just starting to change.

This is after his first haircut. Kind of patchy, but that's normal for babies right?

...and it gets a little thinner....

Here is little Charlie's hair at it's worst. I really was in total denial! I didn't want him to lose his hair...

...poor kid...

This is the very next day, after his buzz cut. We buzzed it all the same length (I just couldn't shave him bald!).

The next few pictures are after another buzz. Notice that he still has one black patch on the back of his head. It grows faster than the rest of his hair and is a different color and texture!!

Now you can see that his hair is finally starting to grow back. Much lighter and a different texture and though you can't see it as much, he still has a black patch that grows the same as his newborn hair on the back of his head. I have trim it separately because it still grows faster!!

A little more fuzzy hair (and his first day eating! yum!)

This is cute little Charlie today! With his whole fuzzy head of hair and a faux hawk! He still has a funny patch, but it blends much better!

What we've been up to

2008-10-07T23:45:00.003-07:00

I know, it is a miracle. I really have updated my blog! Don't get too excited, I'm not making any promises about future posts, other than I'll try! I'll try to keep this short, but I started at the bottom and worked my up, so my suggestion, if you're interested in reading, is to start at the bottom of this post and work your way up too. It's crazy to see how my little Charlie has changed! He had sooo much hair (I've buzzed his hair now--a future post maybe?). Things are going well for us here. We are living in an undecorated rental house, we love our new ward and have met some awesome people here in Arizona as well as enjoyed spending more time with Scott's family. Scott loves being a dentist and I think I'm beginning to figure this having-two-kids-life-sure-is-different thing out. Actually I love it! I love Charlie (did I mention I melt for that kid?!) and Hannah is so funny! I can't believe how much she is growing up. Enjoy the update!

The next weekend we went with my family up to the Uinta's camping, Nielsen style. My family "camps" in motorhomes, with four-wheelers, and a hot tub. It really is fun, we spend all day hiking or playing outside and then after the campfire, if it's still cold, we watch movies. I love it. Hannah loved playing with all of her cousins and friends and Charlie did a great job camping! We celebrated Hannah's birthday again. The only bad thing--it snowed!! So we left early.

Hannah turned 3 years old on August 27th. It turned out to be a great week for us! She celebrated for a week straight. We took her to Chuck E. Cheese, and had cake and ice cream in Arizona the weekend before her birthday. The highlight of her birthday was the pink princess bicycle! That week we sold our house in Ohio and closed on it. Then we headed up to Utah for another visit.

And then finally, life started to settle down. Hannah started preschool, which she loves. She brings home crafts twice a week and they have a class pet they each get to watch (actually it's just a stuffed animal), but she has a lot of fun. She is still Hannah and busy, independent, and so much fun.

But it hasn't been all crazy since we moved here. Scott's dad has a cabin in Pinetop Arizona (Yes these are pictures in ARIZONA!). It was really fun to get out of the heat and go play in the mountains! Thanks for taking us Dave!

After our visit to Utah Scott drove us down to Arizona. He had just finished driving all of our stuff from Ohio to Arizona and then he came to Utah to pick us up! It was really busy with the new baby and moving in to a new place and a new state. Hannah was so funny. One day it was about 110 degress outside and she comes up to me with all the socks on. She tells me she is a super hero and these are her poses. Nice.

While in Utah, Charlie was blessed. Grandpa Charlie (Charlie's namesake) was able to make it for the blessing. Charlie was named after Charles Goodliffe, who is a real life hero and I'm so happy he made it to the blessing! Doesn't Charlie look handsome in his little white tuxedo. My Aunt made the tuxedo for my nephew Carson (who is 18 years old now!) when he was a baby and every boy on my side of the family has been blessed in it since!

We left Ohio on the 5th of July. After saying goodbye to our house (unsold at the the time) and a few of Hannah's friends, we headed off to Utah for a visit.

Charlie's First Photo Session

2008-06-28T11:57:00.005-07:00

Of course I had to do it! I had a lot of fun taking pictures of my own newborn! Some of the pictures I took when he was six days and some I took when he was one week old. His photo session the first day got cut short because he had a doctor's appointment, but he did such a great job! It was hard to get Charlie and Hannah together, but I'm satisfied with what we ended up with. I had a lot more ideas than I had time for, but I guess that will make for fun photo sessions in the future! Sorry I had to post so many pictures, and I'm sure it's a mother's love, but he is so stinkin' cute! I love this little guy! I feel so lucky to have two great kids! Now the rest of the week will be spent packing up for good. I can't believe I'm really leaving Ohio. Unfortunately we haven't sold our house yet, but we still keep hoping something will work out.

2008-06-28T11:56:00.001-07:00

A new man in my life

2008-06-21T13:52:00.004-07:00

He's here. Baby Charlie was born on Thursday June 19 at 4:32 pm. He weighed 7 lbs 11 oz and was 21.5 inches! Even a week early he was still good sized, but being so long he is so skinny! We are home now and just loving him and all of his dark hair. Thanks so much mom, Kristi Gailey, and Jocelyn Harris for all your help with Hannah! My mom has been a real trooper helping us out with Hannah while we were in the hospital. On Thursday we had two showings of our house and on Friday we had one. My mom had to clean up and evacuate the house both days all while trying to take care of a busy two-year-old! Charlie is really healthy and is doing great. My labor with him was a lot better than with Hannah so I'm feeling pretty good too.

A new blog and a new Dr. Lee

2008-06-14T15:21:00.001-07:00

He did it! Scott graduated from dental school on June 1st. The convocation was awesome and it was neat to see Scott get hooded and be finished! I am so proud of him for the four years of hard work. My parents came out for the event as well as Scott's Dad and Colleen. Hannah felt spoiled to have both sets of grandparents there. We had a lot of fun with the grandparents in town. We visited the National Airforce museum in Dayton, Ohio, an ancient "mound city" in Chillicothe Ohio and we had tour given to us of Amish Country thanks to a wonderful ward member, Brother Williamson.

It's hard to believe that our time in Ohio is nearing the end. We have made the best friends out here and we are really going to miss them all! Our friends really were like family. I've been feeling bad for Hannah since most of her little friends have already left and everything she's ever known is in Ohio. I'm sure it will take some adjusting for all of us.

Now we are looking forward to the next few steps. The arrival of our new baby boy sometime this week and then in a few more weeks we'll be going to Utah for a visit before we move to Arizona. We are waiting for our house to sell (please keep us in your prayers) and will probably be renting a place in Arizona for a while.

2008-06-14T15:16:00.001-07:00