Cousin Davis

After almost three long months... my family finally got to meet Cousin Davis!!! August 7th Baby Davis was blessed. It was a beautiful day and we are so glad we were able to support Stephanie and Matt.Kyson gets to meet his 1st Whipple cousin!!!
Brox got to meet Sarge.

I don't think he was too scared of him... LOL!

The kids almost killed themselves on this. Oh the joys of raising two boys!!

The boys found a frog in the Scott's garden. Matt's Dad was helping Kyson hold the frog. The picture is a little blurry but you can see the frog in his hand. Isn't this picture so precious!!

Kyson decided he would rather carry the frog this way...

We love you baby Davis and are so happy you finally live closer to us!!

XOXO Melanie

Co-MVP

If you are a follower of this blog, you already know my husband's obsession is softball. Although he doesn't play as much as he used to, he does get to play in a competitive police softball league on occasion. Las Vegas puts on the police and fire games (olympics for police and fire firefighters in all sports). Last year was the 1st time in 20 years Shad's team won the men's softball tournament. They of course wanted to take it two years in a row. Teams from all over the country come to play. I believe they had teams from Hawaii, Florida, Ohio, California etc. They had the tournament at Big League Dreams again and it is a fantastic facility.

The boys and I (with the help of McKenzie) were able to watch a few of the games. We had so much fun watching Daddy play!!

Sin City Combo pulled it out in a great championship game. Taking home the GOLD baby!! Congrats on winning two years in a row!!
Shad was also named Co-MVP of the tournament. The manager of the team said "when they have Shad playing they are a national championship team" ... too bad he can't play on Sunday's and most tournaments out of the State end on Sunday's. They asked him if he could just switch to being a Jehovah Witness. LOL!

Cute family!!

XOXO Melanie

Anniversary Gift

I saw a Groupon come through for what I thought was a helicopter ride over Hoover Dam. It ended up being just a plane ride but it was still really cool. Shad was loving it because we got front row seats so we was able to watch the pilot fly. He misses flying and hopes to pick it back up soon. May be when we win the lottery. The bonus is I didn't get sick. Yeah!!

Love you Babe!! Happy Anniversary!

XOXO Melanie

Happy 4th of July

Happy 4th of July!!

(A couple months late.) We were sad to miss the annual Baugh family BBQ but we did enjoy a yummy breakfast with our Ward. Later that day we were invited (or we invited ourselves... can't remember) to our friends house for a BBQ and a swim. We had a great time!! Thanks Hendricks!!

XOXO Melanie

Shoe Fetish

Have I ever told you that someone in our family has a shoe fetish? Well Joe (name has been changed to protect the innocent) does have a serious shoe fetish. There I said it. His favorite type of shoes to wear/steal are boots and my heels. I had a brilliant idea to start taking pictures of Joe in all his different shoes but only got as far as one picture. CAUTION: If Joe ever comes to your house lock your shoes up... I promise he will wear every last pair in your house... and most likely you will never be able to find the matching shoe to any pair again.

XOXO Joe's Mommy

Lake Powell

For his first family vacation after returning home from his mission. Evan decided he wanted to spend a week in Lake Powell. Besides the fact that I was sick with a soar throat, sinus infection, eye infection... yes you name it I had it.... the vacation was a blast!!

Shad loves to slalom. The old man still has some skills. LOL!If I wasn't creating a shadow this picture would have blinded you. Two years without seeing sun is frightening. LOL!!!!
Brox was scared of the boat most until the last day. This is what Mommy did most of the time. But how can you complain when you get to cuddle with your handsome little boy!!
Evan trying his hand at knee boarding.
Natalie wake boarding.
My favorite part was one night my Dad and the boys decided to follow boils (many fish swim on the surface and the water looks like it is boiling) of fish. I got to drive the boat to try to catch up to each boil that popped up. We were catching fish left and right. It was a blast!
The girls got into the action too! And by action I mean I was driving the boat and Natalie was cutting the little fish in half that they used for bait as fast as she could. I think Shad broke about 10 lines that night.

Can you see how the beginning of the pictures it was light and by the last one with Shad it is almost dark. We were having so much fun we didn't want to leave... we almost couldn't see to get back to our camp site.

Before Shad had married me he had only gone fishing ONCE in his life when he was around 7 years old. My family had taken him out fishing (which I tied his poles for him) but he still had never caught a fish.

That changed on this trip!!

My Dad this summer got scuba certified so he decided to rent some tanks and take some of the boys out scuba diving. Shad said he will never go cold water scuba diving again.... but still had fun.
Thanks Mom and Dad for showing us such a great time!!

XOXO Melanie

Elder Whipple Comes HOME!!

After two long years for my mother... Elder Whipple finally returned home from serving a two year mission in Fiji. Since Evan is the sole brother of the family we decided we should welcome him home in style! Plus the Whipple family motto is "Go Big or Go Home".... We decided to GO BIG!!!

My Sisters and Mom made us all shirts that either said "Bula Vanaka" or "Talufa" which I believe is Hello in two languages that Evan learned on his mission. We also wore the Sulu's that Evan gave to all of us the first Christmas he was gone. My family also had candy leis made for everyone who came to the airport. We also held up a bunch of signs welcoming him home.

Kyson was so excited to finally see his Uncle Evan again! He prayed for him every night.

Typical Whipple photo.

The supporting troops... Grandma and Grandpa Baugh and Grandma Whipple.
Someone got a hold of my camera!
We were sad Stephanie missed the welcome home bash but she had to of course take care of her cute new baby. Davis came home from the hospital the day before Evan came home from his mission. Always a competition with the Whipples.

After what seemed like another two years... or a two hour delay of his connecting flight from L.A. We finally started seeing people come down the elevator from his flight. They kept walking by the crowd asking if we were waiting for the guys in the "skirts". "Why yes we are and they better get down here IMMEDIATELY!!"

They were all so nervous (4 Elders came home from Fiji and 3 of them from Evan's mission) so Evan decided he would take the plunge and go down the elevator first.

Kyson was the first to greet him. He never let go. [Tears welling right now] Seriously the cutest moment EVER!!
Brox hadn't met Evan yet but he followed his brother and ran up to him too. I didn't get a picture of that moment but it was awesome!!

My Mom ordered that pretty flower lei too. We all sat and decorated him for a few minutes.

Proud parents!!

Uncle Evan is finally home!!

The Elders home from Fiji. The farthest Elder on the right didn't wear Sulus on his mission.
That night Evan wanted his first meal to be at Cafe Rio. A man after my own heart! We arrived in Ephraim around 1 a.m. and Evan wanted to hand out all of his gifts he brought back from Fiji. Everything was so beautiful!! He also decided to get all of the boys their own church Sulus. He even found some small enough for my boys.

Probably the only time you'll catch these three in "skirts". LOL! On the other hand Kyson kept telling me all day at church that he LOVED his skirt. Silly boy.

All the men in their Sulus.
Welcome Home Evan!! We sure did miss you!!

XOXO Melanie