San Diego Trip

I know this is almost 2 months over due but I need to post about the awesome vacation Shad & I had for his birthday. This was the first time since our 2nd Anniversary that we were able to go on a vacation without our kids. We missed them like crazy but it reminded us that we need to do more things just the two of us. It felt like we were "dating" again. Anyway, Shad planned this vacation to San Diego for his 30th birthday, which kept him distracted from finding out about his surprise party. After his party, my parents took the kids back to Utah on Memorial Day and we left for San Diego on Tuesday morning and didn't pick up the kids until Sunday. (THANK YOU to both of our parents who took turns watching our kids for us.)

The view from our room at the Hyatt. We were on the 26th floor and the view was awesome! The hotel was great too (other than you have to pay to park at your own hotel every single night - was not expecting that one).

The first night in San Diego we went to a Padres game... the view from our seats that were in the nose bleeds. It was still fun to be there. Petco Park is really neat.

During this game we realized that our hotel offered 30% off anything at the hotel if the Padres win and 50% off anything if they hit a grand slam or a walk-off home run. The Padres lost that night game but we were planning on going to another game the next day... so we started to keep our fingers crossed that they would at least win so we could get 30% off a couple's massage. We had talked about getting one but when we saw the prices they were way too expensive. However, 30% would have been more in our price range.

We decided to go early to the game so we could watch batting practice. That was a lot of fun. Especially since Shad saved the life of one of the physical trainers when Shad saw a line drive heading straight for him and warned him to get out of the way. He then proceeded to almost jump over the wall to grab the line drive and ended up pinning the ball against the wall with his bare hands but dropped it at the last moment. One of the players gave it to Shad and said he deserved to have the ball for his "effort". That's my husband! LOL!

A lot better seats the second day...

The coveted baseball...

So here is play by play... bottom of the ninth - Mets 1 and Padres 0. Padres have two on base with two outs. Player hits ball down 3rd base line - one scores (yeah we're tied) and Padres decide to send the next runner home.... here comes the throw and is he safe or out??(remember if they win we get 30% off a couples massage).... and he gets called out. Extra innings here we go!! We get to the bottom of the 11th and Padres have the bases loaded... Adrian Gonzalez is up to bat.... that's right...GRAND SLAM BABY!!! SHAD & I GET 50% OFF A COUPLES MASSAGE. Put that in your pipe and smoke it!!

Um... we were a little excited... can you tell?

We went to Seaport Village. I loved walking around the little shops and the huge battle ships were awesome!!

Shad had 2 birthday dinners in San Diego. The day before his birthday he picked Lou & Mickey's. He got the fillet and crab legs. I am not a fan of fish but the crab legs were WONDERFUL!!

On Shad's actual birthday, we went to the San Diego temple for the first time. We wished it hadn't been under construction but it was still a great experience.

We went to the Lajolla Cove after the temple and saw the sea lions. Amazing again!!

We finished the day off by visiting Old Town San Diego. I love learning about history and looking at old artifacts. The Mormon Battalion exhibit was my favorite stop there...

And you get this lovely picture e-mailed to you too. BONUS!

Many friends had told me the best thing to do in Old Town is to eat Mexican food. Of course I wasn't going to pass that up since Mexican is my favorite. So for Shad's actual birthday dinner he let me have my favorite (spoiled right?).

And I repaid him with this...

Our last stop was in Downy, California to stay with Shad's Aunt & Uncle Boyd. Although I have not spent a lot of time with the Boyd's, they are very special to Shad & I both. We are the closest to them then any of Shad's extended family. We just love them to pieces!!

We decided to go to a Dodger's game and at the last minute Shad's cousin's boyfriend's uncle (still following) decided to give us his 4 season tickets. We had awesome seats and had such a FANTASTIC time.

Don't mind this next picture... it was pre-working out (plus the 8 lbs I gained on the vacation... not lying).

And of course it wouldn't have been the same experience without Shad catching a foul ball. This one was awesome because he jumped over our row of seats and ran down to another section to catch this one before anyone even realized it was coming towards them. Even better, 2 seconds after he sat down his sister Cami called and asked if he had just caught a foul ball.... the awesome catch made it on to TV. He is my All-Star!!

As you can tell we had a great time and can't wait until we can go on another amazing vacation together.

Thanks babe for everything babe!!

XOXO Melanie

Baptized

Our family was invited to a beautiful little girl's baptism tonight. Shad & I taught her in primary when she was 5 years old. She is such a sweet girl and it was a great night for her. This was Ky's first experience seeing a baptism. I wasn't sure how he would react to the whole night but for the most part he did great. Until it was time to leave....

Ky came up to me and said, "Mommy I wanna be baptized!"

(Teaching moment - right?)

Mommy - "When you turn 8 years old you can be baptized too. You are only 2 years old (and I proceeded to count on his fingers) and when you are 6 six years older you can be baptized - OK."

Ky - "No I be baptized now!"

And then the tears and whining started to flow...

Ky - "I be baptized, I be baptized, I be baptized!!"

All the way out of the church, through the parking lot, and continued until home. We thought it was because he loves the water so much, so Shad said that we were going to get in the "bubbles" (bath time) and he said no I don't want bubbles I want to be baptized.

This was definitely a night both Shad & I could put up with his crying and whining... what a cutie!!

XOXO Melanie

SuRprISe!!

After 2 months of planning and lots of help from family and friends I pulled off a BIG SURPRISE PARTY for Shad's 30th Birthday!!

We had the party at my friend's house who had a huge backyard and an awesome pool! Shad definitely gave me a run for my money because at the last minute he wanted to play in a memorial flag football tournament and apparently "just going over to the Hendricks for a BBQ" was not important enough to miss the tournament. I pulled the "We haven't done anything fun with the family in a long time" card and luckily it worked.

The party was on the Saturday before Memorial Day, because we were going to be in San Diego for his actual birthday (more about that trip to come). Did I mention it was a day full of surprises?? My Mom decided to plan a little surprise for me too! She called my sister Stephanie, who lives in St. Louis, a few weeks before the party and said she would help pay for her plane ticket so her and her husband could be at the party too. How awesome is that!! After we all yelled surprise to Shad my sister's husband Matt caught my eye and I thought "that guy kind of looks familiar" but didn't think twice about it. Then all of a sudden my sister Stephanie was right in my face... she had to take off her sunglasses for it to really sink in. I FREAKED OUT!! I wish I knew how to edit the video of me freaking out because it is hilarious!! What a great day and weekend!!

Thanks to everyone who came and helped me plan the big surprise...and a very BIG THANK YOU to the Hendricks family that let us have the party at their house. How am I so lucky to have found such great friends?? Sorry to those who somehow I forgot to get invites to... it was not intentional.

I hope you had a FANTASTIC 3oth Birthday party Babe... love ya lots!!

Pictures will tell the rest of the story...

XOXO Melanie

P.S. I had one my good friends make an awesome poster with the "Top Thirty Interesting Facts about Shad Rollo" ... submitted by family and friends. I thought they were pretty funny. ENJOY!!

Top Thirty Interesting Facts About Shad Rollo
by family & friends

1- Grew up wanting to be the owner of SeaWorld and to be the trainer for the dolphins and whales.
2- Shad fell and bit his tongue when he was young. His parents were told that you couldn’t stitch a tongue and to just let it heal. He now has a small flap of skin on his tongue...which makes for a fun kiss!
3- Shad was his Dad’s shadow growing up. He learned everything from his dad- hard work, patience and a love for sports - just to name a few.
4- Shad’s nursery leaders had to take the balls out of the classroom because he had such a good arm that he frightened the nursery leaders that they thought he might hurt someone.
5- Shad swung the baseball bat so well at a very young age that Shad’s Dad had to pitch to him with some speed.
6- Shad was hit by a car while running away from a gas station after he “borrowed” a pack of gum. He just stood right back up and kept running back to elementary school.
7- When Shad was old enough to know better, he was caught peeing in the corner of his room.
8- Was voted Most Preferred by his high school - his talent- a roller skating routine while wearing a wrestling outfit made for a 10 year old.
9- Shad had two nicknames growing up - Shadrach & Boner - you’ll have to ask him how he got the second.
10- It wasn’t until close to the end of high school that Shad could finally beat his Dad in basketball.
11- He’s only been in one fight (until he became a police officer). It was in a baseball brawl. His only punch...was to the back of the head of a player that was already “preoccupied” with another one of his teammates.
12- Drove a 68 yellow and black Camero to high school.
13- Favorite Movie...Tommy Boy.
14- Shad is the BIGGEST tease you’ll meet.
15- Paid $500 to become a model while going through college.
16- Received a lewdness ticket for peeing off the side of the road...trying to make it back for my birthday that day...the month before we were married.
17- Proposed to me in front of more than 60 of my family members at a Christmas Party.
18- He has a great singing voice but won’t admit that out loud.
19- Loves all animals- including 2 sugar gliders he made us get when we were first married.
20- Gets hives all over his body when he gets stressed.
21- Has cut his own hair since his mission and now cuts the boy’s hair.
22- Shad would keep the TV on all day and night if I would let him.
23- Is a hopeless romantic...not kidding!
24- Still opens the door for me 100% of the time...thanks Steve and Doreen for teaching him chivalry is not out of style.
25- The “real” reason why Shad became a police officer was to beat the Whipple family at shooting contests when we go camping. We had a BB shooting contest one camping trip and Shad came in dead last. That November Shad entered the academy...he hasn’t lost a contest since! (He actually became a Master shooter in his academy,
which means he was in the top 10% of shooters.)
26- The first time Shad “let one go” in front of me was after we were married. We were fishing for the first time on a blow up raft and he said, “Melanie, what’s that? Shhh...Listen” then he let one rip that shook the boat and rippled the water.
27- My Dad took Shad for a “short” bicycle ride and just after climbing the first hill, Shad says he needs to stop. He rests and gets back on ...within seconds Shad stops and says “I think I’m going to be sick”...that’s right, my 50-something Father kicked the now 30 year old’s butt!
28- Shad will not let the kids out of the house unless their clothes are matching.
29- He does more loads of laundry and vacuums the house more than I do.
30-The one thing that can get Shad emotional at anytime is when someone talks about what a great person his Dad is...he is proud to be a Rollo!

Update on Obi

If anyone cares to see this face more and get an update on how Obi is doing in Montana click on the link below...

http://lisalouwho.blogspot.com/2010/05/even-noah-had-his-critter-limits.html

I can't believe how much we miss him!!!

XOXO Melanie

Brox's 7 month pics

I know I'm a little late on this post...but they are adorable none the less. My awesome cousin took these pics and they turned out so great! If anyone is interested let me know and I'll give you her contact info. Thanks again Katy!!!

Just a few of my favorites!!

I think she captured every single one of his facial expressions.... what do you think?

What happened to my baby boy... he is all grown up!!!!!

XOXO A PROUD MOMMA

Youth Pioneer Trek

Shad & I were asked to be a Ma and Pa for our ward youth pioneer trek. Summary - It was one of the hardest things I've done in a very long time...but the most rewarding.

We told Shad it wasn't the wild wild west...but he didn't care.

This is the start of the trek. Our family (below) was so awesome!! They worked so hard and never complained. We couldn't have asked for better kids or a better experience.

Getting to our campsite for the night. We had such a great time learning about the pioneers were were walking for and also fun dancing to good old country and square dance music. Our family cart was "Be Thankful".

We ran in to many surprises the second day. This water was suppose to be to our knees.

This was suppose to be a dry river bed... the mud came over my knees at the deepest parts. The mud was so sticky it ripped your shoes right off your feet. I did this part barefoot.

Right before lunch (around 2 p.m.) we came around the bend and saw this lovely "hill". Our family is the one half way up the hill. I couldn't help push the cart because I could barely make it walking. When we got to the top Sister Green was playing "Come Come Ye Saints" on her violin. It was an awesome experience. For lunch we had to pick one child from our family to shoot the "turkey". They got three shots... if you hit a turkey you got a 6 huge turkey legs with your lunch... if you missed you only got PBJs and fruit. Kayden was nominated from our family and he got the turkey on the 1st shot!!! I was still so tired from climbing the hill that I forgot to take a picture of our food. It was like the huge turkey legs you can get a Disneyland...if that helps. :)


We are almost to Zion!

My girls!

Our cute family close to the end of the trek!

What a great experience... if you ever get asked to participate I would highly recommend it!!

XOXO Melanie