This Is Us

Zain Hechtle is here. He was born on November 27. He weighed 6 lbs. 3 oz. and was 18 1/2 inches long. We have posted anything before now because Melissa was recovering from having him, then she had a stroke on her right side. They found a blood clot on the left side of her brain. She is taking blood thinners, seizure medicine, and blood pressure medicine. She is doing a lot better now, but sure scared all of us. She has to go back in for another MRI in February/March and the doctor's and us are hoping that the clot will be gone. Thank you to all of you for your prayers and thoughts.

Both the kids had parades at their school. Brichette's was before Xander went to school, and than Xander's was about half-way through his school day. Brichette was so cute! They walked through the gym and lunchroom where all of us parents were waiting. Then they went through each class room. Melissa got some pretty cute pictures of Brichette. It was hard to get her as she was walking through the gym, because they were walking to fast. Xander went to some of the High School class rooms and got treats and toys. It was easier to get his picture since we could walk with him. Hope you enjoy the slide.

Melissa's parent's had their annual Christmas Party. It was lots of fun. We made little mummies for the pot luck dinner (little smokies wrapped in dough and cooked) and were gone in about five minutes. If we would have known how much everyone liked those we would have made more. It was fun to see everyone and see what they were dressed up as.

A little while ago we decided to take the kids up the canyon to have a picnic for dinner and look at the different colors on the trees. Once we got everything together and got up there is was dark. We found a picnic area, and parked, but wasn't sure how far away it was from the parking, so we just sat in the car and ate. After we were done eating, we turned the light out in the car so we could looked at the stars, and the kids decided it would be fun to play in the dark car. They did some silly things and asked Melissa to take pictures so they could see what they looked like. We were laughing so hard. Then they pretended to be asleep on Nick, and had fun trying to move around each other in the car. It was a really fun night, and we can't wait to do it again.

After Xander waited so patiently it was finally time for him to go to pre-school. When Melissa woke him up the morning of, he couldn't wait to get dressed, eat breakfast, and get there. Of course they had to wait until it was time, which drove Xander crazy. But when Melissa could finally drop him off, she walked him in, helped him hang his coat and back pack up, and without even blinking he said "Bye Mom" and sat at his spot. It was almost like he was trying to get rid of her. :) It's so great that he loves it that much. He had a great first day, and is still having great days!

Towards the end of September Xander's pre-school had their open house/meet the teachers night. Because he is going to the pre-school at the High School they start later to give the high school students time to prepare and learn before they are teaching the children. They do have a pre-school director, who is wonderful and is one of Brichette's friend's mom (that's how we heard about it). Going there got Xander even more excited about going to school, and asked everyday if today he could go. He would be so disappointed when it wasn't. But when the first day finally came he couldn't get his new school clothes and shoes on fast enough, and the time to start didn't come soon enough for him. We are so glad that he loves school. It will make life easier for all of us with him loving it so much. The pictures are of him and Nick making a pencil holder out of Legos. It's really cool.

For one of Brichette's field trips we went to Red Butte Gardens up by the University of Utah. Brichette was so excited that Melissa was able to go with, but we think she was even more excited about being able to ride on a school bus. It was a little chilly, but a nice day to go. We split up in groups and had a guided tour around the gardens. It was really fun to learn some new facts about flowers, herbs, etc. and be outside. Afterwards we went back to the school and then walked over to a nearby park and had lunch. Melissa left after Brichette was done eating, but the classes stayed there for awhile and played. It's so nice that Melissa is home and able to do those things with the kids. She really enjoys it.

We took the kids to the State Fair in September. It took us a long time to find a place to park, and once we did find a spot it was a ways away. But it's worth it, because we had lots of fun. Once we got inside Nick told the kids that they had $20.00 they could spend on souvenirs, and were so excited to be able to pay for their own things. We wandered around and they spent their money. Then they went on a ride, and Nick was going to take them on the big slide, but the wait was like hours. So we decided not to and headed over to the kid rides. As we were walking over to the kid rides we saw a shark exhibit. It was pretty cool, other than they looked cramped in the tank and didn't move much. Once we got over to the kid rides, they had a mini slide and the wait was nothing. So they went on that one. Xander was to little to go by himself, so him and Brichette came down together. They rode one more and then we got a treat and left.

A little bit ago it rained really hard here, and the kids were so excited about it that they had to go out and play in it. They were running in it, pretending to melt, and laughing lots. If Melissa wouldn't have had the camera she might have joined them. It's so much fun to play in the rain. Once they were done they came inside, took their wet clothes off, and snuggled in blankets until their clothes had dried.

Back in September Brichette's school had a carnival to help raise money for the PTA, and to let the kids and parents mingle. They had carnival games, food, face painting, and the big blow up slides and rock climbing. It was so fun to see the kids get so excited about everything. They loved the one slide that was a Shark. They climbed up the side and came out it's mouth. So cool! We really like the school, and am really excited to have Brichette going there.

We've finally picked a name... Zain Nathanial We are so excited and just love the it. Melissa is very relieved to finally have a name for him, she was really worried about it.

Melissa, the kids, and Athena went over to Melissa's parents house about a week ago so the kids could play (since there wasn't any school). Maren said that Joey couldn't wait any longer to get a pumpkin and carve it, so they all went to a pumpkin patch in Riverton. They had so much fun. Brichette and Xander found their pumpkins pretty quickly, Joey wanted this one... no this one... no this one (He had a very hard time deciding) and Zack just wanted to play in the dirt. After they had found their pumpkins, they put them in a wheel barrel, that Mopie was pushing around. Except for Xander's, he had his very own little wheel barrel to put his in. He had lots of fun, and gave Brichette turns pushing it. After we were done, and everyone had their pumpkins (including Mopie) we went through the little corn maze they had. The kids really liked that and wanted to go through again. However we had to get back because Xander had dance. So we told them we would have to go again...

The kids decided that they wanted to get their skates out and go skating (obviously). Xander was a little cautious at first, but then once he realized he couldn't go that fast and it was hard to fall, he lighted up and was okay. Brichette wasn't scared at all and just dove right into it. They were having so much fun going up and down the sidewalk, it was hard to get them to quit.

A little bit ago we went with Melissa's parent's to a pot luck dinner that their square dance club was having. It was at a park, and the kids had so much fun despite how hot it was. We ate dinner, which was good, and then we needed to leave because the kids were going to stay at Page and Chevonne's house. It's a good thing we went with (we weren't going to because the kids were staying over), because we needed to take Melissa's dad home so he could make it back for work that he needed to do. We were walking to the car, and Brichette sat on this rock and posed for us: She was trying not to smile. She said this was her Sexy Pose. Melissa's mom looked at her and said "What are you teaching her?" and then laughed. Melissa was as shocked as her mom was that she said that. She must have seen something on TV, stupid commercials! Xander wouldn't pose for them, with or without Brichette, so Melissa only got a couple shots of him running through the...