Dippin' on Valentine's Day

Keith and I went on a date over the weekend so the evening of Valentine's Day was a family celebration. The grande finale was homemade chocolate fondu with homemade pound cake, strawberries, bananas, marshmallows and cinnamon marshmallows for dipping.

This was Hayden, Payson and Madison's first fondu experience and it was definitely a big hit! 

1, 2, 3, GO! 

Pretty much every bite Hayden took looked like this. She. Loved. It!

Daddy had arrived home with roses in hand for all of his girls.

These girls will always know how they should be treated because their Daddy has been teaching them since birth.

Payson delivered a single rose to each of his sisters, his Mommy and Grandma. His smile was even bigger than the recipients' smiles - he was so happy to be the loving gift-giver. Such a young gentleman already!

A few nights earlier we had surprised the kids with a horse-drawn carriage ride.

Hayden and Payson snuggled in the back...

...while Madison rode up front with the George the driver.

 

Mommy and Daddy snuggled on the ride too!

Here are the Valentines that the kids delivered to their friends at school. They picked their designs, I helped them print and cut them and the kids finished up by decorating and assembling them.

Craft time at school!

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

with love,

THE MELKERS

Ice Skating and Celebrating

Cousin Avery had her 7th birthday party at the ice skating rink so Hayden, Payson and Madison got to hit the ice for their first time. Nunie helped Hayden lace up!

They started the afternoon hardly able to walk in their ice skates and ended the day walking on the ground well and skating with confidence around the wall by themselves.

Of course Keith and I took them for a few spins around the ice and they improved more and more each time around.

They all enjoyed it but Hayden was the most giddy about the whole experience.
(l-r: Cousin Addison, Madison and Hayden)

The following weekend we celebrated Grandpa Irv's 90th birthday along with my mom's birthday. We are thrilled that he made the trip down so we could celebrate with him! A memory to treasure forever.

I treated Grandma to one of her favorite indulgences: Strawberry Pretzel Salad. YUM!

"Happy Birthday to you... Happy Birthday dear Grandpa..."

"Happy Birthday to you... Happy Birthday dear Grandma..."

Madison snuggled with her Great-Grandpa while we watched a slide show of his life in photographs.

The cousins had a wonderful time together, as always, and I was amazed to see them playing so calmly and quietly together... for once.

Of course that didn't last long. Before we knew it, their 4 1/2-year-old cousin had painted Madison and Hayden's nails (and the fingers and toes that go along with them) and the girls' had done their own make-up. Bath time!

Here's a cute shot of the kids with some of their friends at lunch after a playdate.

And I also enjoyed my own mom's night out with my special triplet and quad mommas! Thanks dads for putting our 40 kids to bed so we could have a night out!