The Things I Will Miss About Our Home In Vernal

Although I won't miss this about Vernal...

And Mike definitely won't miss this...

There are some things we will miss.

Family is at the top of the list...

and wonderful friends...

breathtaking views...

and our many four-legged friends.

The deer in the winter were spectacular to watch. These pictures were taken looking out the window of the house...maybe 10 feet away.

I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of the bunnies that mowed our grass for us!

Mike affectionately dubbed the turkeys his "girl friends". All he had to do was shake the lid of the wheat bucket and they would come running.

This one is picking a fight with his reflection in our front room window.

Yes, that is a bobcat ambling down the front steps!

And a llama taking a stroll in the back yard...

Thank goodness this one found a home in Logan with Kristi and Chuck!

Although we miss so much about Vernal, we truly feel blessed to be in St. George. We know that Heavenly Father had a hand in getting us here, although we are not entirely sure why. The reasons will become more clear as time passes. One of them is that palm tree right in back of me! When it's 10 below and you need a break from the cold this winter, come down and spend a few days with us. We have room!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Happy Birthday, Dad! 79 years young! Here you are, making your famous chocolate chip cookies...without nuts to accomodate my taste while I was visiting. In the background is the only picture I have of mom, walking with her cane.

And here you both are with Taylor. She looks pretty content snuggled in-between her great-grandparents!

And, now, we have to pack up the computer! Happy birthday, DAD! I sure do love you!

Brooke's blessing

Brooke was blessed today. We drove out to Salt Lake this morning and were able to be there for her special day. Vince gave her one of the most beautiful blessings I have ever heard. Aspen, Kylie, Sadie and Brynlie; Annie and Russ; Sasha and Taylor; Mickala and Will; and Mark and Shara Dawn came from the Merrell side of the family and dozens of the Hadlocks were there as well. We enjoyed a delicious lunch afterwards, at Vince and Meagan's house.

This is Sasha, getting Taylor ready for chuch in the car. They rode out with us. Taylor was a great little travelor. She really doesn't fuss much...just starts this humming noise when she is getting tired.


I feel bad that I didn't getting any close up shots of Brooke in her dress. It was beautiful.

Van and Wendy, with Vince and Meagan and Brooke. We are trying to convince them (Van and Wendy)to move to St. George after Ben graduates...
Vince and Meagan too!

Kylie shimmied up a tree and posed for this picture.

Sadie thought that looked fun, but wasn't quite big enough to climb by herself. I'm not sure who helped her up, but it wasn't me. When I tried, I about split her in half.

I tried getting a picture of Brynlie and Taylor, but Taylor had other things in mind. This reminded me of some pictures Kristi took a year ago, when Brynlie was the one doing the crawling towards the camera.

On the way home, we stopped and visited Grandmother Merrell. We were amazed at how well she is doing! We had such a nice visit and Taylor enjoyed crawling around, exploring her Great-Grandmother's room.

We arrived safely back in Vernal and late tonight, I went online and discovered that Vince and Meagan were in the Deseret News. If I knew how to do the link thing, I would create a link to the article. Maybe Annie can do that for me.

4th of July

As we prepare to move, we are creating many "last time in Vernal" memories. Here we are at the July 4th parade. Sasha got the cutest picture of Taylor waving a little American flag. I think her enthusiasm probably sold several flags for the group that passed by, selling them.

I will miss seeing the American Legion War Veterans from Vernal. So many of these fine men are personal friends of ours.







This is Zoey Zelaya, waving to Grandma and Grandpa Wilhelm.

After the parade, Sasha and Jason came up to the house to help with some moving projects. Afterwards, Mike and Jason went on a short 4-wheeler ride while Sasha and I worked on some family reunion projects. Later on that night, we went over to the Carr's house for a steak dinner. (We had invited them to our house, but it became apparent that there was not enough silverware and plates to go around!)
After dinner, we went to our traditional spot at the park to watch the fireworks. Here we are, waiting for them to start.




And here is our little princess wearing a pair of jammies that says, "Sassy...just like mommy"

Yes, she knows she is adorable.

TAYLOR'S First Birthday

Taylor turned one on July 2nd.

We celebrated her birthday at Steinaker Lake. What a cutie she is!

She loved the water! Elaine is taking her for a walk along the beach.

This is a picture taken right after I was put in charge of watching her.

And this is a picture taken right after I let her get knocked over by a wave!

She had absolutley no problem whatsover in digging right into that cake!

Hooray for me!

She remembered this baby doll from an earlier shopping trip.

Not too interested in the new clothes, but there were some real cute ones from Mommy and Daddy and Grandma and Grandpa Carr

"Pop! Goes the Sock Monkey!"





My camera's battery was running out, so this was a very short clip.

YES! WE HAVE A NEW HOUSE!

If everything goes as planned, we will be moving into our new home around the middle of July.

Here is a picture of the family room

The kids will be able to bring their scooters and skates, to ride in the back yard

No, there is not a swimming pool.But there is an outdoor hottub.

And an indoor slide!

And a drinking fountain!

And a huge garage for Mike to have fun in!




There is plenty or room for visitors. I hope we get some!

Taylor's Bath

I have found the perfect bathtub for Taylor. It fits her little body perfectly.

She is wedged in and doesn't slip or fall.

She was content as a little clam for 45 minutes the first time I put her in.

The next time, I had to get her out early and she seemed a little shocked that the bath was over so soon. Life is good for this pretty little 10 month old.

30 (gasp! gasp!) Years Old! Happy Birthday, Aspen!

It's only 11:45...so this counts as making it on time for your birthday! (And I did get your card to you early, so that counts for something, too!)

Happy birthday, Aspen. More beautiful with each new year.

A "D+" never looked better!

This is no, doubt, one of the happiest days of my life! We just found out that Mickala passed her on-line Algebra class! We have been sweating this for the entire year, now...longer than that if you count the whole story, but suffice it to say that, after giving up many, many Saturdays to study, spending countless hours of frustration as she and I both tried to learn, relearn and remember simple Algebra (and there was very little that was simple for this 1973 high school graduate I might add) the good news was finally posted this afternoon. Hooray! Hooray! A thousand times over...Hooray! We can now safely send out the graduation announcements!

On another note. This has been a learning experience for me in more ways than one. In high school, I was at the top of my class (even in algebra!) But, as I have aged and the part of my brain that remembers things isn't working as well as it used to, I have experienced what it feels like to genuinely not understand something...at least not without a great deal of work on my part. I think I will be more compasionate in the future. I won't be so quick to judge others as being lazy.

I am grateful, too for the refresher course. In the middle of it, I never wanted to look at another algebra problem again. But, I caught myself telling Mickala yesterday how much easier it was for me to convert the cannery pearl potatoes recipe into a smaller quantity version!

Life is good. And I'm darn proud of that final grade of a "B-" Mickala!