AMazing race

Here we are!!!  Winning!! Kristin's team rocks. We are going to be the winners. We Rock so much. South and reems are wonderful.

kristin.

The Amazing Race!

I tried posting this a few days ago, but managed to make a mess of things. I have tried to turn off the high-lighter but cannot figure it out. I guess I am stuck with it! Here it is, again, with a few changes



Oh my! Has it really been 4 weeks since I last posted? Mike says it's high time I got on this. Hopefully, I will one day get to a catch-up post to let you in on the past four weeks, but, today I just want to fulfill a request that my kids keep making that I will let them know the agenda for our Christmas time activities.



Christmas Eve

The day will be very unstructured, but dinner will be at 6 followed by preparations for the Christmas Eve program which will start at 8 p.m. After the Nativity, I am inviting each family unit to prepare a short (1-2 minutes) song or story or scripture or picture that has to do with the true meaning of Christmas. Even with seven family groups, it should only take 15 minutes. Please?!






Christmas Day

Socks and Santa followed by breakfast. Both teams need to be ready for the Cook-Off at 2 p.m.




Saturday, December 26

We can sleep in, but not for too long, because I have so much fun planned for this day! We are going to split into teams and play The Amazing Race! I am having a blast planning the clues. The reward will not be a million dollars, but a million memories. You will love it.




Sunday

Church goes from 11:00 until 2:00. We have been telling all our new ward friends about our kids, so I hope you will all plan to attend so we can show you off.

Lights on temple square that night




Monday

Kristi got us tickets to Let's Make A Deal in Las Vegas! I will arrange for babysitters for anyone who wants one, but you need to be thinking about what you plan to wear. Chuck thinks we ought to have one person dress up like a farmer and everyone else come as pigs. Dad has requested that someone please think of something else! I do know that they are kind of picky about what they let through...one lady came dressed as a referee and they conviscated her whistle!




I am excited to see you all. I love this time of year. I think our Heavenly Father must be very happy to see families gathering together throughout the world. As we celebrate the birth of our Savior, I am especially grateful for the sure knowledge that He made it possible for us all to be together eternally.

We laughed 'til we cried!

Louise and I were best friends in high school.  We have stayed in touch for over 36 years, but rarely get to see each other. It has been over fifteen years since our last visit.

Not to worry!  From the minute she and Ray stepped through our front door, it was like old times.  We talked and laughed and had the most wonderful visit.

Yesterday, we took them to see Zion's.  It was beautiful up there.

One of the nicest things about our friendship is that our husbands get along so well together, too.

Last night,  the four of us stayed up late playing Apples to Apples.  By "late" I mean it was 1:30 before we called it a night. (My kids are absolutely not going to believe that their father did this, but it's true!) I laughed so hard I had a steady stream of tears running down my face. Mike won with 37 green cards, and the rest of us were respectably close behind. 

I'm so glad we got to see them again.  We'll try not to let so much time pass until the next visit!

ATTENTION MERRELL GRANDKIDS!

Dear Kylie, TJ, Sadie, Brynlie, Taylor, and Brooke,
(and the other little ones still waiting to come down)

Grandpa and I have discovered a wonderful park that is very close to our house! We are excited to have you all come and visit so we can take you there to play.

It has climbing stuff for the monkeys... Swings for the birds...
Slides...

A water fountain area...

And a few things to test your imagination!

We can hardly wait for you to come and play with us at our new-found park!

Hurry!

P.S. Did I forget to tell you that the temperature in St.George today is in the 80's?

Love, Grandma Merrell

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.