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!