Party time with the Merrills

This past Saturday we were busy..Stevan and I went to the temple with Spencer Gibson who was taking out his endowments and had asked Stevan to be his escort, Ashlen had a Dance Team performance at a Mesa resthome AND our kids are STILL grounded due to the fact that they have been unable to go 7 days in a row with a clean room...this has been the case since January :( So...we arranged for Lisette to drop off Ash at her dance teachers home at 2pm so she could catch a ride..the other kids were going to remain in their rooms all day like they have been since January, with Clayton hanging out with his favorite Uncle and Aunty (they spoil him waaayyy too much) and Stevan and I left a little before noon to meet Spencer and Christina at the temple. Well Lisette and Devin must have been on something...it was raining a little and they decided to take a bike ride. They came over to pick up Clayton just before we left, borrowed the Hunsakers bike with trailer and went on their adventure...dropping off dry-cleaning, getting ice-cream, going all the way to QT!!!! I guess that they lost tack of time - Ash freaked out at 1:45 cause Lyse wasn't around to take her, got Grandma & Grandpa to drop her off, meanwhile Lyse and Devin realized what time it was, Lyse pedaled her little heart out and butt off and booked it all they way back home, leaving Devin and Clayton to fend for themselves and make it home...to find that Ash had left and everything worked out. She got her workout and lesson 1 in raising kids...total chaos is normal!!! I am so glad we are here to help them :) Clayton is pretty much indestructable so they can't do much damage there...ooohhhh but what a wealth of information he is and he is always ready to share - he will be able to get them ready for Zander :)

Tristen's style

You all know how much of a fashionista Tristen is....this was her latest outfit that Stevan absolutely hated.....she wore it to school anyways cause I said she looked just fine :) This girl is going places I tell ya!!!!

Coyotes lose :(

The Walker Butte were undefeated until the championship game last week...what a sad evening for us all. It started out fun - Clayton, Jada and I went to a pep rally at the school and then we all went to the game...but it was not in the cards. I guess the coaches told the starters that they could come out when they got tired and let the others go in for them...that didn't happen - so they got their butts kicked. The funny is ...the coaches already had their championship t-shirts made up...a little too confident I guess...ha ha...and poor Mason was told that they weren't going to play him....they think he is too small and it isnt fair that he would have to go up against guys twice his size....Really???? UUHHH hello people - its football - and if he can't take it then he shouldn't be playing...Mason is on D-line and can handle himself just fine....there is NO WAY I am going to let him bulk himslef up - I think 140lbs is big enough for him as an 8th grader...he weighs more than me!!! So...season is over - we look forward to next year being a Bronco!!!

Two Sisters One Heart

We helped out at a fundraiser for our friends just last week. What a great experience!! Emma and Taylor are 3 year old twins that are also conjoined, sharing one common heart and liver. They are face to face, from the breast bone down to the belly button. They are the sweetest girls ever and are adorable.



So there was a fun run and lots of carnival type rides, face-painting, balloon animals, princess hair booths, lots of food. We got there at the butt crack of dawn to help set up. Mason went at 7am to help with the Flag Ceremony. We picked up the kids (who got off grounding for this event only) and they were off and running. I was a volunteer for the 1st shift and so Stevan walked around with the kids..sort of..to keep an eye n them. Then Stevan took over the 2nd shift driving the train around with kids. Our kids were coming up every 10 minutes asking for money....they had princess hair and painted faces and were eating non-stop. Our Bishops wife was manning one of the booths and the kids were telling her their secret...they were coming up asking for small increments of money in hopes that we wouldn't realize how much we were really spending........as if!!!! It was a great day - we had a ton of fun - the money was well spent and went to a GREAT cause...we are so glad to know the Baileys and their precious girls - they are in our prayers as they work towards spearation of the girls. Check out their blog http://www.emmaandtaylorbailey.blogspot.com/

Snow Camp

Mason and a group of the Young Men had snow cam a couple weeks ago. He was so excited to go - the boys were going to be building snow caves and sleeping in them :) sounds like good times right?!? So his pack was full and I don't know how h even managed to carry the thing...the week wass the slowest ever according to him, but Saturday finally came and we dropped him off at Lopez's house at 5am for them to take off to Happy Jack, AZ. The boys were supposed to be gone all day Saturday, stay Saturday night and have sacrament meeting and testimony meetingup there and then come hom, but with a storm advisory coming in after they left, I guess plans changed. They got a TON of snow. The snow cave was well made according to Mason but he and Wyatt were squished and were up against the edges so they got wet...they got out of the cave and set up everything outside near the fire (their sleeping bags and tarps) and then it started snowing :( They managed to get into one of the cars and slept in there for the night, then set their things next to the fire to try get them dry. I guess the boys were a little cold in the morning and they had a bonfire...Mason's shoes were a little too close and they got burned, along with his jacket :( They also found their cars buried so instead of hanging around for a meeting they dug themseslves out and headed back home. Mason said it was the most miserable time ever...but he had a smile on his face the WHOLE time he told us about it AND they are planning on going again...so whatever!!!

A good fight :)

While reading scriptures last night I experienced a first...my kids started a little "fight" of sorts over reading. Normally we each read a few verses...Clayton gets to repeat 1 verse, Tristen reads between 2-3 verses depending on her mood, Ashlen 4-5, Mason, Stevan and I around 5. So we are in Alma and the wars are going on and we are right where the 2000 Stripling Warriors are ready to take up arms, they are asking Helaman to be their leader and Moroni is writing his epistle to Ammoron. The kids have been so excited by these recent chapters but I guess I didn't know just how much. So we started reading last night and Clayton repeated his verse, then Tristen started reading and stopped after reading 3, then I asked if she was done and she chose to read another one, then paused so I asked her if she was done, and she chose to read another...and this went on until she had read 6 or 7 verses...mind you both Mason and Ashlen were getting impatient and sighed heavily each time she started reading...so after reading the 7th verse, she paused a little and before I got out "Are you done yet" Ashlen jumped in and started reading :) Both her and Mason were giggling and Tristen was not happy...Then Ashlen decided that she wanted to keep reading cause it was getting real good and Mason was sighing..so after she had read more than normal, Mason jumped in and took over before she was done....so there was a little tension. It was funny - I really enjoyed their enthusiasm at the reading and thought if anything...I couldn't have been happier hearing them fight for once in my life :)

Sweet boy

So we have great kids.....pretty much goes without saying...but Clayton is by far the sweetest and says the cutest things at the most opportune time without prompting. We were sitting at dinner last night and Tristen was busy talking about something...who knows what about...she is ALWAYS talking about something...when Clayton who is sitting opposite her says "Tristen, you are pretty". I honestly don't think she heard him because she kept talking away and he looked over at me with that look of "she didn't even hear me!". So he waited a few minutes and the said a little louder "Tristen, I think you are really pretty". Without skipping a beat she acknowledged his comment and said "thanks Clayton" and then kept on talking away. I was a little amazed..I mean..does she hear that she is pretty ALL the time and it doesn't phase her when she is told this or what???!!! He is soooo sweet!.....so Ashlen was sitting to the side of Tristen and I am sure heard what he said and may have been a little discouraged..so I leaned over and whispered to him.."what about your other sister?" to which he loudly blurted out "Ash - I think you are pretty too!" She thanked him and we went on with dinner :)