The Merrill's

Happy Birthday, mother dear

2011-08-25T17:20:00.000-07:00

For my mom's birthday, we decided to surprise her and take her to the "red neck water slide" in Logan. It was SO much fun. We all loved it. It's just one huge slide, but it never got old! Bay couldn't get enough, she kept saying "all buya seff" so she went all by herself!

It was muddy, but so fun!

The babies were so good, they just talked to each other in their car seats!

If you ever get a chance, GO! Happy birthday mom, we love you!

Sundance!

2011-08-25T16:59:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago, we went up to Sundance to see The Sound of Music with the whole fam. We started out with a stop at the Brick Oven to celebrate Gary's birthday... Happy Birthday Dad! It was a great dinner, an awesome play and just an overall GREAT night! Parks LOVES to be outdoors!

It got SO cold up there at night! Isn't he as cute and snug as a bug in a rug? I really can't get enough of this little man...

Yes, those are socks on his hands:) I love him!

Parker's Blessing Day

2011-08-08T13:05:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we blessed our little Parker. Brad gave a beautiful blessing and we had such a wonderful day! Surrounded by family, friends and FOOD... We had so much food, so thank you to everyone who helped. We are truly, truly blessed to have the best family and especially this little boy in our lives. Parks, you're the sweetest little thing and we love you so so much! You bring us more joy and happiness than you will ever know! Matching ties!
This picture just melts my heart...
Grandparents...Greats!

My water broke!

2011-08-03T16:36:00.000-07:00

Okay, so it broke 2 months ago and I'm HORRIBLE at documenting things! I was telling this story to a friend today and she asked why I haven't blogged about it yet, so thanks Alyssa! Most of you have probably heard how my water broke, but for those poor unfortunate souls who haven't, you're in for a laugh:)

On Thursday, May 26th, 2011, I was sitting at my desk big and pregnant. I had a week to go until my due date and a week until school was out, so it was perfect! Well, my class was sitting at their desks, waiting for the bell to ring and all of sudden... I felt a little trickle of water in my pants. Am I peeing? No. Did my water break? No, it couldn't be. So I stood up to hand back some papers, and... YEP! I definitely was my water! It was the biggest gush as soon as I stood up, it looked like a water balloon popped in my pants! "Uh... you guys, my water just broke!" This was to a class of high school juniors. Three of the boys immediately stood up and said "what should we do!?!" before I could answer, they were running down the hall to the office. So I ran after them (with way wet pants) and by the time I got there the administrators were headed toward me, walky talky's in hand. They asked if I was okay and we all went back into to office. With about 12 people just starring at me, I just had to laugh and ask "Can I drive to the hospital?" They said I shouldn't drive, so I went into the prinicipal's office and called Brad (I didn't even have time to grab my phone or my purse). He was so excited and shocked and just said, okay, I'll meet you at the hospital! So my principal went down to my classroom to get my phone and my purse and the secretary went to get her car. I called my mom, my 2 sisters, my dad and my brother to let them all know and headed to the hospital. Brad was already there when I got there and met me at the door. We both just had giant smiles on our faces and had no idea what we were getting into:) It has been the biggest life changing experience and Brad and I are SO SO happy! we love being parents and feel SO blessed to have this beautiful little man in our lives. Love you buddy!

Like I said, I'm terrible at documenting, so I'm just gonna do the best I can:) Some things about Parker in the last two months are:

He held his head up, pretty much from day one.
He used to pee every time we took his diaper off.

Brad changed ALL of his diapers in the hospital.

He curled up in your arms like a potato bug after he ate.

He used to eat with one eye open.

We could calm him down and get him to eat by turning on a faucet and standing by it (or sitting by it, I nursed him in the bathroom sitting on the toilet for the first few days).

He's smiling and cooing like crazy now!

He sleeps pretty well at night (til about 4am).

His mommy and daddy love him SO much!

Nursery, New Nieces, and Inducing Labor!! (Just kidding)

2011-05-22T18:28:00.000-07:00

We are ready! Our nursery is FINALLY done and our hospital bag is packed... with chick flicks.

NURSERY:

Before: During:
After:

NEW NIECES:

We got two new nieces in the last 3 weeks!

Makelle Jene Goalen (she's so tiny)...

... and Kennedy Ann Jackson.

She is so adorable and her little brother and sister couldn't agree more!

INDUCING LABOR!

Yesterday, we went to dinner at Brad's parent's house to celebrate his mom's birthday. It was SO good (and yes, she cooked on her own birthday, but she makes the best roast EVER!!!) So thank you and HAPPY BIRTHDAY... We love you mom!

This is the inducing labor part:) Trying to, anyway... We just can't WAIT to meet this little man and bring a tiny new spirit into our home! Nothin' yet, but we'll keep everyone updated!

Our last prenatal class...

2011-05-01T14:56:00.000-07:00

We took a 4 week prenatal class, but the last one was definitely the best... We watched some movies of some birth's, which made me a little nervous, but knowing that Brad will be right by my side the whole time, I know everything will be fine. He always knows how to make me laugh (as pictured below) and will be the most amazing dad!!! We feel SO blessed to be brining this sweet little baby boy into the world and can't WAIT for him to get here!Side profile...
Four more weeks and counting!

Welcome Spring!

2011-04-17T08:57:00.000-07:00

Yay for Spring! Brad and I finally got out and did some yard work yesterday! Well, Brad did most of it by weeding all of our flower beds (I don't weed because it gets my hands dirty). I put up this cute little chickadee I made for my Easter craft on my post... then I decided to mow the lawn. It was so fun to be outside just enjoying the Spring weather and making our house look beautimous:)

The big 2-7!

2011-03-07T14:58:00.000-08:00

I'm a little late posting (as usual), but Brad's birthday was on February 20th. He's an old man now:) We slept in, made breakfast, went shopping in Park City, and went to dinner and a movie. It was such a great day! Then, on Sunday, we had my parents over for breakfast and went to his parent's house for dinner and a birthday dessert. I'm so grateful I got to celebrate his birthday with him... love you Bradley! Here are some pictures...

I think he was counting to three before he blew out the candle so I knew when to take the picture? My parent's gave him a mail box... He's pretty excited about it, and if you've ever seen our mailbox, you know why:)

One of his favorite breakfast's are breakfast jacks (from Jack in the Box) so we have to make them at home since we don't have one here, so I got him to one egg wonder to make it easier! I left it wrapped on the bed, so you can see his excitement in the next picture...
I'm not very good at remembering to take pictures, so here we are walking back to our car after our fun-filled birthday date.

...One year older, and wiser too... Happy birthday, TO YOU!

I did it!

2011-02-18T09:23:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday, I graduated with my Masters in Business Administration! It was a fun little celebration with my amazing husband, his parents and my parents. Any time we can get together with family is always a good time! It was a pretty good ceremony, but the best part happened after when we went to California Pizza Kitchen for some mac and cheese:) Thanks for all of your support and I'm SO glad to have it out of the way, just in time for the baby. Love you all!

Happy Valentines Day!

2011-02-18T09:18:00.001-08:00

It really is such a great day, being able to spend it with your loved ones! I'm so grateful to have the best valentine in the whole world! I love you babe. I surprised Brad with a special little dinner on Valentines, and even though we just stayed in, it was fun:)

A post well over due!

2011-01-09T15:52:00.000-08:00

Bear with me, (and yes, that is the correct kind of bear, I googled it:) I haven't updated our blog since August of 2010... Considering it is now 2011 I thought it might be appropriate to recap the last few months of last year! SO many fun and new things happening with the Merrill's; and I have a lot of fun pictures, so enjoy!

Last September, we bought our first house!Brad (and Rico, who is Mandy's dog and loves Brad!) moving our lawn for the first time... ...and of course, Brad's must have for our back patio:)

This is the BEST PART! The morning after we moved in, we found out we're adding a new member to our family (I'm clearly pregnant, because I'm tearing up as I type this... I'm so emotional!) due June 2nd, 2011. Hurry little guy, we can't wait to meet you!
(it's a boy)

I'm 19 weeks, almost half way!
That same day (when we found out I was pregnant) our family crashed Brooke and Trav's family vacation and all went to California. It was SO fun and I wanna go back!Who wouldn't wann go to Disneyland with these two little kids!?!

Grandma and Grandpa

On October 18th, 2010, we celebrated our 3rd anniversary. Time goes by so fast! Brad is the best husband and we truly couldn't be happier. I had to be in Park City with my students for a competition that night, so Brad came up and stayed with me and my student's brought me this giant cookie from Mrs. Field's. They're so sweet!

In November, we went up to Logan to celebrate Brookie Sue's birthday (the 5th) and these two just can't get enough of each other!

We were at Merrill's for Christmas this year, and it was SO fun! (Especially because I got a Snuggie!)and Brad got a ping pong table! This is after we got it all set up in our basement and we love it! Everyone is always invited for a game of ping pong:)

5 days after Christmas, I got the best Christmas present of all... My Master's degree!!!

This is just a really cute picture...

Our new car!!! ;) Just kidding, but they have 4 door all wheel drive mini's now! Maybe our NEXT car!

This is the lastest and GREATEST home project (It didn't require too much remodeling and with Brad and my parent's, we got it done in about a day and a half). We still need to paint, but now instead of having to haul our laundry from our closet down to our laundry room, we can just open this little door...

...drop the clothes through this hole......and they'll land IN our laundry basket in our laundry room! Like I said, we still need a few finishing touches and some paint, but at least we have a laundry chute now!!!

phew... What a year! We love living in Woods Cross and both of Brad's sister's also live out here, about a mile away. We love getting together with family! I'm in my second year of teaching and love it, but can't WAIT for this summer! I get to spend the whole summer with our new little angel (who is yet to be named)!

Coming to a close...

2010-08-16T11:05:00.000-07:00

This is not the most exciting post, but I haven't updated it in so long and felt like I needed to put something up! Anyway, my summer is officially over tomorrow! Here a few things Brad and I have been up to in the last couple months...

We had a family renioun with Brad's mom's family in Beaver, Utah... always a good time! Hangin out with Uncle Vernon... You can't see it, but his belt buckle says "Vern"

We had a birthday part for Coop, but for some reason this is the only picture I could find from it:)

Took the kids to Lagoon, or as Cooper says "thegoon"

Bailey CRIED when the guy took her out of the car... she loved it!

Played in the crazy rain storms we've had this whole summer... (in a lightning storm, probably not the smartest thing to do)

Went on a date to the best place EVA!!! (If you notice, I'm eating maccaroni and cheese and if you've never had it at California Pizza Kitchen, I HIGHLY recommend it... and if you know me, you know that you can trust my expertise in that area). Love you babe, thanks for the fun night!

That's it for now... I'm sad summer is over, but I'm so excited for the fall and everything our future holds!

Memorial Day in Lake Powell... What could be better?

2010-06-03T11:46:00.000-07:00

Another beautiful vacation in Powell! We went just for the memorial day weekend, and the weather was PERFECT! We also had my cousin Kenzee come with us, which was a bonus!Sittin back in the sun with the waves crashing at our feet... it doens't get better than this!Needless to say, the water was a little cold=) Thanks for the pictures Kenz!Mandy's awesome backroll that she LANDED! Love you Mand!Brad riding upside down, as usual...and DanCute cute cute picture!!um, yeah...
Dan's the best surfer!

and Brad... isn't=) He was trying to do a 360.

This is what happens when you forget to out the buoying when you start going. Kenzee, Danny, and I got SOAKED! and it was at night, with freezing cold water!

Thank goodness for the heaters! My backside got more wet than the front of me!

It was such an amazing trip! I love these kinds of pictures, where you just get to soak in this beautiful planet we live on and realize how blessed we are to enjoy so many of the Lord's creations! Thanks Merrill's, I love you!

Louisville and Graduation!

2010-05-22T11:55:00.000-07:00

About a month ago I had the opportunity to go to DECA Nationals and represent Granite School District. There were about 2,100 students there. This was the opening session in an Energy Solutions type arena. It was so fun to just be there and watch!

We had nine students from the district and a couple even placed in the top ten! Well, while the kids were competing, the advisor from Cottonwood and I were able to do a little sight seeing...

First, we went to the Louisville Slugger museum. This was my favorite place! This is the tallest bat in the world, and it weighs 68,000 pounds!
Here's me standing at the bottom of it
I got to hold one of Babe Ruth, and Mickey Mantle's bats
Chruchill downs was my second favorite. It was the week before the Kentucky Derby so we go to watch a few preliminary races.
The grounds are BEAUTIFUL there!
We spent quite a bit of our time in Downtown Louisville as well, it was such a fun place to walk around!
We also went to a Louisville Bats game! Pretty similar to a Bee's game, but the weather was rainy and cold!!!
This is the steam boat we rode down the Ohio river on.
Lady Antebellum did an exclusive concert just for DECA! It was so fun to see them live!
Our last day there, we asked the Hotel to suggest a good Kentcuky restaraunt and they said go to "Lynn's Paradise Cafe." It was the CUTEST little place tucked away back in a gorgeous green neighborhood and had some GOOD Kentucky eatin'
What a fun trip! I was so lucky to have this experience!

Two weeks ago, we celebrated BRAD'S GRADUATION!!
Danny and Brad graduated with the same degree so we all got to watch Brad and Danny walk. Two of my FAVORITE boys right here=)What's a trip to Provo without going to the brick oven!?!Then we went outside to take pictures... It was freezing!
We had both of Brad's grandparents here, (Grandma and Grandpa Harris drove from California to be here!) and our whole family minus Tim, Travis, and Scott and Heidi. What an amazing support group! I dont' know what we'd do without family. I''m SO proud of my little graduate=) He worked so hard to get to where he is and we couldn't be happier! I love you ALL!

Just one of those days...

2010-04-24T14:39:00.000-07:00

I had quite the week last week! Just really busy and stressful and what not... ya know, just one of those weeks. First of all, thank goodness for husbands! Brad brought me the most gorgeous bouquet of flowers because he knew I was having a bad day=) Second of all, thank goodness for friends! Brad's friend Nate came over so they could study for their info systmes class, but they accidentally forgot to study. We got talking about Mario kart and Nate had never palyed on the wii, so of course we had to introduce him... Then we decided to make cookies, and somehow that evolved into ording pizza (mind you, this was about 9:30 at night). After the pizza got there, we decided we had enough Mario kart, only to plug in Sherlock Holmes (thanks to Danny for a fabuolous birthday present to Brad). That lasted for about 15 minutes (if you know me, you know I can't stay awake much longer than that during a movie). Here's our night... One large BBQ chicken, one large pepperoni and pineapple.

Oh, and how could I forget the dew! There was also some "nector of the Gods."

So all in all, it was a very unproductive, JUST WHAT I NEEDED night! Eating pizza at 10:00pm wasn't ideal, but it was worth it!!! Thanks guys=)

Girls night!

2010-03-24T14:54:00.000-07:00

We get together once a month with our girlfriends for dinner and last night it was at Holly's. We had yummy navajo taco's and played a mean game of speed scrabble! I had dessert so I made peanut butter bars at my mom's house just before I left, so of course I was in a huge hurry. My mom wasn't home, so I asked my dad to help... If you know my dad, this won't surprise you at all... "Dad, I need a 9 x 13 pan" Here are the results:

Yes, that is a measuring tape=) Then, I couldn't spread the batter (if you've ever made these, you know it's extremely thick), so he took over yet again; spread perfectly!
When they came out of the oven, I asked my mom to help frost them... She was a great help too=)I was a little late, but it was still so much fun! and here's the best part of the night: I got my camera out and I went to take a picture of Brandi and she just HAPPENED to be standing in the exact perfect spot... we had a fun little photo shoot after that. We were just missing Charla, but these girls friendship's mean the world to me and I'm so grateful to have such amazing friends and family! Thanks for a great laugh!

St. George!

2010-02-23T19:55:00.000-08:00

I had a conference in St. George this weekend, and it was also Brad's birthday! So why not pack it up and take a weekend to beautiful St. George! The boys golfed and the girls shopped... kinda=) We went shopping for a new window! On the way down, we were just driving along and all of a sudden the front driver's side window SHATTERED! (We all thought we were getting shot at, but it was just a rock). We also celebrated Brad's birthday at Uinta Golf/Chili's and then just hung out with our whole family. His grandparents are so generous to let us stay there with them when we go down, and Brad's parents and older brother also came along! We have such an amazing family and I'm so grateful we could spend this weekend together=)

My window... ALL over my car!

even in the back!Our temporary window from about 30 miles out of Beaver... to Beaverwe had to pull over about 6 times to fix it before we finally got to Beaver...and we fixed it for good! Our temporary window from Beaver to St. George... nothing a garbage bag and some duct tape can't fix! (This was SO much quieter than the sheet flappin out the door!)

At least we got to go shopping once we got there! (Sadly, I didn't buy these beauties)
and celebrate Brad's birthday at Chili's!

Present time!!! This old man is 26 now!
and best of all, picture time! the fam, except Danny... he had already left.

What a great weekend!

Disney on Ice

2009-12-13T17:43:00.000-08:00

Brooke, Stacey, My mom, and I took Cooper to see Disney on Ice and we all LOVED it! It was so fun to see all the different Disney movies, but it was so much more fun to watch Cooper. He was just affixiated on each different character as they came out! It was such a fun night=)

Here are the mice singing "cinderelly" and making her dress,
Brooke being silly with Cooper's Mickey Mouse crown,

Sleeping Beauty in "Once Upon a Dream,"

Arial, Ursula, and Flatsom and Jetson (Sabastion was so cute, but I didn't get a picture!)

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,

and the grand finally... They had all the princesses come out in there dresses, and the castle was lit up, it was awesome! I didn't get pictures of Bell, because my camera died, but she was great too!
Thank goodness for Cooper! He is so much fun and always the life of the party... and I love hanging out with my mom and my sisters, I couldn't ask for a better family!

The last few months in a nutshell...

2009-11-12T16:04:00.000-08:00

I decided nobody should get mad at anybody for "not updating" their blog, because let's face it.... we slack off every once in a while=) So, here's what's been goin on in the Merrill household for the past few months!

We celebrated my cute mom's birthday; she got a straightner...

and another year sexier!!! (That's what the sticker says) I can't remember, but I'm guessing that was from either Brooke or Stacey.

We went up to Bountiful for a couple Saturday morning flag football games...all the wifey's wrapped up in our blankets=)

Celebrated our TWO year anniversary!!! I can't believe it's already been two AMAZING years!!! I love you Brad=) My cute new car... (This wasn't just because it was our anniversary, it just happend that our other car was dying right before Oct. 18th=)

...had the BEST mac and cheese ever at CPK,did some miniature golfing,and even though I got a HOLE IN ONE, so did he=) and we tied.

Brooke and I also went to Missouri for halloween, but that will be another post all in itself, and then last weekend we went up to Logan for Brookie Sue's birthday! Of course we ate at Iggy's=) Here we are in the waiting area... Actually, here is everyone but Stacey and the guest of honor, because I accidentally deleted her picture from my camera! Sorry Brookie, I Love you!

This is Bailey giving her big brudder a kiss! She was really into giving kisses that night, as you'll see from the video=)

Top of Utah Half Marathon

2009-08-30T14:35:00.000-07:00

Wow... I don't know which was harder, teaching my first week of school, or running this half marathon! Collie and I decided to do this a few months ago, and we finally accomplished it! It felt so great to be able to say that we ran the whole thing. Thanks to Zach, Collie's parents, and a special thanks to Brad, Stacey and the Jackson fam; they were the most amazing support group in the world! They waited for us at a few of the points on the course with cheering and camera's and water! It was the best motivation in the world, especially at the finish line. I almost cried when I was running in and they were all standing there cheering=) 5:00 am.

This is the first time we saw everyone, on mile 6!

This was a sight for sore eyes... and legs, and feet, and every muscle in the human body!

Trav doctored us up afterwards, and even though I couldn't bend my knees, the ice helped a ton! Thanks for everyone's support! I'm so grateful to all of these amazing people in my life... and thanks Collie, for the awesome experience!

Logan for Dad's birthday...

2009-08-16T10:31:00.001-07:00

I know, it's a little late, but my Dad's birthday was June 5th. This man is my hero. He has the greatest love for his children and I know he would do absolutely anything for us. He is always making us laugh, and whenever my sisters and I are together he makes sure we know how he "loves his girls." Even when we were little and we got hurt, I can remember him just with the most heart-felt sympathy saying "darn-it all." Or else he would ask us to go run erands with him and he would bribe us by saying "I'll buy you a treat!" He's the best dad in the whole wide world! We had so much fun celebrating his birthday with presents......and then up to Logan to see the kids!The two cutest kids on the planet!The three cutest kids on the planet=)Dad picked Iggy's for dinner... mmm!Brooke... in 50 years.Coop and Uncle Butt bein silly!Ice cream Sundaes!What's a trip to Logan without visitng the Smithfield Implement? Bay thoroughly enjoyed herself.

The boys, probably watching sports center.

We had to turn around and drive back home at the end of the day, which is always hard, but it was such a fun day! Happy birthday dad, we love you!

Lake Powell, and more Lake Powell!

2009-08-04T20:22:00.000-07:00

We just got back from our 3rd Lake Powell trip this summer! We went with my family, then again with Brad's family. Cooper had a BLAST and Bailey was the best baby! It's so fun to just be able to relax, spend time with family, and have fun in the sun... here are some photo's!

My family trip...

Brad's fam...

Thanks for such great memories of this amazing summer, we love you ALL!!!

Lake Powell...

2009-06-17T18:02:00.000-07:00

Another summer full of Lake Powell=)
All the girls!

Brad giving Sunny the belly rub of a lifetime!

Playing football on the beach... It only took me 48 times of running up and down the beach and diving/falling into the lake to catch the dang thing. I'm pretty sure we all had a gallon of sand in our suits!

Brad's back roll...

Mandy's laugh attack

Here's something you don't see everyday at Lake Powell... Just some cows walkin across the beach.

I wish I had pictures of everything, but my camera fell in the lake... oops=) Brad got FRIED, Danny jumped off the boat WHILE Tim was wakeboarding behind it to catch the football (twice), Sunny peed on Lucky, Mandy was surfing and went STRAIGHT to butt surfing (aka burfing), I learned how to drive the boat and land jumps on the the wakeboard, and as usual, we played games until all hours of the night! Thanks for the AWESOME trip... I love Lake Powell just to see the funny things that happen=) We have the funnest family!

Uncle Butt's Softball Game

2009-05-03T10:45:00.000-07:00

Brad had his first game of the season on Thursday!!! I'm so excited, I love softball. (They're on Thursday's at Murray Park and everyone is always invited.) They won 12-4ish... I can't remember. Anyway, the weekend before Brad went to California for work and they went to an Angel's game while they were there and Brad bought Coop a little baseball and a bat. Since my whole family came to Brad's game on Thursday, we brought Coop's present and gave it to him there. He was SO excited! So Brad went and pitched to him while Kayelyn (Brad's mom) taught him what to do and how to hit. Then he wanted me to come bat so he could pitch it and he told me everything Kayelyn told him... it was SO cute. He said "Bend your knees" as he kinda squatted and hit his knees, and "put your elbow up" and he would show me as he told me what to do. He is probably the cutest kid on the planet. I can't even express how much I love my family. My mom and dad came and Stace and Brooke brought Cooper and Bailey, and Brad's whole family (except Mandy and Tim because they're in Vegas) was there too. Thanks everyone for coming to cheer on the butt! getting ready to hit it outta the parkBrad pitched in his real game too, and he did awesome!

Coop smashed that ball! He did so good, and he informed us that "When he grows up, he's gonna play softball."

Happy Easter!

2009-04-14T18:50:00.000-07:00

Happy Easter everyone, I know, I'm a little late. We spent Easter with Brad's amazing family this year. From coloring eggs (and using robin eggs for lipstick) to making rice krispy fondu, it was a blast.

St. George...

2009-04-08T13:52:00.000-07:00

We had our annual trip to St. George to judge the dance competition last weekend. My mom and Coop and Bay, Brooke, Shannon and Ava, Courtney and Michelle, and Mandy and I all judged together! Except this year, the way down was a bit more eventful... Mandy and I were just driving along peacefully, 8 miles away from Beaver at about 12:30 in the afternoon, when all of sudden I look down to an unfriendly little light on my dashboard. It was a little yellow thermostat. What the? It's a pretty new car, and we've never had any problems with it. but then all of a sudden, the light turned red! So we decided we should probably pull over. Mandy pulled out the owner's manual to find that stupid thermostat light and what we should do about it. In the mean time, a police officer pulled up and knocked on the window... "What's going on laides?" Whatever, and then he left, so we called mini and they told us not to drive it or it would warp the engine. So my awesome husband Brad called road side assistance for us while Gary was on the phone with mini. I was on the phone with my mom who was in St. George to see if she could come get us=) We were supposed to be at Dixie High at 3:30, and it was probably 1:30 now. So finally (after we RAN down I-15 in the snow to find a mile marker), a tow truck pulls up, but don't worry, we didn't have a ride to Beaver yet... So Mandy and I climed in the cab with the tow truck driver=) Come to find out, we could have stayed in the mini. He was way nice though, and he knew some of Kayelyn's relatives that live in Beaver! (Good old Vern, he's known for his yodling.) So he took us to the repair shop and we just sat in the waiting room cleaning out our wallets and purses for 2 hours! We met some other people in there though, and her daughter graduated from Woods Cross (It was Sasha Lira's mom, for anyone that knows her). Well then my mom came to the rescue! Except she had to drive my cousin Shannon's car because my sister's car was overheating too! So we finally pulled into Dixie High at 5:30 pm... only a couple of hours late=)

After we got there, and the competition was over, we did some shopping (of course), and the boys went to preisthood. and the weather on Sunday was perfect! Bradand I went out and laid on a blanket to read a book and hang out on the grass=)All in all it was a pretty fun weekend=) and Thanks Mand, I would probably be dead on the side of the road somewhere if you weren't there! Love you!

FaveREDS!!!

2009-03-18T21:43:00.000-07:00

My dreams have come true!!! I just wanted everyone to know that there is now a bag of RED Starbursts only! It's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. I HIGHLY recommend them to anyone and everyone... I ate a few too many before I took this picture if you can't tell by my red tounge=) I bet even people who AREN'T compulsively addicted to starbursts would even like them!

Viva Las Vegas!

2009-02-26T16:09:00.000-08:00

We went on a little get-away to Vegas last weekend for Mandy's cheer competition and Brad's birthday. Happy birthday babe! Here are some photo's of some of the fun things we did!

The beautiful Las Vegas temple! The grounds there are really SO pretty!
This is inside the forum shops at Ceasars Palace=)

What's a trip to Vegas with out going to the m&m store?

...and the coke factory!

We went to the ESPN Zone for Brad and Tim's birthday dinner... the big 2-5!

This is me punching Brad's face! hahaha...

15 down, 1 to go...

2009-02-19T20:37:00.000-08:00

...semesters that is! I'm still trying to get used to being called Mrs. Merrill=) It's pretty cool though and I am learning SO much doing my student teaching. I only have 24 days left! The first time I presented a powerpoint in my lesson my cooperating teacher got out her "clicker" for me to use and I might have over reacted a little bit on how cool I thought it was... she bought me one of my very own the next day=) I'm so nerdy, who knew I would get so excited over something like that! I guess that's a teacher for ya!

Super bowl Sunday!

2009-02-05T20:34:00.000-08:00

We went to my parents house to watch the super bowl with mom and dad, Brooke, Trav, Coop, and Bay, and Stacey. Even though the wrong team won, we had so much fun spending the day with family!
I was actually able to steal Bailey from Brad long enough to feed her!
She fell asleep wedged in between the arm of the chair and Brad's leg... he HOGGED her the whole game!

This is my favorite picture!!! What a cute group=)

Brad and Bay

She's so cute!The "brudder" givin his baby a kiss

Congrats Mand!

2009-01-19T21:56:00.000-08:00

Our cute little sister and new brother in law got married last Friday, January 16th. They're so cute and perfect for eachother! She looked absolutely gorgeous, it was an amazing ceramony, a BEAUTIFUL day, and such a fun reception! Now they're basking in the sun light on the beach in Puerto Rico=) I'm so so so happy for them! It made me want to have my wedding day all over again! We love you guys!!!
The Cake
We thought they were going to be nice... but in the end, they got eachother pretty good!The Dance

Baby Bailey!

2009-01-07T20:56:00.001-08:00

We welcomed our newest addition to the family on January 5, 2009. She's so precious and they have the cutest little family! Congrats Brookie, I love you so much!Coop holding "his baby" Whenever she would cry or just make a little peep, Coop would say, "What's wrong wiss my baby?"Grandpa HomerCoop givin his new little sister a kiss. He calls her baby baiweeBrooke made this beanie for her!Her chubby little cheeks are SO cute!Grammy PammyDoesn't he just look good with a baby;)...our time will come! He's gonna be the best daddy ever! Coop and Bai LOVE their uncle Butt!
Congrats, we love you guys so much!!! It was so fun to be in Logan with our family!

Sweet rolls, anyone?

2009-01-02T19:24:00.000-08:00

Every year on Christmas eve, the Merrill's make "candy cane sweet rolls" for all of their neighbors... and I mean ALL of them. They made 121 sweet rolls this year; but the best part is delivering them. We pile in the yukon while Gary drives around with the doors open so everyone can grab a sweet roll and jump out to run it to people's doors. It was FREEZING, but so much fun! What an awesome tradition...

This is from Gary's cell phone in the yukon

Yummy sweet rolls!!!

Mandy and Tim:)

Court, me, and Mandand the whole crew! Thanks for the fun Christmas!

Thanksgiving at Grandma's

2008-12-02T16:56:00.000-08:00

Thanks to Shannon we all have a picture of thanksgiving, but there's only one problem... she's not in it! You need to go over and get the one my mom took with her timer! Some of us had already left, but it was a great night. I'm so thankful for my amazing family, I don't know what I would do without them. I especially want to tell Brad what an amazing person he is. He spoils me rotten and half of the time I don't deserve it. I truly couldn't ask for more and I'm so blessed to have such a great husband. I love you!!!

Airport neighborhood

2008-12-02T14:54:00.001-08:00

This is a neighborhood right by Brad's grandparents house in Sacramento... They all have airplanes and garages to keep them in. The streets are wide enough for a plane to come down both sides, and they street signs are small for the planes. It was so cool! notice the house in the background with the hanger next to it... they ALL have those. Airplane mailbox!

Happy Thanksgiving from Cali!

2008-12-02T14:12:00.000-08:00

This was the cutest little trolley parked on the street in front of pier 39... don't be suprised if you get a Christmas card with this on it=) Alkatraz!!!Family Picture!

The view from pier 39

San Fransisco has the coolest bridges! I felt like I was in Full House when I saw the Golden Gate bridge...

We found this awesome hat store on Pier 39... So funny! Fountains at the mall

October 18, 2008!

2008-10-21T21:49:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's already been a year! It has truly been so amazing! I have the greatest husband in the world. He's patient, loving, strong... just to mention a few of his qualities.

Our anniversary was AWESOME! We went to California with our close friends, Justin and Ashlee. The resort we stayed in was HUGE and absolutely beautiful!! We had a BBQ and went swimming! I'll have to get the pictures at the pool and post them later. There were 3 pools and one even had a water slide. It was a blast! Except Brad and Justin got in trouble for doing 360's down the slide... they were like a couple of 2nd graders. It was so much fun to watch! The view from our back patio... My dad would have been in heaven! but don't worry, it was closed=(

Six Flags had the CRAZIEST roller coasters EVER! The Superman ride was SO fun, it shoots you 100 miles an hour out, and then straight up! We loved that ride=)
x-2... this was the boys favorite roller coaster!

This was the highest one in the park... they tip you so you're facing the ground. It's pretty freaky! Pretty sure I almost threw up after this one=)

In line for the orange roller coaster... aka the"TASTU!!!"
This is me and Ash standing in front of the A in GOLIATH. It was the BEST roller coaster! It's a 255 foot drop into a 120 foot UNDERGROUND tunnel. It's so fast, our eyes were watering by the end... by far the best rollercoaster of the trip!

We went to Disney Land on our anniversary and it truly is the happiest place on earth! I felt like I was 4 again... I loved every second of it!

EVERYTHING was a halloween theme... the A's in California were even candy corn's! It was so much fun! They are SO creative, I can't imagine how much work that would take
SCREAMIN' California!

Even California Adventure park was decorated
All the Disney characters as pumpkins=)

this was inside a scary cave! (or maybe it was in line for splash mountain...)

Thank you for the most amazing year of my life! It was very well celebrated=) We're so lucky to have each other and such great friends like Justin and Ashlee. The four of us had so much fun together. Thanks guys, we love you!

2008-09-01T19:55:00.000-07:00

We went to a gym the other night and had so much fun jumping into the foam pit... I have to say that I've been swimming way more than I've done that because I plugged my nose and closed my eyes the first time I jumped into the pit=) It was so fun! The hard part was getting out...
this is me trying to get out=)
Still trying to get out. Somehow I kept digging myself deeper... yeah, that's my arm

and this Brad diving through a giant circle mat... haha. It was So much fun though!

About my last post...

2008-09-01T19:42:00.000-07:00

I posted that last picture on my blog for Collie becasue she did my hair and I had a picture of how I wanted it, but I didn't have Collie's email address so this is the only way I could think of getting it to her so she knew how I wanted it. She did a great job (as always) and we had such a fun time! I got to play with Easton (when Brad wasn't hogging him!) and we all went on a double date after. We ate Cafe Rio and then went up to Snydermille to see their new house. Brad and Zach were quite fascinated with the giant snow cat, and also drove around the 70 acre property on the four wheeler at midnight. We always have so much fun hanging out with Zach and collie! Eespcially with intellegent comments like this one... "Do you know how hard it is to shower naked?" -Collie =) Thanks for the fun night guys!

Collie, this is for you=)

2008-08-27T22:32:00.000-07:00

Girls night out!

2008-08-19T11:15:00.001-07:00

We went to CPK last night for a girls night out! It was so fun to have everyone there and catch up and visit with everyone! Thanks for coming it was so fun! I tried to get a big picutre, but it didn't really work out... so I took some of everyone...

Collie, Kenz, and Jordan, Aunt Pam and Grandma Barb,
Me, Shan, Michelle and Brinlie (I can't remember the spelling!)

and Aunt Dana, and Jana... we'll miss you Jana, have fun and good luck at BYU-Idaho!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

2008-08-19T11:01:00.000-07:00

My mom's birthday was on Saturday and we went to Texas Road House for dinner... yum yum! She is the greatest mom ever! Thanks for everything you do for us mom, we hope you had an excellent birthday. We love you! This is everyone waiting for our table...

Midnight 5k!!

2008-08-19T10:51:00.000-07:00

Some girls from my work (and Brad;) and I all ran a 5k last Friday at midnight!! It was so fun and the weather was perfect! There were so many people there though. Alyssa (far left) got 3rd in her division, so that was awesome... she even got a ribbon! I got 12th and Brad got 11th in men's; but we all got t-shirts! That's mostly why people run 5k's, right? =) So thanks everyone for running with us it was way fun!

I'm usually good at making cookies at least! Not this time...

2008-08-11T09:18:00.000-07:00

Mandy and I were making dinner/desert for our date night, and apparently I put a little too much flour in the kitchen aid because this is what happened when I turned it on!! It was too funny! I guess this is what happens when I cook=) Love you Mand, and sorry about the flour!

Warm Fuzzies

2008-08-11T08:36:00.000-07:00

August is my month for sharing time and last Sunday it was on the gift of the Holy Ghost. So Brad and I made 30 warm fuzzies to give out because that's the feeling you get when you have the Holy Ghost. The kids absolutely loved them... maybe a little too much... they wouldn't stop playing with them during singing time. and we even saw a few kids playing with them in sacarment=) Brad is such a good husband and an excellent warm fuzzy maker at that!

Cute picture, huh?

2008-07-19T08:40:00.000-07:00

So I edited my blog and now it shows my picture by my posts. However, it's not exactly my best picture and now I can't remember how to change it! haha. I could use a little help here... Brooke?

American Idol tour!!!

2008-07-16T14:39:00.000-07:00

Whit took me to the American Idol concert for my birthday!! We got shirts and everything, it was amazing! The David's and Brooke were our favorite. I couldn't hear anything when we left because my ears were ringing so bad. I can't remember the last time I screamed that loud, I felt like I was back at the Backstreet Boys concert in junior high=) It was SO much fun though, the best birthday ever! Love you Whit!

I love you Whit!

Another Lake Powell Trip

2008-07-16T14:26:00.001-07:00

From Logan to Park City baby!

2008-07-16T13:58:00.000-07:00

Brookie was our driver, and me, Brad, Heidi, Heather, Brandon, and Gina were in our van. We ran 185 miles and it was SO fun! Thanks for the run, you guys are all troopers!

Lake Powell in May?

2008-05-29T10:03:00.000-07:00

Yep, it was pretty cold! It was still so fun though! We colored, wakeboarded, and me and Mand even showered in the lake!

Coop and "Uncle Butt" at the Bees game!

2008-04-19T20:09:00.000-07:00

Uncle Butt took Coop to a Bees game on Friday and they both had SO much fun! They sat out on the grass and played with Mandy, played on the play ground and the blow up jumpy thingy, and even got a new bat and ball to play with at the game!

The first Bees game of the summer!

2008-04-16T12:52:00.000-07:00

I'm SO excited for summer! We went to the first Bees game of the season last weekend... It didn't quite feel like summer yet (if you can't tell by all the blankets) but it was still fun!

Another fun family filled weekend!

2008-04-16T12:37:00.000-07:00

We went up to Logan last weekend and it was SO fun! I LOVE going up to Brooke and Trav's house in Logan, our family always has so much fun.

Our St. George Trip!

2008-04-07T08:43:00.000-07:00

We had a busy weekend! I judged a dance competition in St. George with Shannon and Michelle, which wasn't the same because Brooke didn't come this year, but Brad's family came down to stay with his grandparents for General Conference. It was so much fun (well, I was at the competition all of Friday and most of Saturday so I think I missed out on some good shoppin), but we went to the Pizza factory for dinner after so it was all worth it=) We had to wait for the boys to get out of priesthood to be seated at the pizza factory, so we took pictures on this random fire truck... it was so fun though! Thanks for the fun trip guys!

First things, first.

2008-04-07T08:12:00.000-07:00

I have two posts (I know, I'm as shocked as you are) but first I wanted to show everyone Brad's mountain man beard.. and this his goatee... then of course he had to shave just a mustache, and then you can see the after picture:) They all kind of look like mug shots, but it was early... he couldn't really smile. These are the kinds of things you wanted me to post, right Brooke?

Check out my Slide Show!

2008-03-27T18:32:00.001-07:00

I'm BACK in the game! Wait... I'm finally in the game.

2008-03-14T15:26:00.000-07:00

Brooke saved my blogging life. I finally know how to use this, so now I can entertain all of you with our exciting life ;). Here are some pics for now. Maybe later I will write something amazing!

2007-10-15T10:16:00.000-07:00

Hello Friends and Fam!! I don't really know how to work this, but someone will be kind enough to show me (Brooke?)

I'm SO excited to start my new blog! But most of all, I'm excited to start my new life with Brad. He's the most amazing person I've ever met, and he'll be an amazing husband! I love you babe=)