I love you sweet Hailey!
cupcakes with her kindergarten class
JoLynn and 5 other classmates pose as candles for Hailey to blow out
a "really super pretty butterfly cake" per Hailey's request
making a wish
While I take a bath, JoLynn takes a peanut butter bath...
and then gets to clean up!
Woo-hoo! Yesterday marked the 1/2 way point for my goal to run the 1/2 marathon in January. My awesome running buddy, Michelle, and I ran the 10k Turkey Trot in Mesa. (Yes, an actual man dressed as a turkey runs the race) It was so fun! We were stuck in line for the bathroom when the race started (we've both had 3 kids - what do you expect!?) so we were about 5 min. behind everyone else, but I tell you, once we started, we didn't stop, and we were passing people left and right!
We finished in 64 minutes. We tore it up!
(If JoLynn was reading this right now, she would be reminding me, "Mom, remember, it isn't nice to brag." But this has been a huge personal feat for me in so many ways, so I feel I have the right to be proud of myself...sorry for being so "puffed up".) A shout out to my girl Michelle, who kept me going at the end - I totally would have given up if it weren't for her! 
Joel and the girls were lined up near the finish line cheering us on. Thanks Joel - you're the best!
And it all made feasting on the Thanksgiving pleasures of the day that much more enjoyable.
Highlights of our Thanksgiving table:
*Mom's famous dinner rolls (so light, so fluffy, SOOOOO GOOD!)
*Grandma Merrell's cranberry relish (my favorite!)
*Joel's candied yams - YUMMO!
*Megans' green bean casserole
*Cindy's relish tray fit for royalty
*Pie: bannana cream, chocolate cream, lemon mirengue, key lime, apple, pumkin, blueberry, and pumkin carmel.
Sigh...I think I need to go running again!
Joke of the day:
Blake: (with a look of disapointment as he surveyed his plate still half full) "Ugh, I feel like my stomache shrunk..."
Erin: "Did you put it in the dryer?"
(Merrell humor)
Yesterday on our way home from the park, I stopped to chit-chat with our neighbor Leona. It was the first time she had seen Shae, and in her excitement over the baby she kept saying, "Oh my G_ _! She is so cute!...Oh my G_ _, you are so blessed!...Oh my G_ _, look at that smile!..."
Not wanting to offend her, I refrained from covering my girls' ears and just smiled and pretended I didn't notice her repetedly taking the Lord's name in vain.
Then Hailey tapped her on the arm and in a VERY sweet and meek but confident voice said (and I quote), "Um, excuse me, but you gotta remember this: when you say 'Oh my God' you're really taking Heavenly Father's name in vain." Leona paused with her mouth open then her eyes flashed to me for a second and then back to Hailey and she said with a smile, "Oh, you're right. Thank you for teaching me that. You are a very smart girl." She was so sweet about it. I was so proud of Hailey for standing up for what she knew was right (as I should have done). I think Hailey could kind of sense that what she said may have offended Leona, because right after that she said, "Is there anything you want? I have some really pretty rocks I collected at the park in my treasure bag here. You can have one." 
So innocent! That's exactly what the Savior would have done. Rebuke the sin, but show love to the sinner. It reminded me of Robert D. Hales conference talk on Christian Courage. "Meekness is not weakness. It is the badge of Christian Courage...We do not feel we are better than they are. Rather, we desire with our love to show them a better way - the way of Jesus Christ...To help them, to be an example for them is not for the weak. It is for the strong." 
Isn't it precious to watch those natural mothering attributes come out of your little daughters? As I got out of the shower the other day, JoLynn came in and asked me to come in the play room to take a picture of her family. I felt a gush of endearment as she rattled off the names and needs of each of her "family members". Do you ever wonder if Heavenly Father has those same adoring feelings as He watches us, his daughters, do our best as we draw from those femine qualities unique to women to tenderly care for our little ones?
So remember how Old Boy is tempermental? Old Boy really has a hard time with pictures, so most of the pictures I post on here are a month or so outdated, but hey, we take what we can get.
We went up to the cabin in Prescott mid-October. Cindy and Ben came with Claire. It was loads of fun! (Besides the trip to the ER with JoLynn and my bee sting.)
and smores! 
This will be a good one of Hailey 
...babysitting my kids for a few hours.
and collected acorns and flowers
So have you ever had a goal in mind that you really felt you wanted to accomplish, but then as soon as that tiny flame of ambiton begins to flicker and you really commit yourself to taking the steps towards accomplishing it, heaven and earth and all things that ever were and ever will be combine against you to thwart that ambition? That happened to me last night...or this morning...or whatever time it is. (okay, maybe I'm being a little over dramatic, but here's how it went down)
A friend of mine got me thinking about running a 1/2 marathon in February. I REALLY want to do it, for several reasons, but I keep finding several more reasons (like not enough sleep, for one) to put off the training. Well, yesterday another friend and I decided to heck with it all and we were going to start in the morning no matter what. So I set the alarm for 5:28 am (just enough time to feed the baby, blow my nose, and get my shoes on by 6:00 and not a minute more). But of course, my sweet baby who has been sleeping great up until this point decides that this is the night to wake up at 3:30am and not go back to sleep. Joel, being the supportive man that he is, offered to take her off my hands around 4:30am so I could go back to sleep. But you know when you're trying too hard to fall asleep, you become oversensitive to noise. So then the neighborhood cats who think our backyard is the community litter box (UGH! I'll save the details about my raging hatred over these disgusting cats for another post) started meowing and I know they're digging up my newly planted garden, then as soon as Joel hits the pillow, he's out cold and starts snoring, and my legs are tearing up the sheets because I haven't shaved in I won't tell you how long...
Anyways, to the point of this post: I never did get back to sleep. But I got up and went running anyways. On a normal day I would have allowed last night's happenings to excuse another day of procrastination. But the friend who planted this crazy 1/2 marathon idea in my head to begin with gave me this quote that got my tush out of bed this morning:
"Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired in the morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired."
George S. Patton, U.S. Army General, 1912 Olympian
Amen brother!
Wow, sorry for the blogging hiatus! I wish I had some amazing stories to tell and funny anticdotes to offer as excuses for my absense, but 15 year old computer (which I've decided to name "Old Boy"), new baby, and no sleep is all I got. If anyone has the time and mental energy to come up with a gripping, adventurous story peppered with humor and life lessons of what I was doing with my life instead of blogging , feel free to post it. In the meantime, to tide you over here are a few posts of what we've really been doing. And, hopefully there will be more posts to come soon (pending the cooperation of Old Boy). Enjoy!
Shae Margaret Wagenman 
A shout out to my mom for making the dress, my cousin Kara who made the bow, my sis-in-law Lucinda who made the bracelet, and friend Debbie who made the booties (oh, ya - and to me, for the cute baby :)). Whew - if that's not a loving network of resorceful, talented Mormon women, 
The Wagenmans
The Merrells
Did I tell you I have the cutest neice ever!? This is Cindy's little girl, Claire.
"We represent the Lullaby League..." (remember that from Wizard of Oz?) 
Claire and Shae
My sister Megan with Claire
This is Joel's real job. Talk about a succesful career! Joel is an awesome dad and our girls are crazy about him. 
Nothin like a hard day's work!
Can you just see the dreamy image going through her mind about the fun day ahead of her and how she's definately going to be the cutest girl in the whole school?
Hailey was SSOOO excited for her 1st day of school! JoLynn and I miss her wile she's gone all day, but she has lots to share with us when she gets home. She told me about one week into it that she already had a boyfriend. WHAT!? I immediately launched into a parental lecture about the fleeting inocence of childhood and how she's too young for that and yadda, yadda, and she told me, "Mom, a boyfriend is not like a husband. It's just a boy that's my friend." Oh,...okay.Wow, it has been a while since we have posted anything! Actually, this is my first time, since Lisa has done all of the posts up until now. Pardon the pun in the title line, but we have some great news: Our baby girl, Shae Margaret, was born on July 24th. She was born at 2:22 pm and weighed 7 lbs, 13 oz and was 20 inches long. She is a few hours short of a week old as I write this. She is healthy and does nothing but sleep and eat and (well, you can imagine what else). When she cries to tell us she is hungry or needs to be changed, she has a raspy little cry that is very pathetic sounding, but endearing. We hope that she will continue to be as "easy" as she has been, but our hopes are most likely false since most newborns are that way the first week.
Here is a readers digest version of the delivery: Lisa asked Dr. Beck to schedule her for induced labor on July 24th, mostly so that we could be back at home for Hailey's first day of kindergarten (we will post pictures of that later). The induced labor seemed to progress slowly until about noon when Dr. Beck broke the water. The pain medication that the anethesiologist gave to Lisa worked to ease the contraction pains, but when it came time to push, she felt most everything. For me, the "delivery coach", it was overwhelming, so I can't imagine what it must have been like for her. I admire Lisa so much for the way she handled herself.
We recieved so much help from so many people, with meals, watching kids, gifts, and even helping with the first few tiring days (and nights) of being home. We feel so lucky and blessed to have such generous people in our lives!
So, here are some pictures of our sweet little girl with her big sisters. They are being good helpers to Mom and Dad! 
