Camping At Big Lake

Okay, so just remember that no one in their right mind wears make up while camping, so if you are of a weak constitution, you may want to skip this one.  

You have been warned.

oh, the waiting!!..............

This little girl thinks it's time to start walking.  I'm sure she'll master it while I'm gone at YW camp this week and I'll miss the whole thing :(.  That's right - I get to go camping 2 weeks in  a row!  If camping with 3 girls is hard, I can't wait to experience it with 29 girls!

Bring it on.

Megan and Tyler catching some zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Da Boys with da babies

the craft tent!

hard at work

check out those Grandpa pants on Tyler!  

He is the YUMMIEST little boy ever!

Claire and JoLynn hangin' in the hammock

Hailey adopted this inch worm and named it "Ticklish".  The poor thing was squished, dropped, kicked, pinched, shoved into a dozen different "homes", and lost about 20 times, but the little guy was miraculously still alive on the last day.  He was a soldier to the end.  The "end" meaning when he mysteriously disappeared while the girls were on a scavenger hunt.

Good bye brave Ticklish...we won"t forget you!

Reel Fun

We just got back from camping with my Merrell family at Big Lake.  It was loads of fun!  It was so pretty up there too!   But whoever added camping to the vacation category never camped with 3 babies and 3 little girls.  Basically we packed the entire contents of our house into boxes, bags, and containers, drove it into the mountains, and squeezed it into a tent for the week.   Fhew, camping is a lot of work!  But among all the cooking, washing, keeping my crawling baby out of the dirt, trips to the "bathroom", and yelling my kids' names every 30 seconds to make sure they weren't wandering off too far, we did manage to have some fun.  We had a craft tent for the little girls where there was lots of giggling and creating, we played pick up sticks rock band (a game invented by my brother Blake), and we went fishing.  I'll have pictures to post soon.  (I know the suspense is palpable!)  But speaking of fishing, Jake and Megan turned us on to this little nugget of funny: 

My 3 Girls

Saturday's Funny Photo Friday

So I've been slacking with my all-important duties of keeping up with Funny Photo Friday.  Please accept my make-up work.  Below you will find a series of photos of our family from the summer of '06.  We were in Utah at my Aunt and Uncle's ranch.  It was so pretty with the mountains and the horse-filled pasture!  Unfortunately the one time our kids sat still for a photo shoot, the wind started blowing like a banshee.  This is why we usually don't send pictures with our Christmas cards...if we even get around to sending Christmas cards out.  Enjoy:

Check out Joel's super stretchy arms in this picture.  

He was trying to use his elastic super strength to

 keep us from blowing away.

Me:  "So JoLynn, what do you want to be when you grow up?"

JoLynn: "A peacemaker."

Me:  "Oh, that's so sweet JoLynn.  But what I meant was, is there anything you want to do for like a job, or anything you want to learn how to do when you are an adult?"

JoLynn: "I want to be you."

Me: "Do you mean you want to be like me?  Like do you want to be married and have a family of your own that you get to take care of and stuff?"

JoLynn:  "Well...actually, I just want to be the real you when I grow up."

I love you JoLynn!

Funny Photo Friday

Hope you all have a safe weekend.

Twilight Before Chrismas

ha, ha! I definately liked this version better. You're Welcome :)

(to listen, just pause the music to your right)

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to two of the loveliest ladies to walk the planet!

This is Joel's mom, Anne, as a teenager.  What a fox, hu!?  Anne is one of the kindest souls you will ever meet.  Some adjectives I would use to describe Anne are:

 soft spoken

hard worker

teacher

 courageous

dependable

creative

faithful

sweet

accomplished  

This is my momma, Peggy.  I love her smile in this picture.   (I think JoLynn took it.)  She is a wonderful Wife, Mom, and Grandma.  She is dedicated to her family and serving the Lord.  But don't let her holiness fool you - she knows how to have a good time!  Some adjectives I would use to describe her are:

funny

understanding

faithful

hospitable

selfless

intuitive

warm

honest

strong

We love you both!

Funny Photo Friday

Wow.  Hope they find him.  Keep your eyes peeled.

For those of you who didn't believe me

Many of you have asked me if the Rat Tale was for real.  Yes is was.

Can you see how happy Joel was about taking his car apart?

After ripping the seats and the dashboard out, we realized the smell was coming from behind the steering wheel.  Joel said he has a whole new understanding for the phrase, "I smell a rat".

I swear this thing was like 10 times bigger when it was alive and nibbling on my legs.  Keep in mind that it had been decomposing for about a week before this picture was taken.  

R.I.P. Mr. Rat. Hope you like the dump.

Funny Photo Friday

This is dedicated to my Sistas, 

Cindy and Megan. 

Remember when denim shirts were awesome?  I know you can't see it here, but I'm positive I was wearing a braided leather belt, too.  Check out my eyebrows.  How sad.  How did your first eyebrow-plucking experience go?

Youth Gems

I signed up for a subscription to "Youth Gems" and I love it!  You can sign up too at lds.org.  It's  a program that sends you a brief uplifting, inspirational, enlightening email twice a week.  There are different categories to choose from like family, single adult, youth, relief society, etc.  I subscribed to the youth one because I serve with the Young Women... and because I sort of sometimes like to think of myself as youthful.   I totally recommend it - it's super uplifting!  Here's the one I received today:

"This is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistent future when you will have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now."

Thomas S. Monson, "Finding Joy in the Journey," Ensign, Nov. 2008, 85

Topics: Joy

Tender-hearted

I 

love 

this

 picture 

of

JoLynn...

...except that she's snuggling with a handful of weeds.  Anyone know how to photoshop in a bouquet of daisies or something like that?  

Well, while we're on JoLynn, I think I'll share a story in continuation of my quest to embarrass my children.  JoLynn has very tender feelings.  It doesn't take much to make her bottom lip puff out and cry.  She often cries in her sleep if she's dreaming about someone not sharing or something devastating  like that.  Last night I heard her crying in her sleep, so I got up to see what was the matter.  She was really upset and was barely able to explain what was wrong amongst her sobs.  But she managed to say, "Oh Mom, I really just want a house made out of cups."  me:  ".......okay darling, you can have a house made of cups if you want."

JoLynn: with bottom lip quivering, "okay."

Fun with Shae

What is so scrumptious about a bald, juicy baby in a sleeper?

Unigoat

I know Unicorns aren't for real, but did you know Unigoats are?

This freak of nature resides at one of the many dairy farms here in the Q.C.  That's not his ear sticking up - that's a horn.  Hailey's Kindergarten class got to take a field trip there and it was so fun to go with her.  There was a baby calf born that morning and we got to go see it stand for the first time.  The kids wanted to sing it happy birthday and they named it "cowey".  So cute!

...Not so cute is that giant pile of cow poo right behind our heads in this picture.  Awesome.

They got to sample some fresh milk and ice cream.

Hailey feeding the horses carrots.  They told her "make your hand flat like a pancake so he doesn't bite your fingers off."  That was comforting.

Merrell-thon

Merrell-thon: a noun describing a day of family, friends, fitness and fun beyond your wildest dreams. (that's my friend, Alison on the far right).   How did this all begin, you ask?  Well, my sister Cindy (featured above in the sweet shades) and I decided a few months back that we wanted to run another 1/2 marathon.  But typically you have to pay a hefty registration fee for these events, and we thought that it was crazy enough to run 13.1 miles all in one day, let alone have to pay to do it, so we  decided to do our own...for free.  And somewhere in the midst of our training, all our family members got excited about it too.  Momma Merrell made T-shirts and everyone committed to participate in some way; run, walk, bike or hike with a 20 lb. pack (Dad). Cindy and I routed the course along the canals and surface streets of Mesa, and on a lovely April morning the race began! 

Joel met up with me for the last 4 miles and we crossed the finish line together.  It was nice to have a fresh set of legs to keep the pace (and believe me, they were FRESH :)) Can you tell I'm hating life in this picture?  Finish time: 2hrs. 12 min.

Tyler (Megan's baby), Savannah (Cindy's baby), and Shae.  

These babies are so YUMMY!

That's my awesome 17 yr. old brother Blake on the far left.  Cindy and I trained for this for months, but Blake pretty much just woke up that morning and sprinted the whole way and beat us all.  Punk.

The kiddos had a race of their own at the park.  

Claire and JoLynn with Baby Puppy in tow.

Jake, Ben, JoLynn, Cindy, and Joel soakin' their feet in the pool. 

 It felt soooo good!

The End.

Anyone want to join us next year?

Dream

Want to be blown away?  Check this out!  It will make you feel GOOD :)  I promise!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luRmM1J1sfg

Friday the 13th!

It might be Friday the 13th if your husband has to tear apart the entire car (literally - the seats, the console, the dash board, the crash pad, and a plethera of screws, wires, and bolts are decorating the garage floor) to find a dead rat that's been stuck in there for a week and is REEKING like a rotted grave and then has to pry it out with your favorite salad tongs.

(wish I had pictures to share, but Joel took the camera to work to prove to his boss that he really did need the morning off to get a dead rat out of his car)  

A Rat Tale

Are you ready for the grossest story of the year?  I know it's only March, but still, get ready for the heeby-jeebies!  So yesterday I drove Joel's car to several different church meetings.  It was Sunday, right, so I was in a dress and high-heal sandals, complete with bare legs and feet.  As I was driving through out the day, I kept feeling something touching my leg.  Something soft and sort of prickly.  At first I thought my leg was just falling asleep, but then I felt it on my other leg.  "Gross", I thought, "there is a HUGE moth or something down there fluttering around my legs!".  So when I got to the church for my last meeting of the day, I left the windows down hoping it would fly out by the time I had to get back in there and drive home.  Not so.  As I put the car in reverse, I felt it again, something big and furry rubbing against my bare legs.  I jerked the e-brake, turned on the light and looked down. Anyone want to guess what was staring up at me from between my feet?

A RAT!!!!!  A big black hairy one.

Seriously, it was like the size of my foot!  I screamed and jumped out and started doing the heeby-jeebies dance in the parking lot.  Some brave men heard the commotion and came running with sticks to help, but that creepy guy was determined to stay.  So to make a long story short, I left the car there, came home with my friend Stefani, and made Joel go back and drive it home.  We tried for a while to get it out, and then decided to break the Sabbath and go buy a rat trap.  But the trap was still empty this morning, so Joel got to drive to work today with some company. AAAAHHHH!  My skin is still crawling.  I hope it is a Mesa rat and decides to get out or die while Joel is at work, instead of in our Queen Creek driveway.

.....on second thougth, maybe we'll catch it and keep it as a pet.  We'll lavish it with soft pink slippers and take rat glamour shots

Then we'll breed it and have a rat community for our babies to bathe in pools of milk with

Not really...these last two pictures were just some freaky photos I found on line.  

Anyways, gross, hu!

Important!! your driver's license on line - thanks to Homeland Security!

Check your driver's license - I found this on my friend's blog

I definitely removed mine.  I suggest you all do the same.  Now you can see anyone's drivers license on the internet, including your own!  I just searched for mine and there it was...picture and all!  Thanks Homeland Security!  Go to the web site, and check it out.  It's unbelievable!  Just enter your name, city and state to see if yours is on file.  After your license comes on the screen, click the box marked 'Please Remove.'  This will remove it from public viewing, but not from law enforcement.  Please notify all your friends so they can protect themselves, too.  Believe me they will thank you for it.

http://www.license.shorturl.com/

HELP!!!!!!

I need some MAJOR help!!!  I am drowning in a sea of beige and my own indecisiveness.  I am trying to paint my front room, and it is NOT going well. I have been wanting to paint ever since we moved into this house 2 1/2 years ago.  I actually don't mind the color it came with (a lovely , trendy beige) except it is on EVERY wall in EVERY room of the house.  I thought I wanted a sage-green for an accent wall, but after trying 3 different shades and still not happy with it, we are back to square one.  WHAT COLOR!?  This is so frustrating.  90 percent of our furniture has been handed down to us (NOT complaining!) so while I love that each little artifact has it's own little history, none of it really matches.  Where is my fung shway? (I wish I knew how to spell that word...)  So here is the current color scheme: carpet - light goldish beigh, walls - trendy beige, piano - brown, couches - brown and light brown, entertainment center - brown, cupboards - brown...are you noticing a pattern?  I need some color!  I feel like Sis. Encarnacion from Nacho Libre, "My favorite  color is light tan".  My real favorite color is pear green, but I don't think it belongs on my walls.  Do you have any ideas?  Seriously, do you?  Hurry before I give up and just settle for the tri-colored blotches on my wall and call it quits.

Thirteen-mile Thriller!

Hey guess what.  We ran the 1/2 marathon!  By "we" I mean me and my fun times running buddy Michelle (you can view Michelle's hot picture in the previous post about the Turkey Trot).  She is so funny!  I don't even bother to bring my ipod running because she keeps me laughing the whole time.  We  seem to be starting a tradition of showing up to the race late, and caring more about where the bathrooms are than the finish line.  side note: To the people who host these races: Running induces certain bodily functions that REQUIRE certain facilities.  Don't you know that!?  Why are there not bathrooms at EVERY 1/2 mile during these races!?  Dried up tumble weed along the way do not provide the necessary privacy for these types of things. end side note.

 Anyways, other than starting late (again! - I love our style) and not enough bathrooms, it really was fun!  We started 6 min. behind, but had caught up to the main group by the 2-3 mile.  Thanks to all the high school cheerleaders in the town of Queen Creek who got up extra early to look fancy for the race.  The way you handed me my paper cups of water was inspiring.  (I can make fun of cheerleaders because I used to be one myself.  Did you know that?  Ya, I was a Brimhall Bobcat.  Go BJH!  We took state.)        ... Anyhoo, The race rout was so pretty!  We were running through all these cotton fields and along horse pastures.  We totally had the spirit of the mustang with us.  We were going pretty strong up through about mile 10-11, when we both just hit a wall (don't worry, just a metaphoric one).  Those last 3 miles were rough, but I'm so proud of us!  We finished in 2 hrs. 35 minutes.  So we have decided to run another one in April, and this time take it seriously...like we'll show up on time and everything.  We won't even bring our cell phones to call our hubbies when we're almost done so he can drag our kids down to cheer us on as we cross the finish line.  We'll probably even stretch out and go to the bathroom before we run, too.  Our goal is to beat our time.  Wish us luck!