J Boyz

We got to hang with Joel's best friends from High School while they were here for the holidays. Joel, Jason Judd, and Jacob Jones. We haven't seen them in centuries, so it was SO fun to get caught up and see their cute kids!
Their hot wives: Tina (Jason's wife), me, Natalie (Jacob's wife) and Sara (Jacob's sister). Do you like how I look pregnant in this picture!? Oh, that's because I am. Yay! Due in July! I was hoping to be able to hide it for a little longer, but I guess being pregnant during the holidays makes you show alot faster! At least I don't have to feel guilty about not loosing those extra holiday pounds until next year.
All our kiddos. They had fun playing together.

Zoo Trip

Joel had the whole week off work. The girls and I go to the zoo at least once a month, but it was fun to go with him.

Hailey took this picture...not bad!

Christmas Continued

Cindy, Ben, and Claire came down from Idaho Falls. It was so fun to see them! Aside from my own, Claire is the CUTEST, funniest little girl!
Here's Joel doing a real man's work: helping my mom in the kitchen with the Christmas Eve dinner. He's the best! My mom made the most delicious sweet pork (Costa Vitas recipe)...so scrumptious!
Hailey and JoLynn coming down the stairs on Christmas morning. They were SO excited and amazed that Santa really came!
Their career begins.

A Merrell Christmas

The 3 Wise-guys (played by Erin, Jake, and Blake)
Mary & Joseph (played by Ben & Cindy)
The Nativity Cast.

The Merrell Christmas Eve tradition is to reinact the Nativity. It's never meant to be sacreligious, but I guess that's just our style :)

Hailey and JoLynn's "Rudolph" number in their new Christmas jammies.

Grandpa and JoLynn settling down for a long winter's nap, otherwise known as our annual viewing of the movie "Scrooge". Nice muddy sock.

FISHING TRIP

So there is the nastiest pond by the Wal-Mart on Southern and Higley in Mesa. My Dad has made it a family tradition to go there a few times a year and fish out the radio-active "life" that dwells there. This was the day after Thanksgiving. Hailey and JoLynn LOVE going there with Grandpa. It's one of those wierd family things that we all laugh at, but it's actually pretty fun.

This is me with my Brother, Blake.
He'll be 16 in a few weeks...Ladies???

Just some pics from our B-day celebrations

with G & G Merrell

Hailey's 5th Birthday

Happy Birthday Princess Hailey!

For Hailey's 5th birthday, she wanted to have a "Prince & Princess Party". She's been preparing for this party for about 9 months, making invitations, goody bags, prizes, and even confeti for us to throw at her when we all yelled, "SUPRISE!" Everyone came in their royal attire.We went to the park, played games, made crowns, and played again.

Happy birthday Hailey! We love you!

Pommagranate Cheese Ball

Got cheese? I got this super recipe from a friend. It is so easy and so delish! If you used fat-free cream cheese, you might even call it healthy. All it is is 1 cube cream cheese and 1 pommagranate rolled together. Yummo!

Trick-or-treat!

Halloween was so much fun this year! Hailey was a ballarina (SO typical of her!) and JoLynn was a pirate. They both really got into character. Joel and I were boring this year and didn't dress up, but we still had fun. Actually, we did have some costumes, but both the girls were so scared of us, they wouldn't come near us, so we just went as ourselves. We went to the Queen Creek town Trun-or-treat. Loads of fun and candy!

'07 Halloween

Happy Birthday JoLynn!

JoLynn turns 3! I can't belive it!

Birthday bike

JoLynn's birthday present.

Birthday Buddies

JoLynn's cousin Katelyn has the same birthday. Jo turned 3 and Katelyn turned 1. We had a combined party at Ryan & Lucinda's house. So it was pretty fun partying with the Merrell's (my family), the Wagenman's (Joel & Lucinda's family), and the Fish's (Ryan's family). Joel refered to it as the "Tri-Wizard Tournament". (you Harry Potter geeks out there will get that!)

Jo & Beau

I love this picture of JoLynn - it makes me laugh so hard! JoLynn LOVED to play with this dog at her Grandma Anne's house (you can't really see it in this picture, but it's one of those old-school toys with the feet that roll when you pull it), so Anne gave it to her for her birthday. JoLynn was so excited...as you can see! She named it Beau, after her dog that died this summer. She hasn't set this down since her birthday. Thanks Grandma Anne!

Jo & Mom

JoLynn reading her birthday cards from her adoring Grandmas. Nice double chin on me, hu! Too much birthday cake this month!

Schnepf Farm

We went to Schnepf Farm last week to celebrate our birthdays. It was so much fun! There was lots to do and the girls had a blast on all the rides and seeing the animals.

JoLynn's pumkin patch

Can you tell who our family clown is?

Farmer Hailey

They seemed to like her, too!

Hailey loved the goats! I was dry heaving because of the smell, but she loved petting them and letting them sniff her feet and legs.

At Schnepf Farm

Train ride!

Pig Race at Shnepf Farm

Hailey got to be one of the judges for the pig race.

At Schnepf Farm

Sweet Sisters

Hey there!

Hey there!
Welcome to the Wild World of the Wagenman's! First off, for those of you who were wondering, it's pronounced "waw-guh-men", not "way-jen-man", "waa-gon-min", or "wanna-hauka" (the top 3 of many mispronounced versions of our name).
Did anyone notice that 3 of the 4 pictures in the heading have us in our pajamas? That wasn't intentional. I thought about changing the pictures, but that's actually a pretty accurate portrayal of our family. We're pajama folk.