A Merrell Christmas to you!

This year we had Christmas Eve at my parents' house with all my brothers and sisters and their kids.

It was, of course, insane.

We had an ugly sweater contest.

Wow - there were some real winners!

All the Merrell Ladies

The Richardson's.

Including Tyler in his festive Chip n' Dale ensemble.

My brothers Erin and Blake

My Parents Dean and Peggy

(with whom Joel and I tied for

the ugliest "couples" sweaters)

Me and my Joelseff.

Joel picked out our sweaters. Aren't they awesome!? I'm almost positive that Joel's is a

Bill Cosby duplicate.

The Spratlings

And the winner:

My hilarious Mom.

JoLynn's Ballet Recital

JoLynn had her first dance recital last week. It was SO cute!

Our good friend Michelle teaches a dance class once a week for free - she is so sweet, she just loves dancing and little kids and she is so sweet with all these girlies!

That's JoLynn in the back next to the girl in the black leotard.

Notice how she's a full head taller than everyone in the class.

Sugar Plum Princesses

This dance was so cute.

They danced to Mary's Lullaby and they each were supposed to bring their favorite baby doll. JoLynn refused to dance with a doll, so she brought a horse instead.

JoLynn leaping her heart out!

JoLynn with her best friend Addison. Despite their difference in size, they are only 6 weeks apart in age. Addison lives a few streets down and JoLynn loves having her over often for play days.

Sisters

Our friend Gina (Artistic Impressions) took our family pictures for us this year. I love them! Maybe because I love the people in them! I love these ones of our 3 girls.

On the ninth day of Christmas a stray cat brought to me...

a dead bird torn to shreds

and a load of pooh in the back yard.

This lovely gift was waiting for us on our porch this morning. Joel walked out the door and an ulgy mangy orange cat was lazily sleeping next to this mess. I think it's the same one who snuck into our garage last week and peed all over our camping gear. Who do these fiends think they are!? We set up the cat trap last night, baited with a can of tuna... Joel said when he walked out and saw this it was as if that nasty orange cat was saying to him, "Here's what I think of your trap, Sir..." and literally gave him the bird.

On the up-side, we did catch one of the pests. I feel kind of bad though - this one looks too healthy to be a stray and is obviously lacking in street smarts; he fell for the baited tuna instead of going for the live bird. But with no collar we had no choice but to take it to the humane society (after cleaning up a few shovels-full of it's pooh).

So, Mr. Mangy Orange Cat... watch your back - you're next!

Left Overs

What do you do with all that left over Halloween candy and birthday cake frosting? Make spooky Christmas gingerbread houses of course!

Thanksgiving Day

Joel and I started the day off bright and early. We ran the 10k Turkey Trot in Mesa. It was great! Joel did really good, even if he did get beat by a girl (that would be me). Granted it was only by 5 seconds, but still. I smashed my time from last year, so I was feeling pretty good! Do you think they decided to pick the ugliest design on the planet for these t-shirts? I do.

Then we went over to the Merrell's for the feast. It was all so delish! Isn't this the best picture of my mom? This looks like a scene from a movie... the family waiting at the Thanksgiving table for the momentous arrival of the perfectly browned Turkey. Everyone claps as Mother sets the bird at the head of the table to be carved by Father...

The girls wasted no time burning off those calories on the trampoline.

It's so fun to have cousins to play with!

So much to be thankful for this year!

Pet Peeve #1

For over a year now, our neighbor's cats have been making our backyard their community litter box. I find it extremely offensive and aggravating! Most of them are not even real pets, just strays that our neighbors leave food out for... the cats go there to load up, and come here to unload. It is so gross! I'll send the kids out to play, and they'll come back in with cat poop all over their shoes and hands. They pee on our back door and it REEKS like no other! At night those disgusting pests will sit on our fence and meow unbelievably loud, keeping us awake. I could go on and on about how much I hate these vile things! So we got a cat trap... we are not going to kill them or hurt them in any way, just "relocate" them. I can't wait! Wish us luck!

p.s. If you own cats, or dogs for that matter, don't let them share their business with everyone around you. RUDE!

Happy Birthday to Hailey!

Hailey turns 7 yrs. old!!!

Happy Birthday my sweet Hailey! I love you!

Birthday pancakes before heading off to school.

Joel took the day off work so he could bring cupcakes to her whole 1st grade class! Hailey got a "no homework" pass and got to go home early. Lucky duck!

I told Hailey to show me "seven" on her hands. (I meant 7 fingers)

This is her interpretation of that. Goofy kid!

Hailey requested another Princess Party this year.

Joel served as the Butler, announcing each Princess as she arrived and serving the hot chocolate at the tea party. What a fun dad!

opening presents!

Hailey's Kitty Cat cake

The Princess Tea Party

The Cutest Boy On the Planet Award

... goes to: Tyler Jacob!!!

This here is the cutest little boy I have ever seen in my life! And that's saying something because I've seen some cute ones! (almost stealing her son's spotlight here is my gorgeous sister Megan). I get to watch Tyler a few times a month and it is hilarious to watch how Shae reacts to him. She obviously senses his cuteness factor and sometimes gets a little jealous. But for the most part she can't get enough of him. Observe:

Shae becoming more and more invasive.

Check out the look on his face! Do you think he's had enough? I think he's ready to go home now. Get used to it little buddy. I have a feeling you're going to get this kind of reaction from girls for the rest of your life.

Happy Birthday to JoLynn!

JoLynn turned 5 years old! I can't believe it.

We love our sweet JoLynn!

She wanted to have her party at Chick Fil-A. We asked them if they do Birthday parties and they were like, "umm.... sure." I guess they don't really "do" parties, but they made an exception for this cute little 5 yr. old. When we showed up, they had decorated the tables with balloons and party favors, and put us right by the play area and the kids had a blast. We brought the cake and the kids, they did everything else at no extra charge. It was great!

The party guests

JoLynn's puppy cake.

Happy Birthday my

sweet JoLynn Rae!

I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!