Family Time

We were able to take a trip to Idaho Falls this summer for the first time in forever.  I feel like I have not been sense my parents left on their mission.  (I don't think I have.....)  My Uncle Brent was baptized and my Grandpa was able to baptize him.  It was such a amazing thing to witness and be apart of.  It has been such a blessing for my Uncle to make it as far as he has with his heath and with the church.  I am so grateful he is where he is today and he is doing so well.   It really is a miracle.   It was so neat to see my Grandpa Baptize my Uncle and it be his own son that he baptized for the first time.  It was so funny when we were waiting everyone talked and bore their testimonies and Nancy said, "my dad was so scared and so nervous that I kinda felt bad, but then when I really thought about it I realized he deserved it."  It was cute.  My Grandparents are going to be sealed to their family this next month and my parents will be home for a few days for that.  I am so excited for my Grandma!!  This is something she has wanted her entire life and her dream is about to come true.  And I am so excited to see my parents.  

We drove the truck to Idaho falls and we didn't have anything to entertain the little kids on the way.  Adison took a million pictures on my phone and colored for a while.  I loved the picture she took of Max sleeping and all the selfies.  

Such a happy boy in the car.

I love all the cute faces this little boy makes.  

 This is one of my favorites

Adison had so much fun playing with the girls.  She loves her cousin Jossy and always talks about her and wants to play with her. 

When Rob came home from work Adison yelled, "Hey, my name is Addi, and I have a wart."  It was so funny.  She knows that Rob knows how to get rid of warts so I guess that was on her mind.  She had a huge wart and it was getting bigger and bigger and wasn't going away, even after putting acid on it and shaving it down for a very long time.  I was so sad to have Rob get it out because Adison was not happy about it and I had to sit on her to hold her still.  It was so deep and had a ton of seeds in it.  When Rob got rid of Alexis's wart it was just one huge white pearl inside of it and it kind of popped out.  Adiosn had like 12 white pearls inside hers and we were not sure if they were all gone because it started to bleed and was hard to see.  After she was done she calmed down and then even told Rob thanks for helping get rid or the wart and then went and played.  She hasn't even complained about it at all... I just pray that it is gone.  

We were going to go home the next day, but it was the Merrill Family Reunion.  I had not planned on going because Alexis and Elizabeth both had sports practice and games that they had to stay home for.  I felt so bad leaving them and knew they would be so mad at me if I went the the Reunion without them.  But Annette talked me into going up with them and I am really glad I did.  It was a lot of fun and the kids had a blast.  I just wish I could have stayed for the whole thing.  

They played hungry hippos (life size) and that was a lot of fun.  Max was great at grabbing the balloons for us ... 

Max had no fear and I think if I would have let him, he would have gone down the slide all by himself.  

He loved the ball on the tether ball game. 

It was so beautiful and such great weather.  West piney is really an amazing place to go for our reunions.  

Andy brought the potato guns and shot the candy out of them to carry on the tradition from my dad.  

Justin brought up his horses again and my kids loved that.  They want a horse so bad and felt like little cowgirls getting to ride them.  

I got to ride the horse with Max also and I felt a little huge trying to get on the saddle..... plus  that morning I went down the slide with Max and caught some air or something and did something to my tailbone and it made a pop sound and everything.  It has been three weeks and it still is killing me.... 

My Grandma loves all her family and is always so happy when she sees us.  I am so glad that she still wants us all to be together and puts such a big effort into putting the reunion together each year.  It is sometimes hard to put everything aside and go for a weekend, but I am always glad I did after I go.  

15 years.

This man of mine only gets better with age!!!!  He is so handsome and I can not believe he is all mine!  

for our date we went to Pocetello and delivered some lights for work and then went to Applebee's.  After that we went to Lowe's and found some fun plants and some blueberry bushes that I am so excited to see if they do well or not.  It was just that but it didn't matter what we did together as long as I got to spend time with my honey.  I love going on dates with him and getting to spend quality time together.  

Today Ryan and I have been married for 15 years.  It has gone by so fast and really still feels new and fresh.  I still feel like I am getting to know Ryan more and more and the more I find out about him, the more I love him and realize that we were so meant to be together.  I could not imagine anyone else that could have made me as happy or just completed me like he has.  It is a little scary now that I am thinking of my own girls meeting boys and falling in love.  I just hope that they put a lot of thought and time into who they chose and make a smart choice when it comes time for them to find a husband.  There are so many things that you don't think about when you are getting married and I have to say that I have lucked out so much with the amazing dad and husband that I have.  I am so thankful that my husband is active in the church and is worthy to hold the priesthood and he loves the gospel like I do.  It is something that is so important for our family and I am so thankful for his example to us.
Last night I asked Ryan if he could remember what we were doing the night before we got married.  Both of us were not 100% sure.  I need to ask my mom if she remembers for sure but I think I took my endowments out the day before and then we went home and started to get ready for the big day.  Ryan stayed at his aunt Gloria's house with his family and then came and picked me up in the morning.  I just remember being so excited I could hardly sleep and then when I woke up I was a mess and so stressed out and as soon as Ryan showed up I just felt so calm and happy.  My mom was so happy he was there to chill me out.  Ryan tried on his tux and found out the shoes were the wrong size and the jacket didn't fit.  So he had to run and get everything fixed.  Then we had to hurry over to the wedding breakfast.... and Ryan got a speeding ticket on the way.  (what a mean cop... we even told him we were on our way to get married)  But after that it really was the perfect day.  It just felt like a dream and everything was amazing and I was so happy.  I am so thankful that I married the man of my dreams and that I am able to spend the rest of my life with him.  He still helps me feel calm and I always feel so much better when I am with him.  I love everything about him and I feel like I am so lucky to be his wife.

Tree spree

I bought three trees without really thinking about how I was going to get them home.  Good thing my van can fold up and act like a truck.  It was weird because the way they had the tree's labeled I told them I had two red and one white color.  (which were some of the cheaper colors)  but when I got a call from the cops the next day saying I had not paid the right price for some tree's I had taken it was a little scary.  I called the store and they said that the colors were sprayed on the buckets as dots and so I owed them $40 more.  I felt so dumb..... but got it all figured out. 

Max is into the flour once again..... I love the faces he is making.  He is so fun to just watch and talk to.

Fathers day

For Fathers day we went to Ryan's parents house and had dinner, played soccer and the kids played outside in the sand box.  I loved the pictures of Adi and Kinley

It was so hard not being able to give my dad a big hug on Fathers day and tell him how much I love him.  I had to tell my mom to give him one from me.  My parents are doing great on their missions and have had lots of people visit them.  They are such fun people it is hard to stay away from them.  

We are so lucky to have such great dads in our lives.  Ryan is such a great dad and I am so thankful that he is the man he is.  I love watching him play with our kids and help them with sports.  He is so smart and is great at helping them with homework (Math) and anything they need. I really did hit the jackpot when I married him.  I just pray that my girls can find a husband as amazing as their dad.
I also hit the jackpot with my own dad and my father in law.  I am so lucky to have so many great examples in my life and such amazing grandpa's for my kids.  They are just amazing in every way.  

We found out that Chase is going to be a dad soon.  So excited for them.  He is going to be such a great dad, he has lots and lots of practice from all our kids. 

Bear Lake tournament

Liz had another tournament in Bear Lake  Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  It was one of the hottest weeks ever!  The girls are getting better and better each game and they ended up winning the Saturday morning game.  

After the Friday games we went to Bear Lake to play.  The games went a lot longer than we thought they would so we didn't get to the lake until 6 but it was still great and still warm.  We played till 8:30 and then all my kids were tired and done.  

As we were leaving the lake we pulled into the parking lot and Sonya Hymus stopped and pointed.  We looked over and saw three cute baby raccoons cuddled up in a little ball.  They were so cute and then she told us that they had raised raccoons and they are so nice as babies.  So Alexis went out and threw a towel over one.... as soon as she did it did like a summersault and then she grabbed it.  She was not very soft with it and she dropped it a couple of times so her baby was a little mad, and it had every reason to be.  She was trying to wrap it up like a baby and then put her hand right in front of its mouth and it bit her.   I freaked out and didn't know if it would give her rabies or something bad...... but she ended up being fine.  The other raccoon that her friend pieced up was so sweet and calm and I am guessing it was because it wasn't dropped and handled rough.  

This was the nice raccoon 

We had to wake up at 6 to make it to the Saturday games on time.  It was so nice having a early game because it wasn't so dang hot.  I left the rest of the kids home so I wouldn't have to drag them out of bed.  Her game was at 8 and if they lost they would be done.  They won and then didn't have a game till 1.  We didn't have anything to do to kill time and I rode over with Sonya Hymus so I asked her if she liked to yard sales and she said yes.  We went around for the whole time and found some great things.  It was a lot of fun.  Then Ryan flew over to watch the next game so we had to drive forever to the airport and grab him.  It kinda freaks me out when he flys all by himself and in the little planes.
The girls were so tired on the way home I had a hard time getting Liz to wake up when we got home.  I thought it was so cute seeing them all cuddled up.  

Flowers

The next step to the flower beds.  I love the way they look with the light rock against the dark sidewalk and the house.  I  am so happy with how it is all turning out.  

Paris

Sara and Mia went to Paris for a girls trip with her Ball family girls for a week and Jex came and stayed with us.  It ended up being about two weeks because she went to IF a little early and hung out before they went on the trip.  While he was here we worked hard to get his airplane fished and we got so close.  He was so excited to work on it and wanted to see it all done so bad.  I hope we can get it done this summer.  

It was so funny because on sunday morning he woke up and said, "I can't go to church.... I have a zit"  I had to laugh.
He said it was because he put his head in the toilet that he got a zit.  (Brytlee paid him five bucks if he would stick his head in the toilet.  He did it twice just so he could get a video to show his dad)  We had fun with Jex and it was so fun to have him stay with us and get to know him and see his sweet personality.  He is so funny and such a tender boy.  We all just love him so much!