For Aunt Trisha

Aunt Trisha has requested pictures from my mom's ward party last Saturday so this post is for Aunt Trisha.
Before the ward party we went to downtown claremont for the village venture. I felt bad because I talked my grandma into going, it was a lot of walking and really hot!! Sorry grams!




Now onto the ward party! All I have to say is Claremont 1st ward knows how to throw a party! They had a train the kids could ride around the parking lot, professional face painters, professional balloon artists, dunk tank, games, trunk or treating etc. etc.

october

October so far. In my October scrapbook magazine I saw this fun Halloween countdown calendar. My mother in law bought me the frame from IKEA and I did my best to make all the little daily countdown pieces. The kids have had a lot of fun doing the activities like howling at the moon, wearing something orange, drinking cider etc.

Also on October 18th we had our traditional trip to oak glen. Oak glen is a wonderful bunch of apple orchards up in the mountains. I always look forward to watching the workers press the apples into cider. This year Oak Glen was packed with people though. We tried picking apples, however it turned out to be quite the fiasco. There were stickers on the ground, which was not a good idea with some of us having flip flops on. Even poor Parker who had tennis shoes and socks on got stickers all over and he freaked out. He started screaming, we asked him if he wanted us to take him to the hospital, he said no however he also didn't want us to take the stickers out of his legs. The kids did enjoy their pony rides and looking at all the animals. We also stopped by the Redlands temple on the way home. The grounds at the temple are really nice now that everything has grown and filled in.

Blog Updating!

Okay so I have been majorly slacking on my blog entries. First, I will do a quick wrap up from September followed by a brief look at October so far on the Merrill train.
September- I would like to highlight Josie's school award, Parker's first day of preschool, the L.A. county fair and my uncle Chris's funeral.
October- My quite attractive Halloween countdown calendar and our traditional trip to Oak Glen (apple orchards).
Pictures are worth a thousand words. I should just insert pictures and be done, however for journal entry purposes I will write brief descriptions and feelings on individual photos.

Every month the entire school has a life skill that they try and work on, September was cooperation. At the end of the month, each teacher chooses one child from their class who has shown that particular life skill to get an award and have lunch with the principal. (some treat, huh?) Josie was chosen since she shares, helps and works well with her classmate that sits next to her, Daniel. Way to Go Josie! I would never have been that nice to a smelly old boy when I was her age!



Now onto my smelly old boy, just kidding! I finally found a preschool program for Parker WOO-HOO! I had been looking and looking, everything I found was more of a daycare program and the prices were out of this world. All I was looking for was a little social time for Parker, where someone else would try and teach him his letters and numbers. It is through the Parks and Recreation program and is three hours on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is on the other side of town so I stay at the facility, it is not worth trying to go home and then come back, plus gas you know what I mean?? It actually has worked really well, they have a nice workout room that they open for me so I just work out and read a book for three hours. Yippee!!
Parker was so excited on his first day of preschool, he kept informing Josie that he was going to school now too! Big sister Josie was full of advice for Parker on his first day. It was hilarious when I overheard her telling him he needed to listen to his teacher and be nice to the other kids!






Josie and I have really enjoyed reading the Frog and Toad books. So when we saw the characters walking around the fair we knew we had to get a picture of Jos with them.

Parker pointing to a painting done of the Hulk. Parker is infatuated with the Hulk these days. He was so excited to find this painting. Whoever entered it into the fair made Parker's day.



Josie and Parker's one ride at the fair.
This last block of pictures was from the L.A. County Fair. Every year I say "We don't need to go to the fair!" Every year we end up going, and every year I am glad that we did! This year was no exception. David and J'lene were going and were meeting Patti and Dan, so we decided to catch a ride with them. It was in the evening so we were out late but it was worth it. The sights, sounds and smells are always the same, but still fun! We walked around the buildings, one particular building was completely dedicated to kids. There was dress up clothes, train sets, Lego's etc. etc. Now that I think about it, that building reminds me of the Lincoln Children's Museum. Anyways, we looked at the animals, baby chicks just hatching, baby pigs nursing from their mommy, and calves being fed by the mean farmer man. All in all good times, good times!




That brings us to the end of September. On September 29th I got a call from my mom telling me that my uncle Chris had passed away. I have read my sister's blogs saying it is hard to describe the relationship we all had with Chris, and I would agree. Since he had downs syndrome he was more than just an uncle that you saw once in awhile. He was as my sisters have said more like a cousin/grandparent. No matter what you want to define the relationship as, he was one of my hero's. He was an angel. Some of my earliest memories of Chris include his coloring and artistic abilities. He would color a picture in a coloring book with hundreds of colors, filling in the whole page, not caring what was background or inside the lines. Through that he taught me all art is beautiful. Chris also liked to look at magazines, watch football, play cards, bowl, swim and work. He had different jobs but his favorite was working as a bag boy at Harmon's grocery store. I also remember visiting him at his job at a movie rental store and he was so proud to show us all of the movies. We all also liked to go bowling with Chris! He was outstanding, and I could never figure out how he always got all the pins down. I also loved how he would always stand up for me when Stephen would tease me. He was my night in shining armor.
I will miss Chris, but I will remember that he didn't have a mean bone in his body and that I should be more like him.

Sorry I forgot that I don't have a scanner at the moment so it is a picture of a picture!

10 years my oh my

So I have seen this post on other friends blogs and I always enjoy reading them. So today on our 10th anniversary I will try and do our ten years together justice by answering these questions to the best of my ability.
1. What is his name? Stephen Todd Merrill
2. Who eats more? Stephen when he wants too
3. Who said, "I love you" first? That is a good question, it has been ten years and two children later my mind is a little foggy. However, I believe it was Stephen.
4. Who is taller? Stephen
5. Who is smarter? um Stephen...don't you know he knows everything! Actually he does know a little about a lot of things.
6. Who is more sensitive? definitely me
7. Who does the laundry? me
8. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? I do
9. Who pays the bills? Stephen pays with bill pay on-line and I try to pick up anything else.
10. Who cooks more? That's me for sure! Except when Stephen gets a bee in his bonnet about making something, then he will step in.
11. Who is more stubborn? Wow, I could write pages and pages of facts that we are both very stubborn. Needless to say, the Cannon's thought they were the most stubborn couple around, I am positive we could give them a run for their money.
12. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? Even after 10 years neither one of us stubborn people are very good at admitting we are wrong. I guess Stephen is a little better, I do remember two instances when he said sorry.
13. Who has more siblings? He does. I have three sisters, he has 2 brothers and 3 sisters.
14. Who wears the pants in the relationship? Another tricky question, I would say we share the pants.
15. What do you like to do together? I have enjoyed our anniversary trips more than anything. We have gone to Catalina Island, Big Bear, Sequoia, and Newport Beach this weekend, hip, hip hurray!! It is always nice to just be alone together. To take the time to pay attention to each other and really listen to what the other is saying.
16. Who eats more sweets? That would be me! My grandma taught me you have to have a sweet after every meal.
17. Guilty Pleasures? That's one of our problems we don't have any guilty pleasures.
18. How did you meet? He was the other half of a double date
19. Who asked whom out first? Stephen asked me out, which was weird since we had just been friends for so long.
20. Who kissed who first? he kissed me first after I begged him too, HA!! At least that is the story he tells.
21. Who proposed? Stephen, twice
22. His best features and qualities? Stephen has many wonderful qualities, he is the most determined person I know and he is very hard-working. He also is a good daddy when he has the time. Parker lives for his few minutes of wrestling with Daddy every night.
I love you Stephen!!
Hopefully at some point today I will get some wedding photos on here!

I heart Seattle part 2

There was still so much to see in Seattle so on Sunday Sept.14th we went down to the Locks and Botanical Gardens. We figured it was an appropriate Sunday activity since we walked around and looked at the beautiful scenery. It was quite amazing to see the Locks close and fill so that the boats could go from Lake Washington into the Puget Sound. Next, we went over to the Salmon Ladder and observation room. Ruby and Josie really enjoyed watching the Salmon swim.
Another reason we were so excited to go to Washington was the opportunity we had to visit with our old friends the Olivas'. Mike and Celina were are old next door neighbors in California and are some of our best friends. They moved to Washington while we were in Nebraska. They came and picked us up from our hotel when we got back from the Locks. It was so good to see them all! I couldn't believe how big all the kids were. Jordin was just a baby when we left, now he is three and he is adorable, he had me wrapped around his finger. We went back to there house and stayed for the next couple days. We had a wonderful BBQ dinner Sunday night that Mike cooked for us. Monday we took the kids to school had a picnic lunch and went to the YMCA Monday night. Tuesday we walked along the river which is basically in Celina's backyard, gorgeous! Stephen would have had a field day here, there were several guys fishing. Later Celina and Jordin took us to the airport. It was sad to say good-bye they really are like family. All in all it was a wonderful visit.