Utah Excursion

We got invited to my brother-in-law Dallin's graduation in Salt Lake. That gave us a good reason to go up there and turn the trip into a family vacation. Good goin' Dallin!

They let us crash in their sweet new house...

While we were there we decided to hit up Thanksgiving Point at the peak of its growing season...

Ben went to Temple Square first thing in the morning to take some pictures...

And of course what's a trip to Utah without Lagoon...






Thanks Cami and Dallin, we had a blast!

My Gardening Family

Gardening takes many qualities including diligence, patience, love, and knowledge of the plants and their surroundings.
In return our family receives the joys and beauty of our garden.
Granted it will take a few years for the yard and garden to establish and fill in but for now we are enjoying the planning and planting parts.

Veggies and flowers started from seed.

Long process but we learned a lot.

Ben cutting rebar for the tomato cages.

Measuring and leveling to perfection.

A picture of Faye for good measure.

Ben's done so much more. I will post more pictures later!

Jolie 1st Grade

First Day

Last Day

Jolie loved, Loved, LOVED her 1st grade teacher and class. She was heartbroken when she realized 2nd grade comes with a new teacher and classmates. But it's summer and you can't stay sad too long.

Trains Trains Trains

To say Bronson loves trains is an understatement.
He lives everyday in his own train world.
Everything becomes a part of his railway.
My favorite is our stairs becoming the steep tracks up the mountain, and all hallways leading to different destinations. Meal times never go without spoons or forks becoming trains.
I constantly hear Bronson making train noises. He's very intense and passionate about each train sound. They are all different and if you make the wrong sound he will correct you. It gets fun teasing him with wrong chuuuugs, hooops, whooooos, chhhhhhaas, and whatnot's.

...so we took him to the train park in Scottsdale.

It was so much fun for me to see his face light up with excitement over and over.
He loved every minute of it.

Bronson watching the train pull into the station.

Bronson riding on the train with Grandma and Jolie.

The second time riding the train we put Bronson and Jolie in the freight car in the very back. When the train pulled back in, Bronson had fallen asleep. It was at the end of the day and I know he was tired.

Grandma & Bronson watching the model trains.

Faye & Jolie

It was a wonderful day!

Susan's Run

Before Jolie's birthday party our family participated in Susan's Run.
I explained to Jolie about my friend Susan Mortensen Turley who died of cancer and this run was for her and it was going to help other people who are sick like Susan.
She was very excited to help others and practiced running so she would be ready.
It was so fun watching Jolie run the mile.
She wanted to win the race and beat everyone.
As I ran behind her she would say the funniest things like.....

"Wow! This is what a real workout feels like."
"Do I get a prize when I'm done?"
"I can't let anyone pass me."
"I'm going to WIN!"

I think I found her sport.

Jolie & cousin Emma after the mile

Jolie, Emma, & Grandma Merrill

Right before the Kids Dash

Stretching

One of my favorites memories of Susan

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Years ago....

Back in high school....

When we were kids....

The Aquabats where playing at The Bash on Ash. For those of you who don't know who The Aquabats are here's one of their videos to help you see how crazy and fun they can be.

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxMheSfHEwk&feature=player_embedded

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The Aquabats find themselves on a never-ending quest to right the wrongs, destroy boredom, and seek justice for all. Especially the kids!! (that's their motto)

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Susan had this great idea. I mean GREAT IDEA!! She dressed up as Exact Change Girl. It doesn't seem like much but Susan was always thinking outside the box and always ready to have fun. She had a cape on and a belt that had one of those change disposers on it. She totally looked like she was part of the show. So of course she made it up on stage and The Aquabats shouted out change amounts for her to dispense. It was hilarious!! We had so much fun that night!

Susan was a blast to be around.

She always had fun and her smile was contagious.

To read more about Susan and her journey here on earth you can visit her blog at

http://www.lemonademakers.blogspot.com/

Jolie's Party at the Park

We were down in Tempe for Jolie's birthday so we decided to have her party at Kiwanis Park.
I remember having birthday parties here when I was a little girl.
We had a great time hangin' out with family and friends.

Chilin' in the paddle boats

Blaze, Bronson, Emma, & Jolie

Bronson & Kellen

Baby Faye going to town with the strawberries.

I can't believe it's been 7 years

Name: Jolie Alexis Mecham

Nicknames: Jolie Bear, Boo Bear, Boo Boo, & Loves

Age: 7

While out shopping the other day, Jolie says to me "Mooooomm I'm 7 now so I can't hold your hand."

I said in return "Okay then I guess I will give you kisses instead."

After that holding hands didn't seem too bad.

Breakfast from Jolie

For Bronson - A roll with jelly and white chocolate chips and a smoothie to drink.

For Mom - Bread with peanut butter and sprinkles. The drink is milk, marshmallows, and a little Hershey bar for good measure.

Jolie is my little sweetheart. She always wants to serve others and do special things for them. It doesn't always turn out but we love her for trying.

Sledding in Flagstaff

A while ago..........

Jolie and her cousin Zane didn't just want to sled on the same runs as everyone else. They decided to try out a nice new patch of fresh powder.

They didn't realize it was FOUR FEET of powder.

This led to Jolie getting stuck pretty good.
In short Ben had to climb down the wrong side of the sledding area to pull Jolie out. Incidentally Jolie lost her boot in the hole and Ben spent twenty minutes rescuing the stranded sledders. And the boot.

I think this was the only time Faye wasn't crying. She was not a happy camper.

Mental note...next time... don't bring a baby!

Bronson looked so dang cute in all his snow gear.

He liked to curl up on the sled while we pulled him around. Our little turtle.

Man, I wish I got a good picture of it.

We had a blast spending time in the snow and with Zaners!

The Return of Rusty the Elf

Rusty is our Elf on the Shelf. On Dec. 1st Rusty magically reappears and his sole responsibility is to watch our children's behavior and report it to Santa each night. When Rusty returns from the North Pole he is in a new resting place and the kids get so excited to find him. During the day when my kids get a little out of control I just remind them "Rusty is watching" and quickly they shape up. I wish he could stay all year round. We have lots of great memories from this wonderful tradition.

Thanksgiving

We had so much fun in Mesa for Thanksgiving that we forgot to take pictures. So here are just a few.

Grandma Mecham made capes for all the little kids. They had a blast playing around.

Thanks to everyone for a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!