Last set of photos

Mia, Ava and Uncle Greg had great fun driving his tractor. This was after they chased cows through the pasture. Uncle Greg is a good sport and is a family favorite!

The girls took tennis lessons from Mr. Patrick at Liberty Park. Ava did really well and learned something, hopefully. Mia needs to work on her willingness to at least go out on the court. She had fun. She runs so fast. At the end of class, they would play "Sharks and Squirrels," a fancy game of tag. Mia won every time because she could outrun all the other kids. Track star maybe?


Riding the rides at Liberty Park. This is before I got nauseated and couldn't catch the operator's attention so he could let me off. Ava and I were the only ones on the ride so I guess he figured he would give us our 50 cents' worth!

Photos, part 3

On our way to UT in May, Mark took us on a "short" detour to the south rim of the Grand Canyon. While it was beautiful, there are two reasons these things are not as fun for me:
1) My brain typing is such that I take one look and that is all I need. I can remember it. I don't get uplifted and emotional at sights like these. I would rather learn about how they mapped it, or the range of temperatures at different elevations. However, they only want you to look.
2)I grew up in the west. I feel like I have seen this stuff my whole life. Now a condensed, dirty city with infinite skyscrapers, that's cool.

At the Church History Museum, they had an exhibit called, "I am a Child of God." Mia and Ava loved the "nursery" with the babies and hospital kits. I would just get comfy on a bench with Lay-Bug and watch them be mothers and pediatricians. On one such visit, the only available baby was African-American. Mia looked at me with a furrowed brow and I began distracting her with details about the doll and the outfit before she could make an embarrassing comment. She did great though and played with the doll for a long time.

Another "short" detour. We passed through Sun Valley, ID on our way to Boise. Poor Mark, he almost had me convinced it was only 45 out of our way until we hit road construction that shut down the two-lane highway to one-way traffic for about 5 miles...

Photos, part 2

I wish I had a good picture of the Pink Palace for you to see. It truly was gorgeous. One day, we went up to the eighth floor to see what it was like up there. There was a woman standing in the hall and when she caught sight of us, she exclaimed, "Are you here to see me?" She invited us in for candy and a tour of her place. I knew she was a friend of Gram Buehner's so I told her who we were and she got confused because she thought we were her grandkids. Anyway, after a nice visit and prying the girls away from her candy dish, we returned home. When I opened up this month's Ensign, I was surprised to see this lady's face staring back at me. As Mia refers to her, "our new grandma" is Sister Florence Jacobsen, a past General YW president.

This is our view. Now you see how come we witnessed so many brides!

Freedom Run on the 4th in Provo

Photos from our summer!

Here is actual proof that the Merrills enjoyed a fun summer away from AZ.

On June 27th, we went to Driggs, ID, a small town nestled in the Teton Valley. Mark's brother offered us the use of his condo. We went on short hike to a waterfall. Ava and I climbed up some big boulders. As we were coming down, she went ahead of me and was out of sight behind a rock. A big dog ran up and scared her and all I could hear was her wailing. I think she thought it was a bear.



Isn't this gorgeous! We went swimming at Paul's Country Club while Mark golfed. I had forgotten how COLD a pool can be.

Farewell, Pink Palace

We are heading home tomorrow. My dear husband is putting Layla and I on a plane, then driving the two girls home. We have been gone 56 days. I hope the house is there when we get back. At dinner tonight, I asked everyone to name 1) one thing they would miss about Salt Lake and 2) one thing they were looking forward to seeing again.

Mia: 1) The typewriter. (Grama Buehner has an old typewriter. There is something so satisfying about hearing the click-clack. Ava asked if that is what people used before pencil and paper.)
2) My beautiful bed

Ava: 1) Auntie Clare
2) My friends at home

Al: 1) The nightly outdoor adventures at the Gateway
2) The girls sleeping in a different room. TiVo, HD.

Mark: 1) The downtown atmosphere and the UTA trains
2) The garage

Thank you Penny for letting us stay here. We loved it, especially when you were here with us. We will surely miss this great reminder of Gram Buehner.

A quick summary of our summer. Grand Canyon, tennis lessons, art classes, library runs, Seven Canyons fountain, day with the Echols at Temple Square, Boise trip, dinner with Porters, Auntie Clare and Mesia, trip to Tetons, trip to ranch and Park City, Ava's birthday, Freedom Run, Merrill Camp, park with the Flemings, swimming with Alli, Erin and Jenna, Gateway trips, planetarium.

Happiness is...

We have just returned from the biannual "Merrill Camp". This one was held in Brian Head, UT, and we abandoned the tents for a gorgeous cabin. Now, if any of you ever build a large cabin (or house for that matter), please spend an amount proportional to the dollar value of the home on mattresses. Maybe I am getting old, but I spent three nights trying to get comfortable. It was fun to be with all the Merrills--Grandpa Tay, Heidi & Greg, Pete, Tay, Paul's kids, Jane, Scott, Spence and Kris plus their 25 offspring.

We had family photos taken by my sister's sister-in-law at Memory Grove. So in case any of you have forgotten what we look like, here.

Oh yeah! Ava, Mia and I ran in the 1 mile fun run in Provo on July 4th. We would have been faster, but halfway through the course, I saw my brother, Henry, struggling with Layla so I made them stop so I could call him and make sure he was okay. Ava ran in circles around me, so technically, she ran 1.1 miles. Mia did so well and ran the whole way. SHe was so excited so cross the finish line and get her necklace (medal). Why oh why can I not download all my fabulous photos!

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