The end of life as we know it...

Life at our house is changing.


Things will never, ever be the same. ...


Layla has started solid food. This means more baths during the day, the nightly "hosing-down" of the high chair on my back patio, and the end of the innocent mustard diapers.


My girls have discovered BOWLING.

Mia's shoes.



We ventured to Mesa Lanes with our free coupons from summer reading at the library. They loved it all--the shoes, the funny finger-holes.



I'll have you know that yours truly bowled the lone strike in Mia's score. Also, Mia threw a rogue ball that knocked down down the gutter guard in frame 7. We had to get that fixed quickly. It was a great activity and I am glad that I have people to bowl with, since Mark is mysteriously allergic to bowling alleys. (I think it is some sort of childhood issue because he recently found out that he was babysat by Mrs. Kunkel, the nice German lady, so his mother could participate in a bowling league.)

It is back to school for us! The 1st-grader packed up her sack lunch and headed off to school this morning. I am determined to make up for my childhood of dismal sack lunches (sorry Mom) but having a variety of good stuff on hand and to stick a love note in it every day. So far, I am 100%. Ava was so excited that she woke up and was dressed, complete with her lunch and tote bag by 6:30 am. She had her shoes on by 6:50. When Mark took her at 8:15, I think she was ready to go back to bed. I only drove by the school once. She was outside eating lunch with her friends. She looked so cute with her legs crossed at the ankles. I had to pry every detail out of her (I should be an interoogator) after school then gently remind her to throw her lunch trash away instead of bringing it home to me. She had a rather interesting mix of pudding, chip crumbs and sandwich crusts. You think I would be able to handle it after three kids in diapers, but it was pretty gross.



Mia will have her own first day adventures next week, but we discovered what a FULL day at school really means. Luckily, she had her friend Lizzy over. While I was showering, they dumped a whole bucket of Perler beads all over the floor. Because of their unique cylindrical shape, as you try to sweep them, they tend to roll every which way, making a bigger mess. I finally covered the vacuum hose with a panty hose and sucked them up. While I was doing this, they were sweeping the piles I had made first down the hall into Mia's room.

Mia

I don't know what it is about blondes, but we are so captivated by them. Mia is dynamite--a big impact in a little package. She's writing on the sofa, then she's sticking things in Layla's mouth, then she's reciting an Article of Faith, then she's having a meltdown in the kitchen, then she's telling me, "I sure love you Mom!"

I know Leslie will appreciate this shot.

Bouncing blonde hair...so yummy!

Family Photos at Memory Grove

Poor Layla was sooo tired. She was good but lacked the energy to smile.

Love this girl!

Thing 1 and Thing 2!

A candid that I love. My heart just swells when I see this picture!

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!

114
Alexis
Merrill
Gilbert
AZ
16:24
115
Ava
Merrill
Gilbert
AZ
16:07

uta trains by ava

the trains go pretty fast here!!!they are very fun!!!!! we love them.

PS

Gilbert Moms are the best. I miss ALL of them!

Layla in motion

Layla (who will be 5 months next week) rolled from her back to tummy today. I thought it was a fluke. so I put her back on her back and she proceeded to do it about 5 more times. Then when I sat Mark, Ava and Mia down to see her, she just grabbed her toes and giggled. She did prove it to them later on.



She's growing too fast. I thought 3 would be enough for me, but now that she is sleeping all night, maybe a fourth will be an option (not in the near future, I have some weight to lose still). What is the magic number for you?

Seeing my friends on $4 per gallon!

This is one of my oldest "married" friends, Leslie Jenson, and her third girl, Layne. (We planned to have 3 girls all at the same times) We went swimming last Friday at Veterans Memorial Pool in Provo. They built a really cool children's splash area but the highlight was being able to take Ava down the tower water slide. I have never been to a pool that lets you do this, but since people in Provo seem to have 6 kids under the age of 4, they have to bend rules a little.
Leslie's sister in law, Shera Payne, was there with her four kids too. I was her oldest daughter's (now age 8) nursery teacher in the good old Grandview 2nd Ward. She didn't remember me! What, I had to sing every song and fingerplay known to man to get her settle down and she doesn't remember that effort!

The girls and I in the UT sun. Mia got sunburned waiting in line to pay to get in. Gotta love it!
I guess Utah public pools had big problems with people getting sick from contaminated water so they basically want us all to wear swim diapers in the pool. They have safety checks every two hours where the pools are cleared. It was a great idea, but I was sooooo nervous about letting Layla even get one toe wet!


On Monday night, we drove to Heber to see Mary and Scott Porter and her family at the Porter's cabin. It turns out that Mark's Grandma and Grandpa Merrill used to own the cabin two doors down. We had fun seeing the Porter boys, Dallin, Ben & Isaac.

Mary's brother-in law is the cousin of one of my chemistry buddies, Diana Smith. We remembered each other after talking it over. See when you are a chem major, your classes are a little low on cool people and all the chemical fumes make you a little batty. I got this idea that it would be cool to know a random phrase in as many languages as possible. So I learned to say, "I love naked sheep" in about 15 languages. This was the one thing he remembered and I about fell off my chair. The BYU days really were fun.

My parents are in town and have taken the two older girls two days in a row!! (Hence the long post!)

Gilbert Moms vs. Salt Lake Moms

Though we are living in the shadow of the Salt Lake temple, this area is dominated by what I call the "Millcreek Mom." After careful observation at the tennis court, library, Gateway mall and other places, I have come up with a good description of what makes a "Millcreek Mom" and how they compare to the moms of Gilbert, AZ.

Gilbert Mom:
Wears Roxy clothing, but has never touched a surfboard
Millcreek Mom:
Wears rock-climbing clothes (Columbia, Patagonia, REI, etc.), has never touched a rock-face

Gilbert Mom:
Carries an expensive satchel as a diaper bag
Millcreek Mom:
Names child "Satchel"

GM:
Buys $40 nursing apron so she can look great in mothers' lounge at church for 5 minutes
MM:
Is 40 and nursing 5 year-old

GM:
Has a little bulge around belly button from having 4 babies in 4 years
MM:
Has two bulges on either side of belly button from not having worn bra in 4 years

GM:
Has never met a lesbian
MM:
Used to be a lesbian

GM:
Buys expensive Swarovski crystal-encrusted barrettes for child's hair
MM:
Never brushes child's hair

GM:
Drives Suburban like a bat out of hell
MM:
Thinks people that don't drive Volvos are going to hell (ie Mormon women)

GM:
Carries water bottles to combat summer heat
MM:
Packs around coffee in special thermos to maintain heat

Ava in the digital age!

I let Ava post to my blog so I could stop her from sending text messages to Mark. A 'marr[y]ing' girl is a bride. We have a perfect view of the Salt Lake Temple grounds, and this being June, the brides are out in full force. The style now is to wear cream-colored dresses with sashes or other accessories in mauve, or brown colors. I even saw a girl wearing a black feathery headress type get-up.

We are in Meridian, ID this weekend with Mark's sister, Heidi. (We are sorry to have missed you, Rose!) We are enjoying Heidi and Greg's gorgeous new home between chasing the cows through the pasture and driving Uncle Greg's tractor.

On our drive here, we took a detour through Sun Valley, ID. This was the coolest place. Very quaint, a lot like Heber, UT.

We are having a fun Father's Day. I stamped the girls' handprints (and Layla's footprint) onto a tie for him to wear every Father's Day and we got him a Blackberry Pearl. Tonight we are enjoying fresh crab from their recent Alaska trip then we will go back to Salt Lake tomorrow!

marring girls and tennis lessons by ava

me and mia love to look for marring girls if we find some we shout marring girl!! also we started tennis lessons we are so good.

Downtown Living!

We are settled in Grama Buehner's downtown apartment. It will be an adventure for us. I wonder how long the excitement of seeing the "marrying girls" strut around the temple grounds will last for the girls (especially since it is June!) They stand at the window looking for brides. Today at 7:30 am, Mia told me that no one was getting married yet today. I just told her to wait... Layla is getting used to the sounds of cars speeding by and sirens going all night. We love our nightly strolls to the Gateway with all free concerts.

We heard it was creeping past 100 in PHX. It is nice to have a break from it and maybe this summer we won't be tired of the "froggy pool" by June 30th!

Pillowcase Dress!!

Leslie sent me this link (http://www.jenleheny.com/pillowcase-dress-instructions) to make pillowcase dresses. I thought it would be fun to make swimsuit covers for the girls, but when I was at JoAnn's, I found this fun patriotic batik. I decided to make them dresses to wear the week of the 4th! Didn't they turn out cute!

My Book!!

I can't believe I was so blase about my scrapbook in the last post! This has been the highlight of my week!!! I had wanted to get into digiscrapping for a while because I was really tired off the gluesticks and paper pieces all over the place. My friend and college roomie, Amanda, is quite talented and really inspired me. (Check her link below!). I started in November 07, working from the present back to May 2005 when I had quit printing pictures because I took so many boring ones.

I was immediately hooked and as soon as the girls were in bed, I would run to the computer (who am I kidding, I was 7 months pregnant...I didn't run) and stay up all night working in Photoshop. This album, with only a few of the 101 pages shown, covers 2005 and 2006. Most of 2007 are done and I am working furiously on Layla's first days.

When this arrived from Shutterfly, I showed anyone who came within a 40 foot distance of me. I threatened to make it its own backpack so I could carry it around with me.

I will send you the Shutterfly preview by email if you want to see it page by page. However, I don't think I'll send it to you, Amanda, because I scraplifted some of your pages...

Next time, I will do the journaling in Word so that I can employ the spellchecker. Now that Ava is a pretty good reader, I have her asking me why I wrote "ocaen" instead of ocean....

Some sample pages....

This is my favorite page. I took pictures of a boxful of worksheets and displayed them on a spread for Ava.

I did this book entirely out of freebies off the internet. Check out ikeagoddess.blogspot.com for continual updates of freebies.

Happy Mother's Day!

Ava and her friend Bryson created their own personal water slide in the backyard on Saturday. I don't know how they roped Mark into letting them do this, but it looks like they had fun. The shower was filled with grass after we made her come in and bathe!

Layla is now 3 months! She loves her boinger-boinger chair and will sit in it as long as she can see me. She can really get it rocking and will watch the sounds and lights for a while before getting frustrated. When I lay in bed at night, I think I can hear the electronic tunes being played over and over again. "Here we go loopty loo, here we go loopty-laa. All on a Saturday night." I'm sure everyone has a toy like this...

Nothing Exciting!

Nothing noteworthy to report. Layla has been sleeping all night--until 5 am! I LOVE her! 10 more days of school for Ava, then first grade. We have been doing swimming lessons. I finally got my first Shutterfly "Print Your Digiscrap pages." Hope everyone is doing well!

We are planning to be in SLC from May 27th (or so) until July 6th. If anyone else will be there, let me know. How come Utah and Salt Lake County seem to be home base for so many of us who aren't actually from Utah?

Gotta put the monsters to bed.