Post Easter Egg Decorating!

It was just way too busy this weekend! We could not find the time to decorate eggs, so we did it post Easter. The kids didn't care and they don't eat them anyway! Happy Post Easter!

Two please!

We have been promising the kids a new pet for some time now. They really wanted a dog, but we decided to keep it simple and went with another rabbit...or two! My friend Kim posted on her facebook that their rabbit had babies. I told her that if she was looking to give one away, we would be very interested. She contacted me right before Easter and said they were ready to leave their mommy and we could have one. We were going to be at Dan's parent's house for Easter Sunday, so we told Kim that we would love to get one then (they live down the street from my in-laws). Being Easter Sunday there was a time conflict in meeting them, so it was going to be easier for them to drop a couple of the bunnies off at Dan's parent's house (in a box). We could then see and play with each of them and decide which one we wanted. Well, these two adorable bunnies have been together since birth and they were so snugly with each other. It was going to be very hard to separate them when they were so cute together. So, we took both! I know, what were we thinking! Look how cute they are though. Our friends named the bunnies blackout and Oreo. Our kids loved the names and decided to keep them. There are just two things I am still very concerned about...how big are they going to get and what is their sex? We are praying they are the same!!

Spencer

Melanie

 

Chelsea still hasn't wanted to hold them!  

Merrill Easter Egg Hunt

Tradition is to take the pre-Easter egg hunt picture next to the "piano of cousin's". 

We miss you Merrill cousins!  We are only a fourth!  Crazy!

Easter Morning

 

 

Easter Clothes

So, the kids wouldn't pose for a good Easter picture this year. It was like pulling teeth! They were in so much trouble!  They were very anxious to change their clothes and get to their grandma's house. This is what I got. I think we will be doing a "re-due" next Sunday! Bad!   You can kind of see the cute dresses I made! 

Melanie's Baptism

What a beautiful day for a beautiful girl!  I can't believe Melanie is eight! The baptism was wonderful.  She had all her local family and many friends from our past and present ward in attendance.  Grandma Merrill gave the Baptism talk and Grandma Clinger gave the talk on the Holy Ghost.  Melanie had asked her cousin Maddison who is 12 years old, to play the piano and her cousin Brooke (9) to lead the singing.  They did a fabulous job!  I couldn't believe how brave they were.  We sang Melanie's favorite songs, I am Trying To Be Like Jesus and I Am a Child of God.  Dan baptized and confirmed her a member of the church.   As the program cover we used a drawing my brother Matt did for me many years ago.  It was neat to have a little of her Uncle Matt there on her special day.  After the baptism, everyone came back to our house for pizza and rootbeer floats.

 

It is Gr8 to be 8!

Dan's Sailboat Race

Dan's dad has a sailboat he likes to race.  Every year Dan and his dad participate in the "Nood Regatta Sailboat Race". They race for 4 days. Yes, that is a long time without Daddy around, we let him go to bond with his dad.  This year "Split Decision" (the name of their team) came in 3rd place over all.  It was a pretty exciting weekend in the water with the California Tsunami warnings and heavy rain storms.  I have to say I was a little scared, but they made it through...no tsunami.  They had an absolute blast like always. 

 

Dan and Dan with their 3rd place award!

The Boat

 

On the first day!  Nice waters!

This was on the last day!  Looks pretty sketchy to me!  Is it just me or does the boat look like it is half in the water?

Happy 8th birthday Melanie!

Happy Birthday to our beautiful Melanie!  

Eight years later!

 

First Birthday

 

2nd Birthday

3rd Birthday - Spencer cut all her hair off the day before :(

 4th Birthday

 5th Birthday

 6th Birthday

 7th Birthday

Spencer and his glasses!

A few months ago, Spencer was playing around with MY glasses. When he put them on, he said, "mom, I can see good through these". I then started paying more attention to him, and noticed he squinted when he watched TV and played the Wii. I talked to his teacher and his teacher noticed the squinting also. So, we took him to an eye doctor and sure enough he is very much nearsighted (like his mother and about 5 or 6 other cousins on the Merrill side). I learned that nearsightedness is inherited! We are so lucky! So, we got him glasses today. We shall see if it helps him in his school work. Doesn't he look smart and handsome!

Never leave a sick child in the bathtub!

Chelsea has been pretty sick off and on with the flu this past week. On this particular day, she stayed home with me and we cuddled all day long! At one point, she needed to take a bath. She is 5, so she can and does give herself a bath. Well, She turned the water on and then when it fill up, she turned it off. I didn't hear the splashing and playing like I normally hear, so I went in to check on her (thankfully) and this is what I found. Chelsea was SOUND asleep in the bathtub! Sooo scary right? It took a few tries to wake her. She was like died weight as I lifted her out of the bathtub and into her bed. I will never leave her in the bathtub again! I didn't think one could fall asleep in there!

Happy Valentine's Day from the kids!

These were the kid's school Valentines this year. Last year, my sister-in-law Jen made them for one of her kids. When I saw them, I just had to copy. Thanks Jen for the idea!

Annual School Jog-a-thon

The kids ran their little heart's out at this year's jog-a-thon. This has to be our kid's favorite fundraiser of the year. They love to see how many laps they can get. The school only allows them to get "pledges" for 25, but they always try to beat that with a higher number. This year they did just that!  Melanie was 43, Chelsea (our kindergartner) 34,  and Spencer, well, he had a cough so he was only 26! Thank you to all who sponsored!  They will all earn a cool prize this year!

Chelsea's First Loose Tooth !

Chelsea's first tooth came out today! I say, "came out" because she insisted that I pull it just like Melanie has us do. So, it was pulled out! Weird children we have! It grosses me out to even think about it. Chelsea didn't know she had a loose tooth. She was smiling at me and I noticed that one was crooked. It was about to fall out and she didn't even know! She worried about it for the rest of the weekend. Every few minutes, she asked, "is it still there or did I swallow it"? She finally had me pull it!

Ice Skating

In our family, we use marble jars for good and bad behavior. It is something we have done off and on since the kids were small and it always works well. When they each fill their jars, they can either take money or a date with mom or dad. This time they all filled their jars at the same time (this doesn't happen very often), and so they chose to go ice skating as a family. Dan and I haven't been ice skating since before we were married, so we were equally excited. It was a blast! The kids all Rollerblade, so they picked up ice skating pretty quickly. The best surprise was seeing my niece (the kid's cousin)Maddie there. She was there with her friends. Definitely something we will do again!