My Pink Tutu Girl Loves Her Curls!

Yes and her name is Melanie, she loves to have her hair curled and even woke up in the middle of the night concerned about her curls! What happens is on Sunday we have a late sacrament meeting and so we fuss about her hair so she doesn't keep changing her clothes thus messing up her beloved curls! Which the changing the clothes is also a new past time for little Melanie... she loves her dress up box especially her pink leotard and tutu! I have to beg and plead to get her to change so I can wash it! Oh what to do with my little blonde hair, blue eyed, pink tutu wearing girl!

6 going on 16 ALREADY?

I was walking down the hallway shortly after finishing Meg's hair for the school day and this was the pose I found her in!!! Pretending to talk on a cell phone with her little leg's crossed! I laughed and finished cleaning the kitchen when she informed to tell me that when she turns 16 she wants a PINK JEEP, and a PINK CELL PHONE!!! Laughing even louder now, I informed her that she will be sporting her bike FOREVER and that the toy phone would work just fine! Can you believe my little Meg is 6 going on 16 already? I am scared!

San Pedro Valley Fair

Saturday we went to the San Pedro Valley Fair (possibly the smallest fair in the country) that was held at the school! Meg and Mel enjoyed the small town fair games which consisted of animal balloons, face painting, cake walks, fishing for prizes, and of course the bouncy castle! Pete was very happy with some green chilie fry bread while the girls and I gobbled up some fresh cotton candy! In the first picture Melanie was enjoying every last bit of her cotton candy! It was a fun afternoon just to relax and enjoy eachother as a family.

We've Got Tiger Spirit!

Friday was a fun day filled with St. David High School sporting events! We traveled first to Bowie and watch Brooke and the Tigers play some really good Volleyball! The Bowie/San Simon had an impressive team as they are all mostly seniors and have been playing club volleyball for the past 3 years! The tigers lost the first game but pulled together for the win in the last 3 games! Brianna and cousin Hailey met up with us and the girls cheered and had fun just being together! (Melanie and Hailey look like cousins huh!)

Then we raced home and got ready for the first home football game for the Tigers. We had a special interest as in Meg and Mel were apart of the half time show! Megan was my cheerleader and Melanie didn't want to be left out so she was the mascot! Megan cheered and Melanie roared. Pete and I enjoyed visiting with friends and soaking up the small town life!

Blog Debute

Hello! Well here we are the Merrill Family finally with a blog! The past postings were just to catch you up on our summer! So from here on out our blog postings will be current and up to date! (This picture was from Pete's graduation in May, Natalie I think you took this picture!)

Megan's 1st day of School

Megan was a little nervous about going to school all day, she was worried we were going to have fun without her while she was gone! Then on the other hand Melanie lost her best friend and playmate and she cries everytime Megan leaves for school. I've had a hard time keeping little Mel entertained while Meg is in school. I keep looking at these pictures and think...my babies are growing up so fast. I wish I could keep them home with me forever...

My First Year Podiatry Resident

Pete has been working some really long hours and it shows! He has the first "on call" rotation which is 24/7 and 4 months long! So he is enduring through it and as of Sept only has 2 months left on call. So the poor guy usually passes out like this after a long day.

Camping with G-ma and G-pa Merrill

We went camping up in the Grahams for the father's day weekend with grandma and grandpa Merrill and all the little cousins. It was perfect weather, perfect camping spot, good food and fun company. It was neat to be able to share stories over the camp fire and roast marshmellows.

Relaxing at the Beach

After a crazy week at Disneyland we relaxed for a few days at Huntington Beach before heading home. It was so peaceful and relaxing it was the perfect way to end our vacation. The girls thought the beach was awesome...miles and miles of sand what more could a kid want! Megan was a fish and loved playing in the waves. As for Melanie she was not sure what to think so she stayed close to mom and dad on the beach.

Celebrating in Disney Land!

So 4 years ago Megan asked about Disney Land and we told her that when dad graduated from school we would go. We planned and paid for our vacation in the early spring and had a lot of anticipation and excitement. We took Brooke my baby sister who is a senior this year, and my other sister Brianna came with her husband Tyler celebrating their graduations as well. All I can say is that Disney Land was a huge success and everyone had a blast! We stayed at the Disney Land Hotel and loved being in the park. We had dinner in Goofy's kitchen and the girls got to meet all the Princesses and have their pictures taken. Even Brooke who is 17 kept saying how cool everything was. It was a very fun and memorable time for us and our cute little girls.

We Love Shamu!

After graduation we drove to Texas to visit Tim and KC for a few days and then on our way home se stayed two days in San Antonio at SeaWorld. Megan and Melanie loved every moment but especially Shamu. After seeing Shamu's show for the third time Megan informed us that she is going to be a killer whale trainer when she grows up, and she even asked for her picture to be taken with one of the trainers. What a GIRL! As for Melanie she still talks about Shamu's BIG SPLASH!

Pete's Graduation

Our summer started with us driving out to Iowa for Pete's graduation from medical school. It was fun to enjoy the celebrations with good friends and family! Thank you to everyone who made a special effort to be there it really meant a lot! Pete I hope you know how proud of you I am and especially how much I Love You!