Look how big she is!
Traditional Gibson fudge cake...
What does a 6 year old little girl ask for her birthday?
....BARBIES!
Melanie was so excited for her birthday! I asked what she was most excited about and she said to be the star of the week in her class at school. She had been telling me about star of the week since school started. We got Mel a couple of Barbies for her birthday present...then family and friends found out that all she wanted was barbies...so she ironically ended up with 6 barbies on her 6th birthday!
I am so thankful for Melanie love her so much! She is a good student at school, and a big helper with Jett when she is home. She is so fearless she wants to try everything. He favorite foods are cheese crisps and pizza. Her favorite things to do are "play, color, ride bikes, go to the big park". We love you Melanie!
We went to the pumpkin patch...
Jett picked out one...
Megan found one...
Can we say CORN?
Melanie loved being buried and even made a corn angel...
Let's just say we had corn coming out from everywhere when we got home!
Apple Annie's in Wilcox was a blast! The kids loved it! Over fall break we drove over with Grandma G. , Aunt Sherri, and Grandma and Grandpa T. We had a little picnic, played in the big metal bins of corn, smelled the beautiful sunflowers and picked our very own pumpkins. It was a fun adventure we had never done before!
Beautiful Sunflowers...
Fun day with Grandma Gibson...
Jett working hard to keep up with his big sisters.
Catching butterflies at Grandma and Grandpa T's...
Hanging out on the porch visiting...
Hanging out at the Thomas Farm in SD for fall break...I love how Mel doesn't have shoes on. Goes to show you can be both a City girl AND a Country girl! It was a nice break, Pete had to work so we were only gone for a few days because we missed our Dad!
Jett's lovin that horse ride!
Oh to not have a care in the world!
Our home teacher when were were in SD came over one day when Pete was working a long day. In our doorway conversation Melanie tells him that our stick horse was broken :( So he said he could fix it and he took it home. A few days later the Merrill family stick horse was brought back to life! Replacing the broken stick with the end of an old beach umbrella (metal and longer). So now our stick horse will ride forever...just outside from now on!
Melanie Merrill #3
Playing for the purple scorpions
Melanie and her friend Peyton
The cheering section... faithful supporters!
Nothing like going camping at a beautiful place with just your family and your dog. 
Koda and Jett enjoying cooler weather...
Pete teaching Jett how to set up a tent...on Jett's first camping trip.
Buddies...
Big Helper...
Pete's first weekend off call duty ...we were able to go to Pinetop and help his dad get ready for a new roof for his carport. It was nice to be with family and to get some fresh air. 
Here is another picture of us getting moved in...I loved how Jett had to get in there and help out his dad! (note the computer desk I refinished)
You might have been wondering where we have been? I thought these pictures describe a lot. We moved as soon as the girls finished school. Pete finished residency and joined a Podiatry group in Oro Valley. We have felt so blessed by this job Pete loves who he works with and now 6 months looking back we are really falling in love with the ward, community and the school. It feels right for our family to be here. I am cutting out some summer pictures for now...really besides going to Utah for a week for my neices baptism we just moved, painted, cleaned, painted, painted, moved, painted, and cleaned! After 10 years we were able to buy our first home! So it was an exciting step! The house needed some painting and we decided to do it ourselves to "save money". We painted ceilings and all folks! It took a good 2 months to do. Thank you to all the family that helped!
