Cute family all lined up!
Saturday morning I came home from my run to this cute scene...Pete proudly chanting "Dad is great he feeds us chocolate cake!" I realized my kids were eating chocolate waffles for breakfast! They thought he was the coolest dad ever! (I personally tasted it...trust me it's not breakfast food if it consists of 1/2 cup of cocoa and topped with syrup!) Way to go super cool dad!
I hate hate double hate LOATH Potty Training! Jett is my most difficult by far! (it must be his sweet spirit!)
I am lucky enough to have good girl friends! After a rough summer my dear friend Heather said I needed a girls weekend...I agreed but thought nothing more of it. A few days later she asked if the weekend of Sept. 9th was free...and she managed to arrange for all 4 of us good ole' friends from high school . Heather flew in from Idaho, Cindy drove the long trip from Snowflake, and Sara from Mesa! We caught up as much as we could gabbing til weeee hours in the morning, lounging at the pool, eating at yummy PF Changs and Cheesecake Factory. Then we ended our weekend at the temple. What a neat experience to be in the temple together and share that eternal perspective. We each concluded that we all needed that girl time and it was way over due! 
Sunday family Dinner...we drove down to Mesa and celebrated Uncle Tim's 30th birthday! Make your own gourmet pizza and yummy birthday cake! Fun to be with Pete and his siblings...fun to see them together and fun to see the little cousins play!
Found Jett in our closet after church ...trying on Pete's shoes...I love it!
Putting out the camp fire!
Mmmm watermellon...sticky! (Pete claimed that all the little boys looked this grubby!)
Fun memories the first of many!
Pete has fond memories of going to the Father and Son camp out when he was little... Pete really was excited to take Jett even if he is well......Jett!
This is how one morning started........."JET!!!!!!!!!"
Jett figured that with the girls in school he would assume the chore of feeding the fish...I really think he was trying to catch the fish and was luring them with food!
Excited First Grader
Big Fifth Grader ...(last year of elementary school!)
Nervous or
Excited?
My Dad my Hero!
When I was expecting Jett I found this little wannabe scout shirt and just had to buy it! Pete's current calling at church is working with the Boy Scouts. When a court of honor happens on a Tues. night when I have mutual Pete puts Jett's scout shirt on and takes him with him to the court of honor. So cute... I love my boys! 
Meg and cousin Daisy
Merrill cousins playing in the tent in the backyard (all smiles)
My Pioneer children...Meg, Mel, and Jett
All (12) of the Merrill cousins or Pioneer cousins
Grandma Merrill made matching Pioneer hats, skirts and scarfs for all the grandkids to wear in the Pioneer Parade. It was so fun to see them holding hands in the parade. It was a fun weekend to spend together!
Hot Summer Day...Mel found her own shade.
Jett lovin' working with Grandpa 
Megan with her Grandpa T.
Mel working with GrandpaSo I have not blogged in almost a year and am feeling the need to keep doing it to stay connected with family. We are missing family more than ever lately. We have lots of family in lots of different states now, and we want you to know that we think of you all the time and you are always in our prayers. Just a few examples of how much we love and miss you...Megan and Melanie cried when they found out Brayden, Cambrie and Addie were moving to Washington state (because they would be soooo far away). Friday night as we knelt down in family prayer to pray for cousin Bode to get well soon( who was in the hospital) after the prayer was finished Meg and Mel both had tears streaming down thier little cheeks sad for thier sick cousin. Families are Forever... I feel the truthfulness of that statement more than ever. There is such a special bond I feel with sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, mom and dad, and grandma's and grandpas! How grateful I am for each and everyone of you! So this is for you...
As I sat down to think of where to start blogging from I thought I would start from the time that we started to heal from our loss this summer. We are healing with the help of the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ and through His Atonement, and through faith in Him to move on.
Love,
Brittany
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.
