TRICK OR TREAT!

In St. David you have to work for your candy the houses aren't really next to each other ... but the girls had fun! Nothing to exciting except Mel decided Princess Auroa needed wings. Oh and did I mention the weather was AWESOME!

Happy Birthday Cousin Abbey!

Saturday we attended cousin Abbey's Halloween Birthday Party. Abbey was born on Halloween ...what a lucky girl to always have a party on her birthday! Aunt Connie and Uncle Tim sure knew how to throw a party ...lots of yummy food! Pizza, wings, carmel apples, and homemade rootbeer! It was a beautiful day in Mesa with the sunny 85 degree weather, at the park. The girls enjoyed spending time with the Merrill cousins and of course any excuse to wear their costumes! We went as the royal family ...King, Queen, Princess Ariel, and Princess Auroa.

Lady Tigers Regional Champions!!!

After cousin Abbey's birthday party we were able to watch my little sister's volleyball team play in the regional tournament. They won the tournament which leaves them undefeated so far! This weekend we will be spending it in Mesa watching the state tournament! Pete's sister Lee is a senior also and we are excited to watch her team play as well! Meg and Mel are good sports about watching so much VB, although I included a picture about the mess they make in the stands. We have quite the set up barbies, ponies, coloring books...you name it!!! I guess you could say we are BIG FANS!!!

Saftey Day

Last Saturday was the Community Saftey Day...it was so fun for the kids! They had a little saftey bike course set up with real little stop signs, speed limit signs crosswalks and even had little cars and ambulances! The kids got a free bike helmet which was fitted correctly and had their bikes checked out, then they got to do the course with one of the Sherriff Deputies. He explained what to look out for and what to do when riding your bike on the road. It was so Cool! Megan loved it and even when she finished she volunteered to be one of the little cars on the course!

Melanie's 3rd Birthday

Disney Princesses on Ice was a BIG HIT! The girls had so much fun, we let Melanie go dressed as Princess Auroa aka (Sleeping Beauty) because that was her favorite princess. We thought we were being original because it was Mel's birthday but we showed up and there were hundreds of little princesses dressed for the event! Melanie loved the show and especially Sleeping Beauty and the HUGE fire breathing DRAGON... no really!!! Melanie is still talking about the ice skating Princess show and when we can go again??!!

We celebrated officially the next night with family and some small gifts and of course cake and ice cream! What a royal birthday huh?

Happy Birthday MELANIE!

Today is Melanie's 3rd birthday! Can you believe my baby is 3 years old already! Just look how grown up she is! Well we have big plans today, we are meeting Pete after work in Tucson and surprising the girls with tickets to "Disney Princesses On Ice"! I can't wait to see Mel's little face, she loves her Princesses!

Homecoming Queen...Brooke Gibson!

What a fun surprise! My little sister Homecoming Queen the same night as my class 10yr reunion! Megan and Melanie thought it was cool that Aunt Brooke was a Queen for a night! Anyways... It ended up being a really fun weekend! It was fun to see old friends and enjoy the festivities of a small school Homecoming. Check out the pictures from the weekend on my link "class of 1998"!

SDHS Booster VB Tournament

A recently new tradition in SD the Saturday after Homecoming is the Booster Volleyball Tournament. Basically a chance for a bunch of "has beens" to play competitive volleyball.

It was so much fun and I especially enjoyed playing side by side with my sister Brianna. We played non-stop from 9am-2pm! Let's just say the "has beens" are really sore! It is over and I already can't wait to play again next year!

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.