Not Exactly Diamonds ...

This new washing machine is not exactly what Heath and I wanted for Christmas or for our 10th Anniversary. Our washing machine did it's last load on Wednesday night. The darn machine would not complete the spin cycle and would not drain the water. (I am pretty sure that the queen size comforter that Heath stuffed inside just finished off the 7 year old machine.) We started calculating and our old washer had been through a lot. We bought it right after Taylee was born in Idaho Falls, and moved it to Oregon. Then we moved it Meridian, then to Nampa, back to Meridian, and between 3 different homes in Meridian and to finish it off, it made it to Utah with us. I think the machine was as tired as I am of moving and cleaning!! So we headed to Lowe's last night, since we could not go another day without doing wash, and purchased our Christmas and Anniversary gift for each other. Thanks, Honey .... great gift! (Hee, Hee)

It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Christmas ...

Happy Thanksgiving

Tydon had his Thanksgiving feast at school the day before Thanksgiving. He makes a great pilgrim!!

We hope that you all had Thanksgiving filled with yummy food and greatful hearts. We are so thankful for our family, the gospel, and our many blessings. We were able to spend our Thanksgiving with Grandpa Mike and Grandma Sandy and the extended Merrill clan. It was great to be together for the holiday. Happy Thanksgiving.

Happy Holidays!

We hope that you all had a great Thanksgiving and have jumped right into the Christmas Season. On Saturday night, we all (we left dad at home in bed ... he must have caught a flu bug) went down to temple square to see all the lights. What a fun sight to see. We are so excited for this time of year and can't wait to be together in just a few short weeks. Happy Holidays!

High School Musical On Ice

Disney High School Musical - The Ice Tour


We decided to park at one of our favorite Hotels downtown so we could ride the Trax. The kids thought that was a pretty fun adventure.

Heath and I enjoyed being out on the town with the kids. Our seats were pretty high, (we did buy the cheaper seats) but when the show started the usher waved us down to fill in the closer seats. We ended up with great seats.

As part of Taylee's birthday gift, we bought her tickets to see High School Musical, the Ice Tour. Instead of having a birthday party this year, we told her she could take one friend with her. So Thursday evening we all went and watched the most beloved High School Musical (I didn't realize until recently that this show/musical was shot at East High School in Salt Lake). It was great to watch Taylee and her friend. They were so into all the music and loved their cotton candy and hats. (Thanks Grandma Sandy for buying our treats!!!!) Tydon says it was boring, but I caught his singing a few times and he LOVED his snow cone in his light up mug. Kamdon was great. He was so intrigued with the skaters and of course he loved the popcorn!

Kinderbear

When I met Tydon today after school, he was carrying an unfamiliar bag. I asked him what was inside and he replied that it was a surprise. When we got home, he quietly opened the bag and excitedly introduced us to Kinderbear. Kinderbear is his kindergarten class mascot. The kids take turns taking him home for the day. Tydon was thrilled that it was his turn and was so excited to show me the journal entries of his classmates that have had Kinderbear before him. It was fun to see what all the kids have done when the bear was home with them. Tydon spent the full day wearing out the poor bear. He and Kinderbear shared his favorite noodles for lunch, they jumped on the trampoline, he wrestled with Kinderbear, he introduced Kinderbear to his favorite stuffed animal "Furry", he had Kinderbear pick out a movie to watch, he made Kamdon giggle hard by tossing the bear in the air, we took the bear to Costco, (I looked back in the car and Kinderbear was buckled in wearing head phones so he could hear the movie playing) and we fed Kinderbear Breakfast for Dinner. What an exhausting day Kinderbear had. It was so fun to see Tydon so excited about his class mascot. And for his journal entry he had me take a real picture (the other kids had drawn pictures) and put it in the book with his events for the day. How CUTE was this!

Marshmallow Pilgrim Hat Tag

When I posted this earlier, it is so blurry you can hardly read the instructions. This is also a bit blurry, but if you click on it, it looks great! Sorry, blogger keeps having issues posting photo's tonight, so this is as good as it is getting tonight.

Pilgrim Hats

Over the last few days, I have been searching the internet for a great Thanksgiving project. I found a cute idea on the Family Fun Website. Tonight for Family Home evening we talked about Giving Thanks and for our treats we made these cute Marshmallow Pilgrim Hats. The kids had a great time and they even taste pretty good. I also thought this would be a fun Visiting Teaching Family Treat. All you need is: Shortbread striped cookies, milk chocolate chips, large marshmallows, and a tube of yellow decorators frosting.

We bought all of the ingredients to make the Hats tonight. After our Family made Hats for Family Home Evening, I bagged up the extra stuff and created a cute bag for my visiting teaching sisters. I thought it would be fun to give each sister's family the ingredients to have a fun evening together making Pilgrim Hats.

The gift bags for my visiting teaching ladies turned out great! I even created a great tag with the instructions on Photoshop! Happy Thanksgiving to Everyone!!

Happy 7th Birthday, Taylee!

Taylee enjoyed a lot of fun gifts from her brother, her mom and dad, and her grandma's and grandpa's! Happy Birthday!

We had dinner at Applebee's ... and my silly kids have to wear the whipped cream!

We had cake ... (Taylee accidently got hit by her baby brother just before cake ... thats why her eyes look a little sad)

Happy 7th Birthday Princess!

We can hardly believe that 7 years has flown by. You keep our lives filled with words (you never have stopped talking since you learned how), sweetness, sassyness, love, and joy. We are so proud of you and hope you had a great birthday!

A Look Back ...

You all Guessed Right

Our "This is not a Trick" Post didn't "trick" any of you! You all guessed right ... we are expecting our 4th baby. I still am not sure that it has sunk in for me except that I have been feeling exhausted, emotional, and hungry (explains my lack of blogging). My mom brought these cute little jammies to us last weekend ... Thanks, mom, for first baby gift!

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween to you All!
We started out our day by decorating sugar cookies. The kids had a blast with the first few and I ended up finishing all the rest.

Taylee and Tydon both have worn this Tigger costume. We thought it would be great to have photo's of Kamdon in it as well. I will have to find all 3 of the kids pictures and get them on here. Kamdon made a great pirate and Tigger this year.

We went with the Merrill Family to their Trunk or Treat! The kids had a blast and the weather was so beautiful!! We had the most "unique" trunk of the crowd. The comments and questions were great!

After the Trunk or Treat, we went back to the Merrill Home and enjoyed the traditional chili and scones that I made. It turned out yummy. Then Heath and Uncle Bob took the kids out to Trick or Treat in the neighborhood. When they got home, they were so excited at the loot they had collected.

We ended the day, with more candy that we will ever eat!! I am going to have to slowly get rid of it, or it will be hanging around next Halloween! (UCK!)