Lazy this summer...

Owen's first day of school

I was looking at last year pictures and we started and ended with a StarWars shirt!

Aidan at the SLC Temple

Aren't they pretty?

I realized that I've been quite lazy this summer taking pictures. I did not take very many which is really sad. No swimming, no grandma's house, no wedding. Wow, I regret it now. I guess I'd better step up my game and soon.

This week has been a busy one. Owen started school on Monday, August 24th. He's in first grade and his teacher is Mrs. Burton. We met her the first day and she seems really nice. Owen has enjoyed going to school, making new friends and seeing old ones. We are back to making it to school right as the bell rings (at least he's there on time :)

Last weekend I made a fast trip to Logan to get all of our baby stuff. We realized that there was no way we could get us and all of the stuff in our car. So I went by myself and it was a good thing. I filled it right up. I think we have the essentials and maybe just a little more. We will be ready for that day (hopefully). I stayed with my sister-in-law and their family. Thanks Jann and Chad for letting me stay. They were kind enough to go through the trouble to get me a ticket to the Oquirrh Temple dedication. I hadn't been to a temple dedication for awhile and it was really nice.

I also stopped in Brigham City to get some peaches and pears. I swear I'm in the nesting stage, if it's possible this early, I have a list of projects and want to can and cook. It's crazy. Unfortunately cleaning my house isn't one of the things I want to do. But I spent this week doing peaches and pears. I got 14 bottles of each and they were, to my memory, the best peaches and pears I have ever tasted. Especially the peaches--so sweet and so juicy. I wish I could go back and get more just to eat. It was a lot of work and wore me out each day, but they sure look nice and taste good too!

Aidan, I am happy to say, is basically potty trained...YEEEEEAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!! Funny story, you never know what is going to work...

When we were at my mom's, I was fed up with him because he kept going in his pull-ups and we had a few gross messes to clean up. So I went to buy him some diapers. On the way out of the baby section, I saw some Thomas the Train underwear. Something he knew he could get if he would stop pottying in his pull-ups. I stood there for a minute or two deciding whether it would be worth it or not. I decided to give it a shot and bought the diapers AND the underwear. I gave him the bag when I got home and said, "Here's your diapers, Aidan." He looked in there and noticed that there was something else in there. He pulled out the underwear and asked what they were. I said, "Oh, those are underwear, but they're not for you, they're for big boys who potty in the toilet all the time." (Reverse psychology works almost every time on my kids). And the rest is history. He immediately went to the bathroom so he could put on his underwear. We have had a few accidents, but he has been so good and we are sooooo proud of him. Now he has Transformers underwear, too (he's so proud of them) and a new train that he earned. Goal accomplished! Now I've got to start buying newborn diapers!!

We are still making it work here in Bunkerville, thanks to Uncle David. The kids have friends to play with and the people here have been so nice and welcoming (I don't know if that's a word). They keep telling us to stay and we might be for awhile since our house is still sitting there waiting for someone to buy it! Who knows what will happen. We are just rolling with it...

The last of summer...

I am sorry that I have not posted now for a month and a half. I have been so bad at taking pictures and we've been gone for the past two weeks at my parent's house. It was a nice long vacation and we really enjoyed the cool weather, being with family and having fun.

My brother Matthew got married to Sheena Hall on July 31st! We're so excited to have Sheena in our family, I hope she feels the same about us :) We had a great time with the wedding celebration and now wish the happy couple lots of luck in Tennessee!! We will miss you. Jared, my brother, Christopher and his wife Emily gave them a nice going away present the day before they left. Nice job guys! The kids had fun at the wedding celebration eating anything they could get--especially the cupcake tower!!

While we were at Grandma's house we played alot with Christopher and Emily and their cute little girl, Ashley. Owen and Aidan could make her giggle and laugh. It was quite cute. They took such good care of her--good practice for their soon-to-be brother. We went swimming at the Vernal Rec. Center--fun pool, boys jumped on tramp with/without hose. Aidan surprised us by doing flips on the tramp all by himself. We experienced rain, wonderfully cool weather due to thunder and lightening storms, trip to mountains to get Grandpa from his 50 miler, Wii, legos, games, trip to dino museum, picking raspberries, and helping grandma. We loved every minute of it and were sad to come home, but it's nice to be back at our "home" and back with Jared.

Hopefully I will be better at pictures. I should have taken picts of all the stuff above, but I was such a slacker. Now school is starting and a new baby will be here in a couple months. Things will be different. So is life! Goodbye summer!!

A Few Achievements

The boys (and us) have been busy these past few weeks. One of our goals after we got down here was to get Owen to ride his bike without training wheels. He always said he was too little and not ready. But Jared took his training wheels off one Saturday and they walked over to the park and he taught him how to ride his bike. He picked it up pretty fast. Within an hour he was riding all over. He still needs to practice on turning, stopping and starting, but he is doing fabulous!! We are so proud of him!!!

The boys this past week took swimming lessons. They were very excited! They went every day for 45 minutes. They loved every minute in the water. Owen was ready and picked up on it very fast. He loves swimming underwater, especially with goggles on. Aidan, he was just there to be in the water. He did stick his face in the water but didn't really like to float. It's OK, he'll be excited to do it next year. Swimming lessons took quite a toll on their little bodies, but they survived and were willing to go everyday, despite raw toes that we had to wrap every day in bandaids and first aid tape. On Friday, I took them to the dollar store and they both picked out goggles to buy (we won a $5 cash Discover card in the cereal box and HAD to spend it!). I didn't think Aidan would like the goggles, but he's worn them every since he got them and wanted to wear them to bed. After the dollar store, we went to Wal-Mart and they insisted on wearing them. They looked so funny with their goggles on and got many laughs and comments. They were having a ball AND they were good in the store :-D

Aidan has had a major break through in potty training. It was time to get diapers again, but I really didn't want to so I asked him if he was ready to go potty in the toilet and he said yes. So we jumped immediately on the potty training wagon. Lots of pull-ups, stickers, candy and rewards later, we (he and I) are doing well for one week of potty training. It's at least lasted one week. My last attempts lasted not more than one and a half days. We still have a ways to go, but we are both positive and Aidan is still excited. We now have to move up another level this week with #2. Except we will be leaving home, I hope we don't regress. I guess we'll find out. I'm so proud of him, he's doing so well and I'm proud of me because I am taking this sanely!

This last picture is of our house that we live in right now. Many of my family members and friends haven't seen it, so here it is. I don't have picts of the inside, but if you're really interested in the backyard and inside, I'll take more. It's working very well for us.

We're excited to travel up north this weekend to visit our "vacation home," family and friends. Owen's birthday is also this week, so we'll be celebrating that also.

I hope that your 4th of July is a great weekend for you and your family and that you take the time to think of all that we have been given. I can't help but think that even though things are tough during these times, we are still greatly blessed to live in such a great country with great freedoms. I am grateful every day for all of the blessings we have been given and the privilege we have of knowing the true gospel in our lives, especially due to the sacrifice of those who lived before us.

Have a wonderful weekend...we love you!!

More news!!!

Well, we have some exciting news to share with everyone...no, we haven't sold our house, I wish but that's not it, instead we are having a new baby boy!!! I know I fooled you again with the news thing! We've been keeping it secret which is kind of easy to do here in Bunkerville, NV. (Kinda hard for me and my mouth though). Our bouncing baby boy will be due sometime around mid-October. We didn't tell our families until Memorial Day weekend and this past weekend at the Merkley reunion. It was kind of fun to surprise everyone, especially my sister, Angela, who is due one week AFTER me! Plus we waited long enough that we could tell them it was a boy. So there it is, our news!

(Don't you love the ultrasound? Our baby is already trying to suck his thumb! We breed thumb-sucking kids!)

We had a really nice time at our Merkley reunion in Manti, UT. Our main event, besides eating, was attending the temple and going through to do my Uncle Clayton's name, who passed away suddenly about a year and a half ago. He is my mom's brother. We miss Uncle Clayton. He was the tease and the laughter of the party. It was special for my grandparents to have most of their kids in the temple and some of their grandkids there too. I am grateful we could go. It helped me realize how important the Atonement is and how grateful I am to have the gospel in my family, especially those saving ordinances that bind us together forever. I feel very blessed.

Jared and I being cheesy after the temple.

Thank you for all of your love, support, and prayers as always and continue to keep in touch! We love you all!

Updates...finally!!

I'm sorry that I haven't updated our blog. We've been a bit busy, but that's not why. I lost the cord that goes from my camera to the computer. I've had to put up quite a battle to get a new one... Anyways, battle over, I have a new one and here are our pictures!

Owen finished out his year in kindergarten last week. He loved his teacher Mrs. Hughes and said he will miss her and his friends. I can't believe that he will go to first grade next year!! He also lost his bottom two teeth the last two weeks of school. He was so excited! He was so brave, too, he pulled them out all by himself. I thought it might be a torturous event, but he made it quite easy for us. The tooth fairy that comes to our house is kind of a ditz. First time she almost couldn't find the tooth and then she almost forgot the second time. Tooth Fairy needs to get her act together! Last week Owen got to play with his good friend Andrew Davis. It was like they just picked up where they left off last time. They both like the same things and have so much fun together. He slept overnight and all three boys played so well together and had so much fun. They were sad to part. We'll get to see them sooner than later, but just not soon enough.

Aidan is just having fun being a kid. He likes to play with Owen and with the neighbors. He still plays lots of trains, ride his bike, and go swimming. He still remembers our trip to Disneyland and the many rides on the Casey Jr. (Dumbo) train and loves to play it on his bike and wherever we go. He's so cute and sings about everywhere he goes. His favorites are the Aggie Fight song, NASCAR racing song, Popcorn Popping, Casey Jr. song, Wonder Pets, Signing Time, and others he learns from me or in nursery. It's quite cute and he's quite the kid. It's always crazy when Aidan's around.

Jared and I got new callings in church. I'm the Primary Secretary and Jared is one of the Elder's Quorum teachers. It's bittersweet having a calling--nice for something to do and feel useful, but now we can't come and go as we please. Not that we've got a lot going, but I think you know what I'm talking about. I'm happy with my calling and the women that I will be working with are pretty awesome. Jared will get to help the Elder's Quorum presidency teach at least once a month. So that's new. We're getting ready to go to a family reunion in Manti with my mom's family. I think it will be fun.

Anyways, keep in touch and I hope everyone is planning and having a great summer. I'll try to update more often, I promise...