Merrill's

Preschool program

2011-06-08T19:52:00.004-06:00

Tonight Kayden had his end of the year program at preschool. The kids are SO cute!!! Kayden did such a great job, we had a ton of fun watching him. He loves to dance so i'm glad he wasn't shy this time and danced his little booty off tonight. Seriously so cute! His Preschool has amazing teachers and we love them! It is the best preschool ever!!! They have taught the kids quite a bit of sign language, letters, colors, numbers, songs, etc, etc. Next week will be his last week of school for a few months. I know he will be sad, he loves going and learning!

Kayden with Miss NatalieKayden with Miss Cara

Spring T-Ball

2011-06-05T20:22:00.000-06:00

Kayden played his first year of T-ball this Spring and LOVEd it! It was so much fun watching his team play and we were lucky to have such a great coach that was so nice and helpful to these kids. He had so much fun that we signed him up for the Summer season that will start in a couple weeks.

Beauty and the Beast

2011-06-01T20:34:00.006-06:00

Kailey was in here first big school play this month. It was Beauty and the Beast. She has always loved to sing and dance, and she loves performing. She played the part of a villager and did a great job! She is now wanting to do another one very soon! Good job Kailey! Kailey and Belle's father

Kailey and Belle

Kailey and the beast

Busy busy life!!!

2010-11-18T18:45:00.002-07:00

So...we really have been so busy lately! It seems like we have something going on every single night and are running non stop with something to do with the kids. I wouldn't change my life for anything though... I am going to post a quick update and work backwards. Since I haven't blogged since June (yikes!!!) this might take some time. ugh!!!

Kayden is still 3 and growing so fast! He can spell several peoples names now. He loves to sing! and he is numbers crazy like his daddy. He loves to spot out numbers and letters and tell you what they are. He is such a smart kid and we love him to pieces!

Kailey is 9... for about another week. Here 10th birthday is coming up and i've been reminded of it several times a day for about a month now. Kailey is also growing super fast! She is still doing awesome is school and I can never express how proud I am of her and how well she does in everything she tries. She loves to sing and is in the school choir again this year. I catch her singing and dancing all the time!

Both kids are always happy! I love being their mom and feel very blessed to have them in my life! I'm a very lucky girl and know it!

Me and Bruce are doing great too. We are staying busy with work and enjoying every minute we can with the kids. We are excited for the holidays coming up to hopefully see Brady, Corey, Allie and little Savannah. We LOVE when we can all be together as a family!

With that said.. i'm going to start posting pics and getting caught up. Hopefully this will be the last time I fall behind!

Happy Halloween

2010-10-30T18:55:00.005-06:00

We had a great Halloween this year! I love this time of year and loved seeing all the kids dressed up. Kailey was a pirate and Kayden was a fighter pilot again. We tried to pick something else for him...but he wanted the fighter pilot :) (That's our boy!!!)

We had Bruce's parents over for dinner and then trick or treating. It was freezing outside! I made it around the block once and went back and made hot apple cider for everyone. I'm such a wimp!!! I hate being cold! But....I think everyone appreciated the hot cider when they came back.

Corn Maze

2010-10-18T19:22:00.004-06:00

Tonight we went to the corn maze. We had a ton of fun and the kids loved it! They give you a map at first and then you find your way through. Bruce got us through the first little bit... and then I took the map over and got us out.

1st day of preschool

2010-09-06T19:33:00.003-06:00

Today was Kayden's first day of preschool. I was of course in tears when I dropped him off... and he was all excited and loving it. I'm so happy that he loves going! He is learning so much and it has been great that him and Garrett are in the same class! They are having so much fun!

Camping

2010-08-09T19:41:00.000-06:00

Bruce went to Sturgis this weekend and Kailey was with her dad. I got invited to go camping with some friends so Me and Kayden packed up and headed out. So much fun! This was Kayden's first time camping and he loved it! He got so dirty! Mike and Mona brought up Kaige and they were so cute playing together. They are great little buddies! We all love camping so much and don't do it as often as we should. Hopefully next year we can get up there more!

4th of July

2010-07-04T20:06:00.005-06:00

We love the 4th of July! Kailey was with her dad this year and we missed her! But.. Brady was in town so we enjoyed having him here with us for once!

Summer Fun at the pool

2010-07-03T19:59:00.006-06:00

It was a hot day and the kids have been wanting to go swimming, so I took them over to our pool. They have all kinds of slides and things to play with. The kids loved it. We stayed for a few hours and they still didn't want to leave when it was time to go.

Swimming Lessons

2010-06-27T14:10:00.002-06:00

Kayden started swimming lessons a few weeks ago. He is not a huge fan of the water so i'm hoping this will all help with that :) He is fine sitting on the steps...but as soon as she takes him in the water he is usually crying. Hopefully he starts to like it more! He looks so big sitting with the other kids.
Garrett is also in the same swimming class and seems to love it!

Fieldtrip to the park

2010-06-27T14:06:00.003-06:00

Kailey had a fieldtrip this week. Their class and several others walked from their school to the park. It was quite the walk...and it was HOT outside! 91 degrees actually... So I took Kayden with and pulled him in the wagon thinking he would have fun too. They had lunch at the park and then had some water activities to keep the kids cool. The kids had a ton of fun!

Kailey's cabbage project

2010-06-27T14:00:00.002-06:00

Kailey was given a small little starter plant for a cabbage weeks ago from schoool. They are having a contest right now. Whoever grows the largest cabbage plant wins $1,000 scholorship. It's a good little plant and is growing BIG! Go Kailey!!! (and Bruce :) )

Father's Day 2010

2010-06-27T13:34:00.003-06:00

For Father's Day this year Corey, Allie and Savannah came to see us :) We had a ton of fun playing the wii and just hanging out.

Awards and plays

2010-06-18T20:12:00.000-06:00

Today Kailey received her Distinguished cub award at school. They are so many things they have to do during the year and then they get a award towards the end of the year. She has received one every year and i'm so proud of her! And... I also think she's the cutest little girl ever!

Kailey was also in her class play. She played a teacher and she played it well!!! She memorized all of her lines and did so well! She did such a great job!

Busy life???

2010-06-12T10:31:00.006-06:00

I'm thinking we must have a busy life... I haven't updated since April. Yikes! Lots of things happening around our house!

Kailey is getting taller every day! She is still doing awesome in school... as usual and she loves it! She was sick a few weeks ago.. and all she said the next morning after being up all night throwing up was. "mom, you're going to make me stay home from school today aren't you." I hope she always stays excited about school. They are learning about the food groups right now. It is really helping her want to try new foods which is awesome. She actually tried some of my sweet potato the other night. Woohoo!

Kayden is potty training right now and doing better then I was expecting! I guess 3rd times the charm! He has only had a few accidents. He keeps saying "KK's a big boy" He's very excited to use the big boy potty now. He is super funny!

Other then that.. it seems like we have something going on all the time. We stay busy and that's good :) Here are a few random pictures from our zoo visit. Hopefully I will update as little quicker next time!

Happy 3rd birthday Garrett!

2010-04-11T10:14:00.007-06:00

Happy birthday Garrett! Today we went to Garrett's 3rd birthday party. Very fun day! and great food!

Garrett on his new bike. He LOVED it!
Courtnei broke open the pinata

G eating his cake

the girls eating their cake

Garrett was playing with a fork...and broke it. I must of caught the picture right when it snapped :)

KK posing for a picture :)

Movie Night

2010-04-11T10:08:00.004-06:00

Kailey was still on spring break the next day so we let the kids stay up a little later and had a movie night. They both got in their chairs with blankets and got cozy. I don't think either one of them made it through the entire movie... they were a little sleepy. :)

Happy Easter 2010

2010-04-11T09:55:00.008-06:00

Happy Easter! we had a very fun Easter this year with my family. We went over to my sister for dinner and a egg hunt. Each kids had their own color this year and it worked out really well. Since it snowed this week we had to do it inside but we hid eggs on all 3 levels of the house so they were all pretty spread out and the kids had a blast!

Kayden on Easter morning with their baskets. (Kailey was with her dad this year)
Kailey and Kayden after the egg hunt

KK during the egg hunt :)

Kailey showing off her gifts

yummy food!

some of the eggs before the egg hunt

Springtime!

2010-04-11T09:41:00.004-06:00

The weather has been so weird lately! Today was actually a warmer day so the kids wanted to play with the bubbles. I hope things start picking up and it gets warmer so we can play outside more!

Happy St Patricks Day 2010!

2010-03-17T23:28:00.003-06:00

Happy St Patricks Day! Just another reason to post another picture of my cute kids... and yes, the kitty is wearing green too thanks to Kailey :)

Nascar Baby!

2010-02-25T23:13:00.008-07:00

We went on our yearly trip to Vegas for the Nascar race with all our friends! So much fun! It was a great race as always!!! I love going every year and can't wait to go back again next year!

Happy 3rd Birthday Kayden!

2010-02-21T22:49:00.009-07:00

Today we had Kayden's birthday party. We had a "Car's theme." He LOVES the movie cars! Kayden is growing fast and learning alot more every day. He is following in his daddy's footsteps and loves numbers... he loves to count everything. He knows his letters and we are working on colors :) Right now, everything is pretty much "green". He also loves puzzles and loves books, especially books with numbers. We love him so much and are greatful we have him. He is my little sugar boy! Happy Birthday Kayden! We love you lots!

Fun with Friends

2010-02-16T21:15:00.004-07:00

We went out with friends to celebrate Mike's birthday. It was a ton of fun! We had dinner at Market Street and then went cosmic bowling. I think my high score was 60... not so great, but I also hadn't bowled in probably 3 years :)
We have great friends! It was so much fun hanging out and spending time with them! Brady was with us so we were excited to have him come out and hang out with our crazy friends! It was great seeing him in the short time he was here!

Lunch with Kailey

2010-02-01T21:04:00.001-07:00

Today we had lunch with Kailey at her school. Parents were invited to come and eat with the students. Brady just happened to be home and visiting us so he came to lunch too. Kailey was SO excited to have him here and to be able to have him at her school. We voted that next time we will bring our own lunch... i'm not a huge fan of school lunch but I did like spending time with my daughter :)

Good Job Kailey!

2010-01-10T23:03:00.003-07:00

Things have been a bit crazy around here so I almost forgot to mention how well Kailey is doing in school (still). She came home this week with a progress report. Her teacher had wrote a note that said "i'm suppose to send progress reports home today for all the kids. There is no progress report :) Kailey is one of my top students and there is nothing to report on." He goes on to say that she is on a 6th grade reading level and his top speller and that she is doing awesome! He said he only has one issue... she knows all the answers and she doesn't give the other students a chance to answer. Not too much of a complaint... her nick name is Miss know-it-all in class :) Things could be worse...

Keep it up Kailey! We are always so proud of you and love you tons!

Happy New Year!

2010-01-01T21:33:00.004-07:00

Happy New Year! I can't believe it's already 2010! 2009 was a really good year for us but i'm excited to see what 2010 brings.
This year for New Years Eve our family stayed at home and watched the ball drop. Kayden went to sleep at his normal time and the rest of us stayed up (well... Kailey and Bruce made it all the way). I took a little nap from 10:00-11:30 :)
Kailey and Kayden have really started to become little buddies. They have always played with eachother but now they are finally getting to the age where they are really having fun. It's so cute to see their little personalities. Here are just a couple pics of them playing before Kayden went to bed.

This is their newest trick. Piggy back rides. Kayden loves it! They both have dirty faces in this picture because they were eating chocolate. Kayden going for a little ride in the lego wagon

and even poor Sully went for a little ride... i'm not so sure he really liked it.

We hope you all have a fantastic 2010!

Christmas Day 2009

2009-12-25T13:02:00.014-07:00

We had a great Christmas this year! The kids had a great time opening presents and Kayden was at a great age where he loved opening presents this year! so much fun! We hope everyone had a great Christmas!!!

Corey, Allie and Savannah
baby Savannah

Corey and Savannah

Corey, Allie and Kayden

Corey and Allie opening presents

Kayden and Grandma Merrill putting together a puzzle

Bruce, Kayden and Grandpa Merrill

Kayden with her present from Brady

Christmas morning! Looking to see what Santa brought them!

Christmas Eve 2009

2009-12-24T12:49:00.011-07:00

Christmas Eve we always go to my parents house for dinner and to open gifts. We had a great time as always! Great food and great family! Here are a few pics from the day...

Kailey and Kayden in front of the tree
Kayden getting ready to leave to go to Grandma and Grandpa's

Kailey playing a game with Grandma and the cousins

Kayden relaxing on the stairs

opening presents

Kailey being goofy :)

opening gifts...

great Granma and Kayden

Santa...2009!

2009-12-20T21:46:00.003-07:00

We took the kids to see santa and Just as I was expecting... Kayden was not a fan! He takes a while to get warmed up to people, even family (Grandma and Grandpa, etc) so I knew this wouldn't be any different. We tried to show him Santa pictures, watched polar express to show him who Santa was and we kept asking, "do you want to see Santa?" He kept saying "ya" so we did as much as we could :) But still... Santa got kicked by Kayden in his "jingle bells" :) Sorry Santa! We also learned later that Santa had a knee replacement so i'm glad that Santa didn't get kicked in the knee. Poor Santa puts up with a lot! He ended up going back and giving Santa a high 5 after he let him down and Santa told him he could have a candy cane. I still think the picture turned out cute and will be a memory we will always have :)

more pics from seeing Santa

2009-12-19T19:40:00.005-07:00

Kailey in front of the tree before we saw Santa Kailey and Kayden in front of the tree

Kailey on the train... Kayden only wanted to watch, he wanted nothing to do with riding it :)

Kailey's Christmas concert

2009-12-18T22:31:00.005-07:00

Kailey is in the school choir. She LOVES it! They practice every Friday after school and she loves going! They had their Christmas concert this last friday morning. She did a great job! You can tell she really loves to sing and wants to be there.
This is Kailey and her little bff Savannah. I thought this was so cute! They were getting their picture taken by Savannah's mom and I look down and they were holding hands :)

You can see Kailey if you really look (past the big head in my way!) :)

Visit with Allie and Savannah

2009-12-06T21:35:00.009-07:00

Today we went to see Allie and baby Savannah. Allie was taking a nap when we got there but we got to see and talk to her before we left. I'm glad she is getting some rest and taking care of herself! It makes such a huge difference to get rest! Allie is staying with her parents until Christmas when Corey comes back and then she will move up with him then. Her parents are so great! She has a great family and they are really helping out with her and Savannah right now. We are jealous they get to see them both so much :)
We noticed when we got home that we didn't get any pictures of Allie...by the time she came down we apparently put our camera away (sorry Allie! We still love you too) We'll get more pictures the next time we see them...

Kailey's birthday party

2009-12-05T21:25:00.006-07:00

Today we had Kailey's birthday party. We had a just a family birthday party this year so it was a ton more relaxing for me! We had a great time with out the stress of having all the kids running around like we normally do. :)

Thank you all for coming and celebrating Kailey's birthday with us!

Welcome Baby Savannah!

2009-12-02T21:14:00.001-07:00

She's finally here and totally worth the wait! Savannah is absolutely precious! We all love her so much! She is the cutest baby! She was born on 12/2 at 12:33 am weighed 7lbs 4oz and was 18.5 inches long. Allie did great and was quite the trooper and Corey was right beside her the whole time keeping her encouraged! We are proud of both of them and are so excited about their new little family. We love all of you!

Happy Birthday Kailey Bug!

2009-11-29T22:11:00.008-07:00

She made it home! We missed her this weekend! We were hanging out all day waiting for her...
I went and got her balloons and of course a chocolate donut instead of cake (her favorite) and when I got home Bruce had made her the big "Happy Birthday" sign. She was so excited when she got home. It sounded like she had a great weekend with her dad, but we were so excited to get her home!

Kailey with her balloons
In front of her Birthday sign

Kayden waiting for Kailey to get home... he was being shy and didn't want to let me take his picture :)

singing Happy Birthday

opening presents...

Kayden was having fun playing with the balloons.

Happy Birthday Kailey Bug! We LOVE you tons and tons!!!

My baby girl is 9!!!

2009-11-29T00:00:00.003-07:00

Today Kailey turns 9 years old! I am shocked at how the time has gone by so fast! The past 9 years have been so fun and she has been a total joy to have! I have loved every minute of being her mom! I just hope the next 9 years go by a little bit slower...

Happy Birthday Kailey Bug! We love you tons!

Kailey's 6th Birthday

Kailey's 7th BirthdayKailey's 8th Birthday

Happy Thanksgiving 2009!

2009-11-26T22:16:00.008-07:00

Happy Thanksgiving! We had a great Thanksgiving this year! We had dinner with my family this year at my mom and dad's house. Yummy food and great family (as always!). We then had to take Kailey back up to Salt Lake to spend the rest of the day with her dad and then we headed up to Bountiful to Bruce's parents house. They had just finished having pie... we had pie before we had left my mom and dad's but of course had more. Yikes! Too much food as usual! I still feel full!
I of course didn't get my camera out until we were getting close to leaving Bruce's parents so I didn't take alot of pictures this year. duh!

Corey, Kayden and Bruce :)
Kayden playing Grandma's piano

poor Allie! 1 day past due in this picture. What a trooper!

Kayden chasing Corey with the shark puppet

he was trying to make shark noises...

Pre-Thanksgiving fun with Family

2009-11-25T22:10:00.001-07:00

Tonight we went up to Park City to have dinner and hang out with Brian, Lisa and their family. We only see them maybe once or twice a year, but we love spending time with them! We had dinner at Bandits and made a stop by our traditional Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.. and then headed back to their hotel to hang out. So much fun!

Bruce, Landon and Brian hanging out... Kailey and Logan... they were texting Kamree that was in the other room :)

Kayden and Ashton playing... they were so cute together!

Happy Halloween 2009!

2009-10-31T22:49:00.007-06:00

This year for Halloween it was Kailey's dad's turn to have her :( (I do not like sharing her!) Anyways... We spend the afternoon at Colton's birthday party and then can back to our house and got the kids in their Halloween costumes and got ready for trick or treating. Kailey was BEGGING to go out so finally we decided to go. We had Bruce's parents out for dinner and trick or treating. I made corn chowder and bread sticks and orange sweet rolls for dessert. Yummy! We had a great day and the kids had a ton of fun! They both seemed to be a bit wore out when we were done!

Kayden in his costume
our trick or treating Me, Bruce and the kids

Grandma and Grandpa and the kids

My cute kids :)

School Halloween Parade

2009-10-30T12:30:00.007-06:00

Kailey and Kayden :) Bruce and Kayden

Kailey's bff, Amber

Kailey's teacher, Mr Halter

Kailey as the "mistic witch!"

Principal Jacobs

lucky to be a mom!

2009-10-25T12:24:00.005-06:00

This was just one of those days that I felt really lucky to have my kids and to be a mom! Bruce and I were doing some things around the house and the next time I checked on the kids, Kailey had grabbed a game and taught Kailey how to play. He thought it was the best thing ever! Kailey is such a great sister! Nothing better then listening to your kids in the other room giggling!!!

Baby Shower for Allie

2009-10-24T12:15:00.007-06:00

Today we had a baby shower for Allie at our house. We had a great time with AWESOME family and friends, great food and she got some great gifts too! Only a few more weeks now and baby Savannah will finally be here. We can't wait to meet her!!! Congratulation Corey and Allie!

Girl Scouts

2009-10-11T11:48:00.003-06:00

This year I decided to be a Girl Scout leader. Kailey's troop that she was in bridged to Juniors and I thought Kailey needed to stay in Brownies for just one more year. And... since they do not have troops in our area...my choice was kind of made for me :) We have 12 girls this year!!! It is a big group ranging from ages 5 to 12. The girls are all awesome! They all have their own little personalities and it's going to be fun for all of them to get to know eachother. It's going to be a fun year!

Miley Cyrus concert

2009-09-29T14:40:00.010-06:00

I took Kailey to her very first concert today! She had so much fun! She has been talking about going to this concert for weeks now. It was fun spending some one on one time with Kailey. She kept hugging me and telling me "thank you for everything Mom." so sweet!!!

Kailey getting ready for the show they had a # that you could text a message and they would put it on the big billboard. This is Kailey's message.

Family day trip to the mountains

2009-09-26T14:31:00.010-06:00

We took the kids up to the mountains today to see all the colors. The leaves are changing! I LOVE fall! We know that any day now the snow will be coming so we wanted to let the kids get up there and run around for the afternoon. They had a great time and were pretty wore out by the time we head home.

Kailey's award

2009-09-22T14:22:00.007-06:00

Kailey received her "Climbing Higher" award today. Her school chooses certain things that the kids do well in and then give out awards once a month. Kailey has received one every year. She has usually always received it for reading but this year she got it for spelling. She hasn't missed anything on her spelling tests. She is doing great and we are so proud of her! Good job Kailey!

Kailey with her principal

and Kayden being so patient and just waiting... :)

Haley Ride/Brad Paisley concert

2009-09-18T14:11:00.008-06:00

Today was such a great day! We started off going on a Harley ride up to Park City. The leaves were changing and they were so pretty! It was such a fun ride!!! We then went to the Brad Paisley concert. He is one of my favorites! We were on row 7!!! It was the best concert we have been to yet! We were so close to the stage, it was so awesome! He puts on such a great show!

Crazy Hair day

2009-09-17T14:06:00.004-06:00

Today was crazy hair day at kailey's school. She gets so excited for things like this! She was so excited to go and see everyone hair and show off hers :)

State Fair

2009-09-16T22:40:00.013-06:00

We went to the state fair tonight. It was alot of fun and the kids loved it! They loved to see the animals and Kailey was really excited to go on the rides. Kayden liked to watch Kailey and Daddy ride on the rides :) So much fun!!!
Me and Bruce were wore out... we both looked at eachother after we were leaving and said... We think we can wait another 4-5 years before we need to go to another fair :)My Pretty girl!Kailey, Kayden and Bruce by Jason Leflers car Kailey and Bruce on a ride Me and Kailey Having so much fun!
Kayden's new scooter

Sunday fun

2009-09-13T21:05:00.008-06:00

We went to the park... a few times today :) The kids love the park and it was the perfect day! Not too hot and not too cold. The kids had a ton of fun! It was a great day!

September 11th...Never Forget!

2009-09-12T20:41:00.012-06:00

We love to take the kids to see the flags every year! They are so pretty blowing in the wind! The kids love them! Kailey is starting to really understand what happended years ago on 9/11/01.
They had a booth set up there with banners that they sent over to the soldiers that are stationed overseas. They hang it up in the mess halls over there for all the soldiers to read how everyone is proud of them and hoping they all stay safe. We all got to write a little message to them. We even put a little message to Brady... we'll see if gets to see it while he is there:)

Weekend Fun

2009-09-10T22:19:00.011-06:00

Me and the kids went for a little walk to the park while Bruce was mowing the lawn :) They both had a ton of fun. Kayden is finally getting brave enough to go down the slide!

mowin' the lawn

2009-09-10T22:12:00.004-06:00

This is Kayden's new thing. The last few times that Bruce has mowed the lawn, Kayden runs into the garage and gets his bubble mowers and follows him around. It is the cutest thing!

Harley Ride/Toby Keith Concert

2009-08-24T22:06:00.012-06:00

This weekend we went on a Harley ride. It started at around 11am and we got done around 11pm that night. It was a LONG hot day, but so much fun!!! And they raised a ton of money for the Ronald McDonald houses, so it was all for a good cause.

We started out at Harley of Salt Lake and they give you a poker card. You then go to other places in Salt Lake and you pick a card. Then we all meet back at Harley again and turn in the poker cards. The top 3 people win prizes. It was so much fun! Kind of like a little scavenger hunt... but you go all over Salt Lake.

We had a awesome ride and met alot of different bikers and even got our picture taken with some people from Channel 2 news!

We got a police escort from Harley to Usana. So much fun!!! Nothing like running red lights with the police right in front of you :)

The concert was awesome! I have to say it is probably the best concert I have been to yet. Toby Keith put on a awesome show! And Trace Atkins is awesome! The 2 of them together are great!

We will for sure be going to see Toby again next year!!!

Me and Bruce on the Harley... getting ready to head out to the concert.

Colleen, Mona, Me and Shauna Lake from Channel 2 :)Shauna Lake and Bruce
Colleen, Me, Mark Koelbel from Channel 2 and Mona
heading out from Harley of SL to Usana... the flag was hung by the Salt Lake Fire Dept.
watching all the bikers coming in... there were a ton!!!
us with Sterling Poulson from Channel 2
Colleen, Mona and Me

Me and Bruce :)

Live to ride, ride to live baby!

2009-08-24T22:01:00.002-06:00

Kayden will finally push the button the the little 4 wheeler!!! It used to scare him but now he LOVES it!!!

Kailey's crash!!!

2009-08-12T20:07:00.003-06:00

What a day! We were sitting outside last night talking about "what we should have for our anniversary dinner" and the kids were just running around playing as usual. Kailey went down the driveway (her very first time tonight), she turned the corner and we heard a huge crash... I waited for a sec wondering if she had crashed or if it was something else. I heard screaming! So me and Bruce went running over to Kailey and she was holding her face. There was blood coming from somewhere, i assumed her nose or that she had bit her lip. I finally saw blood coming from her lip but it didn't looked horrible so I thought everything would be ok. We got her inside the garage because she was totally freaking out. I then looked at her face again and saw something sitting on her tonge, I looked at her tooth and it was missing a big piece out of it. Great!!! She hasn't even had her 2 front teeth for a year and she has already broken one of them. I called the dentist and we got in first thing in the morning. After she calmed down she said that she had a bad turn on her scooter and basically lost control. She fell hitting her knee first and then her face. She had to of landed directly on her teeth because the only other thing that was bleeding was her lip. OUCH!!! Now I know why she was screaming so loud. Teeth and cement do play well with eachother!!! All night last night she just kept saying how the feel of her tooth was freaking her out! :)

As soon as we came in, he tooth x-rays and we found out that both the front teeth were broke. The 2nd one was just in the back and we couldn't see it. The dentist said it's one of the worst he's seen and he's not so sure he can save it. You can't really tell from the picture but the tooth has a big break all the way up the middle. He had to pull that out because it was the only way to build up the tooth. Kailey had not had a good couple of days... It looks great cosmetically but we are now just praying that it doesn't die and it has to be pulled. Normally they would crown it but since she is so young all of her nerves and roots, etc haven't totally developed in her mouth so we just have to wait. She can't use the front teeth right now. We go back in a week and have them checked out to see how she's healing. She has been in alot of pain the last 24 hours. We are hoping she gets feeling better and that her teeth heal good!

Anniversary

2009-08-11T06:45:00.002-06:00

***UPDATE!***
Ok, we had a bit of drama at the house yesterday so I didn't have time to update until now... But, i got Bruce 9th row tickets to Brad Paisley! We have always loved him so i'm sure we will have a awesome time!!!

Happy Anniversary! Today is our 3 year Anniversary! 3 years married and 6 years together :) I got Bruce something pretty fantastic! I will have to update later today when he actually knows what it is. I'm so excited to tell him about it! :)

Happy Anniversary Bruce! I love you lots!!!

Sunday relaxing...

2009-08-04T22:13:00.004-06:00

Me and Kayden were hanging out watching cartoons on Sunday. I ran upstairs for a few minutes and when I came down, this is how I found him :) It must of been bright in the living room or something! I thought it was pretty funny and cute!

Super Saturday!

2009-08-04T22:09:00.005-06:00

We had a super Saturday at Church this week. It was a ton of fun and we did some awesome crafts! I invited my mom and sister to come. Liss came but mom ended up having to work... we think that mom was just sitting at home and just wanted us to do her crafts for her :)

It was a great day with great food and tons of fun crafts! Can't wait for the next one!

First day of 3rd Grade

2009-08-04T22:05:00.003-06:00

Kailey started 3rd grade! I can't believe how fast these years have gone! I'm excited for her to experience all of these new things, but does it have to go so fast??? She seems to have a great teacher this year so I think we will have a great year!

Kenny Chesney!!!

2009-08-04T22:00:00.005-06:00

What a fun night! Yes... it was extremely hot out for the first 2 acts but by the time Kenny came on stage it had cooled down and everything was great! We went with some great friends and had a awesome time! Can't wait for the next concert!!!

Fun with Family in Park City!

2009-08-04T21:52:00.011-06:00

We went up to Park City to hang out with family and swim! It was suppose to be a really hot day so it was a good idea to let everyone play in the pool. Everyone had a great time!

Girl Scout Ceremony

2009-08-04T21:42:00.006-06:00

Kailey had her end of the year celebration for Girl Scouts. The girls did a great job this year and most of her troop is bridging and going to Juniors. Kailey is going to stay one more year and do Brownies. She loves Girl Scouts and is excited to start up again!

4th of July 2009

2009-07-12T20:24:00.012-06:00

This year we had some friends over for a BBQ and then had fireworks for the kids. We had a ton of fun! We had some great food as always and the guys put on a great fireworks show! :)

Distinguished Cub Award

2009-07-12T20:20:00.003-06:00

Congratulation Kailey! She received the distiguished cub award at school this year. Basically there at 15 projects that they are required to do. She was determined to get it and did. She did great. There were only 2 people from her class that got it. Great job Kailey!

Baby Connor

2009-06-30T23:32:00.009-06:00

We went down to see Baby Connor this weekend. He is so dang cute, I just love him! He is such a sweet baby!
Garrett helping Conner with his binky :)

Big Weekend :)

2009-06-30T23:19:00.011-06:00

We decided to do alot in our yard this weekend. If anyone remembers what our yard looked like when we moved in, you will know it has come a long way!Newest addition...
We are working on our newest project with this area... this is the before picture. The after picture will be coming soon :)

Connor Scott Olsen

2009-06-22T22:15:00.007-06:00

Today my little brother and my sister-in-law Kelly had their baby boy Connor Scott Olsen. Kelly has had a very rough pregnancy! We kept thinking things would get easier for her but they never did.. even the labor was long and horrible! But... finally he is here and we are so excited to have him finally here! Connor weighed 8lbs 2oz and is 21 1/2 inches long.

Girl Scout Camp

2009-06-19T21:37:00.019-06:00

Kailey had her first year at Girl Scout camp this year. She has been so excited to go and has talked about it forever! I haven't been so excited... but I know she's having fun. This is the first time she has been in the mountains without me. I know she will be fine because I trust the people she is with but still... she is my baby girl and I would rather be there with her :)

MDA Ride for the Cure- Harley Ride

2009-06-14T22:25:00.010-06:00

We went on our first Harley ride to Wendover last weekend. It was a pretty long ride but so much fun! There were so many bikes! It was fun to see all of the different things that people do to their bikes. We went with some really great friends and had a great time! I'm so excited for next year! :)

More culture fair pics...

2009-06-14T22:13:00.009-06:00

Culture Fair

2009-06-05T21:55:00.004-06:00

Kailey's school had a culture fair. Each 2nd grade class did a dance from a country. Kailey's class did their dance from Canada. They did a great job and it was actually pretty entertaining. The little boy that Kailey was dancing with lost his flag from his shirt and then tripped and almost fell another time. Kailey was laughing so hard it was hard to keep dancing :) Me, Bruce and Allissa were all laughing with her. It was pretty funny to see! She did a great job and looked very cute!

Kailey's 2nd Grade Field Trip

2009-06-01T22:59:00.009-06:00

Today was Kailey's 2nd grade field trip. They went to This is the Place Heritage Park. It was a really fun day and the kids loved it all. They were so excited to get on the bus and get up there. They got to learn all about what the pioneers did and what kind of chores they would do if they would of grown up back in the pioneer days. They loved experiencing it all!

It was a pretty hot day so when we got back on the bus the kids were pretty worn out. It was a much quieter ride home then on the way up :)

Strawberry Jam!

2009-05-31T22:51:00.007-06:00

Today my mom came up and showed me and my sister how to make strawberry jam. It was so easy! Of course with my mom showing you how to do something... it's always easy! She is awesome! We went a little overboard with the strawberries so we ended up with a ton of jam but it all turned out so good! We already have plans to make peach jam in a few months. Yummy! Sadly the jam IS NOT on my new "life change" plan so it is all put away in the freezer for a few months until it's time for a little splurge :)

Memorial Day 2009!

2009-05-25T23:56:00.005-06:00

Today I took Kayden to get a much needed haircut. We got alot done around the house inside and out which was really good. The kids were both so wore out and when it was time for bed, they went right down.
Kayden having a little chocolate pudding snackCute boy and his cute new hair cut!
Kailey decided to try and new popcycle from the ice cream man today... of course... she didn't like it (shocking!) so she let Kayden try it and he liked it alot. He ate it until it started spilling all over his hands and didn't think it was too fun anymore.

Busy... Fun... Weekend!

2009-05-25T23:28:00.017-06:00

We had a very busy, but fun weekend. We had a bbq at our house on Sunday. Brady was in town and Corey and Allie came up. We also invited out Bruce's parents. Alot of fun and as always good food!
Kayden relaxing eating a popcycle...waiting for everyone to show up :)The kids have several of these a day! Corey, Allie and KaileyBruce and Brady.... Boys and their trucks! :) not sure what they were doing... it seems to be always something about trucks. Grandpa Merrill and Kayden. They were little buddies todayBruce getting ready to sneak out with Brady to go for a little ride on the motorcyclesBrady sneaking out... hoping for a little bit of clear weather from the rain.They weren't gone too long... it started to rain AGAIN!At least they got a little ride in :)Kayden doing some entertaining... you can't tell but he's dancing. SO CUTE!Kailey watching everyone play cardsI have been promising Kailey that we would make smores for weeks now. So... to keep my promise :) We had to do them on the stove because it was raining pretty hard by now. She thought it was pretty awesome! It was her first time cooking marshmellows on the stove.Kailey and Grandma Merrill roasting Marshmellows.

Mowing the lawn...

2009-05-24T23:25:00.003-06:00

Kayden got another new toy... Garrett got one for his birthday and Kayden loved it so much that I went out and got him one too. He LOVES it!

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-11T22:16:00.002-06:00

It was another great Mother's day! We had 2 seperate parties... and my camera didn't make it out once! I'm one of those ones that thinks about it... after the party is over with.

We had my family over on Saturday to celebrate. Bruce BBQ'd some fabulous ribs. They were awesome! We had alot of other great food with it. Yummy!

We went up to Bruce's families on Sunday to celebrate. We had BBQ'd hamburgers and hot dogs along with other awesome food. Everything was so yummy! Grandpa Merrill even gave all the ladies flowers to pin on. He is so thoughtful and such a sweet guy! We all felt extra special!

Bruce and Kailey made my day very nice! Bruce made me a awesome breakfast and gave me some lotions, soaps and my Harley diamond bracelet :) I LOVE it! Kailey made me a story about what the two of us like to do together and made me some very cute cards. So cute!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Girls Night!

2009-05-07T22:51:00.002-06:00

Trying to get caught up here... A few weeks ago I took Kailey and my niece Courtnei out for girls night. We had so much fun! Having both of them with me made me realize how fast they are growing. :( We went to dinner at Iggy's and then went to the new Hannah Montana movie. The girls both sat and sang through the whole thing, they were super cute!

Easter 2009

2009-04-15T23:51:00.006-06:00

This Easter was really fun! Kayden actually got really into it this year and loved what the Easter bunny brought him. Kailey thought that since we waited until Easter day to do eggs this year that the Easter bunny didn't come :) And... she fell asleep watching a movie the night before so she was worried too. Quite funny what kids think... we had to have a talk about Easter and it really has nothing to do with the bunny :)

not sure where pictures are of Kayden on Easter :) He got a very cool car track that he LOVES! And Kailey got a Hannah Montana fashion designer kit which she loves too. It was a very fun Easter!

Garrett's Birthday

2009-04-14T23:27:00.014-06:00

Garrett turned 2 on Sunday. They had a super fun party on Saturday and we all had a great time. They had a a Easter Egg hunt which the kids loved! Kayden and Garrett had fun picking up the eggs... and Garrett must of felt bad for Kayden because he ended up dumping his whole basket of eggs into Kayden bucket. It was really cute! :) Kayden was feeling too good that day and was moving pretty slow.

Happy Birthday Garrett!!!

Random pics...

2009-04-13T23:24:00.002-06:00

We were outside playing last week and Kailey broke out the sidewalk chalk... she is quite the artist :)

April Fools Day

2009-04-03T22:50:00.002-06:00

Kailey LOVES April Fools Day! This year she had thought about what she wanted to do to play tricks on people weeks in advance. She told me some different things she was going to do and i'm glad she didn't play any tricks on me :) She did play a pretty good one on Bruce and Kayden. I wish I was actually there to see it. She got up really early on April Fools Day (6:00am) and she went down and switched the cereals around. She took the bags out of the boxes of 2 different kind of cereals.. she made sure it was the 2 kind that Kayden loves. So, Kayden goes to the pantry every morning and picks out his cereal and then someone will pour it out on his tray for him. I guess he wanted Peanut Butter captn crunch that day and when Bruce poured it on his tray out comes Apple Jacks :)
Bruce said that Kayden had a confused look on his face and kept looking at the box. Bruce did the same thing and was confused until he looked over and saw Kailey giggling at both of them and said "April Fools." so funny... she kept saying how she wanted to get Kayden and I told her that he was too little to realize she was playing a joke, but she got him! She had a very fun day! :)

Good Job Kailey!!!

2009-03-26T22:34:00.002-06:00

Today was Parent Teacher Conference for Kailey. She did awesome as usual! She is a smart cookie! Her teacher said she is doing awesome and had nothing bad to say about her (of course!) She is doing so well and we are so proud of her! She is doing great in everything especially reading. She is on a 4th grade reading level already. Good job Kailey!!!

more Girl Scouts

2009-03-21T22:26:00.006-06:00

Last week Kailey's Girl Scout troop set up their cookies booth to sell cookies. They did really good and sold lots of cookies! They have another one coming up this week so hopefully they do well on that one too.

I took these pictures before I took Kailey to the cookie booth. Kailey and Kayden had both got their hair cut the day before. :)Random picture of Kayden... he was trying on Kailey's sunglasses :)

Hair Cuts!

2009-03-13T20:29:00.003-06:00

I took both kids to Cookie Cutters to get their hair cut today. Kailey has been wanting to get hers cut for a while now and Kayden was WAY over due. His hair grows a bit crazy... so it needs to be cut often.
Kayden freaked out as soon as we walked in the door and realized where he was at. He threw a nice fit... The poor girl that had to cut his hair probably wasn't 2nd guessing her career at the moment :) She earned her money today... He pretty much cried the entire time he got his hair cut but still managed to drink his capri sun and eat his M&M's. I'm thinking he wasn't hurting as much as he was letting everyone think. As soon as I put him down, he imediately stopped crying and was just fine. He is such a little stinker!
Kailey did awesome of course! She was excited because after they cut her hair they asked her if she wanted braids in her hair... of course she did. Her hair is quite a bit shorter then I planned but.. she has been wanting it cut short for so long now... I guess it's just hair and it will grow back. Both of their haircuts turned out really cute!

Girl Scout Cookies!

2009-03-13T12:11:00.002-06:00

Kailey's Girl Scout Troop will have a cookie booth at Harmon's on 5400 South Redwood Road on Saturday, March 14th from 12-3pm. If you would like cookies, please come by and see them! :)

Poor Kayden!

2009-03-09T21:30:00.005-06:00

Kayden hasn't had a good week! We took him in for his 2 year check up, he was totally healthy. Now it seems he has picked up all the germs that were at the Dr's office. Last week when I took him in because of a fever and coughing, his Dr said that both ears were infected and had a possible sinus infection... he couldn't tell because Kayden was freaking out the whole time. He seemed to get better for a few days and then this weekend he started throwing up and hasn't wanted to eat or drink anything. He has just wanted to be held which if you know Kayden.. that is not him. He is always too busy to be held. I called the Dr Sunday and they said it was most likely the flu and worried that he was dehydrated and to bring him to Primary Childrens for a IV... sounded a bit tramatic so I figured I would just force him to drink and watch him. Today he seems a little better.. no throwing up but still sleeping alot. Poor Mr Baby! I'll be making morning appts at the Dr's appts from now on to help try and avoid all the germs that everyone else brings in.

Girl Scout Cookies

2009-03-05T22:55:00.003-07:00

Girl Scout cookies have arrived!!! We will be out delivering them this next week so hopefully everyone is ready :) Kailey did really well for her first year. She sold $682.50 in cookies. She would of sold more if I would of let her go door to door more.... She was so excited to be selling cookies. Thank you to everyone that helped out Kailey with her cookie sales and also for helping out Kailey's Girl Scout troop, we really appreciate it! AND... Great job Kailey for all of your hard work! You are awesome!!!

Nascar 2009

2009-03-05T22:37:00.012-07:00

Ok... a little delayed, but it's been a very long BUSY week so i'm just barely getting around to updating. We had a awesome time in Vegas! We go with a great group every year and it is so much fun! I can't wait until next year!

Me and Bruce before the race-tailgating
Mike and Mona-tailgating before the raceMy boy Kasey Kahne #9 :) We sat right across from his pit box again!!!
Bruce's boy! Kevin Harvick #29Some of us girls, getting ready to go into the track.

2 year check up

2009-02-23T17:30:00.002-07:00

Kayden had his 2 year check up with his Dr today. We were hoping for no shots but you never know if they come up with a new one by the time they go in. Luckily, NO SHOTS!!! He is doing pretty good and growing fast! He is in the 80% for height (i'm not so sure about this one because the paper was quite straight when she measured him and he was moving around.) 75% for weight and of course the big one 95% for his head! He has the "Merrill" head :) Thank you Grandpa Merrill for passing on that gene :) The Dr has double checked the measurement.. but today I saw a note in the chart that the measurement has been double checked so they realize he just has a big head and nothing is really wrong with him. It's quite entertaining to see the nurse and the Dr write it down and then look over at the notes every time.
Overall, he is doing really well, and then only thing he suggested was to have his big sister stop talking for him and let him try to say things for himself... Kailey is sometimes a little too helpful with her brother. But, i'm glad that is all he had to say. He is healthy and growing and that is all we care about! No more Dr visits until he's 3. Yippee!

It's getting warmer...

2009-02-22T21:38:00.007-07:00

It was some what warm outside so I took the kids out and let them run. Kayden got a new bike for his birthday so we let him take it out and try it out on the side walk. He loved it!! We were out for quite a while before he decided he wanted to go in the house. Hopefully the weather starts warming up even more now so we can go outside, the kids both love being out there!

Kayden was running every where! He loves to be outside!
going down the slide over at the park :)
After we got home. He found his blanket and binkie. I came downstairs to see him curled up looking at a book :) So cute! I think he got a little wore out with all the running around!

Happy 2nd Birthday Kayden!!!

2009-02-21T20:42:00.016-07:00

Kayden turned 2 today! He had a great time playing with all of the kids! We had pizza and salad for lunch and then had cake and ice cream afterwards. Kayden got a lot of fun things for his birthday and eventually started to like opening his presents. Thank you to everyone who came and helped us celebrate Kayden's birthday. We had a great time! Happy 2nd Birthday Kayden!!!

Kayden with Daddy.. waiting for everyone to come to the party
Kayden's yummy cute cake
Aunt Allissa, Garrett, Grandpa and Grandma eating some pizza
Me, Aunt Leslie, and Aunt Allissa
Mike, Mona and Bruce just finishing up eating....Garrett and Kayden... getting ready to open presents
Daddy helping Kayden open some presents
opening some more presents...
and more presents...
Garrett and Kayden playing with the new toys
Kayden got really shy when everyone started singing "Happy Birthday" to him... he needed some help to blow out the candle :)
Kayden on his new ride
Kaige playing with the race track. He loved it!
Kayden watching Kaige and eating some cookies
Fun, fun birthday! Thanks again for everyone coming to help us celebrate with Kayden!

Fun Weekend!

2009-02-15T12:34:00.008-07:00

I have my 2 nephews here this weekend with us while my sister and her husband are back at the Daytona race.. (so jealous!). Anyways... We are having a great time! Colton and Kailey have kept busy playing the Wii, watching movies and playing on the computer. Kayden and Garrett have been busying playing with everything else :) They are very busy little boys! They have their own little language and it's very funny to listen to them. One will say something and the other will just laugh. Who knows what they're saying... they are probably planning how to break into the pantry to get the cookies or trying to find the M&M's while everyone is sleeping. They have been super good kids this weekend!

My little monkey...

Garrett falling asleep after I rocked him... Kayden never stays still long enough for me to rock him anymore

The babies after their bath... they are little climbers

Colton being crazy for the camera
Garrett trying to wrestle Colton

Kailey isn't in any of the pictures because she was behind the camera :) I'll have to get some of her later

Kailey's class Valentine's Party

2009-02-13T22:29:00.006-07:00

Today was Kailey's class Valentines party. We had a ton of fun. And, I actually think this is the most volunteers i've had help me with the parties! We played Valentine bingo, valentine memory, decorated cookies, and then we decorated heart magnits. The kids seemed to really have fun and so did the parents that came to help. Happy Valentines Day!!!

only 2 more weeks...:(

2009-02-05T19:54:00.002-07:00

This day has snuck up on me way too fast! My baby is going to be 2 in just a few weeks! I was looking back through his baby pictures and can't believe how fast time has gone! I wish somedays that it could just go by a little slower... I can't believe it's already been almost 2 years!!!

My little helper!

2009-01-31T10:49:00.003-07:00

Kailey has always loved to clean, well everything except for her room :) She loves to help around the house and will do pretty much anything I ask. I give her something to do from time to time and she never complains just asks what else can I do. I like to do things myself and really hate to ask for help... but Kailey is very persitant! So, yesterday I was working from home and Kailey got out of school early. She was bored and again wanted to help. She cleaned the living room for me :) She cleaned up all of Kayden's toys and vacuumed for the first time. She did great and I loved the help! Good job Kailey and thanks for all of your help! You're the best!!!

Kayden

2009-01-28T18:42:00.003-07:00

It looks like it's bee a while since i've updated so I thought I would take some pictures of Kayden (Kailey is at Girl Scouts so I will have to catch her later). He just got out of the tub and is all nice and clean... this is also about the only time his hair will actually lay down. He has what we call "Corey Hair".

COOKIES

2009-01-26T12:10:00.001-07:00

This is the last week of Girl Scout cookie sales, if you would like any please let me know ASAP.

Thanks!