Our First Christmas Tree

Getting our first Christmas Tree together! A new family tradition, we are planning on getting our tree from Christmas Meadows in the Uintahs the first Saturday after Thanksgiving.

My family hauling out all of their trees.

My sister-in-law, Julia, and I are just trying to stay warm!

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Perry

Congratulations, Chelsie and Blair!

Chelsie and Blair were married in the Salt Lake Temple on September 16, 2007. It was a beautiful day, despite the snow! We spent the morning at the temple and instead of a backyard reception, had a fun time inside. It was crowded, but it was warm. We are happy to have Blair Perry a part of the family.

Fun in the San Diego Sun

It has been awhile since our last post... I couldn't remember my username! But I've finally figured it out and now we can post again!

We went to San Diego for probably the quickest trip I've ever been on. We flew into San Diego on a Wednesday night, caught a session at the beautiful San Diego Temple and went straight to bed. Thursday morning, we got up early and headed to Sea World. We spent the entire day there! It was so much fun... not crowded, perfect weather and lots to see. I think we went to eight Sea World shows. We saw just about everything there was to see. Luke enjoyed feeding the dolphins the most. It was hard to keep him from jumping in the pool with them.

This is me in front of the Clydesdales.

This momma just had a brand new baby. That is one big baby!

Luke and I finally got another tourist to take our picture. We were right by the flamingo pond and the guy was so happy that I matched the flamingos. Okay...
We fed the sealions. They were beggars, for sure. This one got a little impatient with me and kind of coughed in my face. Sealion snot! Yummy.

Luke took this beautiful picture of the temple. It really is beautiful inside and out!

More San Diego Pics

Outside the San Diego temple.

Luke is like a dolphin whisperer. He could always get them close enough to pet. This one looks particularly happy.

Me on the other hand, couldn't even get them close enough to smell. They would take my little fish and swim away as fast as possible. Bummer.

We got to hold and pet starfish, too! It is a strange sensation to have something that looks totally inanimate mold to your hand with it's miniature tentacles. It really was a challenge to keep Luke out of the pools. He almost dove (or fell) right in at this one.

Summer Vacation

The Grand Tetons

We took our annual vacation to the Grand Tetons and Jackson, Wyoming. It seems like we spend a lot of time there, but we love it. It was fun to have almost all of the family there (everyone but the Brandons)! Julie, Tucker, Dylan, Brent, Julia, Luke and I went camping the first night and then headed into Jackson. Melanie and her husband, Brent, joined us and then Michelle, Taytum and Brock came for the rest of the week!

We had fun taking pictures of all the beautiful scenery. We went to see the Bar-J Wranglers and had a pretty good laugh. The park is gorgeous this time of year, and unfortunately, we didn't see much wildlife. We saw just a few chipmunks, deer and a whole lot of antelope. Oh yeah, and our campsite was first inhabited by cows. Yummy.

Merkley Family Pictures

We had our pictures taken this year during the annual Easter vacation in St. George. The red rock background is gorgeous! It was the last chance we had to get everyone in one picture before Garret heads to Samara, Russia next month.

Zach, Garret, Megan, Luke, Steve, Michelle, Rondi, Chelsie and Jesse.

Honeymoonin'

Luke and I went to Jackson Hole for our Honeymoon and had a great time. Just thought I would share a shot from the National Elk Refuge in Jackson, Wyoming. Luke and I took a sleigh ride through the herd and this funny guy from back east took some pictures of us. He asked for our email and sent them to us. It was fun to see all of the young bulls sparring and practicing to impress the ladies come mating season!

At the Temple

It has now been a couple of months since we got married! Now that I have pictures to share, I thought I would post a few. Thanks to everyone who came and supported and a big thank you to all of you who helped us out! We love you!

Luke and Megan walking out of the Temple to greet everybody. We actually had to do it a couple of times 'cause we didn't get it right the first time. The photographer sent us back in!








Here is almost everybody that came to the Temple to see us. I love this picture because everybody is doing something different. I think the photographer asked everyone to hug or kiss the person next to them. The expression on Rondi's face is priceless! My other favorite is Rosemarie not noticing Dale trying to go in for the kill.