the rooster and the tiger

I've mentioned before how much Noah loves his animals. These are a couple of things that he has been doing lately. P.S. I am sure it is better in person.

The Rooster
Noah will lay down on the nearest couch/chair/bed and say, "Night, night." He stays there, eyes open, for about 3 seconds. Then, he crows like a rooster. His eyes light up and he sits straight up and says, "Good morning, Momma!" So funny.

The Tiger
Noah has started to sneak up on us and growl. When you ask him what he is doing he says "Tiger." We have also been teaching him his name. Most of the time he say, "Name is Noah." or "Name is Noah Merkley." But lately it has been, "Name is Tiger. RAARRRRGH!"

Thankful for family, new and old!

The blog has been hijacked several times to report deer stories, and that's okay! I actually love when Luke contributes to our family journal. But now I have some reporting to do as well.

My sister, Melanie has been working for two years to add children to her family through adoption. This past summer, she and her husband and two boys welcomed two children into their home. Tag is four and Kate is six. This past week they were able to make it legally official and make Tag and Kate... Cottens for good! Better yet, later on this year, they are able to make it eternally official by sealing the children to them in the Temple. I am so excited for this event and so happy to be going!

I had the opportunity to meet Kate and Tag in September. I am so excited to have them as family. They are the cutest kids and are such a perfect fit for Melanie, BC, Dylan and Tucker.

Kate and Tag, welcome to our family! We love you!

My second Utah buck!

Well, I got out early on Saturday morning. I didn't even have to hike to get this deer. He basically just stood there and let me hit him. Don't ask for the honey hole.....well, ok, I'll give it to ya...but I better not be seeing anyone else trying to encroach on my sweet spot. I took this sweet buck at I-80 east bound right before the Jeremy Ranch Exit.......ok, now that I told ya....no squatters on my area! Here is a pic.

I was driving down I-80 when I saw this deer lying dead, on the side of the road. I noticed it was a buck and you could see his antlers. I thought it was too bad, he's a decent buck. well as I got closer he jumped up and just using his front legs kinda ran/slid into my vehicle. I thought it was crazy especially since I had originally thought the buck was dead. Anyway, he still wasn't dead when I got out to check on him....I didn't have a gun so I called highway patrol and they came out. The trooper pulled out his shotgun with a slug in it and finished it off....right there on the side of the freeway. How many times do you get to see that? So, I asked the trooper to take a picture with me and the deer. Obviously he complied. He's a dandy buck, typical 4x4 with 2" eye guards and a 1 1/2" cheater on the left side. The trooper was quick to inform me that the DWR would have to be notified immediately and that they wouldn't let me keep the head. As Megan drove by the deer later in the day, she had noticed that they had already cut off the head. Anyway, it was a very interesting morning!

Finally some hunting success!

Well, I finally closed the deal on a decent buck today while hunting the extended. Hopefully the elk will soon follow.

I spotted this buck from about 100 yards today, bedded down under some oak brush at around 11:30. I checked the wind....made my way up and around behind this buck. I snuck up to 30 yards and whistled to get the buck to stand up....he did, I made my move and the rest is history. I only had about a 20 inch hole to shoot through, because he stood up in the trees and the branches were over hung because of the snow. I smacked him in the front shoulder and the arrow went straight in, tore through the lung, clipped the top of the heart and hit the other shoulder. The buck took off, running hard for about 50 yards and then toppled over. He's only 22" from outside to outside...but I'm happy with him none-the-less. It was an awesome hunt and I was glad to have shared it with a friend.

o.l.d.

It's official. I am old. I am no longer the spry young thing I once was.

Luke and I have stayed up just past midnight three nights in a row and it made yesterday miserable! All for a couple of movies that were dumb. What?!?! I used to be able to stay up 'til 3 am for a week and feel fine! Well, maybe that was because I didn't have a 2 year old waking me up at 6:30. 6:30! That has been Noah's new time to get out of bed since daylight savings. That is terribly early, don't you think?

Yesterday morning Noah was up early as usual and I was pretending that it wasn't that early and that he would behave himself. Well, Noah also has a little habit of closing doors behind him when he leaves a room. So after being awake for about a half an hour he comes in to our room and tells me that Emma is crying. It sounds more like "Emma trying, Momma. Emma trying!" In my three day sleep deprived stupor and opened the door to the kid's room. Ohhh No! Emma was still sleeping. Noah ran past me, grabbed his school bus and said, "Ahoo! My bus!" And ran out. Crafty little guy; telling me Emma was crying so I would open the door. Blech, now both kids are awake and I have only slept 5 hours. Not good.

This is pretty much how my day went on and on. It was a long day. All because I am getting old. At 7:30 I decided to get the kids dressed in jammies. 7:35... I thought, "Perfect. Three books and 4 songs and it will be 8. Time for bed!" Books, songs and prayes later, I tucked the little ones in, gave them kisses and walked to my room. Only to find out it was 7:40. Nice. Needless to say, they stayed in bed! I heard barely a peep from their room. I went to bed at ten (marvelous!) and did not wake up until about 5:30 when Emma started crying. I went in and found BOTH of my children in Emma's crib! Noah has climbed in before, but never has he stayed! He has always asked to get out. And he was still asleep-ish when I got Emma, so I know he had been there since bedtime. Oh bother. At least they both fell back asleep and slept until 8:15.

That totals about nine hours of sleep for me. The joys of being old. Ahh, sweet rest.

Happy Birthday, darling girl!

I cannot believe how quickly the last year has gone by! Our little Emma turned one on October 30! And what a fun day it was. She asked for a spooky costume party and of course, we conceded! We had grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins over some food and fun. Emma, along with one of her little cousins, was a pig for Halloween. She was the cutest little piggie I have ever seen!

Getting ready to blow out her candle. She almost got it!

Piggie Scout, Wolfey Sawyer and Piggie Emma. P.S. Yes I did make the costumes, yes... you can pay me to make some for you too! :)

Loving the chocolate cake!

Our family: Daddy: the nerdy professor, Noah: the tiger, Emma: the pig and Mom the lady with a lei. Original, isn't it?

Emma is such a light in our lives. She is so happy and ready to go, go, go all the time. Emma and Noah are developing the cutest little friendship and I love to watch them play and take care of eachother. It is absolutely the best when they make eachother giggle over some inside joke, and of course, they don't tell me what it is!

Emma is still a tiny little mite. She weighs about 19 pounds and is about 28 inches tall. I will have to get some precise measurements. She is ready to walk any minute now! She will walk from person to person or furniture to furniture, etc. and looks like as soon as she is walking she will be running! She has never been one to sit idly by; she tries so hard to keep up with Noah and succeeds most of the time.

Now for a quick word on her birth (I think I warned y'all at Noah's b-day). I was put on bedrest with Emma because I had a low and unsafe amount of amniotic fluid when I was pregnant. I was monitored weekly until they felt that it was safe enough for Emma to be induced. Obviously, I was induced on October 30, 2008. I sent Luke a text message that said, "Wanna have a baby today." He just replied, "Sure." The time was here. I checked into St. Marks hospital around noon and they started me on the pitocin drip and IV. The nurse informed me that I would receive another dose of an antibiotic after four hours of labor. Without trying to be too knowing, I told her that we wouldn't be here in four hours. She chuckled and said, "They all say that." I said, "I know, but my first labor was only two and a half hours and I am already dilated to a 4." She chuckled again and said, "I'm sure it won't always be that quick for you. You will get your second dose after four hours of labor." Well they decided that I wasn't progressing quickly and decided to break my water. They broke my water at 3:00 p.m. I was feeling some pretty intense contractions, but the nurse wasn't picking them up on the monitor so she didn't think I was really progressing. She increased the pitocin drip and readjusted the monitors to find that I really was having contractions. Don't you love it when they think you don't know you are in labor!?!

Okay, short story long... About 4 o'clock I was told that I was dilated to about a five and that it was going to take quite a bit longer. I asked to go to the bathroom and after I went I couldn't leave the bathroom because the contractions were coming so fast. I hollered for Luke and he held me up while we waited for the nurse. She came in to help us get me back to the bed. I told her that the contractions were very fast and intense and she ordered some Fentanyl to put in the IV. We walked back to the room and I went to lay down except the bed broke! It was stuck in a right angle position. The nurse called for two aides to swap out the beds meanwhile I am really trying to not push so the baby didn't fall our on her head!! Luke and the nurse held me up through a couple of more contractions and the nurse called for my doctor. The bed got swapped out and the doctor came to examine me. She informed me that I was ready to push. I knew that! I had been trying to not push for quite some time! The nurse looked flabbergasted and cancelled the Fentanyl. Three pushes later our little Emma entered the world at 4:29 p.m. Hello! Yup, an hour and a half and I was done. And as it turns out, all things said and done, I really liked the nurse. She was patient with me and encouraged me to continue with natural childbirth when I started to waver (which I only did because I was told I was only a five... but 10 minutes later a 10!).

The doctor placed our little precious Emma on my chest and I fell in love instantly. I was really in a state of denial until I had her. I was mentally ready for two babies, but all of that changed when I saw her tiny beautiful face! Emma was not as tiny as she looked to me, she weighed 7 lbs. 6 oz. and was 19 inches long.

We love this little girl so much and thank our Heavenly Father daily for the blessing she has been in our lives.

Noah's First Prayer

We say prayers as a family every night and I have just been waiting for Noah to pick up

on the drill and say a prayer by himself. Well, he did on Monday night. And it was sweet,

short, and to the point! It went a little something like this...

"Mimi, Papa, Amen."

Guess we know who is really important to him!

Noah's Update

Hello friends and family,

We are happy to report that we were able to bring Noah home yesterday. We have actually stayed in Bountiful to be closer to the hospital in case anything happens and we will be here for a couple more days.

So now, for the results. Well, based on a blood test, the Dr.'s found the Noah's blood infects other 'clean' blood, so the thought is that he had a virus. This particular virus prevented Noah's blood from clotting correctly and therefore, caused seizures. There are so many viruses in the world that they can't test for all of them, only six. So that is that. Noah is on anti-seizure medication for the time being and he will be continually monitored by his pediatrician and neurologist and hopefully will be able to go off the meds within a few weeks.

Now a quick word about Noah's seizures. I am telling you all of this so that you know one if you see one, as several nurses and doctors in the ER on Saturday night did not recognize them as such... The seizures that Noah had were not the typical jerking limbs and eyes rolled back in your head that most people imagine when you hear the word seizure. Noah's eyes would look straight up and fixate on something toward the ceiling. His fists would clench and he would be completely unresponsive to any stimulation, including his Granpda shouting his name. He would then go into a very drowsy sleepy state and would still not respond to his name, light in his eyes, etc. Then, as he was coming out of the seizure, he would get very upset and start crying and or screaming. He would have times of delirious laughter and start pointing to things he was seeing in the air and then it would start all over again. This is just a brief description... I just want everyone to be aware that this type of behavior is in fact a seizure just in case it ever happens to you.

It has been a scary and heartbreaking few days and I am so glad to report that there isn't anything serious to report. I would like to let you all know how much we appreciate the well wishes, the emails, telephone calls, the help, prayers and thoughts. We could not have survived this week without our loving family and friends. Thanks to Steve and Michelle for rushing us to the hospital twice! For helping with our darling Emma... Steve and Michelle, the Kent family, Grandma and Grandpa Deters. For helping make sure we didn't go hungry... my sister, Michelle, my brother, Brandon, and Dianna. And thanks for visiting Noah even though he didn't know you were there... Grandpa and Grandma, Mimi, Nana, Uncle Brent and Aunt Julia, Aunt Michelle, Uncle Brandon and Aunt Julie, Aunt Rondi, Aunt Chelsie and Uncle Blair.

A huge thank you goes to the hospital doctors, nurses and techs that worked endlessly to try to figure this one out... Jodi (who spotted the seizure right away and didn't hesitate 1 millisecond before grabbing the doctor), Dr. McDonnell, Dr. Sweeney, Dr. White and Tina, Stacey, Kelli, Sendiea, Westi, Steve, Tim, Lisa, Paula, Ramon, Madison, Dr. Lloyd, Dr. Cramer, Dr. Brogli, and several more neurologists, doctors, nurses, techs and blood takers who I can't remember their names... Thanks for not giving up on us and for answering our endless questions. We hope to never see you again!

Back to the ER

Last week we took Emma to the ER for cuts in her mouth and we are back with Noah. We have had a busy weekend and it has been physically and emotionally exhausting. I am sitting next to Noah in a hospital bed at Primary Children's and I am hoping that this is the last night that we spend here.

We brought Noah in on Saturday night because he was having possible seizures and was acting really confused and disoriented. we felt that maybe he couldn't see. Well, Saturday night proved to be just frustrating. By about 1:30 am, Noah was acting fine and so we went home. Sunday morning he was acting confused and having 'episodes' again. The ER docs and nurses were wonderful and recognized the episodes as seizures immediately.

Long story short... Noah has had many tests and we still don't know EXACTLY what the problem is. We would appreciate all your prayers. If you have any questions you can call us at 801-750-6375. We'll keep you all updated.

What do kids imagine when they play?

Hmmm. I really wonder what was going on in Noah's imagination when he set up this little scene.

The bus driver and student are safely guarding the zebra and stopping any possible traffic. Meanwhile the dinosaur climbs aboard the bus. Is he looking for a ride or is he attacking? The elephant and turtle in the bus are upside down... hiding?

I think I will add screenwriter to Noah's list of possible careers.

More from Chicks and Kids Weekend!

It wasn't just chaos from our weekend away, it was fun! We started out on Thursday and headed to our getaway in Washington/St. George area. We stayed at an awesome home that had a pool and a playground right across the street. And trust me, with 12 kids in tow, we didn't go anywhere else but the grocery store. Between naps and meals, we swam, took walks, played at the park and watched movies. It wasn't much of a 'vacation' but I so happy to have the memories from our trip and to have met my sister's new kids. We are so happy to have Kate and Tag as members of our family. And, I am so glad that we are all able to go and get the kids together for the first time and maybe the only time this year. Here are some more pictures of our fun...

Mealtimes were crazy!

5 of the 12 enjoying a movie with Aunt Claudia.

A different 5 of the 12 kids enjoying a story with Aunt Julia.

Noah relaxing in the hot tub... I swear I did not pose him this way.

The four middle boys... Hayden, Noah, Tag and Brock.

The big girls... Kate and Taytum

When Kate walked in she said, "Hi, I'm Kate. Nice to meet you. Can I share my dolls with these babies?" Then she gave Emma a puppet and Scoutie a Raggedy Ann, snuggled up to me and I said, "Somebody take our picture!!"

Mimi with her 12 grandkids!

What do you get with...

7 women

1 nine year old

2 seven year olds

1 six year old

1 four year old

1 three year old

2 two year olds

1 one year old and

3 babies???

Chaos!!

Thanks for the fun, fun weekend, family!

Back row: Noah, Brock, Tag, Hayden

Big kids: Kate, Dylan, Tucker, Taytum

Babies in front: Emma, Scout, Sawyer, Mia

I almost forgot!!!

A couple more things I wanted to remember about my darlings...

Emma is a darling, but when she is not, she really is not! When she is hungry she has taken to screaming between bites. It is helpful with eating that Emma has just cut her 7th tooth. She has a mouthful of teeth now! They are such cute little teeth and it looks like she will have a little gap like Daddy! She also does her very best to help me help her get dressed and undressed. Like I said before... she tries so hard to keep up with her big brother... down to zooming around matchbox cars. No baby dolls for this little one! She also has a fondness for a couple of teddy bears. Just one more thing that reminds me of my sister, Melanie.

Noah decided to give a hoot about what he wears. Um, what? I thought that was only girls! This morning, I put him in shorts because we were going fishing and I thought that he might want to wade in the water. But, no! It was, "Pants! Pants, Momma! PANTS!!" followed by several tears until I took the shorts off and put on his jeans. P.S. He did wade in the water and soaked the PANTS!! Tonight when I was putting on his pj's he saw a shirt of his that has little monsters on it and we repeated the whole pants episode except it was, "MONSTERS! MONSTERS, MOMMA!" So, I put on the monsters shirt, we said prayers, he crawled into his bed, looked at me and said, "Bye." Aaaahh, kids.

I love my cuties.

I just wanted to write a few things down before I forget them!!!

Noah is growing and changing and LEARNING so fast I can't keep up with him. His vocabulary is growing daily and he impresses me every day. It is so fun to watch him pick up on things. Just this afternoon we were reading a Numbers book and he started counting the items with me, which he has never done. He counted all the way to ten! I had no idea he could do that!

We love, love, love to sing in our house (and in the car). Probably not a surprise if you know Luke. Someone is always singing. The last few weeks, Noah has started singing with us. His favorite songs to sing are: The Wheels on the Bus, The Ants Go Marching, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, I am Like a Star and.... I am a Child of God. Oh my goodness, did my heart just melt when he sang I am a Child of God with me on Wednesday night! I almost started crying. He is such a sweet boy. And, he loves music.

Our dear little Emma is just that. Little! She is such a petite little thing, still! In fact, she is about the 10th percentile in weight and 50th percentile in weight and height. She moves so fast now and the doctor is certain she will walk by her birthday. She is walking along furniture, and pulling herself up to standing so fast. She is starting to let go of things once she is standing as well. What a smartie pants! She is also SLEEPING! Yes!! Love this about the girl. She is sleeping through(most) nights.

Emma does not show much interest in reading stories and hasn't shown much interest in music yet, either. But, we keep working on these things and she has started shakin' her booty lately. I love to watch my kids dance. I think it is so hilarious! Emma loves to play with her big brother and tries to keep up the best she can.

Luke and I are plugging away at life and best of all... Luke starts POST (the Police Academy) on Tuesday. We finally came to the decision that the best way for him to get a career in Law Enforcement was to put him through ourselves. We found a govt. grant that is paying for most of it (phew!). So it is great that this step towards a great career for Luke is almost here! I am very excited for him.

So that's it for now. Our computer got another virus, yes again, so no pictures for now. But I have some cuties to share with y'all once we get the ext. hd back.

Summer Tidbits

We have had a super fun summer and I have gotten really behind on blogging. I get really frustrated because our computer+the super slow wireless internet signal=slow uploading of photos. But here are a few of our summer adventures.

We spent a weekend in Duchesne with friends in June. Noah loves the 4-wheelers. Can't get enough... even when they aren't moving. We didn't have a boat at starvation but spent an afternoon playing in the water anyway. Luke, Steve and Claudia went fishing and caught some fish that Steve breaded and fried. They were yummy!

These pictures are from Echo Res. We went on a walk for our FHE. It was a little chilly but still a great time. We love it at Echo and in Coalville. Maybe we can move there someday!

Noah's 2nd Birthday!

Our little boy is two!! I can't believe how the time has flown. Noah is such a joy in our lives and I am so grateful to have such a funny little boy. We have definitely entered the two year old phase of life. Lots of tears and upset when he doesn't get what he wants, but he still melts my heart. Here are a couple of pictures of his birthday dinner.

I am not sure if I have ever written down the story of the day Noah was born so I thought I would take the time.

Noah was born on a Friday afternoon. I had my 38 week checkup that morning and the doctor exclaimed, "Megan, you are dilated to a 5 and a half and 80% effaced. How are you still pregnant?" I told her I felt fine. She replied that she was worried that I wouldn't make it to the hospital when I did go into labor and then said, "How do you feel about having a baby today?" To which we replied, FINALLY!

We were told to go home and get our hospital bags and check in. She would phone ahead and let them know that I was coming and they would get me started. Okay. So we went home, I had a little bowl of cereal, and did the dishes. Very surreal thinking, I am having a baby (hopefully) today. We left for the hospital around 11 and got checked in. To be honest, the admissions process was a little lengthy and I don't know how I would have felt if they would have made me go through that in the throes of labor.

We got assigned to a room with a tub so I could relax and then I was hooked up to all the monitors and machinery. Then, I was started on my IV and Pitocin. I hadn't realized that I had to have Pitocin to have the baby. I was hoping they would just break my water or strip my membranes. Not so. I was put on Pitocin about 1:30 I think. Not much happened for awhile. My mom arrived and Luke was filming me while I listening to my relaxation messages. Time went by and I had only one wavering moment of pain. My wonderful doctor arrived and checked me and broke my water about 3:00 pm. She gave me the go ahead to get in the tub for a bit. About 30 seconds later, she changed her mind and said it was time to have a baby. So much for demanding the room with the tub!

At this point, it is just the Dr., Luke and my mom. The nurses all got very preoccupied with a set of twins that were breach and needed attention. My mom and Luke were great coaches. I had to be put on oxygen because I wasn't breathing deep enough, I guess. In Hypnobirthing, the mother 'breathes' the baby down as opposed to 'purple faced pushing' so this last phase of labor took awhile (relatively speaking). Towards the end, a nurse named Candy came in and really started to football coach me. It was annoying. Anyway, our boy was just not budging. I had to start really pushing hard and he was not coming out. The Dr. started to get really nervous because she lost his heartbeat.

I heard the Dr. tell the nurse to prepare the forceps and vacuum and then I really started pushing. It didn't work. The baby's head was just too big. So, my dear Dr. gave me an episiotomy without telling me first. Ouch! That was truly the most painful part of the natural labor, I promise.

Our dear little boy was born about 30 seconds later at 5:28 pm. Whew! It was a fast and furious 2.5 hours of labor. I was so grateful that we didn't have to use the vacuum. After weighing and measuring all the hospital staff left and we had hours of bonding time with our little boy. We named our baby Noah Saturday night. It was an exhausting and wonderful day all wrapped into one.

Noah, we love you and are so glad that we have you as our firstborn!

I finally have time to sit down and take the time to let all two of my readers know how we are and post some pictures of our June and July pictures! I have nearly 1000 pictures on my picture card and anymore and I will never find the time to post them. Yay! Oh, but wait, where is that card reader??? Can't find it anywhere! The pictures will have to wait...

And then there is the little problem of slamming three of my fingers in the car door this morning and one of them being totally inoperable. It's swelling up and the bruises are starting to show. Typing is getting painful. So, to the two readers I have, I'm sorry. Give me a little more time and you'll get your update. Miss you all!

"Let me 'splain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up."

Well, here is the story. Luke has a new job that requires him to take our laptop to work. Well, unfortunately, the best time for me to blog it up is naptime... also known as the new happy hour. Since I don't have the computer during happy hour, blogging is really not on the priority list at night.

So, I'll get back to it in a little bit. Love y'all!!

Luke's Third Oil Painting

Well, I finished another painting. Here it is for all to see and critique. I've still got a lot to learn. I would like to take some classes and actually learn technique because they never look exactly like the pictures I copy them from.....BUT....considering this is only my third and I am such a beginner, it will have to do for now! Here are the first two for your critique as well (also so I can have them all together when I print them out in the book).

Thanks all for lookin!

Welcome, Sawyer!

Donald Sawyer Ervin

Congratulations to my little brother Brandon and his wife Julie Marie! Sawyer was born on May 19, 2009 around 8 o'clock in the morning. It was a long labor for Julie and I am so proud of her! He is a handsome little tank... weighing in at 9 lbs. 3 oz.! Mimi keeps telling everyone that he is big enough that he is going to be ready to arm wrestle Noah by the end of the week!

Best Buds

Hayden and Noah are fast becoming best buds. The only problem is that they are getting to the age that everything is 'mine' and they want the same toys at the same time. The other night, they both wanted to ride the bike at Mimi's house. So Brent came up with a compromise... Noah towed Hayden in the wagon! It was so hilarious. They needed a little help getting to the top of the driveway because of the slope but it was all Noah coming back down!

Springtime at Temple Square

We went to Temple Square last week and I forgot to post pictures! The flowers were so beautiful and smelled so great!

we are still here...

We have been so busy lately and it has been great! I would rather stay busy than sit around twittling my thumbs. Between babies being born, wedding and baby showers, weddings, graduations, and waiting for babies to be born, and SPRING CLEANING! we are just busy all the time!

Luke has taken a position with City 1st Mortgage Services. This is a totally new path for him and he has really enjoyed it so far. He is available to talk to ANYONE who is interested in a new mortgage or a refinance. Apparently the rates are great for refinances right now... so give him a call and get pre-qualified!! 801-750-6375. Seriously, you should call. I won't mind if you stop reading this blog to call him.

I have just been busy raising my beautiful children. Someone asked me what I was going to do now that I have finished school and all I could say was, "Um. Keep raising my kids." It's where I want to be and what I want to do! And I love it. I may work again, someday, but not for now.

Noah is my gentle giant. He is such a sweetie and is so tenderhearted. He loves his little sister and gives kisses freely. He is transitioning to a big boy bed and expanding his vocabulary daily. We have finally, finally, finally gotten him to say 'please.' It comes out with a little hand twirl thing in a 'pweese?' Very cute. He is also getting a little (and might I emphasize little) interested in potty business. Meaning that he can now tell me that he has poopoo-ed. I know, you are wishing you had called Luke instead of reading this, but this is for my own journaling sake so cut me a break when I talk about poopoos.

Emma is my 13 going on 30. Or she will be! She will not stop moving and it scares me daily. She is now up on all fours, rocking back and forth getting ready to crawl. (P.S. Noah did not crawl until he was almost a year?!?! He was army crawling about 9 months and really crawling around his birthday). Emma has been rolling over for months, and is now sitting up on her own for about a week. She loves, loves, loves mealtimes because we all sit around the table together and she eats cereal and fruit or veggies. And she loves the prunes. Okay!

So now we are just plugging along and planning a packed summer. We are visiting my sister in Arizona (Kristin, Sarah and Marilyn... when we decide dates I will let you know and hopefully I can see you all :)), planning a million camping trips that will probably not all happen, planning our annual trip to Jackson, a farm trip or two, or three and who knows what else! It's sure to be fun so stay posted.

P.P.S. if you follow my recipe blog, sorry I have been on Sabbatical. I am gearing up to begin again and I have great things to post. If you don't, you should, right after you call Luke. haha

Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Merkley

Congratulations to Garret and Jocelyn!

They were married on Saturday morning at the Bountiful Temple. It was such a great weekend and I have so many pictures to post. So this is just a teaser... I think I will put everything up on facebook!

Ten Years in the Making

Just ten years shy of when we both graduated from high school, Luke and I thought it would be a good idea to graduate from college. And what a good feeling it is! Luke received his BS in Criminal Justice and I received my BS in Business Marketing. We are very proud of one another (and of ourselves)!

I want to thank everyone that came to graduation and supported us and joined us for lunch afterward. Thanks for braving the rain!!

Hopefully I can borrow a picture of us in our caps. I don't know if I'll be able to get Luke to put his back on ;).

Easter Eggs

Luke told me last night that it has been too long since I blogged. Hmmm. Well, I guess it is time for an update. Or a few updates... We have just been busy I guess, so there is much to share.

We had a great Easter and started some traditions with the kids... although Noah really was the only one to participate this year since Emma is still really little.

The Saturday before Easter we dyed Easter eggs and Noah loved it! He loved it so much that we actually ran to the store and bought more eggs for him to dye. We had a ton of hard boiled eggs! That afternoon we went to an Easter Egg hunt a Grandma Caroline's. Hunting for eggs was a new concept for him, but after awhile he got the hang of it. It was a wonderful evening to be with family!

Welcome, Baby Scout!

This post is way overdue. Last week, we welcomed another little girl into our family last week.

Welcome, Miss Sara Scout!

She is a precious, beautiful little thing! How quickly I have forgotten how tiny they are! Emma looks like she is ready to start kindergarten next to the baby.

While Brent and Julia were in the hospital, Hayden came to stay with us. Noah was a little confused at first, but it ended up being really fun to have both boys. Here are some pics of our very busy weekend.