First cousins, once removed?

Luke is always trying to explain to me how cousins, first cousins and removed cousins work. But everytime he explains it, it is different. Or I remember it wrong. I will just explain it the easy way: below are pictures of Noah and Grandma Michelle's brother's daughter, Emily. I guess that makes them first cousins once removed in Luke's world. I thought these were just the cutest pictures of Emily and Noah and I had to share them!

Coming to see Garret

One of the things I really love about the Merkley/Deters extended family is their incredible support for one another. They are always there for eachother and Garret coming home was no exception. The Thursday after he came home we gathered for Garret to give us a personal mission report and to visit with one another. It was a great experience to hear about Russia and the mission work there, straight from the missionary's mouth...




Aren't they a handsome bunch of boys... I mean men. I'm partial to the one in the Mountain Dew t-shirt. Nice outfit choice, honey. I bought that shirt for him last year at the first Pepsi soda shop in North Carolina.

Elder Merkley is home!

We have been waiting patiently for over two years for Garret to come home! He has served the people in Russia and we are so proud of him.

Welcome Home Garret!

Greeting the rest of the family...

And meeting the new family members. We are so excited for Noah to get to know his Uncle Garret. Garret is such an amazing guy and we know that they will have a great relationship! We are happy to have you home, Garret!

More Mother's Day Fun

Mimi and Hayden having a hug!

Noah and Uncle Brent!

Taytum loves her little boy cousins.

Finally, a shot with Brock, too! You can tell he is checking the sidelines and trying to figure out how to escape.

Noah is in to pulling crazy faces lately. I'm not sure how he knew exactly what one Taytum was pulling at the time!

A Happy First Mother's Day!

It was my very first Mother's Day this year and Luke kept on teasing me that he didn't think Mother's Day was that big of a deal and why should he bother getting me a present? By Friday night, he had me so convinced, I just knew that he wasn't going to get anything to mark this special occasion and the flower I got a church was going to be my big Mother's Day! Well, he surprised me Saturday afternoon with my favorite flower and a monkey that he had made at Build a Bear. The monkey is to remind me of my little monkey, Noah. We call him that because he is always trying to climb everywhere!

So, I ended up having a great first Mother's Day. We went to church that morning and the men took care of all the moms with not only the pansies but a chocolate bar too! Then we came home and made a big lunch for my mom, myself, and my sister and sister-in-law. It was yummy and we had a great Mother's Day together!

I love being a mom and it was fun to celebrate being the mother of Noah. He is so much fun and brings a smile to my face hourly if not more. He is so funny! He is getting so big and time is flying. I can't believe our first year together is almost over!