My new ride and 14 years together...

Merril and I are about to celebrate our 14th anniversary!  Wow!  It's been a blink, such a fun, quick trip but I would do it again in an instant.  Merril and I are so very happy together.  We often sit together and remark that we think we're about the happiest couple we know.  We listen to other couples complain about how their spouse drives them nuts most of the time and we just don't feel that.  Merril and I sync together really well!  I'm not saying we don't disagree, because we do, but we're often right on the same page.

Anyway, for our anniversary, Merril got me a new/old motorcycle.  I had mentioned how much I liked the cafe racer style and so he started looking out for one.  He actually got this from his brother Matt.  It's a 1973 Honda CB350.  It's old and light and exactly what I wanted!  Bigger, faster bikes are so heavy that they can be difficult for me to keep upright if they start to tip.  This is perfect for me!  And for Merril, I got helmet intercoms so we'll be able to talk to each other while we ride!

And while we messed with the bike, Mark played in the front yard in a diaper.  Happy summertime baby!

And the other day we were finishing up some dental appointments and Maxine was getting a cavity filled.  The rest of us found a park to pass the time.  Swings are awesome!

Mark thought so too!

Veyo Pool for Grandma's Birthday...

 When we went to the cabin this year with the Campbells, the weather was too cold for swimming.  So we went for Grandma's birthday.  Everybody loves the pool.

Mikayla had a great time swimming and stealing Mark's tube.

 But he didn't care because he's awesome like that.

Maxine the fish!

Mikayla decided about half way through that she could swim on her own and didn't need assistance.  This resulted in lots of coughing and half drowning.

 Jack is swimming like a pro too!

This last picture isn't from Veyo pool but the splash pad in town.  I only took the one picture while we were there with our friends.

Concept to Company competition...

Merril entered a small business competition put on by Dixie University and Grow Utah.  Prize money allows small businesses to grow their ideas and get the product rolling.  Merril entered with something like 35 other contestants.  After interviews, he and his brother made it to the top 12.  After another round of interviews, they made it to the final 8.  They're #1 on the list.

Merril and his brother, Jared, Ryan Rosenberg and Jared Hummel, have developed a diesel/natural gas hybrid engine controller that protects the engine from overheating, a common problem with this type of engine.  Jared H. and Ryan got too busy and let Merril and his brother run with it.  

The finalists gathered at Dixie University and the kids and I were able to come to the public display.  Darryl Zitting entered and made the top 8 as well!  Investors and others looked at the companies as well.  There were prizes for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and an audience favorite.

The audience favorite was chosen via text in real time.  It was super fun to watch the numbers pop up on the screen as people voted.  Merril and Jared won the audience favorite!!

They didn't end up placing in the competition. They talked with the judges afterwards and 3 of the 8 wanted Merril and Jared to win the whole thing.  In the end, Merril and Jared placed "4th".  There in a prize in 1 year, open to all the finalists, to whomever grows their business the most in that time.  So that's something to look forward to and they talked to lots of great contacts and investors.  The experience was great overall.   

Rrrraaaaarrrrrr dinosaurs!

A dinosaur exhibit came to the Dixie Center and my Mom was kind enough to get me and the 3 older kids tickets.  The dinosaurs were quite large, growled and moved their tales and blinked.  The mouths opened and it was kind of scary, so we decided not to bring Mikayla.  Even Julie thought it was a little creepy.

After the exhibit were bounce houses, crafts, a fossil dig site and dinosaurs you could ride.  Maxine, Jack and Julie all rode a different dinosaur.

It was pretty cool but kind of pricey!  I'm glad my Mom was able to get the tickets because the kids thought it was awesome!

Bikes in Zion...

With summer out now, the kids are home and loving it.  Merril had some work to do up by Zion National Park and took the 3 older kids and their bikes for a ride.  The park has a bus system that allows bikes to be strapped on.  They took their bikes to the top of the park and road/coasted all the way down.

I made sure they had helmets but I stayed home with the little ones because we couldn't figure how to get the bike trailer up to the top of the park.

Merril and I have noticed that we have 2 little families.  Maxine, Jack, and Juliet do a lot of big kid stuff that the little ones don't for now.  We still do a lot of stuff together but sometimes it's just better to divide and conquer.

Loving the lake!

Spring was cool and we've had some crazy weather so we haven't been to the lake hardly at all.  This marks the 2nd time, I think.  We went the Tuesday after Memorial Day and the lake was a ghost town.  We played in the water, still a little chilly, and ate lunch!

Mark is getting so funny about food.  Whatever you got, he wants.  Who doesn't love cold watermelon?

After we got home, Maxine said she felt a little itchy.  Later we found a few swimmer's itch dots on Julie, Mikayla and Maxine.  We haven't had a problem with swimmer's itch for about 3 or 4 years although I see on Facebook that plenty of people get it.  Luckily, we build immunity to it so they're probably good for the year.

And just for something to do, we tried to potty train Mikayla.  Yeah, not really happening.  There were lots of little puddles.  She wakes up dry from naps and can go all night but doesn't do anything about it during the day.  We had her in panties for 4 days and I decided to back off.  When Julie was little, she decided to potty train herself.  We were still potty training Jack and she overheard repeatedly what to do but never had the pressure.  She decided one day to do it and it was a breeze.  I pushed and pushed Maxine and Jack and it took  years, substantially longer.  Julie took Mikayla to the bathroom in the morning and was able to get her to go but I never could.  So we're back to diapers for now.

End of school blur...

A week before school was set to get out, people started throwing up at our house!  Luckily it was fast, a 24-hour bug, and we all felt better after a day.  

Jack got it first, followed by Julie, then Mikayla and me.  Merril didn't feel well and then Maxine.  It was over in 72 hours.  Thankfully, Mark never seemed like his tummy was upset.  He just happily played while the rest of us were bent over a toilet or cleaning up the aftermath.

Then it was back to school for a few more days, a piano recital, and before we knew it, summer was here!  We've got some plans for a couple reunions and possibly heading to Northern California, reading and writing everyday and some trips to the pool and hiking.  I'm going to try and squeeze in some quilt making as well.

Maxine is done with elementary this year!  The next step is the intermediate school.  She's excited and scared.  The hardest transition will be the start time.  She has to be down to the bus at 7:05 a.m.  That's going to be a struggle.  I can see a lot of driving her to school in my future.

Jack: The Soccer Star!

Jack is a good kid.  He tends to roll with whatever's going on.  However, he doesn't keep reminding me of things he'd like to try like the girls do.  Jack mentions something once and if I don't pick up on it, he'll let it drop and I'll forget.  I was determined not to brush him aside again when he mentioned that soccer might be fun.  

It ended up being a fun season, they won more games than they lost.  Jack tended to hop around as the ball came close but he had a good time and made some good shots!

It was fun to watch him play and we had a good time!

Working on our food storage...

This was our Saturday project:

I bought some shelves off Craigslist a while back and finally got them put up.  Maxine helped me organize the food storage and I think it looks pretty fabulous.  I was able to get a better idea of what we still need and what we're running low on.  Loving it!

Merril's 36th birthday!

Merril turned 36 on his birthday this year!  We don't feel old but somehow when I say, "We've been married almost 14 years, have 5 kids, and are 34 and 36 years old," it just sounds old.  

I made a killer toffee caramel cheesecake for Merril's birthday!  Pieces of toffee in the crust, caramel cheesecake, more toffee toppings, drizzled with more caramel and whipped cream!  Wow!  It was amazing!

Happy Birthday Merril!

Family Home Rock Climbing...

For Family Home Evening, we went to an easy rock climb near our house.  It was an easy climb and so the kids had fun!  

Mikayla just meandered.  In her church shoes.  Whatevs.

The only bummer were the weeds growing everywhere that snagged into your socks and poked our feet repeatedly.  Other than that, it was a nice little climb by the river.

Easter 2014...

It was Easter time again!  The Winchester egg hunt was a smash, as always, everyone receiving tons of candy and prizes.

Mikayla was one of 5 kids in her age group.  Last year she only picked up 4 eggs, because she was 1, slow, and didn't really get what was going on.  This year, she killed it, filling her entire bucket.

Jack won this humongous bunny!!  It's about as tall as he is!  Good times!

At our house, there was kind of a lot of yelling as we started out because the older 3 kept trying to steal eggs from the much slower, Mikayla girl.  Ok, not Maxine, she's old enough to hold back when Mikayla is going for an egg. But Jack and Juliet kept smashing Mikayla in order to get an egg that she was making a move towards.  Then Julie tripped outside and landed in the rocks (ouch) and ran inside crying.  We stopped the egg hunt until she calmed down and came back outside.   

Look at her eyeing the other kids as if to say, "Back off buddy, these are mine."

 This year, I decided to try for a little less candy in the buckets and filled plastic eggs with teddy grahams and cheddar bunny crackers.  Everyone said it was way better than candy.  Totally doing it again next year.

Science Fair 2014!

All 3 kids wanted to enter the science fair this year.  Oi.  I'm a huge fan of science experiments and having the kids develop a hypothesis and then try it out.  I just hate putting together boards.  I'm not a scrapbooker and I want the kids to do as much of the board as possible with it still being legible.  We planned ahead and got to work and finished in the afternoon the day before the fair!  I've been known to be up at 10:00 p.m., still taping stuff to the board but not this year!!

Juliet tested whether white or wheat bread molds faster.  (It's white, btw.)  She won 3rd place in her grade!

Maxine tested old-fashioned fire methods and which one works best.  (Flint and steel, rubbing sticks together, etc.)  She won 1st in her grade and it going to district.  She also did the entire board by herself, typing and all!  I just printed the pictures.

Jack tested hot and cold water and which one freezes the fastest.  He taped everything on his board and cut it out.  He won 3rd in his grade!

I'm pleased with all their hard effort and it's nice when they get to win too.

This last picture is Juliet releasing her butterfly that she's raised from a caterpillar.  It was fun.

Walk-a-thon for school...

This year the walk-a-thon at the school was a lot less work because we signed up with a fund-raising company.  I'm not sure if we made more money but it was definitely a lot less work.  I was able to get a shirt for Mikayla and she was able to run laps with the kids.  

Jack ran at the very end of the day and I forgot to snap a picture of him.  He ran the most laps of all my kids and capped out at 35 laps.  Julie ran 22 and Maxine ran 26.  Mikayla even ran 10 laps with her little legs.

Mikayla was kind of in a bad mood because she fell down and bit her tongue at the very start of the day.  Merril ended up picking her up and taking her home for a nap.  Mark napped and hung out in the stroller for the day.

Speaking of Mark, check out the bumbo I found on the side of the freeway.  It was about 15 feet from the road, upside down and kind of under a bush.  I spotted it and pulled over to investigate.  It's in really good shape, with only a little crack on the inside by one of the buckles.  He's been sitting in it a lot!  Wahoo!  They're like $40 but I wasn't going to buy one because he's my last kid and I already got rid of the bumbo we had a long time ago.  Total score!

Mark cut 2 teeth...

Mark is 5 1/2 months old and such a sweetie!  He seemed to be chewing on everything and cut 2 teeth this week.  He wasn't hardly fussy, just seemed intent on chewing something all the time.  

During conference, I snapped a few pics of him on the hardwood floor.  I'm debating on just printing them for a new portrait or trying again outside.

I've been so pleased with him.  He's such an easy-going baby and makes my life easier.  With so many things going on with all the kids, it's wonderful that he just tags along happily.  He keeps cracking me up with so many looks that remind me of my Dad.  I love this little boy!

Jack's 1st Pinewood Derby...

Jack's 1st Pinewood Derby was last night and coincidentally, mine as well.  No brothers and whatnot.  When Merril and Jack got there at 5:30 for weigh in, the track had been doubled booked and our scout troop didn't have one.  Merril remembered a friend of his Dad's who had one and made a call and off he went to get a track.

Jack's car was cute but not very fast.  We were seriously finishing his car moments before he left for weigh in!

Merril and the track were back to the church about a half hour after the derby was supposed to start.  But it all worked out.  I don't know what we would've done if Merril hadn't known someone with an old track.

Autocross 2014...

Merril decided to race in an Autocross event up at the old airport.  He has a Ford Contour SVT that he was fixing up to sell and he wanted to race it.  There was a race course set up and he had 4 runs to try and get his best time.  So he went as fast as he could!  

It was a little cold and windy, so the kids and I ended up sitting in the Tahoe, just outside the fence, by the runway.  They even sat on the roof for a better view.

The kids and I had to sign a waiver to be near the course and then we got these bracelets that said 'Pit Pass.'  I thought they were fun.

(Mine was strapped on upside down so I took the picture and then rotated 180 degrees and now my arm looks a little funny.  Just so you know.)

Merril's 1st run didn't look that fast but he improved as the day continued.  The kids and I stayed for the morning session and then just came home.  It was good times.  :)

Spring Break 2014!

Spring Break arrived and thankfully, no one was sick.  Juliet proposed we create a list of things we wanted to do.  Because of the list, we banged through a lot of fun activities.

In case you can't quite read it, we found Easter dresses for the girls, went on a picnic to a park, roasted marshmallows, played with friends, went rock climbing, made treats, library, got some shoes, went to the pool, and tickled Juliet.  We didn't end up going to Fiesta Fun or planting the garden.  And I didn't really take pictures of much.  But we had a good time.

Mark can roll over...

Mark is just about 4 1/2 months old and has learned to roll from his back to his tummy.  Since I find him on his tummy a lot, I thought it was the perfect time to snap a few shots.  

He cracks me up.

After I'd taken a dozen, I thought I should get him out of his pajamas.  Unfortunately, by then the magic was gone and he was tired of being on his tummy and wouldn't smile anymore.  Now you know how he's dressed when we hang out at the house.  He's such a happy baby.  Yay!  I'm still a little afraid to eat a piece of chocolate or eat a bowl of ice cream.  Dairy and chocolate made Mikayla and Juliet so sad.  It's so wonderful to eat whatever I want and still have a happy baby!  *sigh*  I never thought it would happen again.

A little about me...

I was thinking about writing a journal entry that would share information about me.  I decided to blog it instead because I type so much faster than I write.  So this is about me:

*I love to drive in the rain!  Something about the water washing over the windshield while I'm protected inside with the heater going makes me feel grateful.  When I think about how cold it would've been for pioneers to ride a horse in the rain to get where they needed to go, I feel lucky to be born in this wonderful age!

*I feel the Lord's love through fruit trees and vegetable gardening.  Is that weird?  I feel such gratitude that the Lord would put trees and plants on the Earth that bring forth such bounty.  I'm amazed at how plants grow and produce food.  Love it!

*I'm a procrastinator.  I wish it wasn't the case and I try hard to change but if I have a big project, I tend to put things off.  Especially if it involves calling people to ask them for a favor.

*I love food!  Cheesecake, sushi, orange juice, chicken wings.  All.Good.Things.

*I'm fiercely loyal to my husband.  Outside of church, I avoid men I know from the ward because I don't want to build any sort of chummy relationship with a man that's not Merril.  There's an amazing optometrist in our ward but I won't be seeing him any time soon because I can't be in a dark room with another man so close to my face.  Not gonna happen.

*I love water.  Soda burns my throat and makes me so thirsty!  I don't know how anyone drinks a lot of soda.  It's just not my thing.

*I love traveling!  I haven't been anywhere lately but I yearn to walk the streets in other countries.  I have a goal to visit all 7 continents before I die.  So far I've been Australia, Europe and North America.  I have serious desires to see Egypt, China, Russia, Mayan Central America, Japan, Thailand, well, the list could go on and on.

*I wear a ponytail most days because I don't like the feeling of hair on my face.  Also because I have stuff to do and I don't want my hair in the way.  I wear it down on Sundays and dates.

*I'm a saver, not a spender.  Merril tends to be the spender.  However, we both love getting the best deal possible for what we want.  He just finds a lot of deals.  I mainly spend on things like case lots sales.  ;)  I really dislike paying more than I have to.

*I fell in love with my babies instantly.  From the moment they placed that slimy newborn on my tummy, I felt an overwhelming sensation of joy and love!  I love being a mother.  I'm not saying it's not hard, because it is.  Motherhood has also brought me so much happiness!  Nursing and cuddling my babies is one of the sweetest experiences of my life.

*I feel the Lord guides my life for good.  There are always times when we feel like life is kicking us in the teeth, but no matter what, I can still feel the Lord's love and everything always turns out for the best.  I am grateful for this knowledge!!

Ok, that's good for now.