Merrill Family

Monday, July 25, 2011

1st Annual Winston and Irma Pember Reunion!!!

 What a wonderful time we had together!


As soon as people arrived on Friday Evening, we headed off to Fools Hollow Lake for a picnic, swimming and fishing.  The boys were allowed to bring a couple of friends.  Jon's friend, Mckenzie was a big help with Caroline.  He can bring her anytime!   She watched her for me while we scanned the area and talked to the police about Aunt Satya's purse.  Some teenagers stole it and went joy riding around Showlow.
Sorry Aunt Satya
Playing at the Lake was a fun way to start off.......
Sage and Jon swam all the way across the lake and back, at least a 1000 yards! Wow!!!!
Sage was the winner!!!!  Uncle Loren came to her rescue while fishing and gave her a floatation device on her way back.  She was not about to give up.
The next morning:

The PIONEER DAY PARADE!!


 As soon as the parade was over, we ran over to the dunk tank.....
Charlotte even had to take her turn, braver than me!
(They made a good amount of money from all our family.)
 All of our wet "Dunk Tank Super Heroes" along with the teenagers, the teachers and the cops.

              The Slip and Slide was a favorite!!!






 Fireworks and Taylor Rodeo







Lots of yummy treats!!!!!

Charlotte has more procedures to help her walk.......

Traditional Chocolate Milk.  I always buy my kids chocolate milk to settle their stomach after going under and getting those horrible IV's. The promise of Chocolate milk relaxes their mind too! Gotta love chocolate!
She was fascinated by the speaker on the  remote.
Charlotte has gone through several procedures recently at St. Joseph's Hospital, such as the Lumbar Puncture.  She is a tough girl with a lot of faith.  She is always telling me that Jesus is going to help her walk. Just recently, it broke my heart though, when she asked, "When will Jesus help me walk?"

We went and donated blood as a family, toward Charlotte's Study at the Barrow Institute and even Kalicia was excited and being brave wanting to help Charlotte walk until.......  She saw the needle.  I have never seen her so scared, she kicked and fought the doctor, nurse, Loren and me off of her.  All the while through her tears, saying, "I want to give blood to help Charlotte."  So she wanted to do it.  We didn't want to force her.  She finally got the courage up and held as still as possible, laughing and crying all at the same time, trying to be tough.

Later that same day, we went swimming as a family......  Kalicia started screaming with excitement and cheering Charlotte on, getting all of our attention......   Charlotte was climbing up the ladder of the pool in the deep end, got out,  balanced her self on the edge of the pool without holding on to anything and jumped in!!!!!  Everyone of course cheered and Charlotte was beaming!  Kalicia got even more excited and announced to everyone, "Mommy, Mommy, look..... donating the blood worked! She is doing better!"

After we left the hospital late in the evening.........
 .....we stopped by Aunt Jessyka's house to see her new baby, Elin.
(Charlotte is so excited to have a small baby in our home again!)
And we got to eat some yummy food that Aunt Satya brought over.
(She is always so good at taking care of everyone.)

 Then after a long day, she curled up in Grandpa Merrill's arms.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

What an eventful and memorable week..........

Beautiful Sage was Baptized! She looked just like a princess twirling circles in her dress.
Charlotte, can't stop talking about how she is going to be baptized like Sage and Grandma Merrill is going to make her a "pretty twirly dress" too!


Then..... Aunt Jessyka had her new baby!!!!  
~Elin Sylvia Boyd~
Congrats!!!! What a gorgeous little girl!!!!

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Our Pember Family Camping Trip was a Success, even with all the fires and forest closures.... We found a beautiful spot, among the ashes.....


Family Home Evening at Fools Hollow Lake with our neighbors!

What a fun and exciting weekend!

We celebrated Aunt Judy's Retirement  ~Congratulations!
The girls sell eggs they collect from their chickens and they chose to spend their money at the "Sweet Factory"!
Grandma Merrill gave Caroline a new horse for her birthday.  She has named it Bobbie and sleeps with it every night!
Happy Birthday to our little cousin, Brad.........
We went to a couple swimming Birthday Parties!  The kids loved that!
We got to go see Aunt Kristie's new baby boy, Lance Gary Merrill! ~Congrats!
Charlotte's favorite this weekend became jumping off the diving board........