Tuffchucks-Я-Us

November and December 2011

2012-01-29T15:44:00.000-08:00

Yet again, time passes faster than we can keep up with.
Oh well.
Here are some pictures from the last couple of months.
We are just having fun!

Happy 2012!
(Please just ignore that we are a month late.)

what do you do at 1 a.m.?

2011-11-03T23:55:00.000-07:00

Talk about the dead bird in the freezer, of course.

Ok, let me explain. It's late. I can't sleep (thank you head cold) and I've been meaning to post this for quite some time.

I have a story to tell. About the dead bird in the freezer.

Rewind a few weeks. No. A month or so. Aaron and I pull into the carport like usual and I open my door to get out. I notice a small gray bird huddled against the wall. It seems scared, but doesn't try to run away. Aaron walks around to my side to see if it's hurt or something and as he gets close, it takes off for the bushes at the end of the driveway. Just as it gets out from under the carport, a hawk comes swooping out of the trees and tries to dive-bomb the poor little guy. Woah! I'd be hiding in the carport too!

Now, back a few weeks. Aaron and the girls go for a walk while I fix dinner. When they get home, Aaron says "Hey, remember our hawk?" (of course he has now become our hawk) "Somebody hit him. He's on the side of the road down by the Farmers." Sad. I'm wondering what happened to our awesome bird and I'm wondering if he pointed it out to the girls and how they reacted?

"Is it a mess?" I ask.
"No. It's beautiful."
Eliza pipes in. "Mom, I couldn't see its eyes though. Is it sleeping?"

My mind is racing. How sad. I want to see it. I've been wondering what kind of hawk it is. Should we leave it on the side of the road? Should we bury it in the backyard with the baby hummingbird that fell out of its nest? Wait. If it's beautiful and not all mangled, maybe we should take it to the life science museum at the college. Otherwise, it's just going to get run over by cars or torn up by dogs. Yes. That's what we should do. Take it to the museum. That means, it has to spend the night at our house.

After discussing our plan and trying to get some expert advice for how to take care of a specimen (with no luck because nobody answered the phones), we grabbed a box, some garbage bags for gloves, and all trooped down to "the bird." Then a really cool thing happened. It was a little eerie to touch the bird at first, but then it was amazing to see something so powerful up close. He was beautiful, and so strong looking. His head just looked...well...royal. His talons were scary! He wasn't huge, but still. I mean, really. Have you ever held a hawk in your hands? It was amazing to see it so up close and personal. Eliza started asking questions that led to conversations about why we should care and the life cycle and more. They wanted to "soft" him (pet him softly) - but only uber quick and with the tip of one finger. They liked looking at his beak and his claws and wished he would open his eyes. (I was a little afraid he would open them - right as I was placing him in the box!)

Then out of nowhere Eliza says "And Mom, when Jesus comes back, the bird will come with him, right?"

Yes, Eliza. When Jesus comes back, the bird will come with him. Along with Nora's balloons that floated up to Jesus when we lost them in the parking lot at the county fair.

Epilogue:

We put the bird in the freezer for the night. (Which, it turns out was the right thing to do if you ever need to collect a specimen.) First thing the next morning, the girls and I took the bird (in a box and a plastic bag for those of you picturing me walking through the halls with a dead bird in my hand and two little girls at my heels) to the man at the museum. He was very appreciative and said it was a beautiful specimen and we did a good thing.
He said it was either a cooper's hawk or a prairie falcon.
We'll have to go back and find out the final verdict.
Nora made sure to tell the bird goodbye before we left and then we spent 45 minutes looking at all the other cool displays - including the saltwater fish tank - in the science building.
Honestly, it was one of the coolest experiences I've had as a mom.
And the other cool thing - every time we go past the place where they found the bird, Nora pipes up and says "Bird here. Bird sleeping. Oh, sad. Sad. Museum." and in her little 1-yr old way, tells the story of our bird all over again.
And Eliza?
Well, her brain keeps working on it too.
Every now and then I get questions like
"Mom, when old people die, do we put them in the freezer?"

Coyote Gulch Part 2

2011-10-17T20:15:00.000-07:00

Mom has had a lot of responsibilities lately, so the girls and I met Grandpa and went to Coyote Gulch. The cousins were there, but I didn't tell the girls. They were so surprised and happy when we yelled down into the canyon and the echo of cousins came back.

I could not have done the hike into the canyon with the girls by myself. Thanks again Grandpa! Nora has not stopped talking about you since we got home.

Coyote Gulch is one of my favorite places of all time. Going back just reminded me of that. We just missed mom and hopefully we can ALL go back soon.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. The trip was awesome!

MOM DID IT!

2011-10-02T20:11:00.000-07:00

After months of preparation, Angela did it! She has now officially a completed a marathon. Not just any old marathon, mind you. The St. George Marathon - ranked in the top 10 in the nation by some running magazine. Okay, I am not sure how to show my excitement, but she did it, and it was a big deal! We are all so proud. Here are some pictures of the accomplishment.

While waiting for Angela, we saw this desert tortoise pass by. We took pictures and waited some more. The Sheriff came and moved him outside the tortoise fence. (No layman can touch a desert tortoise. You have to be specially trained and certified. Otherwise you are in big trouble. All the tortoise rise up against you.)

The girls made signs for Mom and together with Grandma and Grandpa we watched for her to come past mile 23.

Here she comes! (Team Spaz in pink!)

Almost to the finish! There she goes!

All 3 members of Team Spaz finished together.

At the finish line we had a Team Spaz reunion, support group and all, and then let them recover. They all appear to be doing well today. Good thing it is Conference weekend.

So what's next? I suggested the Red Mountain 50K, we'll see though.

The Mountains and Lake Powell

2011-10-02T12:44:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, Angela got asked to play the piano for Allison at church in Panguitch Lake. Of course we had to go up on Saturday and have some fun with friends, and then go to Church on Sunday. It was nice to get out of the heat, and the girls had sooooo much fun.
I wish we had gotten more pictures up there, it was so nice to spend the weekend with friends. Sunday night we had not had enough vacation, so we went to Lake Powell and Monday morning we went to Wahweap and took the tour boat to Rainbow Bridge.

It was pretty hot, so we spent a couple of hours swimming before coming home and back to life. Hopefully it isn't too long to our next break.

Side note and request: we stayed Sunday night at Lone Rock, right at the edge of the water and it was really nice. What was not nice was when we got up in the morning, Angela flipped the sand off her pants and we think she flicked her wedding ring into the sand. We looked and looked for it with no luck. We went to Rainbow Bridge and then back to the beach to look again.
So if any of you go to Lone Rock, go walk along the beach and look between restrooms 11 and 12. Don't take a metal detector though, they are illegal in the NRA. We asked the rangers if they had one, and got some funny looks. Maybe one of these days we will smuggle a contraband metal detector into the park and look for the ring. In the meantime, it makes you wonder how many other wedding rings are in that lake. I am sure ours was not the first.

Jackson Hole 2011

2011-09-04T19:26:00.001-07:00

Andrew and Jessica have been inviting us to come to Jackson Hole on the 4th of July, but we've never made it work....until this year. And boy, was it worth it! (except for the mosquitoes - next year, could you guys uninvite the mosquitoes please :)

Highlights of our trip:

floating the river 3 times - 2 times on the big kids' section (aaron) and once on the little kids' section (ang and eliza- aaron and nora jumped in for the last ten minutes of the float)
camping
movie night (Tangled on the big screen outside)
canoeing at String Lake
fireworks at the park with rad music (notice it in the dancing video. I don't know where you can get the cd, but I'm sure you'll all be dying to buy it)
popcorn over the fire
more camping
Wind Rivers (LOTS of mosquitoes)
Flaming Gorge
Grandma's house
COUSINS (THE WHOLE TRIP WAS FULL OF COUSINS - WAHOO!)

Big kids' section
Lunch Counter almost ate our lunch - but it did eat the boat before us, our friends from Colorado. The water was extremely high!

Little Kids' section
This is the fashionable section. :)

String Lake

Life doesn't get much better than this, that's for sure.

Nora's new favorite animal - an elk. She must have some Great-grandpa Averett blood in her.

Wind Rivers outside of Pinedale.

We ate dinner outside the tent and then went on a little hike.

Stopping to take a picture was a bad idea because the mosquitoes wouldn't leave us alone. We got back to the tent as fast as we could and threw the girls inside and zipped them up. We were cleaning up, getting ready for bed when we hear the zipper and turn around to find a bear - I mean a BARE Eliza! "Mom, I took my clothes off. See?" Kids. What was life like without 'em?

Flaming Gorge Dam
This is definitely an engineer picture.

A bink, a four-wheeler, and a grandpa. Heaven.

Dancing in Jackson

2011-08-21T20:55:00.000-07:00

Just some more catch up. In July we went to Jackson with our Family and at the 4th of July Fireworks. Uncle Jeff showed Liza how to dance and that was it, she was dancing for the next half an hour. Thanks Uncle Jeff, that was AWESOME! I have to admit there are some pretty "sweet dance moves" in there. (Liza likes to tell us she has sweet moves to show us now and again.)

Grandpa Camp

2011-07-31T20:25:00.000-07:00

This year for the girls sewing retreat the Moms and Nana stayed at home while the kids and Dads went to Park City and did fun things in the surrounding area. Here are some pictures from the Grandpa Camp activities.

Out on Trial Lake in the inflatable raft.

Lots of rock throwing, some fishing but no fish and a little bit of rain too. It was a nice break from our heat at home to have to wear sweaters.

The kids climbed all over Provo Falls,

And of course they were extremely worn out.

We then went to Guardsman pass where the kids played in the snow and then we went to Cascade Springs. After two days of Grandpa Camp, it was time for Nana Beach Camp to start. We don't have pictures of Nana Camp since it was only for the kids, not the parents, but they fished, built sand castles, went swimming, made pictures and more. We had a lot of fun and some kids that slept very well when they were done with the festivities. Looking forward to next year.

Escalante

2011-05-26T21:04:00.000-07:00

When invited to go to Escalante to go hiking, who could resist? We planned to leave Thursday afternoon, but plans changed quick when I realized I had forgotten a presentation I was suppose to give Thursday night. So, we had to leave on Friday morning early and met our friends on Forty Mile Ridge. Spending a Friday at Peekaboo and Spooky Canyons beats working any old day in my book. The girls did so good and although they were tired, they had fun. We couldn't have done it without Ashley and Brent. With them, getting through the canyons with two kids was not too bad.

They love Ashley. And Brent. I think Nora has a secret crush on him, she just kept giving him those cute little smiles.

Yeah, Spooky Canyon is tight and deep and dark, but Nora had her Wub so she was good.
*Note: the wubba was taken only to help her fall asleep in the backpack - the trouble was the backpack didn't fit through the canyon with her in it. So much for that idea.

We did have to take some breaks to play in the sand, but that was all part of the fun.

The canyon is perfect size for Eliza and Nora to walk through.

And some of the corkscrew corners were perfect for Eliza to slide down.

It was a little warm and the girls got tired before we got back to the car.

Saturday morning we went to Calf Creek Falls. It was a little cold to swim, but it was just right for hiking and playing in the sand.

On the way home we stopped at our favorite campsite and had dinner with our friends, and then put the girls to bed in the car so they could fall asleep "camping" (very important for Eliza) and then we headed home. It was a little short (like usual), but well worth it. Hopefully we can get out there again soon. Anyone want to go camping?

What have I done?

2011-05-01T19:41:00.000-07:00

AAAAAHHH! I'm in. Or I'm dead. I guess we'll find out in a few months.

Winter Break

2011-03-14T20:48:00.000-07:00

Each winter about February we have to get up to the snow to have some fun. This year was no exception and so off to Bryce Canyon we went. We went to Rubys Inn on Thursday night and then spent Friday in Kodachrome Basin State Park. No snow but plenty of hiking. Eliza found this "Walk of Death" and even though she was tired, it was still fun.

Of course there was lots of time for swimming in the pool.
But what we came for was the snow,
Saturday morning it came. This is our car outside the room when we woke up.
Luckily we had done some sledding and skiing by the rim when the weather was good.

The girls had a lot of fun and then slept all the way home. The snow was pretty bad going home. When we did get home of course it was in the 50s and sunny.

Birthday Post

2011-02-27T19:38:00.000-08:00

Even though we are a little late it is worth a post. Nora's first birthday was super fun, Nana and Grandpa Averett came down the week before her birthday and then Grandma and Grandpa Merkley got to stay for 3 days including Nora's birthday. Here are some pictures and a video.

New front facing carseat - love it.
This picture captures the moment, Eliza was so worried that Nora would get burned by the candle because she did on her birthday, and Nora is so intent on blowing out that one candle, pretty good I would say for a one year old. Nora is also sitting in another present, a big girl lion chair from Nana, she loves being a big girl and sitting right up to the table, unfortunately this also means she does not want to drink out of a sippy cup either, big girls use normal cups.
The doll was a birthday present from the cousins that needed to be carried all around, even when helping dad fix his motorcycle.
Nora loves Grandpa
Lunch at the park with the cousins could not have been more fun.

Where's Nora

2011-02-13T20:09:00.000-08:00

Nora really has been growing up lately. She has discovered many things she loves and one of those is the play Peek-a-boo or Where's Nora when she is eating. From the pictures you will be able to tell she has one problem. She gets food all in her hair, and she hates to be cleaned up. Oh well it is worth the fun.

h aha ha

2010-12-01T16:04:00.000-08:00

Eliza has found a new favorite - watching this video. I've been dancing around the kitchen to it.

humor me

2010-11-29T09:04:00.000-08:00

If you read my facebook, you know I'm at it again. I rarely win. But I'm crossing my fingers. Here's a great giveaway, and well, I love MADE. You should check it out if you have some time to drool over this lady's super-talent.

Two cool things

2010-11-23T07:27:00.000-08:00

This is a totally random post. I found this cool activity as I was standing in the kitchen at 3 a.m. Why was I surfing the internet at that time of morning? What else do you do when you can't breath unless you are standing, you can't clean because everyone else is blissfully asleep, and you stub your toes every time you pass into the next room?

Anyway, maybe some of you frozen northerners could try it out and let me know how it works. I think the only time we might be cold enough would be in the middle of the night. :) Makes you want to come visit, doesn't it.

I'm also trying to win this. Wouldn't that be fun?

Cousins

2010-11-14T09:39:00.001-08:00

Click here to view this photo book larger

Maybe we are crazy

2010-10-04T20:48:00.000-07:00

After staying home last weekend and enjoying such good weather I just could not stay home and watch possibly the last good weekend slide by without taking advantage of it. I took half of Thursday and and all of Friday off and we went on a trip. I didn't realize that sometimes our trips get out of hand until the guys at work were telling me how crazy we are, and then I mapped where we went. Here is the map.

450 miles later I am pretty sure that we saw 90% of the colored leaves in Southern Utah. Between the high spots we went to and the roads we drove on I estimated we saw over 3 million aspen trees, lots of color. Our first destination was Fishlake Hightop and the second - Bluebell Knoll on Boulder Top.

The weather was perfect and we woke up in the morning and went down by the lake to throw rocks and eat grass.

Bluebell Knoll was awesome. There was no one on Boulder Top and it was so pretty despite being brown since winter up there is just around the corner. You really feel like you are in the clouds up there.
We had a picnic at Raft Lake and then made our way home, after over 300 miles of asphalt and 150 miles on dirt roads it was time to go home. The girls were sooo good and it really was nice to have a break and enjoy a great-weather weekend.

On My Mind

2010-09-13T21:16:00.000-07:00

Ever since we got home from our oh-so-fantastic trip this summer, I've been thinking about sharing this with anyone out there who would care to listen.

This one is funny and interesting and just leaves you smiling.

This one ... well, it just sort of hit home being a mother now and all and watching these beautiful girls grow up and worrying about what they'll have to face.

Enjoy!

For Aaron

2010-08-26T22:05:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time we decided to see if maybe we could possibly stand to be with each other every single day for the rest of forever (minus random scout trips, sewing holidays and trips to Tridell).

I was nervous.

You were a little more sure.

I decided I'd give it five years, and then if I didn't like it I was out.

Well, times up.

And I'm staying.
Not because there are too many kids,
but, because I like it.
In fact, I love it.

Thanks for making my the last five years such a great adventure.
I can't wait to see where we go next.

Happy Anniversary! yesterday
I love you.

Montana, Canada and Idaho

2010-08-22T08:52:00.000-07:00

After leaving the Family Reunion in Island Park our destination was Glacier National Park. If you have ever driven across Montana you will know it is a huge state! We felt like we were driving forever - but a good forever, unlike driving across Nebraska or Wyoming. The drive was beautiful.

It took us all day to get to our campsite on the Swan Valley Highway about an hour from Kalispell. The areas to camp were mostly dispersed and we found a great site near the river. It was cool because there was a little nature trail just down the road where we found wild strawberries, rasberries and thimbleberries. It reminded me of the Pacific Northwest because there was moss hanging from the trees and in the morning there was fog in the valley. It was beautiful.

Monday morning we went into Glacier, confirmed that all the campgrounds were full, took this picture of Lake MacDonald and started up the Going to the Sun Road.

Part way up the road we stopped and took the Trail of the Cedars. It was cool to see the huge trees and turquoise water coming off the glaciers. Goose loved walking on the "widge."

The Going to the Sun Road was awesome! The views were amazing.

There were so many people in the park we could not find a place to park at Logan Pass, so we decided to go down to the East side of the park and find a place to camp, then go and have dinner in Canada. Unfortunately, the only restaurant open in Cardston was the Dairy Queen. A little disappointing, but we ate dinner anyway (the ice cream was good), took pictures at the temple and came back to our campsite. Good thing the weather was fair that first day since the remainder of our time in Glacier would be rainy. There were also fires in British Columbia which made visibility go down quite a bit.

In the morning we went back up to Logan Pass and hiked to the Hidden Lake overlook. Goose was so excited to walk on the snow, but by the time we were almost back to the car she was pretty cold.

That afternoon we went to Many Glacier Lodge; clouds were still hanging around but still very pretty.

We hiked about a mile to a lake up one of the glacial valleys and threw lots of rocks. Thank goodness we came back when we did, that is when we saw the bear. Momma bear and two cubs, just wandering on the hillside while we all gathered on the side of the road to gape. We had been talking about seeing a bear all week so we were glad we did the night before we started home.

There were so many wild flowers out, we took some pictures but from this one you can just tell there was a lot of variety.

The token Wild Goose Island picture. You can see it was still cloudy.

This was our campsite on the east side of the park, next to a lake and all the foreign campers.

This is Roaring Eagle Falls. We stopped and hiked there as we began the homeward journey. Yes, that waterfall is coming out of a cave. The river is up above the cliff and drops down through some holes to where you see it. In the spring not all the water can go down the holes and it comes over the top too.

After 12 hours on and off the road through Montana and a little of Idaho, we made it to Blackfoot. You can probably tell from this picture that Goose had super fun with her new friends. Thanks for letting us stay with you Sue and Terrick!

We did start home one day early - Goose had been asking if we were going camping with Grandpa from the minute we left home. Since most of the trip was for Mom and Dad, we went to Grandpa's house for Goose. She loves her Nana and Grandpa Averett and Grandma and Grandpa "Murky".

Badger Creek, Grand Teton and Yellowstone

2010-08-14T14:08:00.000-07:00

Before too much time passes I had better post on the remainder of our trip built around the family reunion. We started off driving to Springville, spending the night and then going to Rexburg where we had dinner with Scott and Brandee (thanks guys) saw Brandee's garden, took some pictures of the temple and then...
we were off to Badger Creek. Our friends were very nice to let us stay in the Yurt there which had the most awsome view of the Tetons just out the front door.
Eliza made quick friends with Sage, Brigham, Anne, and Paul who also love popsicle and playing outside.

This was Goose's prefered mode of transportation while at Badger Creek but she also did good hiking with the kids.
One of the days while we were at Badger we went to Jackson and Grand Teton National Park. We told Goose we would see some Buffalo and we did, right next to this little backroad with noone else around so we didn't have to worry about making a Jam in the road like we would see much of later in our trip.

The next day we said goodbye to our friends and this beautiful view to head to Yellowstone.

Like I said in the previous post, goose loved the geysers and mud pots.

When I get another little bit of time I will post the last leg of our trip, Glacier National Park, Canada and Nanna's House.

Merkley Family Reunion 2010

2010-08-07T15:15:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was the annual Merkley Family Reunion. This year it was in Island Park, Idaho. We stayed in two very nice cabins and had a lot of fun in the surrounding area including Yellowstone.

Here is our family near Old Faithful. Goose got pretty good at saying "geyser" and asked to see more after we left.

We went to Big Springs and fed the fish a little but more the seagulls.
We rented canoes at Macks Inn and saw a moose up the river a ways. The kids had fun just floating around. The temperature was just right which is exactly what we were hoping for since our summer in St. George has been a little warm this year.
In Yellowstone we stopped at a couple of other geyser basins too and saw very pretty springs, geysers and rivers. We also saw some elk, bison, swans and eagles. Don't ask about the elk jam we had to wait through everytime we went into and out of the park, I thought stopping in the middle of the road to get out your camcorder and narrate the life of an elk was something you just shouldn't do, but I guess there are at least 2000 other people in the world who think that is okay.

This one was at Grand Prismatic Spring. The clouds were soo pretty all through our trip, except when they were raining on us. Which happend a little more often then we would have liked, but not during the Merkley Reunion. As soon as I get more time I will post about the rest of our trip to and from the reunion.

Visits with Nannas and Papas

2010-05-30T17:55:00.000-07:00

Visits to Nannas' and Papas' are always fun, especially when there are cousins and baby lambs and baby goats to play with. And nothing beats a ride with Papa in the tractor! Eliza's been talking about it for weeks.

Cheese!

Zion with Friends

2010-05-09T17:00:00.000-07:00

Our posts lag a little lately but here is a post from two weekends ago. Nathan, Susie, Kye and Sydney came to see us. We are really glad they did, it gave us an excuse to go to Zion. Here are some of our pictures and their post (a little more on top of it) has quite a few more. You will see that Kye and Eliza really did become fast friends.

Little Smiler

2010-04-27T20:55:00.000-07:00

Yeah she has started to smile quite a bit and boy is she cute!

First Gum

2010-04-25T09:04:00.000-07:00

I just had to Post This, Goose got some gum in her Easter Candy and wanted to eat it. We explained that you only chew gum, not eat it. 2 hours later at dinner time look what we got back.

The Chia Pet Effect

2010-03-30T08:45:00.000-07:00

Many of you may have heard of the Coriolis Effect, but there is another natural phenomenon do doo do do do not so well-known called the Chia Pet Effect.

What, you are asking yourself, is the Chia Pet Effect?

If you were to drive through Death Valley in July, a few words would be appropriate descriptors:
death
desolate
barren
hot

But drive through Death Valley in March after a wet spring, and you experience the Chia Pet Effect. Rocky hillsides fuzzy with tiny green leaves, and even some fields of wildflower color.

Beautiful.

Of course we had to hit the tourist highlights.

Badwater, Death Valley - lowest point in the continental United States.

Elevation: 282 feet below sea level.

Don't believe me? Zoom in on the GPS.

Devil's Golf Course

A close up of the green.

Checking out the pup fish that live in Salt(ier than the ocean) Creek.

Enjoying a reprieve from the car seat.
Such a good girl. She slept through the night despite the wind - unlike another small camper.

Honestly, this was the perfect place for Eliza, because if I were to name a few things this girl can't live without, they are rocks and dirt...and Nora.

Throwing rocks with Dad at a pit stop on the way there.

Painting rocks.

Sharing some sand with Nora (who wasn't a big fan of the wind in her face, but check out that sweet hair-do).

I think she was in heaven.

Winter Fun

2010-03-21T17:00:00.001-07:00

I guess I have come to grips that we are not consistant bloggers. Life has caught up with us the last month and so blogging has taken a back seat. We still have gotten out to have some fun and here are some pictures.

Checkerboard Mesa, Zion NP

Our yearly snow outing to Bryce Canyon, NP.

We like to go in February and hit the cross-country ski and snowshoeing trails. This year, however, putting something long and awkward on our feet (well, Ang's feet) didn't sound like too good of an idea seeing as how carrying Nora in her front pack with a winter coat over her is about as close as you can get to being pregnant without really being pregnant...and we all know how graceful pregnant people are. :)

Oh, so cute wearing Elmo (this is Eliza's favorite outfit for Nora to wear).

You can't tell, but she's totally asleep. The only thing that woke her, was the snow falling on her face - after she'd been taken out of her backpack and laid in the snow for a bit.

A sucker and a goose, what more could you want?

This is our cousin - the one who is Nora's twin separated at birth.

Nora's special day.

Here's the fam! Eliza and Ang are wearing their Myanmar outfits in honor of Grandma and Grandpa coming home. We're sure glad they get to spend time with these two little munchkins.

Nora Pictures

2010-02-10T21:31:00.000-08:00

We know, we know, these pictures are way overdue but here they are. Yeah, we think she is way cute.

It's About Time

2010-01-26T16:09:00.000-08:00

I know, I know. You have all been dying to know. But it literally is about time and how it flew out the window the second we brought

Nora Noelle

home from the hospital. We are loving our two beautiful girls.

Case and point, I was going to post a picture of her at home, but I haven't had time to download those ones yet - so you get another hospital one. :)

We are also loving

Nana for coming to our rescue
neighbors who have brought meals and gifts
naps (thanks again to Nana)

Aaron said it best this morning..."Everyone is too nice to us." THANKS EVERYONE!

Introducing...

2010-01-22T20:49:00.000-08:00

Well, it's kind of hard to introduce her because the name hasn't picked itself yet. We'll let you know.

But here she is! And she sure is cute. 8 lbs. 10 oz., 21 inches

Eliza got to see her little sister through the window, but she won't get to give her hugs and kisses till we get home from the hospital. Thanks H1N1.

Proof that happiness really does come in a box

2010-01-14T11:08:00.000-08:00

We're a little slow at getting new posts up. Let's just say we're a little preoccupied around our house. The baby will be here soon. For all those wondering (and thanks for asking), I'm feeling great...as great as you can with 2 weeks to go that is. Wish us luck and enjoy the video.

stumped...

2010-01-04T20:51:00.000-08:00

Ever seen this plant before?

Me either. That, or it's something so common that I've seen a million times and just never paid any attention to. With my luck, it's probably the second option.

I'm stumped.

Show-off

2009-12-22T22:24:00.000-08:00

Some may think this is a little un-traditional....the first animal sounds and all. But rest easy - she did say "meow" before anything else. And she does know what a dog says. See, we're not that weird after all. :)

Thanksgiving

2009-11-29T20:47:00.000-08:00

We had a great time at Thanksgiving this year. We broke up the drive going to Tridell and going home which made it a little easier on a certain pregnant woman. We were not very smart and didn't take pictures during our Thanksgiving dinner or during the fun at Grandma's house. That would have been a good idea since Eliza, Paisley and all the cousins had a lot of fun. Here are some of the pictures we did get while getting our Christmas tree.

On the way home we visited Grandma and Grandpa Averett and Eliza had fun walking Phantom and riding the horses.

I just had to throw this one in since is was so cute. Meatloaf and smoothies are a favorite.

Zion Saturday

2009-11-29T20:25:00.000-08:00

A couple of weekends ago we went to Zion for an afternoon hike. From the pictures you can see that Eliza had fun posing for the camera. She did great hiking and although we didn't get to go as far as we would have without her hiking she had some good fun and our hike was beautiful.

Snowy Halloween Video

2009-11-15T14:16:00.000-08:00

Snowy Halloween

2009-11-15T13:55:00.000-08:00

Eliza's Cousin Sydney was blessed on November 1st so we made the journey to Denver, and it sure was fun! When we got there we went right to Sledding.

Trick or Treating was very fun, Eliza was a ladybug and Cameron was a lion.

Eliza also had her chance to hold Sydney and loved it which is a really good thing considering we are down to 2 and a half months until Eliza gets her little sister.

Just a little fun

2009-11-05T21:04:00.000-08:00

We went to Tridell the beginning of October and had some great fun with Wig, Steph and Paisley. A little cold for the Southern Utahns but still good fun! Eliza had sooo much fun with her cousin!

We also had to go and see the leaves when they changed, so for FHE one week we went to see the leaves and go for a little hike to Cascade Falls.

We also gave Mom a break one night and went to a BLM park out on the Arizona Strip. Eliza loved that she could just walk all over and explore.

Washington

2009-09-20T20:22:00.000-07:00

This is way past due, but we want to congratulate our friends Brent and Ashley for getting married, and tell them thanks letting us use their reception as an excuse to go to Washington for 4 days. They also helped us with some trip planning, making our trip wonderful. We were glad we got to see them at their reception. Let's just say this post is in honor of them.

Brent and Ashley's reception was in Yakima, so we flew into Pasco, Washington and drove west from there. We love 1 terminal airports so much better than the big ones. We got in late Thursday night and found a campsite just below White Pass outside Mount Rainer National Park. In the morning, we drove in and got a campsite that we loved and stayed at for 3 nights. It was a walk-in campsite on the edge of the campground, quiet, with a bathroom nearby. What more could we ask for.

Friday we went for a loop hike from Tipsoo Lake, which took us past lakes and had great views of the mountain. I guess we were lucky to see the mountain, but as you can see the clouds did roll in later in the afternoon. Before that, it was nice to go for a wade in the glacier water and then it was just right once it was overcast.

Friday night was the reception so we drove back to Yakima, then back to our campsite. Saturday morning you can tell what Eliza was doing, her Bumbo is the only way to keep her still when she is eating so yes, we had to take it with us. We kept thinking that people would think we were crazy for wearing sweatshirts and hats, but to St. George people it was nice and cold.

Eliza was soooo good the whole trip even though we were in the car a lot. She found lots of trees to play around and dirt to play with and sand and sticks and rocks and on and on.
She loves her backpack too. We went to Paradise Saturday morning and hiked around in the clouds and then we hiked a 3+ mile section of the Wonderland Trail (yeah only a small fraction of the 93 miles around the mountain). There were waterfalls and huge trees and glaciers.

Finally, at the end of the day as we were going back to camp, the clouds broke and we saw the mountain up close. That mountain is huge! Sunday we drove down to see one of it's little relatives, Mount St. Helens. It is crazy to see all the exhibits and movies about what happened back in 1980. You can see that Eliza was just happy to get out of the car and run!

Our favorite campsite.
There was a trail that Eliza and I made where we left our campsite and walked only on fallen trees all around the forest and then came back to our campsite another way. We felt like Ewoks. Monday we went on two more hikes, played in the water a little and then drove back to Pasco. We had a great trip and would recommend Mount Rainer to anyone who has not been there, it was beautiful!

Don't Forget!

2009-09-07T14:21:00.000-07:00

VOTE!

Hodge Podge

2009-09-06T16:13:00.000-07:00

2009-09-03T19:38:00.000-07:00

Say HI to Eliza's little sister!

A Favor

2009-09-02T08:27:00.000-07:00

Aaron's little brother is doing something amazing this spring. He is going with a group of people to India to help work on an orphanage. I am in total support! What an incredible way to spend your spring break when you are in high school. Anyway, in order to raise money for the trip, Austin and his friend entered a contest to make a commercial for an e-company. The video is pretty sweet - check it out.

And now for the favor --

Help these boys do something they will never forget. Vote for their video and help them win that grand prize! They are up against some stiff competition so we need all the votes we can get. Tell your friends, tell your family.
VOTE!

Thanks!

Oh, and sorry to keep you all hanging about our latest news. February is when we will once again expand our home.

Problem Solved

2009-08-24T08:42:00.000-07:00

We have a new cousin!

Baby Samantha is a cutie pie and we are excited to get to play with her. As you can tell from previous posts, we like our cousins. Everyone's been worried that little Samantha won't have a cousin her own age to be best pals with. Don't worry. We have that problem solved.

Surprise!

The Relatives Came

2009-08-08T15:55:00.000-07:00

We just returned from our annual Merkley Family Reunion. Of course it was fun. Of course the food was great. And of course we were all exhausted when we got home. We spent the weekend at a relative's cabin in Soapstone (above Kamas). Lots of dirt, rocks, and cousins to play with. And three days wearing long-sleeves! Oh what joy!

The three of us on the high point of Wasatch County (or as close as the GPS could get us)

Blowing bubbles with the cousins

Uncle Wig and his fishing entourage at Mirror Lake

One stroller and three drivers

Two of the best babysitters!

Two little friends
p.s. we're so excited you are walking!

Bye everybody! See you next year!

Thanks to my great sis for putting it all together!

And here's a little something just for Lancey-boy...

Ok, not very exciting, but it was super cute when it was happening. The video ended a little abruptly because I was just sure I was going to end up chasing that flipflop out into the lake.

Catch-up!

2009-08-06T21:01:00.000-07:00

It has been a while since we posted and so here are some pictures of what we have been up to.
Powell Point - We stayed the night up at 10,000 feet and then went out to Powell Point. Again Eliza loved camping and she finally slept well while camping too.

Then we went to Red Canyon and rode the bike trail for a wile, it was a little hot though.
We have been working on some skim boards too, we finally finished them up and tried them out, they work great, you will have to come and see us to try them out.
We found out Eliza likes corn on the cob a lot!
The community garden has given us quite a bit of variety.
Eliza figured out that she can pick her own grapes and eat them, so you can imagine what we find her with anytime we go outside.
There is more to report, but we just have not had time to post, maybe when things slow down in September....

Lazy Summer Days

2009-07-05T15:32:00.001-07:00

I just realized that we have very few posts of what we do at home, sometime we will post on the very slow and ongoing remodeling, or what I do at work, but that is not today. This post is about the fun things we do at home. As usual the pictures do the best explaining.

When it is hot you have to play in the water. This is a very typical excited face.

Eliza likes to pick and eat apricots. Sometimes Mom and Dad don't catch her before she finds the easiest ones to get, the ones on the ground, sometimes the ants beat her to them but she doesn't mind, they still taste good.

Between our two gardens there is quite a lot of weeding and picking to be done. I forgot to put the corn in the picture, which I think is Eliza's favorite, straight off the cob cooked or not.

With the heat in full force it is also nice to go play in the Virgin River, our skim boards are almost done so hopefully in the next month we will spend more time there.

The Wonderful World of Dirt

2009-06-27T09:42:00.000-07:00

Three adventures. One post. Hold on to your seats, kids...

ADVENTURE #1: 2 BACKPACKS AND A LITTLE GOOSE

For Aaron's big 3-0 (yes, you may call him an old man), we went on a little adventure. We backpacked into the first campsite on the Hop Canyon Trail. It's in the northern portion of Zion National Park - the Kolob Canyon part. It was beautiful and just the right distance for someone who doesn't want to stay confined too long.

My pack: 1 goose and her paraphernalia

Aaron's pack: everything else
What a man!

Dad, I can help. I promise I won't try to steal the tent pole again.

Oh, this is fun.

A tent, a trusty bib, and Dad. What more does a girl need?

Playing in the dirt is hard work.

ADVENTURE #2: YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK (the end of the Tahoe Trip)

As we ended our week in Lake Tahoe with the Averett family, we drove to Yosemite National Park. We were going to spend two days there, but we (I, mostly) were tired of second-guessing the weather so we ended up staying just one jam-packed day. We drove through the park, hiked to a couple of waterfalls, and jogged to see the giant sequoias. It was awesome and someday we will go back to spend some quality time there. We may even eat pizza with the squirrels again. :)

Half Dome. I can finally say I've seen it.

Lower Yosemite Falls.

The hike to Vernal Falls. Amazing! and WET!

So independent.

ADVENTURE #3: "GOOSE, MESS"

Every now and then, we just need to get out. The weather has been abnormally awesome this June, and then one weekend it decided to be normal. So we left. Headed for the hills to Yankee Meadows in the aspens and cool. We knew Eliza liked camping, but we have made it to a whole new level of "like."

Every kid needs a bridge.

15 minutes in camp.

Bring out the dogs. I'm ready.

2 hours in camp.

Higher, Dad! Higher!

CONGRATULATIONS! You made it to the end of the post! We are now caught up. Give us a couple weeks. I'm sure we'll fall behind again and then you can look forward to another epic post.

And, as a reward, here's a little video for your viewing pleasure.

Love you guys! Thanks for keeping up with us.

Professional

2009-06-27T08:04:00.000-07:00

Last week, I got a phone call.

hubby: I gotta read you this email I got.

me: Ok.

hubby: "Congratulations on achieving a passing score on the April 2009 exam and completing this important step in your professional career."

And there was much rejoicing!

Good job, Silly! We knew you could do it!

It's About Time (Eliza's Birthday Post)

2009-06-12T20:23:00.000-07:00

There have been a couple of requests for a post of Eliza's birthday. On a momentous occasion such as her first birthday we had to make it a whole weekend instead of just the day, so that is what you get, the whole weekend. That is part of the reason it took so long, so here it is.

On Saturday morning we woke up bright and early to go to Zion National Park. We rode into the park, put our bikes on the shuttle and rode to the Temple of Sinewava. Eliza tried to talk to everyone on the Shuttle, and some even talked back. We then rode back down to the visitors center and back to the car in Springdale.

Eliza didn't make it awake to the part I thought she would most enjoy, but she still loved the ride.

As you can see she really was a Princess...

And oh yes those are all Disney Princesses on the car that Grandma sent to her, now we get to hear the music all the time.

Then she helped Dad in the garden and ate Pomegranates that fell off the tree...

And then she had her first Otter Pop with Maggie (who shares her birthday with her)....

She opened even more presents like much needed pajamas and a new purse...

Then had Birthday Cake...

and her birthday even extended one day so we could have her favorite dinner the next night, um mm spaghetti!

Yeah, we think she is pretty cute!

Myanmar Part 6

2009-06-07T08:34:00.000-07:00

After coming back from Inle Lake we saw some more sites around Yangon including the locals market, downtown Yangon and the port area, the reclining Buddha, and then we went to a christian orphanage where they take in kids whose parents have died or cannot care for their children. The kids were very well mannered we read them some English stories, they sang songs to us that they have been learning in English and then we did the hokey pokey. They loved that. Saturday night we went to a dinner show where traditional Myanmar food was served and a traditional dance show was put on. Sunday we went to church and then visited some members of the ward. We had to start packing too because we left on Monday. Before we could go home though, we had to see the water festival for ourselves. We should have worn our swimsuits because we got soaked. Below are all the pictures. We had a great time and would love to go back if we could, everyone asked us if we would. The trip really was eye opening and an experience not to be missed. On the way home we talked about how different the United States would be if everyone had a chance to see and experience what we saw on our trip. The biggest lesson we learned is to be grateful for what we have and not take for granted our freedom that we have in this country. We really do have so much. So yes if you ever want to go somewhere different and have an adventure we would both highly recommend Myanmar.

One of the many locals markets in Yangon, you can only imagine the smells from what you see in the pictures.

Angela bought some cloth she liked and the a lady next to the cloth shop sewed it into a longee for $0.50.

One view from the top of the Sukura Tower in downtown Yangon, in the background you can see the ships that come up the river from the ocean and behind that is the beginning of the Irrawady Delta.

The reclining Buddha in Yangon is 58 feet tall and 216 feet long, and those are the eyes that came from the glass factory we visited, 5'8" around.

This is the Christian Orphanage we visited.

Friends in couples park.

Karaway Palace Dinner Show.

The elephant danced too, he was very good and got lots of tips.

Part of the show was a dance competition between people and Marionettes.

Sister Janet and her family.

Sao Palo and his family.

The water festival on Ine Road, yes we walked through that and yes we got soaked.

Then it was our turn to get people wet. There were not a lot of people where this pandal was, but we did get some wet. This was right before we got on the plane to come home, what a great trip it was.

Lake Tahoe

2009-06-02T15:31:00.000-07:00

Since it is summer it is time to get out. Well we got out, way out. Saturday morning we drove all across Nevada to Lake Tahoe. It was an interesting ride but a little long. We stopped in Rachel, Warm Springs, Tonapah and a little oasis rest area. 11 hours later we made it. Here are some of the pictures from the trip.

Eliza found a UFO in Rachel Nevada.

Emerald Bay

Angora Lakes

Myanmar Part 5 - Inle Lake Continued

2009-05-24T15:43:00.000-07:00

Inle Lake continued - Hold on for more pictures. These really are only a few of what we have but again I will let the pictures do most of the talking.

An interesting story about this pagoda. This is the largest of the Pagoda's on the lake. In this Pagoda are 5 statues of Buddha. Each year they are put on the royal barge and taken around the lake to the different villages. In 1963, as the royal barge was going around the lake, a storm came up and capsized it. Because the lake is only 15 feet deep, they were able to find 4 of the 5 statues but could not locate the 5th. When they returned the other 4 to the pagoda they found the 5th one already there. Since then, they only take the 4 around the lake and the 5th stays at the Pagoda. This miracle has brought even more people to the Pagoda and they have put so much gold leaf on the statues that they are now just little gold blobs.

After we left the pagoda, we went to another village where they make paper and umbrellas and have silversmith shops. In the villages are little dredged islands with small pagodas on them.

In this village is also a shop where the Longneck ladies show tourists how they weave. Their native village is about 30 miles south but tourists cannot go to their village so they come up to the Lake to sell their weaving to tourists.

These are more pictures of the floating gardens. These are tomatoes and the gardeners are tying them up the the trellises and weeding, all from their boats. All the rows float on the water and after long enough they turn to floating dirt rows. It was pretty cool to see them rolling on the waves as we drove by.

This is the jumping cat monastery. The picture below shows the cat before he jumps through the hoop. I wasn't good enough to get a picture of one in the air. Our guide told us that training cats is much harder than training dogs.

We then went up one of the rivers that feeds the lake to a village called Indein. Going up the river was crazy because we went through these little dams and up the little waterfalls they made. There were tons of people walking up and down the banks of the river because it was market day in Indein. When we got there....

there were people selling all kinds of things. As we got off the boat first was the tourist stuff then all the natives were bargaining for everything imaginable. Lots of food we didn't recognize and clothes. I even bought a nice shirt.

Yummy fish, the smell was a little much though.

There were multiple ethnic groups there with way different styles of clothing.

Market day is also wash day for clothes, people, and animals.

From Indein there is a mile-long covered walkway that leads up to a large pagoda on the hill. There are many ancient pagodas along the way and near the top. The tourist vendors have smartly lined the mile-long walkway selling everything tourist. They were pretty persistent so it took quite a long time to climb the walkway, but it was nice to be in the shade.

Ang bought a longee along the way and I got some wood carvings and a marionette elephant.

Part way up we left the walkway and wandered through the ancient pagodas. There are over 1500 in this area. There were way cool carvings on the older ones and some had trees growing out the tops.

Some have been refurbished among the old ones.

At the top they were all refurbished. This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip.

On the way back, we took the scenic route through a bamboo forest. The shack in the picture had tourist stuff for sale out front and the kids that were there followed us along the trail to get us to buy these carved wooden frogs. They were asking a dollar so, what the heck, we bought two and made their day. Only problem was they then ran back and got all the other kids and came back with more frogs. We ended up with three frogs and a wind chime thing, at least that is what we think it is.

From Indein, we went back across the lake to the jetty and back to the airport. Along the way I had to snap a picture of the pimped out rototiller trucks. They are pretty resourceful people.

This is the airport parking lot at Heho. I wish our airport parking lots were like this, complete with volleyball court and no traffic. The flight back to Yangoon was way hot because either the AC didn't work or they didn't turn it on? We made it though and took a nice swim in the pool when we got back.
Next up, Yangoon street market (ah the smells), the reclining budda (the eyes are how big, 8ft in diameter), orphanage and the dinner show with a begging elephant and a dance competition between humans and marionettes.

A Singing Telegram!

2009-05-21T20:45:00.000-07:00

Eliza's first birthday is Monday and so Grandma sent her a birthday present. If Eliza's reaction to the box is any indication, she is going to love it. (The sound is coming from inside the box, when it was delivered is was singing and if it gets shaken it starts up again.)

Myanmar Part 4

2009-05-10T18:59:00.000-07:00

I have been stalling putting this post up, partly because there are so many pictures but mostly because I am not sure how to do justice to this part of our trip. It was amazing! Thursday morning we flew to Heho and then drove on the main highway, (which would be a backroad in America) to the jetty on Inle Lake. From there I think I will just let the pictures do the talking. This was a little monk with his lunch.

This makes herding cows easy, just ride the cow or water buffalo. After this picture we saw farmers using oxen to till their rice paddies.

Once we got to the jetty we got in a boat like this one and rode down the river to the lake.

The river was lined with homes like these, all built on stilts.

Inle Lake is famous for these fishermen. The deepest part of the lake is only 15 feet deep, and there are lots of plants growing in it. The fishermen row around looking for fish and then stick the net over the top of them. They then let the net down and slap the water with their paddle to scare the fish into the net and they can pull it out.

We even got lawn chairs and umbrellas on our boat.

This is a town built on the lake, nice power poles. The greenery is floating and lines the streets um.. waterways.

This is restaurant where we ate lunch. It was Italian restaurant built on stilts. These girls were just playing on their boat.

In places the lake has been dredged so it is not so deep and this was a rice paddy that had been built up.
Another Town on the lake with bridges connecting the clusters of buildings.

In this town the people weave. They worked in cotton, silk, and other materials but they can start from scratch and make beautiful fabric, it takes forever though.

These are the dyes for the fabric.

and part way through the dying process.

Our hotel was also built on the lake, kind of out in the middle and yes all surrounded by water. The rooms are all bamboo huts built on stilts and connected by boardwalks. Yes those are mosquito nets, but the mosquitoes were not too bad.

This was the hotel lobby, drive up by boat.

Breakfast on Inle Lake.

That is us in our bamboo hut.

Leaving the hotel.

We were in Inle Lake two days the second day was just as cool as the first so look forward to Myanmar Part 5.

I love...

2009-05-05T10:48:00.000-07:00

well, besides aaron and eliza, I love this blog.

Myanmar Part 3

2009-05-03T15:42:00.000-07:00

After the interruptions, here comes Part 3. Wednesday morning we went with Elder and Sister Merkley to their last English class for level 2 taught at the government offices. The students were very nice people. It was the last class for level 2, so the class presented the Merkleys with a tapestry, and then we had a graduation ceremony/party. Water Festival was the next week so Sis. Merkley requested the students performe the traditional water festival dance for us. The women dance, the men watch, sing and clap. They also used leaves to sprinkle water on us. This is a sign of respect and washing away the old year - traditional during Water Festival.

Near to where the English classes are taught there is a new museum. The museum has thousands of wood carvings, most of which are carved from trees which were blown down by Cyclone Nargis 1 year ago. Previously the museum had been open and you were free to wander around, but now they charge 10$ per person. Becoming so accustomed to Myanamar prices (cheap!) we decided not to pay the exorbitant entrance fee and just walked around the grounds and the courtyard where they work on carvings. If you look closely in some of the pictures you can see dragons, lions, unicorns, and there were lots of oxen and elephants among many other things.

That afternoon we went to the Nar Gar Glass factory. People have to ask for directions to find it because the glass factory was off this little bumpy back road. The access road just kept getting smaller and smaller in the forest until it turned into a path and the car couldn't go any farther. We walked another 100 feet through the forest and came to the entrance. There were many many downed trees here from the cyclone (we even drove under some to get there) and I can only imagine how pretty and nice it would have been when all the trees provided shade as you walk around the factory.

It is hard to describe the glass factory. The entrance building is the first picture, it is covered in vines and inside they have some tables and display cases to show some of the things the glass factory used to make. The instructions you receive are to wander the grounds, pick up anything that catches your eye, bring it back to the entrance and they will clean it for you and then tell you how much it costs. Leaving the main building are pathways through the forest lined with piles of things made of glass. Anything from goblets and beer mugs to lamps to sculptured animals and on and on. Everything was handmade and blown. Down one of the paths is a large building which is falling in. The glass factory was having trouble staying in business before the cyclone, but then the cyclone knocked down part of the building where the kiln is and they are waiting for a little better economic climate before they start production again. We found a couple of things we liked, a small picture and a small goose sculpture for Eliza. We also found a random assortment of goblets that we liked, all different colors and shapes. The price was a little steep (20$ for 5, a great deal here at home, but steep for Myanmar) so those got left for another tourist to find (or for us on our next trip :). This factory is also where Grandma Merkley got the glass nativity that she gave to us for Christmas last year. Angela threw away the shepherd's cane, not knowing it was in the box, and when she told the ladies at the factory, they gave her a gift of a new one.

We had to be whisked away from the glass factory (you could really spend hours here) for another English class. This time we played a modified version of Catch-Phrase. We were very impressed with the students' abilities. Then we went to the branch activity. Simon (the 2nd counselor in the branch) had asked Elder Merkley to give a spiritual message - so Dad passed the buck onto us. We talked about families and how important they are. Strange to have your words translated. Most of those in attendance were students from English - these activities have become great missionary tools - a sneaky way to spread the gospel. Simon then led us in a rousing game of Simon Says (a Myanmar favorite) and Mingle, Mingle. The winners always have to do something silly - Angela had to do the water festival dance/kickline with her mingle mingle winning team. Another girl had to do bodybuilding poses. We thought the place would colapse from laughter.

Next up...Inle Lake (oh boy, oh boy!)

.....

2009-05-01T15:11:00.000-07:00

I'm interrupting the MYANMAR posts just for a moment.

There are three things I've been meaning to post about and just haven't gotten a round to-it until now. (So glad I found one of those.)

REASON #1 FOR THE INTERRUPTION

Several weeks ago, Aaron mentioned that maybe I would post something about his head. Some have asked, so here you go. He was working near a drilling rig, stood up and hit his head on the drive shaft of the rig. It basically scalped him, but luckily left the skin hanging so the doctor could sew it back on. 10 stitches.

This was the night it happened. It was nasty. But it's much better now. The scabs have all come off and it looks like he might get some hair to grow back in most places. His birthday is coming up, so if anyone feels the need to send hair tonic to the old man, I wouldn't mind. :) NOTE: Aaron now does not leave the office without his hard hat.

REASON #2 FOR THE INTERRUPTION

Last week, Aaron took a mighty step. He took the PE exam (I don't know the official name) to become a real engineer. He was quite nervous going into it, but he came out smiling. We have to wait till June to hear the results. If he passed, he gets his stamp and is a professional engineer. If he didn't pass, he gets to take it again in October. I prefer option one.

REASON #3 FOR THE INTERRUPTION

Just wanted to share a little something that has been keep us very busy this spring. It started as an idea, then bloomed into a garden. It's still a work in progress, but it has been lots of work and lots of fun. Wig, come visit now. We've got lots to irrigate. :)

P.S. Anybody want to guess what we're growing in the picture above?

Myanmar Part 2 - Shwedagon (it rhymes with way-to-go) Pagoda

2009-04-28T20:18:00.000-07:00

Tuesday afternoon we went to Shwedagon Pagoda, which is the largest Pagoda in Yangon (Yan-go). It was a very pretty place with hundreds of smaller Pagodas. The whole Pagoda compound is on the top of a hill and there is an entrance at each of the compass points. Each entrance is guarded by 40 foot tall lions and is covered all the way up the hill to the top. Natives can go to worship at any time, and the tourist entrance fee is $5 a person. (Unfolded dollars only because any bill with a fold is considered counterfeit, we found that out here.) You leave your shoes at the door and then go up to the Pagoda compound where we wondered around for 2.5 hours. It was really cool to see the Pagodas as the sun went down and the lights came on. It is hard to describe so enough of the words, on with the pictures.

View from Sakura Residence

Lions guarding the entrance to a Pagoda

Welcome to the compound, all the pillars were painted gold and the upper levels were all gold leafed

This is an offshoot of the tree under which Budda was enlightened.

If it wasn't gold or white it was mirrors.

This is the Victory Square where if you look up to the Pagoda and make a wish it will come true. If you look close you can see some bamboo scafolding on the Pagoda, it was being taken down but had extended all the way to the top, it is put up every 10 years so that the main part of the Pagoda can be regold leafed. The top of the pagoda has bells and jewels on it, it was cool to hear the bells blowing in the wind at the top. The very top contains a 70 karat diamond as a good deed offering.

Ringing the bell 3 times is a sign you have done a good deed.

If you want to see hundreds more pictures and see what Shwedagon looks like from space, paste "16.7983, 96.1496" into google earth or google maps. It looks pretty sweet.

Next up, what would you do with hundreds of huge trees that blew down in cyclone Nargis last year, and the Nar Jar glass factory.

Myanmar Part 1

2009-04-19T15:39:00.000-07:00

We have been home for a week now, and although I still don't know how we are going to describe our trip, we need to try. I guess we just start at the beginning. After one 1.5 hour flight, one 5 hour layover, a second 14.5 hour flight, a second 1.5 hour layover and third 4.5 hour flight we landed in Yangon. We think it is hot in St. George, but it was hot and humid in Yangon. Grandma and Grandpa Merkley were there to pick us up and we were off and running. Angela and I both have been to third world countries before, but it is still a little bit of a shock to see the rundown cars and buses the truck buses with people hanging on wherever they can to get from place to place, and oh yeah, there might as well not be lane lines on the roads, everyone ignores them anyways. It's kind of fun.

In our time there we got to see the tourist sights, but because Grandma and Grandpa are serving a mission there, they teach English and have many, many friends. Getting to meet these friends was probably the best part of the trip. I wish we could describe how happy and welcoming the people were to us. We were only there a week but we were treated like family. We were just so amazed at how little the people had, but yet how happy they were. It was a lesson to us that no matter what our circumstances, we can find the bright side and be happy. More on this later.

Monday we went to an English class and then just tried to stay awake as long as we could, 12.5 hours difference from home and all those flights and layovers will do a number on you.
In Myanmar there are many different ethnic groups and there were people from all of the ethnic groups in Yangon.

Tuesday we went to a Preschool for 3-4 year olds. The kids were so cute and happy as could be. The white stuff on their faces is called thanica, they rub the bark of the thanica tree on a wet stone and then rub the paste on their faces. It is a sunscreen and helps keep them cool. This is the hottest part of the year in Myanmar, the rainy season is just around the corner and right now the high temperatures are in the 100s.

After going to the preschool, we went shopping! The main market is called Boyjoke Market - B means General and the market is named after the national hero who helped the country gain independence from Britain. He was then assassinated. It would have been interesting to see how, had he lived, the country might be different now. A market in a third-world country is like a gigantic swap meet, outside, dirt or broken floors, and everything you ever wanted and some things you didn't know you wanted around every corner. Bargaining is expected, but it was hard to bargain when the beginning price was so dirt cheap. We didn't get a lot of pictures in the market - we were too busy trying to stay together and say "just looking", "no thank you" and "No!" to the beggars and persistent shop owners. We'll put together a google earth file so you can see the pictures others have taken at the places we visited.

I just love the extension cords going to each apartment for power and the little cafes under the umbrellas on the right.

Next post...
Shwedagon Pagoda - the most important pagoda in Myanmar.

Back to the Baby Posts

2009-03-24T21:18:00.000-07:00

These really cute pictures have been building up, so I just have to post a couple.

2009-03-22T21:09:00.000-07:00

I know this makes two Zion posts in a row, but I didn't get to go on the Angels Landing trip so...
It was nice to have William, Steph and Paisley come and stay with us the first part of March. Although the pictures are only from Zion, we also got to play in the park and have lots of fun outside. I kind of messed up the week with a little "accident" but I will let Angela post that one if she dares. These pictures come from the Riverside Walk in Zion, nice stroll by the river with the strollers up to the exit of the Narrows. Zion is a different place in the winter time with no leaves on the trees and not so many tourists, I kind of like it this time of year.

A Hiking We Will Go

2009-03-06T09:39:00.000-08:00

Lindy came down last weekend and forced us outside to enjoy the sunshine. Of course, she had to twist our rubber arms to get us to do it - and bribe us with some secret recipe trail mix. We hiked the Angel's Landing trail in Zion National Park. When I say we, I mean...

Lindy,

Eliza,

And me.
(Of course, I'm not cute enough to have just a shot of me - I have to have my trusty sidekick to make it worthwhile to look at my picture.)

We met the chipmunk for lunch, enjoyed the view and hung on to the chains for dear life. No, honestly, it wasn't that bad even though we became famous overnight just for taking Eliza to the top. She impressed all the other hikers and loved every minute of it!! She laughed the whole way up the chained section and back down again. Then she slept. After all, being that cute is hard work.

We also ventured out to do a little climbing, but our poor sore muscles and the freezing wind didn't make us want to stay very long.

Eliza could have stayed all day if we'd only let her eat the rocks. We're so mean, I know.

Next Adventure 2

2009-02-22T08:59:00.001-08:00

I know that this really breaks our streak of not posting for a while, but looking at the calendar I realize that there is going to be Adventure 3,4 and possibly more in the coming weeks. The warm weather just calls for it. With that in mind this post shows our Adventure this weekend. See if you can guess where we went spur of the moment this weekend before you get to the last picture that gives it away, and sometime ask us about the our story of when a Quilting Retreat and a Youth Group collides, not good, but pretty funny to watch and listen to.

Eliza was so good, the cold didn't seem to bother here and she loved the snow. I think she likes sledding and snowshoeing too. After playing in the snow we went to the Bryce Canyon Visitors Center and looked at tall the cool animals. We had fun even though we had to come home a little early on Saturday to start putting in the garden.

The Next Adventure

2009-02-21T19:38:00.000-08:00

With the weather warming up it was about time for Eliza to get a bike seat so we can all start riding the trails. Since we got the bike seat our list of rides to ride keeps growing and growing. Here are some pictures from last weekend where we rode part of the Virgin River trail.

Attention Merkleys

2009-02-10T07:52:00.000-08:00

If you haven't heard already, you need to go check this out. Happy Day!

We've got a lot of catching up to do

2009-02-04T09:48:00.001-08:00

I just downloaded my pictures and it took about 15 minutes. That means, lots of pictures. Which means lots of happenings. Which means lots of posts. We hope. Given lots of motivation. And lots of naps. :)

So here's the first. This is what I found today when I heard not-so-sleeping noises come from the room after Eliza was put in her bed for a nap.

And the face that says "But Mom, aren't you proud of me?"

Oh boy. Here we go.

surfing

2009-01-25T19:46:00.000-08:00

but not just any surfing. Blog surfing. Oh yes, just one more thing to put on my list of things I'd rather be doing than the dishes.

I found this

and it leads to so many oh so great places.

Just for Jam

2009-01-22T13:45:00.001-08:00

One of my very best friends (whom I don't see/talk to nearly often enough) gave us a very cute outfit when Eliza was born. (Ok, she was two months old but when you live across the country - 2 months old is practically just born).

I just talked to this friend for the first time since we saw her in July and it just so happened that Eliza was wearing the outfit.

Coincidence? I think...yes.

But it was a great one and great to talk to an old friend.

So this picture is just for you, Jam! Love ya!

And this one is just because she's silly!

Little Tidbit

2009-01-12T20:14:00.000-08:00

Found something I just wanted to share.

I ran across this site a while ago and thought it was pretty useful. And now, they have put together some babystep checklists to getting your house in order. Perfect for me, something small I can actually see being checked off to help me feel accomplished.

Hope it hits the mark for some of you too.

It's Been a Great Year!

2009-01-04T10:43:00.000-08:00

So many things have changed this year, all for the better. We didn't get our Christmas letter out this year, sorry. Just know that we love you all and we hope you had a great holiday season.

Here's a few picture highlights from our Colorado trip for Christmas. We had so much fun hanging out with the Colorado Merkleys and the Wandering Merkleys (Scott and Brandee - they are currently in transition).

The best engineered sledding hill ever!

Cousins are the greatest!

The car Addy made for Eliza. It was sooo sweet!

Eliza and Dad in Dad's favorite place

Snowshoeing to Rifle Arch

Snow Day

2008-12-20T15:08:00.000-08:00

Remember how once there was a snowman, snowman, snowman, and in the sun he melted, melted, melted? We can sympathize.

All that's left of our adventures are three lopsided friends. But we had fun while it lasted.

No School in Dixie

2008-12-18T21:50:00.000-08:00

Paradigm Shift

2008-12-11T20:05:00.000-08:00

So, this is not an update really. We have too many pictures to make the update post a fast one and I'm into fast tonight. Therefore, you are getting the post that I've had on my mind for a while now.

My idea of Fall has changed this year...

for several reasons

A Day of Thanksgiving

2008-11-18T09:11:00.000-08:00

I am in love with this little girl!

Leave it to Rachel Ray to make me think about how every day can be a day of Thanksgiving. And I'm very thankful to be Eliza's mommy. I love her smiles, her snuggles, her giggles and how squirmy with excitement she gets when she sees her dad. Every night we thank Heavenly Father for letting her come to our family and for being so healthy and happy and just bringing us so much joy. I don't think I really knew what joy was until she came.

And here's another story that just makes your heart swell with thankfulness. Read it, cry over it and then give a little early thanks of your own.

If you really want to shed some tears, read Mia's story as told by her mommy. It will make your heart swell with thankfulness. Well, at least it did mine.

Happy Fall Y'all

2008-11-13T11:05:00.000-08:00

Our fall in St. George consists of hearing about the snow up north while we look out the window at our nice green leaves. Sad. Actually, the leaves around town are just now starting to turn yellow and we have had to wear jackets and hats the last few mornings. Anybody want to come visit? :)

We miss the changing colors, so we had to go find them. We went hiking in Zion National Park. We hiked up behind Weeping Rock to Observation Point and had a little picnic. We thought we would be home just after lunch, but the hike took a bit longer than we expected. It was well worth it and a great way to spend a nice fall day.

Happy Halloween

2008-11-01T19:52:00.000-07:00

We were feeling that Halloween would not be too exciting this year - all dressed up with no place to go - but we lucked out. We were invited to a pumpkin carving party so our jack-o-lantern got carved. (Unfortunately, we had to miss the judging portion because someone just couldn't keep her eyes open - we heard it was pretty spook-tacular with 40 jack-o-lanterns all aglow.) Eliza's best buddies up the street requested that she wear their tiger costume, saved me the dilemma of "should we dress up" or "not." And then, we had some substitute grandparents to trick-or-treat to - my Aunt Joan and Uncle Arnold! We got a whole, wonderful dinner instead of just a candy bar! Now that's what I call a treat!

The candy bar was more of a hit than we thought it would be.

One holiday down, two to go. :)

Grand Canyon (Eliza's First Time)

2008-10-26T19:05:00.000-07:00

This is a week late, but better later than never. We had wanted to go camping two weeks ago but it was very cold that weekend so I watched the weather all week to make sure it warmed up nice and warm. Well the weather said we would have a low of 38 out on the Kiabab (National Forest next to the Grand Canyon) so off we went. Friday night when Eliza was ready for bed we left. We got to our campsite a little after 10 and the moon was just coming up. From the pictures you can see that our campsite was right on the edge of the Grand Canyon and although it was cold it still warmed up quite nicely. Saturday morning we went to some viewpoints and then went on a hike along the Rainbow Rim, the only mountain biking trail along the Rim of the Grand Canyon. It was beautiful and we will have to go back when we can take our bikes. On the way we met a friend and went to Red Cave Narrows and then it was home through all of the Utah Deer Hunters. Good thing we went camping in Arizona!
This is the view from our tent. Eliza kept track of some of the sleeping bags while we packed up in the morning.
She loves her tent.
Yeah it was still a little cold in the morning.
Eliza loves her backpack too. It reminds me of her grandma and grandpa in Burma riding on the covered cabs atop an elephant.

The Trick of Tricks

2008-10-19T16:13:00.000-07:00

I feel that a post is necessary. We've been busy, to say the least, and I'm sure it will stay that way. For instance - did you realize it is now less than 10 weeks until Christmas? Yeah, how 'bout that for an eye-opener.

But that's not the point of this little post. The point is to share a video with you. Eliza has been the proud master of this trick for some time, but she has recently added the sound effects, and I think you'll agree, it's just too cute not to share.

Aaron's sound effects aren't bad either. :)

What more could you ask for?

2008-10-09T09:52:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday was my birthday. It's strange, some years I want everyone to remember and recognize it, and some years I don't. This year was an "I don't" year. Now, that doesn't mean I didn't want anybody to wish me happy birthday, I just don't mind if it's forgotten. But a lot of you did remember and so I wanted to say THANKS! I was delightfully surprised by some of the people who remembered and it was really fun to get messages all day. Thanks, friends and family! You made the big day be just a little more special!

Aaron was great - he gave me just what I wanted for my birthday (and mind you, it's not what's in the parentheses that counts): something I would never buy myself (dvds) and something he just made the decision and bought without any deliberation on my part (a family-size tent). Of course, we had to put the last one to the test right away and slept out in the backyard last night.

And Eliza gave me a gift too - loving to sleep outside just as much as I do!

Just some fun snapshots...

2008-10-08T13:06:00.001-07:00

BFFs

2008-09-29T10:08:00.000-07:00

Paisley and Eliza got to spend some quality time together last weekend. Wig and Steph came down with Steph's family to go to Tuachan. They let Paisley hang out with us while they went to the show and we had a great time watching the two munchkins try to roll on top of each other and eat each other's fingers. They even got to talk to Grandma and Grandpa via the webcam. We also discovered that Eliza is going to be the bully - she stole Paisley's keys and poor Paisley just didn't know what to think about that. But despite that, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Eliza's Daddy

2008-09-21T16:25:00.000-07:00

So, yesterday, out of nowhere, I got sick. Body aches and tiredness - right in the middle of my Saturday project. No energy and all I wanted to do was lie there. Well, thanks to Eliza's wonderful daddy, that's exactly what I did. Aaron did the dishes, played with Eliza, and even gave her a bath - all by himself (baby-bathing is a tricky feat, as I'm sure many of you know, especially since she has gotten so squiggley!) And she loved it. Eliza loves her Dad more than anyone. She lights up when he comes in the room and gets super excited when he chases her down the hall. And he loves her and it shows. So this is my big thanks to such a wonderful husband who loves both his girls so much! Thanks, Silly!

Aloha!

2008-09-16T19:41:00.000-07:00

We're back in the mainland and what a trip it was! After one failed attempt at blogging our adventures (Aaron was half way finished when the blog ate his post), I've decided the best thing to do is just let the pictures do the talking. So, grab some popcorn, sit back, and enjoy the show!

The Averetts do Hawaii

Starring

Eliza (and her parents)

Kevin, Melanie, and Bennett Hallstrom - our most gracious hosts on the island of Oahu (Mel was my roommate in college, Kevin was the boyfriend who finally saw the light and asked for her hand, and Bennett is Eliza's cohort - you'll see what I mean later)

The Averett Clan

and Cameron the Cousin-ator!

And now .... the show!

This film was shot on location on the islands of Oahu (Honolulu at the Hallstroms, Polynesian Cultural Center, Hawaii Temple, and hiking to a waterfall somewhere on the island) and Kauai (Po'ipu beach, Ke'e beach, various waterfalls, the Napali Coast, Lihu'e and the resort swimming pool), Hawaii.

No animals were harmed in the filming of this movie...although we did see lots of fish while snorkling, lot of sea turtles swimming in the sea and one that beached on our beach (yes, that was WAY cool), and some seals that also liked our beach (and by our, I mean Po'ipu beach where we stayed on Kauai).

Extras

Behind the Scenes

On Location

Boring Update

2008-09-07T23:03:00.000-07:00

I finally got a chance to sit down and blog our trip with Scott and Brandee's wedding and the first half of our Hawaii trip. Our internet here won't let me upload pictures though. So no pictures for now. We enjoyed our time in Salt Lake and Tridell and then were home for a week. Wednesday we went to Oahu where we did get to spend some good time with Melanie and Kevin and go to the Polynesian Cultural Center and Pearl Harbor and hike to a sweet waterfall. We are now in Kauai in a city named Poipu. There are large sea swells on the south side of the island where we are staying so we have only been able to do a little snorkeling and watch the surfers and big waves. We have a list of things to do this week so we should get some good pictures this week, and post an update hopefully at the end of the week.

How did we get this busy?

2008-08-14T19:56:00.000-07:00

I really don't know how it happened, last month we had time to work in the garden, go for walks and other enjoyable things, the last three weeks have just not allowed for any of it. It probably has to do with the Family Reunion the first weekend of the month, 2nd Scout Camp the 2nd week, and then this third week trying to play catch up for the last two and all along Angela helping with wedding plans. On top of it all we left our camera in Tridell so we can't take the cute baby pictures you all were probably hoping for. Well I found some to pull out of the archives, all the way back before all the craziness started, hope you enjoy.

Tagged - Blog Game

2008-07-29T16:00:00.000-07:00

So, I thought this looked kind of fun - I got it from my sis-in-law Amanda. Go ahead, see if you can remember something I can't!

1. Add a comment to this post on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn’t matter if you knew me a little or a lot…anything you remember!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It’s actually pretty cool (and funny) to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I’ll assume you’re playing the game and I’ll come to your blog and leave one about you.
-Angela

Catch-up!

2008-07-22T13:25:00.000-07:00

So, we've been slackers. It's because Eliza is so cute and we spend way too much time just staring at her and smiling. Enjoying it while we can - just like everyone says we should.:) Needless to say, some things have been neglected - like housework and the blog. Here's a sampling of the fun had over the 4th of July weekend and just some pretty cute pictures.

A Very Special Day

2008-07-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

Sunday, July 6th, was a big day for our little family. It was Eliza's blessing day. I can't help being amazed every time I look at this little girl that she is part of our family. Now, when I pray for my family, it has a whole new meaning. She has changed our lives forever, and I think we kinda like it.

We also had a very big weekend - being the 4th of July and all. The family came down on Friday and we had a great picnic in the park while the kids played in the stream.
Then we watched the fireworks - Thanks Scott and Brandee for saving us such great seats! ;)
Our little home in Washington is just right for us, but not for the big gang we had visiting, so we had some most gracious relatives let us borrow their home in a little town called Pinto. This place is amazing! We forgot our camera, naturally, so I'll have to get pictures from some of the siblings and post them. The house is really old, but they've taken great care of it. And it's full of great old keepsakes and mementos. There is even a closet FULL of all these great clothes from the 70s and 80s. The girls had more fun going through the closet than anything else. We spent some time touring the old church in Pine Valley, visiting the Mountain Meadows Massacre site (very sad!) and...Alex's favorite...the splash pad! We also had a surprise "visit" from some very special guests - Grandma and Grandpa Merkley! We finally got our webcams to work on both ends and we were able to talk to my parents in Myanmar! We surprised everyone and just brought the computer out with Mom and Dad smiling on it. The kids thought it was great. The sound wasn't very good, so we just spent a lot of time looking at them (and the boys making faces at themselves in the camera), but it was fun nonetheless.

We sure do appreciate everyone coming and spending time with us! And even those who couldn't make it, we love you still. :) We'll get more fun pictures up of the cousins meeting Eliza and some of the other fun stuff we did...as soon as I bum the pictures off others.
Lesson learned.
Take the camera.

Trying to Keep Up

2008-06-29T20:51:00.000-07:00

It has been a crazy last couple of weeks and I realized that we have not put a post up in those last couple of weeks, so here are some highlights.

Eliza helped in the garden one of the Saturdays

Her second picnic brought some yawns but it was still fun.

Eliza went fishing,

and gave Dad some pretty good looks,

and she had had plenty of visits from friends.

We look forward to seeing some of you this coming weekend when she will be blessed, travel safe and we will see you soon.

First Picnic

2008-06-15T15:44:00.000-07:00

It is time. Today is Eliza's 3 week birthday, so before that happened we had to get her out on a hike and see what she thought. I have been wanting to try out cottonwood wash and just had not done it yet, so Friday night Angela suggested a picnic and off we went. It was a little hot to start out but once we dropped into the canyon we found a nice rock and had a picnic. Eliza was so good, I think she likes the outdoors. After the picnic we hiked a little further, took some pictures and then came home. This is the first of many outdoor adventures for Eliza.

Thank Heavens for Family!

2008-06-13T08:14:00.000-07:00

This is a big THANK YOU to all our family for all the help and love and gifts and everything else they've done for us in the past couple of weeks. We feel pretty blessed to have you all. Even Grandma and Grandpa Merkley check up on Eliza through the chats. Boy, do we keep the Google lines busy!

Eliza has had quite the first couple of weeks. Thanks to her parents who do nothing better than procrastinate...well, lets be kind - it's only 10% procrastination and 90% difficulty making decisions...Eliza's first few weeks were not uneventful and nothing but rest and relaxation.
She got carpet and baseboards (thanks Grandpa!) in her room before she was 2 weeks old. This meant we were all sorts of displaced by random furniture placement in the house for two days. She also loves to go for walks with her dad, and she loves the sound of the birds.

Eliza also got to meet one of her cousins! My sister, Amy, came and stayed for a week after Grandma Averett left. (Thanks to both of you. I've missed you even more now that I've had a week on my own.) Amy brought Lance, and he wasn't quite sure what to think of someone smaller than himself. My favorite part was when he first saw Eliza, she had her binky in. Lance has one just like it and he thought she had his. We had to go find it so he had one too. Then he felt better about her. He sure liked to crawl up to her and try to give her loves. He also thought Uncle Aaron was a great pal! Such a cute kid! He was lots of help when the carpet came, although he was a little disappointed to lose his "echo room." He would crawl into or past Eliza's room while it was still concrete floor and make all kinds of noise just to hear the echo it made.

Isn't family great!

Check out the Poll

2008-06-08T16:21:00.001-07:00

We pulled out the baby books, and the vote is out. Who does Eliza take after? Mom or Dad? Check out the pictures and tell us what you think in the poll at the right.