Merritt Memories

All I can say about this Christmas is, "I got a new camera!!" We had a nice holiday at Taryn's home. We all laughed and celebrated the Season. Christmas is a wonderful time of year.

I took the older kids to church by myself today. Britten was sick with a bad cough. Dustin stayed home with him because I had to conduct Primary and do Sharing Time. During Sacrament meeting, Grace was filling out a a pamphlet all about family history. I'm not sure where she got it from. I had never seen it before. I'm pretty sure she got it from her young woman leaders.  I do know there is a big push right now to get our family history done. I have felt a pulling inside of me to get to know those in my family that came before me.  I have been studying my Grandma Taylor- I have a post to publish about her. I started close because I realized I really don't know my grandparents all that well. None of them wrote a history. My parents don't have a history. I don't have a history written. I really didn't think I needed to write one...until today.  In that pamphlet Grace filled out my information. I heard Aaron lean in and ask her, "Mom has a middle name?...

I write about this every year. It's our anniversary today.  When we married, I was barely 20 and Dustin 22. We were babies. If my son came and asked about getting married at 22, I would freak out! And, I tell my daughters all the time that they cannot get married until they are 24! So hypocritical, I know. But looking back always brings me peace and I realize how happy I am that we got married. No regrets. So I'll relax a little if my kids come to me as babies, announcing they are getting married. We all got up early this morning to get ready for our 9:00 church. About a half hour into our routine, I noticed none of my family could be found! I called out. I could hear them in the basement. Dustin rushed up and asked me to take the baby into the bedroom and dress him. I knew they were up to something, so I went. Not before I asked what they were doing, though. He glared at me. He hates it when I'm so nosy. A few minutes later, they called me in. I came into the...

I just celebrated my 38th birthday. 38!! This birthday left me feeling really old. I was told a bazillion times how old I really am not, but it' didn't help in my feeling that I'm old. For crying out loud, I have 6 kids, been married for (almost) 18 years, and next year my oldest child will graduate from high school. The real kicker was when I really thought about how fast the last ten years went and that the next 10 will probably come quicker, I realized my 5th child will be 19 1/2. Guys, I'm no spring chicken!! But, I've decided that that's okay. I think about the last ten years. When I turned 28, my fourth child was 6 months old. Little did I know that in a month, I would be pregnant with my 5th child. I was in the whirlwind of mothering 4 little ones ranging in age from 6 to infant. I was tired. I was overwhelmed. I felt defeated a lot of the time. Looking back, however, I realize that I was enjoying myself. I can hear my kids' voices in my head and...

Sometimes admitting weakness is really hard. Especially when your life is great and you don't want to feel like you're complaining. I hope this doesn't come across as complaining. I love my life. I have a great husband and I have wonderful kids. We have been blessed beyond measure. I am a lucky lady! But, even the luckiest of us have troubles. For the past year in a half I have felt trapped in someone else's life. All of a sudden the happy I felt seemed overtaken by sadness, worry, and anxiety. The happy was still there, but for some reason I have had to make the effort to uncover it. It. Has. Been. Hard. And, I think the hardest part was not being able to give it a name. By name, I mean a reason. Why was I feeling this way? Lately, I have been able to feel the fog in my brain starting to lift. Mostly because I have the energy to lift it now. Before, it just seemed too much. The thought of figuring out the "why" was so overwhelming, I just wante...

We'll just say I'm a tad behind...lol. Okay, A LOT! Kate's birthday was in May! But, better late than never! I can't believe this girl is 10!! Almost 10 1/2! She is such a great girl. She is my most affectionate child. She loves to be hugged, kissed, or tickled. She is a big help with the baby and is our go to girl to bathe him. She is smart and is a great speller! She has gotten 100% on all of her pre-tests in Spelling and has yet to take a test! She loves to be active and wants to be doing something. Her normal wake time is 6:30 am. Yes, she is our early riser! One of her best qualities is that she is friendly. She loves to be with friends! We love you Katie Bug! Kate's Interview Favorites color: red food: pizza  subject in school: math candy bar: Kit Kat book: Among the Hidden tv show: Survivor movie: Harry Potter series fruit: banana vegetable: broccoli chore: sweep  I asked her three questions.  ...

Warning: These are the ramblings of my mind when my husband is gone and my children are in bed. I have no idea where this post may go. Or, if it will have any point. I initially got on to post about my Grandma Taylor. I've been meaning to for quite sometime. I started a post about a couple weeks ago and I was going to finish it. But, I lost my notebook that had all my notes about her. Well, I'm pretty sure it's misplaced. It's misplaced because I shoved it somewhere so I could say my room was clean. My husband and I still fight about things like that. I leave things out. He puts them away. He doesn't like when I leave things out. We usually end up fighting about it. Not really "fighting,"  but we get completely annoyed with each other because it is a part of our lives where we are so different. And neither one of us has any intention of changing about it. So, I stuff things away so they are out of sight, and I end up losing them. Yeah. Maybe I should ...

I went to the temple this afternoon. It has been a while. Since moving out of the Salt Lake Valley, we no longer have a 10 min drive to the temple. I can't believe how adding 20 minutes to that drive has changed everything!! I know people who have to drive hours and I'm worried about 20 minutes!! It's kind of crazy! I chose to do initiatory work. I walked into the dressing room and entered the Initiatory room and was shocked! They have redone the whole thing! It was beautiful! The waiting room was very calming and comfortable. Much different than the previous one. I sat across from a large picture of Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem. I had never seen that picture before and wondered why they had chosen that picture to put in the waiting room. Were we to think of Mary? Did this event somehow tie into the initiatory? I plan on studying it in detail and see what I can learn. I only did the work for four names. One was crossed out. I found that interesting...

Building a house was fun and exciting. Yes, there were stressful times. but seeing everything come together was wonderful to watch. Well, we finally added anew addition to the house: We got grass!!  I never realized what a blessing grass was until it was gone. No more fine dirt on everything. No more dirty shoe prints and paw prints. Nope! None of that. Just lush green grass to roll around in and get hives because we are all allergic!!

I've come to realize that while I'm helping my kids through their life, there are going to be events that cause me to remember things of my childhood. Today was one those days.  I was at Grace's  6th grade graduation. The principal made a speech. Something I really liked from her speech was this advice, "Show me your friends and I'll show you your future."  I couldn't agree more with her, though I realize there are always those exceptions. Friends are important. As a mom, I will never downplay that. I just hope my kids keep being/making good friends. During the day's events, I started thinking about my 6th grade graduation. I graduated form Hazel Grove Elementary in Lee's Summit, MO. I had only lived there for about 5 years, but the friends I made there are still fresh in my mind. I had good friends. And though a lot of them probably barley remember me, they will always hold a special place in my heart. I know that sounds cliche, but it...

When I started this blog, I knew I would share the events of my little spot in this world. I really like how it started. I would just share the nothingness, but everything, of our day. After a little while it morphed into little snip-its about me. Now, I feel like this blog has become more like a scrapbook that I work on when I have time. I realize my life is crazy. I am pulled every which way, never really knowing where I'm going. But I never thought I wouldn't take the time to write about my experiences in this journey. I want to do better. I want to share the exciting, the mundane, the whatever. I hope to turn this back into something I take the time for. I want to read this 10 years from now and still find the enjoyment in simple things. It can be so easy to take those for granted. The simple things. I don't want to be lame like that. How do I not be so lame? I thought that was the end of this post, but it's not. I just walked into the living room and saw t...

I always find myself awake late when Dustin is gone. It used to be when he worked graves as a police officer. Tonight, it is because he is traveling for work. I hate feeling lonely at night. You would think I wouldn't. There are 6 other little bodies in this home! During the day I'm fine. I have all my "mother chores" to keep me busy. At night, my mind has a lot of time to wander. And boy does it!  It's always crazy too. Last night I drifted off to sleep worrying about being alone in the house and thinking of all the things that could happen. It rolled over into my dream. All night I was trying to escape a kidnapper. It was so real and detailed. I woke up telling myself that it would've been an awesome movie! I should have written it all down when it was fresh. I could've been rich!! I always end up thinking about my life after raising kids. I never get a real chance to do this in the midst of chaos. And letting my mind really wander enough to com...

I've been feeling extremely grateful for this wonderful family I've been given. It's always nice when I actually stop and reflect. I can't believe all that I've been given and it's so easy to take it all for granted. When you are busy living life you sometimes forget to stop and take it all in. I know I have. I'm not doing to good on  my goal to LIVE this year.  We are approaching the half mark for this year- can you believe it? I'm going to refocus and live for what really counts. I don't want to look back and realize I was too busy with unimportant things and can't remember the important ones. I haven't written as much as I like or taken enough pictures. I'll sahre what I have and try to do better in the future. Our Life in April We visited a local park... Britten ate pb&j for the first time (I threw in some of a banana too) We celebrated Easter (kind ...