Merritt Memories

Dustin took the boys to a demolition derby tonight. While they were doing "boy stuff, " we girls had a night of fun of our own. We ventured over to Jungle Jim's Playland for a night of fun. It had been a long time since we had been there, at least 3 years. Grace informed me that the rides were smaller and slower. I tried to remind her how much she has grown. Kate and Becca loved it. Grace too, once she decided to quit complaining and just have fun. Their favorite ride was The Amazon. It is an indoor roller coaster that goes in circles, but really fast. They rode it over and over! They also really loved the bumper cars. It was nice to be able to sit on a bench and just watch them run. The building wasn't very busy and they hopped from ride to ride while I just sat. The last ride of the night was a spinning ride. The ride operator was having fun spinning my girls as fast as he could. I was quite impressed with their tolerance for spinning. I...

  I have been selfish and concentrating on the fact that I feel awful and I'm tired all the time. A tired that I never knew existed! Yes, I have still been moaning about being pregnant.  That all changed today. I had a wonderful Sabbath day! Although, it didn't start that way.  My day started with crazy pregnant dreams. I am  still dreaming of not being able to care for this addition to our family. They are creepy dreams. I always seem to forget that I had a baby. I don't feed it, change it. This time I let it squirm off the bed. My fears are to blame. Hopefully as they subside, so will the wacky dreams. My day turned for me while in Sacrament meeting. A brother and sister from Venezuela talked today. Their accents are quite heavy, so you have to pay close attention. I'm so grateful for the Spirit they brought. They spoke of mercy and the love of God. Both based their talks off of talks from the April 2012 General Conference. You can read hers ...

Okay, maybe not around the world, but in OUR world. I found out the day after I registered for school.  If I can be honest, I wasn't very happy. There I said it. I know that is almost a sin in my Mormon culture. I hope nobody judges me too harshly. And after my 1st miscarriage, I promised I would welcome any baby that was placed in our home. But this was hard!!  I feel guilty for feeling this way. Almost everyone who has found out has said, "Congratulations! I'm so happy for you!" They are so excited. I feel I must meet their excitement, but I fall short. Then we are left with that brief awkward silence. Then I feel the need to explain:    "You see, my last baby almost did me in, mentally. I had a rough time after Becca. With 5, I feel stretched to my max, and the thought of adding another to the chaos is just plain overwhelming. I was ready to move on to the next stage of life. I had just signed up for school. Now wha...

My mom came up the weekend of Kate's baptism. It was fun to host her. I love having my mom come because I know my kids are getting to know her. And I want them to know her! I never really spent much time with my grandparents, on either side. My dad's dad died when he was five and his mom died when I was six. I remember visiting her house so my mom could take care of her. She had a stroke years before. I had never heard her speak or even look at me or address me. I also remember singing at her funeral. The grandchildren sang, I am a Child of God. I remember crying during the funeral as I sung it. It's weird because I was six. This lady never talked to me. Why would I be sad? My mom's parents lived a good trip from us. I remember visiting. I remember one time I got to chop wood in the backyard with my Grandpa's ax. I remember horses. I'm not sure if they were theirs or their sons. I remember my grandma always had cookies. I also remember I was afraid to g...

Last year for Mother's Day, Dustin and the boys built me some planter boxes along our fence. We planted late and had a so-so crop of veggies. The beans were aplenty and the peppers also. Our peas were devoured by the family pet. We decided to get a better jump this year. Last night for FHE we tried again. This year we decided to try watermelon and scallions. Becca chose the watermelon. She was way excited. I was lucky to find a seed that grew little. The scallions, I wanted to try. I love green onions on everything! We also replanted peas, beans, cucumbers, and carrots.  We made sure the kids got in on the action. Our lesson was to teach them how and to know they are responsible for this garden just as much as Dustin and I are. The girls really took to it, the boys? Well, I think they are just not willing to admit that they were excited too. So weird. We prepped the dirt, getting it ready to plant. We read the package. Y...

I enjoy Mother's Day. Motherhood is worth celebrating. And we celebrate in style!! We honor Mother's Day with no fighting, mom gets to rest all she wants, and what she says goes! I can't think of a better day. Dustin had to work this year, so he took me out early. On Saturday night he told the kids to get ready because he was taking me to dinner and they were going with us. In our house this is a BIG DEAL. We rarely take the kids out. Two reasons, 1. Money. It is expensive to feed 7 mouths. 2. When they were little, they would order, but NEVER finish. We felt it was wasteful. So when we go out, they are super excited. Ryan happened to be at a friend's house, hanging out, when the announcement was made. He called to see if he could go see The Avengers with his friend. We feel that he is getting old enough to make his own choices. I know how bad he wanted to see this movie. Dustin told him our plans and let him choose. He said, "I'll call you back in...

Who would be crazy enough to schedule a cruise a week before their daughter's baptism? Yeah, we would. FYI, not a good idea. I spent the week in between shopping for a dress, trying to schedule a bishop's interview, and giving late notice to family because I failed to make invites before we left! Typical Larae brain. After the craziness of the week, it was nice for Saturday to arrive. Kate was so excited! Her baptism was at 10 am. We were glad to have family and friends come to support her in her big decision. My mom and Robyn came from Vegas and Jeff and Staci came from Kaysville. Dustin's parents, Shandi (his sister) and Jaren, Wendy (his sister) and Cory, and Taryn( another sister) and Adam all came as well. It was nice to have so much family! We were glad Grandma Nelson came too! They asked Dustin and I to bear our testimonies after. How sweet that was to have the Spirit so strong. I told Kate the things I remembered from my baptism day. I challenged her to remem...