Merritt Memories

Another summer is gone. Another school year is here. The years just keep going faster and faster! This year all my kids are in school! I can't believe it! Grace is a junior. Kate is a sophomore. Rebecca is in jr high, 7th grade. And Britten started kindergarten. The girls were happy to start, but Britten sure beat their excitement. I was nervous how he'd adjust, but he got in the car and shouted, "Mom, it was great!" Here's to another school year! May it be better than last!

My son, Aaron, proposed to his girlfriend, Angel, on Monday, August 13th. He came home and didn't say a word to us! We got a text the next afternoon telling us that he was engaged...I was mad! Mad about the whole situation, yes. But more so that he chose to tell me through a text message. If you get engaged, you dang better tell your mother in person! My Aaron suffers silently from anxiety. As a child it manifested in forms of OCD. But once a teenager, it crippled him from speaking and interacting with others. He wouldn't talk to people unless they spoke first. And then it would be one word answers. He hated going into the cafeteria because it was too overwhelming for him. He only started his junior year because I basically threatened him. I know that doesn't sound very motherly, but sometimes we have to do hard things and what was I teaching him by allowing him to always run away. He went into the cafeteria and he found friends and never had an issue after that!  ...

It's taken my years to write a bucket list. I mostly live from day to day, so trying to think bout the future is often overwhelming for me. But I really wanted to have a list of "to dos" so I can do things that are important to me. When you're a wife and mother, it is really easy to make put your aspirations on the back burner. Now, not that my bucket list is full of aspirations, but they are things that I would like to accomplish. I haven't completed it, but I went from a list with 4 items, to 12! So I'm thinking! Learn to sew, learn the piano, read books, and going to Germany have always been on my list. I can sew a straight line, and I did make skirts for my daughters one year. I would just like to own a sewing machine so if I ever have free time, I can choose to sew something if I wanted to. I taught myself to play the piano when I was younger. We had a piano and I played the viola. the problem was that viola is alto clef, and piano treble. It...

This week Ryan got to start his 100 day countdown until he comes home. He's scheduled to return home on my birthday this year!! Talk about a birthday present! He made a shirt marking the occasion: We're all pretty excited about it! I can't believe 2 years have gone by! This week also marks the last little bit of summer. Summer always comes and goes so quickly. I really hate it. I wish we had more time and money to make each summer more memorable. But, really we do enjoy just being lazy, going to the library, hanging out in the front yard. Of course we watch TV and play video games too. I managed to get the girls out on Thursday to go to the park. Poor Britten doesn't get to do all the things my others did. He really enjoyed this park. He loved the swings. And do you know what they put at this park? A life size video game. The kids loved it!! We grabbed lunch after from Wendy's. Also a favorite! On Friday, Grace got to drive. ...

I'm not sure how popular Pioneer Day is in other regions of the country, but in Utah, it's a big deal! The history of pioneers is huge in the Mormon culture. Stories are passed down of family members who treked across the plains and deserts to find freedom from persecution and the ability to worship how they pleased. It is something we pride ourselves in.  Every July 24th, it's a celebration in Utah. Most people get work off. If you ever come through Utah on the 24th and wonder why in the world fireworks are being set, you will know it's for the Pioneers. There's parades, rodeos, parties.We made the trip downtown to see the Days of 47  Rodeo. We're not really rodeo people, but we got free tickets from Dustin's work, and we all had the day off!  My kids were mostly bored until the barrel racing. They didn't like seeing the animals roped and tied, I can't blame them. The bulls were outstanding and bucked most of the riders off before the 8 sec...

We've been doing work on our yard ever since we moved in, in 2013. First came the curbing and grass, which we loved! Then trees and flowers. Dustin even crafted some stone planter's boxes in the front! His last two projects have been really big and time consuming.  Last fall he decided it was time to build his shed. He couldn't take not having one any longer. We fit 3 cars in our garage, but we had a 4 wheeler, snow plow attachment,  deep freezer, bikes, scooters, wagon, and tolls and lawn care items. We needed a shed! He started it mid August. I didn't think to take a picture until it was mostly done: He found a nice spot in the corner by all the other neighbor's sheds. I'm pretty sure the neighbor's thought this would be an ordinary brown shed, but they were wrong. We wanted it to be pretty and have a pop of color. We decided on a gray-blue, so we thought. We ended up with this:  It is bright, but with the wood accents, we loved i...

A lender who my work does regular business with was hosting free hot air balloon rides. It's on my bucket list to ride in a hot air balloon, but I had to work the event, so no ride for me. But, Dustin and the kids were able to.  They had face painting, a balloon artist, and had games and prizes. It was a long wait in line for the ride, but  it was an evening activity that interrupted the monotony.  Becca and Britten got their face painted while Aaron and Kate looked for left over golf balls on the golf course. My partner and I were in charge of the put-put game.  This also made me start thinking a lot more about my "Bucket List". I'm not sure what else to add, but I'm working on it.