CHRISTmas Season!!!

When contemplating what I wanted to do for the annual Christmas blog entry, I thought just doing the normal update of my family would be sufficient, but needless to say I have had the hardest time writing it, call it writers block or whatever, but I have started this entry about 12 times (maybe more).  So here I go again and hopefully this will be the winner..............

I have been thinking a lot about being a Christlike example and when I think about it, the one thing that comes to mind is very personal, yet something that I have wanted to write down and save for my kids to read later. So this entry is going to focus on the very meaning of being Christlike and the wonderful person I chose to marry.

Scott had to do something this year that I hope to not repeat for a very, very, very long time.  He had to say good-bye to his father.  I hope Scott won't mind me talking about this on here for all to read, especially since I will not let him proof-read my posts and he usually doesn't get a say in what I post, so forgive me honey if this is to personal.  Scott and his Dad were not really in a good place at the time we learned of his sickness, and sadly it was not for lack of trying.  Scott's Dad was an alcoholic, and it was hard for me to watch Scott try and try and try again to help his Dad only to be refused or let down because of a relapse.  It finally came to the point where the only relationship Scott had with his Dad was the check he (and his brothers) sent every month to pay for his apartment room and other neccessities that kept Tom from being homeless.  I don't want to go into much more detail but their relationship was basically non-existent for about a year before his passing but in saying this I know it brought great comfort to Scott knowing that Tom lived really close to his brothers and his brothers would check up on him and invite him over for Sunday Football.  It was late Mon. evening in early March 2011 when Scott got the call from his brother saying that he was taking their Dad to the ER, because something was wrong.  I called the hospital the next day to find out how Tom was doing and from what they could tell me I knew it wasn't good.  I asked Scott to tell me what exactly the Dr. had said to his brother when they took him in and that is when I found out he had Scirosis of the Liver and the level at which he was at was extremely critical, Scott had chosen not to go to the hospital and I was very concerned that it would be to late when he finally went, so I did some research online (I know, I know but it was the only thing I could do at the time), and it made me even more nervous that waiting was the wrong thing to do, Scott just wanted to wait and see.  I have always felt like I had to walk on pins and needles concerning matters with his Dad and it was hard for me to see time slipping away, I felt the pressure but I think Scott was a little in denial about how critical his Dad really was.  Thurs. that same week I went into work and to my relief Scott asked if I would go to the hospital with him to visit his Dad, we went to the IHC hospital on Redwood and 56th So. and the only thing I can say is that when we first saw Tom it was shocking, here was a man who was only 55 yet looked 85, his scirosis was so bad that he had a very hard time communicating and really had to think about anything you asked him.  But the more miraculous thing that happened was Scott, I saw a man who had been so hurt by his Dad's alcoholism, look into the eyes of this man and it was as if nothing else mattered but making him better.  Scott went into a "doing" mode, if there was something that needed to be done for his dad, whether it be paperwork, legal stuff, making sure he had his glasses, comforting him, watching tv with him or just reminiscing about hunting and fishing, Scott was right there.  I think the most precious moment for me came as we were leaving and Scott looked at his Dad and said "I Love you Dad!" I knew it took a lot for him to say it, especially not knowing if his Dad understood him and not knowing if it would even matter to his Dad. Scott called his Grandma and Uncle Mike who live in Mesquite, NV and told them that they should come up and visit and so they came and spent the weekend up in SL, to our surprise Tom seemed to be doing so much better and the time that Grandma and Mike got to spend with him was really wonderful.  Tom was doing so good in fact that the hospital was ready to talk about releasing him but only to a facility that provided nursing care 24 hrs. a day, because even at his very best he would never be able to live without constant nursing care.  Scott and his brothers searched until they found a sutible place for their father to go after they released him from the hospital.  He was released midday Mar. 22, Scott was not able to visit that day or on the 23rd but thrus. the 24th we went together to see his Dad, as we went into the room the nurse was with him and she began talking to us about some concerns she was having and it seemed that Tom was not doing so well, in fact it seemed like he had gone backwards, as we were visiting him, he asked if Scott would put him back in his bed because he was cold, Scott is really not a nurturer but as I watched him put his Dad in bed careful to make sure that he was comfortable, and covering him up with the blanket and then making sure that everything he needed was in arms legth, I got goosebumps!  The sweetest thing and the thing that to this day brings tears to my eyes is when Tom asked for some water and Scott poured him a glass and seeing how weak and shakey Tom was, Scott didn't think twice nor ask me to step in as he helped his Dad take a sip of water, I wish that that exact moment could have been recorded so my kids could see and know how incredible their father is, they are far to young to grasp the whole reality of what took place in those precious few weeks.  That was the last time we would visit Tom there, we no sooner had arrived back at work then we got a call saying Tom had gone from bad to worse and they were sending his to St. Marks Hospital and that we needed to get there as quick as we could.  Long story short we told Scott's brothers to meet us there and with the sons who meant the world to him surrounding him, Tom departed this life.  I cannot even begin to describe what it is like when you are with someone who is dying, there is almost a paulpible reverence.  I knew then just like I know now, Scott was a Christlike example, he saw the poor and he gave, he saw the sick and he tried to heal, he saw the weary and he carried, he saw the broken hearted and he loved, he held the hand of his father as he passed promising to take care of those who still lived, he let go of hurt and anger and replaced it with kindness and compassion, there has never been a time I have felt so priviledged to be a part of something as I was in watching my husband grow as a person.  I hope in this Christmas Season you all have a little time to reflect on the Christlike examples that filled your life this year, and be grateful for the experiences to learn and grow closer to our Savior.  We love you all and are so grateful for each and everyone of you and the example you are to us.  Merry Christmas and May your New Year be filled with the love of our Savior Jesus Christ.

With Love,
Scott and Melanie
Bradley, Kennadee, Zachary and Lainee

The 4K that nearly killed me!

I was working on getting Christmas Cards out today and I came across the cards that came in our mail today and right there just waiting for me to open, was a card from my Grandma and Grandpa Harvey (my moms, mom and dad), inside the card was another card, a thank you card, on which Grandma started it by writing "Melly", that simple word just brings the biggest, goofiest, smile and the warmest sensation of love to me, she is the only person on this earth who calls me that (or I should say who is allowed to get away with calling me that!!).  She just sent a cute little thank you for our help with putting together our Harvey family reunion.  Reading her note made me think back to that family reunion and how we Merkley's all came together and put on one heck of a reunion!!!  But there was 1 thing that we did that nearly took me out, literally!!!

My brother Matt, who is a beast, was put in charge of doing a family fun 4K (nobody is fessing up to me as to who put him in charge), he mapped it out, ran it first to make sure it was what he wanted and then showed everybody the way to go on the day of the race.  I had to be coaxed into participating because I am not a runner, Cassie did you read that, I am not a runner.  I can walk, I can even walk fast, but something happens to me when I run and my body rebels.  But I found some buddies and off I went, I can't remember how many participants we had but it was a pretty good size group, I want to say around 35-40 but I could be wrong.  My sweet Grandma decided that she would give it a try as well, so when I expressed concern for her being able to complete it, being that it was on dirt road and Matt had said there were some steep places, she just waved off my concern and said she will walk it until she thought she couldn't do it anymore and then she would turn around and come back, besides she was walking with Aunt Pam and Aunt Dawn, so all was good.  I started out by running, which didn't last very long but hey at least I was doing it, the first little bit was fine but then we started on a down hill slope which slope does not descibe it very well, it was steep, I kept slipping and had to just settle for slowly walking with my peeps which consisted of Sienna, Ian, Hunter and Big Aiden (not to be confused with little Aiden), Kennadee, Morgan and Makayla, all of these kids were 13 and under, I was just happy I was keeping up with them :)  Just about the time I was beginning to wonder if we were even on the right path, we saw Justin just ahead of us, and thankfully soon after found the path that was supposed to lead us back to the top of the mountain.  Through this narrow path in the forest, I found myself gulping for air, each time I passed a spot that even remotely looked like it could be a place to rest I took advantage, and I found myself acting like a child that had been cooped up in a car for hours upon hours and hollering to Kennadee, "Are we there yet?, can you see the end?, how much farther??????"  The only thing that kept me going was the fact that it was shorter to continue rather than turning back.  We didn't ever really run into anybody else and only caught the voices of those that were behind us every once in a while.  The best moment came when Kennadee announced she could see the end, we had reached the top of the moutain and were now headed back to the finish line, which sadly enough was still about 1/4 mile.  As we came out of the forest into the clearing, I was just near the passing out stage, I was slowly trudging along when I saw my boys (who had already completed the 4K) riding a bike towards me, when they got within ear shot they started cheering me on, saying "c'mon mom, you can do it!, just a little farther, mom!, you are almost there!"  Their chants lifted what little energy I had and propelled me to at least walk/jog.  Justin had passed me a while ago and I was finally catching back up to him with just a little over 20 yards to go, when Bradley said "Mom, this is it, you are almost done, just sprint to the finish, do it Mom!!!"  And with that I was off, I passed Justin who immediately put it in gear himself as we were coming to the end, neck and neck, I gave one more short burst of energy (or Justin let up a little) and I took the lead and finished the 4K, still alive, still breathing (although barely), and excited beyond belief that I did it!!!  About 20 min. passed and we were still cheering on people as they came back, when I saw my Grandma, and she was jogging!  I smiled and thought to myself "only grandma", she is such a wonder to behold sometimes, I felt a little chastized at the thought that I had to be talked into this and grumbled most of the way, and couldn't wait for it to be over so I could sit back and relax (after I strangled Matt) and here was my 70+ grandma with a smile on her face and excitement in her step and I could just imagine that she sang her way through the hard trails and danced up the mountain just because she was surrounded by her family.  I love her and I feel honored to be named after such a great woman, and I hope I will live up to that name, and be the kind of example to others as she is to me!!    I love being her Melly!!!

As for a couple other stats from the race: Bradley finished 1st (what a stud), Sophie finished 4th (she ran the whole thing all by herself, which I thought was pretty cool), Scott finished 5th or 6th (??), I can't remember any places after Scott, but Zachary finished shortly after Scott, I finished a little under 1 hr., Kennadee shortly after me and then Lainee came in about 15 min. after that and to her credit she walked the whole thing with Cassie in her flip-flops (I didn't know she was coming or I would have made sure she had proper footwear, but this is Lainee and flip-flops in the summer months are just molded to her feet!!)

Oh and don't worry Matt, I have forgiven you, it took a couple of months but you can now sleep without keeping one eye open ;p

Lainee turns Six

Do you know what I love, I love making cakes for my kids' birthdays, sometimes they turn out great and sometimes, well, it's the thought that counts............!!!  This year for Lainee's b-day I asked her what she wanted for her cake and she said "I really, really, really want the strawberry cake you made for my 4th b-day."  Hip, Hip hooray I already knew what to do and maybe I could improve it a little.  So excited was I for this cake that I didn't even stress about it, that should have been my first clue :s  The girls had been out at their Grandma and Pappy's house and they came home the night before her 6th b-day.  Lainee promptly walks in says hi and then proceeds to tell me what she wants her cake to be, ummmmm what??  She decided that she wanted a cat cake, I am sure it had nothing to do with the fact that she spent the weekend loving on "her" cat (which she keeps at Grandma's house).  So being the kind, wonderful, never stressing, most loving mom that I am, I said "you bet, if a cat cake is what you want than a cat cake is what you will get!!"  And thus began the internet search for an idea, followed by a late night baking and a feverish run to the store the next day to finish getting the accessories for our most beautiful kitty cat cake!  My Sister Kari and her kids came over to help us celebrate and it is a good thing she did because I needed her help putting the finishing touches on!!

 

This is the finished product!!!  Pretty darn cute!!

I would say she is pretty pleased with it!!

Katie, Kayla, Kennadee, Lainee, Lexi and Brina!!

Did I mention it was an ice cream cake, filled with Kit Kat Ice Cream!!

*cat shirt*

^cat pajamas^

{a bike (hopefully not to run over any cats)}

Her birthday was a great day and we are lucky to have Little Lainee in our family, she brings lots of laughs, lots of giggles, lots of love and most of all lots of messes (and one day I know we will miss those messes)!!!

Making up is so much fun...

The trouble with doing something wrong is that you usually have to right the wrong, and sometimes it is just to daunting of a task to make up the wrong, but I am going to attempt to right my wrong and hopefully be forgiven of my grievous sin.

Are you dying to know what I did wrong??? 

Everytime I talk to my mom, or mother-in-law, my sisters, sisters-in-law or some of my extended family and friends, I usually get asked the question; "When are you going to update your blog?"  Well here is my answer, "Since I have been so lax this year and not doing a good job of keeping you informed of all the happenings in our family, I am going to try and save face by posting a lot this month, I am hoping to get you all caught up on the fun, funny, not-so-fun, and dysfunctional side of my family!" 

So sit back, relax and realize that this Christmas Season will be filled with all sorts of "Kings"!!!

Happy Anniversary!!!

So it's my beautiful Mothers Anniversary today, why is it just her Anniversary do you ask???

Let me Answer with this:

Happy 30th Anniversary of your 29th Birthday!!!!

My mom is sooooo loving me right now, I can feel it!

I have been wondering how to honor my mother on her special day, and my normal is to go on and on about what a wonderful, incredible person she is, how she is the most patient, loving, selfless, giving and forgiving person that I know, and how I would be so happy to be 1/10th of the Mother she is to my children and she was to me.  But in thinking back about past birthdays I could not get this story out of my head so it must be that I must share...............

When my mom was celebrating the 11th Anniversary of her 29th birthday, my Dad took her out to dinner with Aunt Pam and Uncle Ken and some of our neighbor's from our Roosevelt Days, so thus my big brother Justin was left to manage all us "little" children (why my mom ever left him in charge is still a mystery to me, anywho) I remember all of us being downstairs I am going to say peacefully watching TV because after all that is what my mom wants to hear right.  When all of a sudden we heard a noise upstairs, I remember all of us older kids trying to quiet the little kids down so we could hear what we just knew was a burglar in our home, we were trying to listen so we knew where this burglar was and what they might be stealing.  Justin being the "babysitter" decided that he would protect us all and snuck upstairs and grabbed one of my Dad's knives from the kitchen drawer, now for some of those who may not know my Dad was, is and will always be a butcher, so needless to say we always had BIG and SHARP butcher knives.  Once Justin came back downstairs with the knife we formulated a plan to go and make sure that this burglar left our home.  So Justin, Matt, Me and I am pretty sure Kari (but it could have been Erin because she was more likely to be braver than Kari) went upstairs, and room by room we searched for our burglar.  You can just imagine Justin and Matt being the big heroes and sneaking into the bedrooms and searching behind each door for our burglar, picture with my please....sneak, sneak, sneak (looking at each other and mouthing) you go that way, grabbing doors and with a quick humph and a HI-YA, yep that was us protecting our home!!!  So after every door, closet and room was thoroughly checked and cleared we started to head back to the basement when I happened to look on the Kitchen Table only to notice something was not right, as I got closer I saw the very thing that must have been the burglars reason for entering our home, what was it; a cake.  Someone in the neighborhood had brought over a cake, I am sure that they must have knocked and knocked they may have even rang the doorbell, and I will never know why us children who always behaved so well when my parents were gone couldn't hear them, until they walked in and put it on our kitchen table.  Well Mom I am glad for you that we all survived our harrowing night of the Birthday Burglar!!!   :) 

Happy Birthday Mom, I really do Love you!!!

(even though you did leave Justin in charge)

Word Puzzle

So can you read this:

HiGis

The girls came into work with me for a little bit today and Lainee immediately grabbed the whiteboard markers and starts wiriting things on Scott's whiteboard.  As she started writing we both look up and saw that she wrote an H, and then the i, "Hi" when she added the Gis, I thought she was just writing random letters,  Scott on the otherhand asked her what she spelled and she says in her oh so cute voice, "Hi Guys!!!!!"  So totally funny, Love 1st grade phonetics!!!

A new laughable line of Lainee's and a hopeful boy with a homeless brother.

So yesterday I was walking into the Grocery Store with shoeless Lainee in tow, and you know the times when your kids are talking and you are "uh-huh"ing and "yes"ing to them but really you are going through the gocery list in your mind because your forgot your paper grocery list at home.  Well needless to say it came to that point in the conversation where I was like "what???, what is she talking about and I was completely stupified at what she was telling me."  So I asked her to repeat herself, only I came up with a comepletely clever and wonderful way of asking so it seemed as if I was really listening to the whole conversation!!  She then began her story again, and just to speed it up a little she was telling me that Justin Bieber had gone to this girl's house because she said she was in love with him.  So I looked at Lainee a little confused and said, "I thought Justin was with Selena Gomez?"  "Mmmmoooooommmm", she said with an exasperated lilt, "They broke up, it has been all over the news, how did you not know this....."  "Well my little 6 year old sweetie, who goes to bed at 8:30 well before the news, I guess I am just behind the times!"  At this point in time I notice that there was a man walking beside us who heard this whole conversation, he just started laughing, and walked down the aisle next to the one we were heading down (I am sure to save me the embarassment of having to explain to him why I did not know this little factoid)!!! Gotta love Lainee!!!

Also last night Scott and I were talking to the kids and we were telling them that over the course of the next few months we would be changing their sleeping arrangements, largely due to the fact that Bradley and Zachary either are friends and want to talk and talk and laugh all night or they are enemies and want to fight and argue and punch each other all night, so we are going to be doing some remodeling and hopefully when all is said and done we will live in a house of peace and tranquility where all the inhabitants talk nicely to each other, use good manners, always keep their bedrooms nice and tidy, and most importantly go to bed when they are suppose to!!!!  Hey, it will happen you just watch!!!  Okay so fast forward to after dinner and a little before bed time, I walk into the boys' bedroom and I see Zachary with a basket of stuff and 3 drawers worth of treasures (*cough* crap *cough*) being sorted and carefully organized back into the drawers they just came out of.  So I asked him what he was doing, he didn't even look up at me or acknowledge that I was standing there, he just simply pointed at his treasures and said "I am going through my stuff and throwing away all the garbage and re-organzing my drawers, and putting my p.j.'s away." "Oh," I said.  "What is this basket for?"  "That is Bradley's stuff, I am moving him out!!!"  I kinda laughed because of the finality in which he spoke was funny.  So I had to re-iterate the fact that it was going to take more than a day, or week, or maybe even month, for us to be ready enough for Bradley to actually "move" out to his own room.  "Don't worry mom, I know, I am just going to be prepared for it whenever it happens!" Well okay then, that's that, I guess, I really hope Bradley doesn't mind being homeless for a while because I have a feeling that Zachary will have him all packed and ready to leave the nest by tonight!  :)