Dribble, Shoot, SCORE!!!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Bradley just got a call he has been waiting for, he spent Fri. and Sat. night trying out for the Division 1 competitive soccer team in the Tooele area, and as you may know because of my heading, he MADE it!!!  Scott and I are beyond excited for him.  He has always had such a talent and has had many people comment on his abilities, but to make this team is an extreme accomplishment in and of itself.  So excited for this next chapter in his life.  Congratulations Bradley it is well deserved you have worked hard!!!  

The Help

I know I may regret this later on, but I just had to share!!!

My sister Erin and her husband Drew were heading out of the country and they needed someone to take care of their kids', so off to Maryland I flew, although they were not leaving until Tues. afternoon, I flew out Sun. night so I could kind of get a idea of what to expect with the kids and most importantly make sure that they were okay with me!!

Mon. morning brought some cute excitement from my little 'Lesa who acted as if we were next door neighbors instead of someone she sees only twice a year, she just started chatting and I don't know that she ever stopped, except to sleep, she even told me that we had the same hair and she had to put a lock of her hair on top of mine to prove to me we were the same!  And much to my delight Baby Van took an instant liking to me, he just snuggled me and laid his little head in my lap and didn't shy away from me at all, phew, I was set!!!  Later that same night Aunt CiCi (Taci) came up and with Erin, myself and 'Lesa in tow we headed into town to go out to Dinner.  I really do enjoy spending time with my sisters and we were having so much fun just chatting it up.  A while into dinner, 'Lesa proclaimed that she needed to go potty, she being only 3 and still needing a little supervision asked if Aunt CiCi would take her, but I quickly offered to take her since I knew this was not Taci's favorite thing to do.  After 'Lesa sat on the potty for a while she said to me "Nope, I guess I don't need to go", so she hopped down.  I on the other hand now had to tinkle myself, so I asked 'Lesa if she would just stand right inside the stall and wait for me, we were in the handicap stall since they are bigger and perfect for more than 1 person.  As I sat down, my cute little niece asked for some toilet paper so I gave her some and watched as she started to kind of roll it around in her palm, I had finished so as I went to grab some toilet paper for myself, I heard 'Lesa ask for me to scoot up, I didn't even think about how odd of a request that was, simply since I had to lean forward anyway to get my own toilet paper, and before I knew what was happening, I felt this little swish up my bum and heard in 'Lesa's sing-song voice "front to back", which is what Erin hollers out to her every time she goes potty.  Oh my gosh, I nearly came up off the toilet in surprise, but I didn't want to scare Alesa by shouting and shooting off the potty, so I simply finished myself and proceeded out the stall (I am sure beet red) washed our hands, and headed back out to Erin and Taci.  As soon as I sat down and there was a break in their conversation I jumped right in and proceeded to tell them what had just happened, I don't think we could have laughed harder, we were all in tears from the hilarity of it, and at this point I was just really glad I had actually gone to the bathroom because I swear I would have peed my pants from laughing.  I know that the whole restaurant thought we must be crazy, but we just couldn't stop, and even when we would semi-calm down all it took was for one of us to say in a little sing-song voice "front to back" and we would start all over again.  Once we left the restaurant we headed over to Kohl's to do a little shopping and Erin was telling us how much Alesa loves to help out, to which Alesa quickly responds with "I help Aunt Mellaly tonight", so Aunt Melanie said, "tell your Mom how you helped me tonight, Lesa!" and without hesitation she states proudly "I wipe her bum, front to back!!!"  Oh gosh, I am laughing hysterically just writing this and reliving that moment, I know I cannot even begin to put enough comedy into my writing as what we felt that night, it was seriously one of those experiences that embarrass you to death to admit, but it is truly so funny that you can't keep it to yourself!!!

Thank you Alesa for being such a big Helper for Aunt Mellaly!!!

and remember Happy Hiney's say "Front to Back"  :)


(p.s. the title picture is of Alesa and Bradley, roadtrip 2010)

Heavenly Alarm

So Scott has been saying lately that I am a snorer, I really don't know if I believe him yet, due to the fact that I am still waiting for evidence of this fact.  But, whatever!!  The other morning though, Scott was telling me that my snoring actually saved him from being late to work.  He said that I rolled over and started snoring right into his ear, he was a "little" annoyed at this gesture of snuggling and rolled me over, as he was laying there annoyed he looked at the window and noticed it was light outside, to which he then looked at his alarm clock and only noticed then that his alarm had not only not gone off, but that it wasn't even set and it was time for him to get up and get out the door.  So my thinking is, how cool am I, that I can not only act as an alarm clock but that I get to stay asleep while doing so!!!

I do think that if (and that is a big if) I do actually snore, I owe it all to my Dad and the Merkley in me.  Besides growing up and hearing my Dad almost bring down our house with his nightly snoring, I also remember one night a long time ago when there was a Merkley Chorus of sorts.  It was I think my Grandma Merkley's 80th birthday party and there was a multitude of Merkley's around, we were all at Grandpa and Grandma's house in Tridell and of course when all the cousins are around there are many pleas of "can I spend the night" heard from many children to their parents.  I remember that I was lucky (or so I thought at the time) enough to get to spend the night at Grandma's house, after talking, laughing and visiting with my cousins until late in the night, I found a spot for my sleeping bag and settled in for the night.  Just as I felt the peace of slumber knocking on my door, I heard a sound that brought me right out of my reverie; someone was snoring.  After getting used to the idea of listening to this, I again settled in and was awaiting the sandman.  Just as I felt my body starting to relax, I was again startled by the sound of another snorer, Augh!.....  The next moments seemed like a nightmare to me, the bad thing about this type of nightmare was that; I was awake and therefor had to live through it, for you see one Merkley after another started snoring, they filled the house with snore after snore, they were coming from upstairs, downstairs, back bedroom, master bedroom, front room and I am sure down the lane at Uncle Errol's house too.  I at one point started waving my hand as if to conduct a symphony, the only thing was I was not enjoying this musical rendition, at all!  When it was time to get up (for those who actually slept) I was so grateful, but sadly for me and my mom, I was a little ornery the next day for my Grandma's actual birthday party celebration, but being with family is always a plus, so we had a great day anyway, and the next night I did not ask my mom if I could spend the night because I was too tired to go through that ever again!!!

Example it!!!

So today is my Dear OLD Dad's birthday, yes I remembered it, because there was a little birdy (a little 6 year old birdy who I talked to yesterday) that told me I had better remember Grandpa's birthday tomorrow.

Lainee went out to Grandma and Pappy's with her cousin Katie to spend some of their spring break together without us :(  So as I was on the phone with her she was telling me all about her day and how Grandma Robin had taken them to get kid's meals at McDonalds and she got apples in her meal.  She also said that Grandma took them to Jubilee's and she knows that Grandpa Merkley works there, so she went to see if he was there and try to surprise him, which it turns out that she and Katie were able to scare him, of course you can't go see Grandpa without getting a treat and knowing how much Lainee loves Grandpa's jerky; that is the treat she got from him, she then proceeded to tell me that he gave her special jerky at that she is suppose to "example it" for him, and let him know if she liked it or not.  You know what I get a kick out of; that even as Lainee is telling me this story I can see the twinkle in my Dad's eye, and the surprise he felt seeing my little Lainee and how excited she gets to spend time with any of her grandparents.  

So from all of us here in Tooele,

(that is until Tomorrow when we see you)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDPA

(aka Dad)

WE LOVE YOU!!!

p.s. Thank you for being an example to me, for showing me how to work hard and dream big!!!

a big GRACIAS!!

It will be 10 years ago this December that it happened.  The first time I left this Country and traveled abroad, leaving my children to be cared for by my Mother-in-law Robin.  I only had 3 kids back then, Bradley who was 4, Kennadee who was 2 weeks away from turning 3 and Baby Zach who had just had his 1st birthday.  I was traveling to Sweden with my parents, my sister Kari and my brother Galen, to support my other sister Erin as she was going through the Temple for the first time in the Stockholm, Sweden temple.  I was a little paranoid about leaving my kids mostly because I was leaving the country.  I survived (although I think my brother Galen has a different take), my kids survived, and when I finally got to see my kids after being gone for so long it was a very sweet moment, especially since Zach just kept looking at me like I had been raised from the dead.  He would hug me then push back and look at my face, making sure it was still me and then hug me again and repeat the process over and over again.

Last summer Scott and I took our first out of country trip to Mexico and again left our children in the care of Robin, I had no qualms about going on our vacation and leaving them and worried only about coming home to my spoiled children, which if you know Robin you know why I say that!!  Scott and I were having so much fun on our vacation that I really didn't have a lot of time to miss my kids, we didn't have cell reception, we didn't text and told Robin to only contact us only if there was an emergency.  The friends we went with had internet in their room and so one night (close to the end of our vacation) I checked Facebook to see if Robin had posted anything and to my delight she did, she had some pictures of the kids on the camping trip they took with their Grandma and Pappy (Robin & Everett) to the family reunion.  I was fine looking at the pictures until I saw this one:

I don't know why it struck me the way it did, but I literally fell to pieces, I kind of felt like Zachary back when I got home from Sweden, I would look at Kennadee and then have to look at her again and again just to make sure it was really her.  She looked so grown up and I felt a deep pang of regret and loss, she had grown up in the week I was gone and I had missed it.  I cried and cried and tried to take deep breaths to cover up the fact that all I wanted to do at that point was jump on a plane and go get my kids and not miss another second of being with them, even though most of the time I am with them I dream of going on vacation, touche!

So this last Feb. when Scott and I again had the opportunity to go back to Mexico, we chose to do things a little different, we decided that we would pay for the internet in the hotel room and keep in better contact with the kids so hopefully I didn't feel so distant from them.  It is funny how your mind works sometimes.  I was so apprehensive about leaving this time, I think it was because of how much that one little picture affected me, I don't like the feeling of missing out on so much with my kids.  But all my worrying went out the window when I knew that I could connect with my kids daily.  Robin was so good about sending me e-mails and keeping me updated on everything the kids were doing and saying.  Our internet connection sucked and I couldn't check it as often as I wanted but nonetheless I had the connection I needed and craved being so far away from them.  I have been very blessed to have such a wonderful mother-in-law who loves the "challenge" my four kids provide for her!!  She is ever so willing to drive them all over, she made sure they got to dance, karate, scouts, ym, yw, and even attended the Blue and Gold Banquet in my place and when I forgot about a PTA project I was suppose to have done before I left the country, she just took charge made an assembly line out of my kids and all the friends that were over and cranked out 100 read-a-thon packets, Way to go Grandma!!!  I am so appreciative of all that Robin does to ensure that my kids are taken care of in my absence, she goes above and beyond (sometimes way beyond) what my kids need and I love that about her.  I love hearing all the grand stories when I get home, although I do not appreciate being called Grandma for 3 days after being home, but I guess it is the price I pay to have a little peace while on vacation.  Robin - thank you, thank you, thank you for all you do for me and the kids, it is really appreciated and also thank you Everett for letting Robin come out and take care of these hoodlems leaving you to fend for yourself.  I consider myself very lucky to have such wonderful in-laws and don't worry I am sure there will be more vacations for me to go on after all I think I am getting better at being able to leave my kids with out freaking out ;)

okay, maybe not, but practice makes perfect right!!!

A Newborn.....

Well people, I am starting to believe I have the lung capacity of a newborn.  I have been trying really hard to do something about my health (*cough*weight*cough*) and so I have been trying to use the things around me to help out with getting my body healthier.  I have been walking on the treadmill, doing push-ups, planks and I even have been working a little on arm exercises whenever I am sitting.  I was thinking about something I could do to help streghthen my legs a little more than just walk/jogging on the treadmill and I thought about stuff they do on the Biggest Loser which they do a lot of stairs, easy enough right, I have stairs right in my very own home, YAY me!!!  14 is the number of stairs I have, you know, not to many, not to little, just right.  I figured I could do 50 reps of going up and down the stairs No Problem, sounds a little "under-achiever" if I do say so myself, phssh, I got this is the bag!!  I seriously could not have been more W.R.O.N.G., as if my ego hasn't suffered a lot lately as it is, I only did 7 reps, yes you read it right 7 measley times of going up and down.......my heart hurts, my ego is shattered and my lungs I swear are filling up with blood as I am writing this because I over worked them, pathetic :(  I am thinking there is only one explanation for this and it is not that I need to exercise more.....it must be that my lungs are the size of a newborns, I would google my symptons but the last time I did that I found out I had leprosy, so before I go to the dr. with my ailments, could all of you go do some stairs and let me know that I am not a loser, that I am just one of you, and that maybe with a little more hard work I can make my goal of being more Healthy a reality.........please!!!

The Wrong Way

So as I was driving home from work tonight, on the slushy, crappy, snowy roads, it conjured up a long lost forgotten memory, and so I must share;

Scott and I had been married only a week or so and with me being a country small city girl, I was slowly learning how to navigate my way through Salt Lake, I however did not like to drive anywhere by myself, in the dark or without being told in "countryfied" directions; ie. go down the street turn left at the blue house, past the field of cows, turn right at the big rock....you get it right, and Scott being the newly married, wanting to keep his new bride happy, was soooo good at helping me even though he got (still gets) frustrated with my being seriously directionally challenged.  Scott at this time was working out by the Airport and since we only had one car it was my responsibility to make sure he was picked up from work if I needed to use the car while he was away.  Oh the days before Cell phones, I know most of you cannot even remember such a time and my kids ask me if grew up with the dinosaurs, since I was around BEFORE cells, Ipods, internet, and such.  But I just tell them, No, your grandparents grew up with the dinosaurs so I am way Modern :)  On this particular night I headed off to pick up Scott at around 11:30 pm, his shift ended at midnight and I wanted to give myself a little cushion.  I remember seeing all the signs that pointed me in the right direction and I was getting so excited to show Scott just how big I was and that I could find places on my own (now remember this is even before GPS), I only had one more exit to take and then I would be at the International Center by the Airport, but somehow I missed seeing that exit, as I was driving I thought that I had gone to far but I couldn't remember exactly, so I kept driving hoping that I would recognize something that either told me I was still on the right road or that I had gone too far, now looking back and remembering this, I realized that I didn't know what was past that exit because I had never been past, so everything should have looked foreign, but it was dark and I knew I wouldn't be able to tell if it was familiar or not.  I found myself alone, in the dark, on the wrong road and scared because I didn't know where to go from there.  I was getting so stressed because it was well past midnight and I started getting a migraine from the thoughts of disappointing my husband and feeling completely stupid that I couldn't find where I needed to be even though I had been there multiple times.  I pulled over to the side of the road and prayed, I prayed hard that I would be able to get to home safely and that my headache would stay at bay long enough to get me back home, I also prayed that Scott would find a way home and that he wouldn't be mad at me when he did.  When I was done with my prayer I remembered "oh yeah, Scott works by the airport" the airport is all lit up so it was very easy to navigate my way back towards it, and once I made it back there I was able to finally see the signs that would take me back to the safety of my apartment and Scott.  I finally got home around 1 ish and Scott was not there but I had the feeling that he was okay and that he would soon be home, he came bursting through the door about 15 min. later, frantic and happy that I was home, he then asked what had happened and I just commenced to crying, I was so grateful that he was home, I was happy that he wasn't mad and I was so thankful that the Lord had answered my prayers and brought us both back home safely.  I think the really funny part in all this is that the wrong turn I made actually had me heading out to Tooele, maybe subconsciously I was already heading home I just didn't know it then......  I hate to admit it but I am still so directionally challenged but thankfully for Scott's sanity, I now have a cell phone, with a car charger :), I have a GPS system in my van and on my phone and I have 17 years of living out here under my belt, so I can drive anywhere with confidence, okay maybe that was too strong  a word, but I am getting better!!!  And I have driven across the country with my Mom and Sister, so I think I am pretty awesome!!! I am pretty lucky that my husband has stuck with me and is very mindful on my "one" flaw and I love it when my Dad is giving me directions, using words like east and west, Scott is right behind him saying, left and right and turn by the big rock.   I so Love him!!!