Maui Birthdays!

So Steven was kind enough to download a few of our snorkeling photos for me to add to the blog. So I apologize that it is out of order.How fun are these pictures?



Such a great shot of my flippers!

So here is the turtle! Isn't he beautiful! What a moment!

Yes that is me swimming next to the turtle! It was so awesome he would look over at me every once in a while and it was like he was saying... hey! Really.. I know it sounds corny but I am for real!

Steven and I were blessed to get to celebrate our birthdays in Maui! With all of our children with family in Arizona we were able to enjoy a Whole week in this tropical paradise! Thank you Mom, Dad (aka Grandma & Grandpa), Auntie Angelene, Uncle Zach, Auntie Rachelle, Uncle Aaron, Uncle Glenn, Auntie Satya, Uncle Amaron, Uncle Sean, Auntie Christine, Auntie Kim & Uncle Dayson and too all that fed and bed my children for the 4 weeks they were there! We certainly couldn't have had such a relaxing time in Maui without the peace of mind that they were in such good hands.our first stroll on the beach!

The Teralani 3 behind me is the catamaran we went on for the 4 hour snorkeling cruise

Check out them coconuts!



Steven's Birthday...August 3rd

We went to a Luau! Our lei's smelled so intoxicatingly good! I put mine in the refridgerator in hopes it would last another day. ( not quite)

The Luau was amazing. The food, entertainment and the location right on the beach! They even sang Happy Birthday to Steven!

This is taken in the Lobby of the Westin Resort & Spa that we stayed at!

The waterfall was a walkway.. so cool! There were pink flamingos and coy in the ponds. And they had parrots and cockatoos too!

Okay now Steven decided he was a professional photographer.... so yeah. This is just a few of many!

This does show how absolutely beautiful the resort grounds are.

Onto Parasailing! Fun and so peaceful! Steven was so excited to go he was getting impatient waiting for our turn.

Finally we were out in the boat! We were soooo excited to go up. We paid $$ extra to use their waterproof digital camera to take up with us! To our disappointment it didn't take any pictures while we were up. Of course we got reimbursed the moola but had no cool pictures in the parasail for our time up there. I have to say I was way more than disappointed! I was quite upset!

So this is another couple up in the air.. just imagine that it was us! Ha, not the same!

We went up the full 1200 feet. What an amazing view from up there!

Scuba Steve! Okay I had no idea that Steven had never swam, let alone even went in the ocean past his toes! The moment he took in a mouthful of salt water was priceless!

For a guy that had never swam in the ocean to go out in the largest fish tank. I was so proud of my Scuba Steve! He is a pro at snorkeling!

We snorkeled right off the beach in front of the resort and also up about 1/2 mile. Then we went on a 4 hour snorleling cruise on The Teralani 3.

I actually swam with a sea turtle! I would have to say that was the highlight of my trip! We rented a waterproof digital camera for the snorkeling. We weren't going to take any chances of not getting pictures of this experience. I forgot to download all of those pictures before I started on the blog. I will have to post the one of me swimming with the turtle later.. it is so cool!

Hard Rock Cafe in Lahaina, Maui

Let's just say sooo cool! It is on Front St. right on the water!
They had a Whole Wall dedicated to Elvis!

Need I say more?
Happy Birthday to Me!

Saturday Aug. 8th

Steven took me to the most amazing Restaurant for dinner. The Tropica. We watched the sunset as we ate. Absolutely breathtaking!

What a wonderful way to celebrate a birthday! It was just missing my children!

I am already looking forward to our next trip to the Islands!

I really Love Hawaii!

Oh, and Steven too!
I think he had a great time... you don't see him complaining do ya?

Until we meet again!

ARIZONA Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!
and facial hair!?!
Silly girls facial hair is for boys!
Although Auntie Rachelle pulls it off well!

My girls are always begging me for a baby sister/brother! Well here ya go! They got a small dose with Kashlynn (& Krew)

Just some random pics of the kids and their cousins up North!

Clayton, Carson, Harly.. such posers!

Aaron and presley.. peace out!

Road trip with G-ma and G-pa and Uncle Glenn!

New Mexico!

Sierra can now say she has Driven in the States of Oregon, Washington, Arizona and now New Mexico.. The Land Of EnchantmentI do hope all was buckled up! With Deputy Sherriff Merrill on the Road you can never be too cautious!

The whole crew.. Uncle Dayson, Aunt Kim, Clayton, Carson, Harly, Daycee, MaKenzie, Aarron, Adam, Sierra, Madelynn, Sydnee, Presley, G-ma, G-pa & Uncle Glenn! They spent the 24th of July weekend up North and got to go to the parade and the 24th celebration! Thanks to all that made it happen!

SWIMMING! Lots of swimming! Auntie Angelene's pool was a hot spot!

So many cool action shots of the kids jumping in! Syd is classic!

Going to Uncle Aaron's softball games! FUN!!! GO AARON!!!

Maddy and Grandpa Merrill at a Diamonbacks games! WAY FUN!!!

More swimming! Oh it appears that Cole has arrived! Let the party begin!

again.. check out Syd... classic!

All of my Posers! Minus Presley.. she was too busy swimming!

Jumping off of the Roof! Woo Hoo!

Dinner at Grandma and Grandpa's house with Great Grandma and Grandpa Lawlor. Sierra and Cole are their 2 oldest great grandchildren out of 100's!

Uncle Glenn took them Bowling! Check out Sierra's form! You go girl!

Okay trip to Maui $$$$ Syd's pool jumps.. Priceless!

Alright, I wil admit that this one of Presley is pretty dang good too! Go P-Diddy!
Saguaro Lake wake boarding! So Steven and I got back to Oregon from Hawaii on Sunday evening. I got on a plane Tuesday to AZ to go be with my children! First day there we went to the lake! What a blast! The water looked entirely nasty compared to the water in Maui though!

Cole got right up! Thanks Uncle Sean for taking us and Velda for the use of your boat!

Presley loves the water and riding the tube! Unfortunately my camera battery died before we got any pictures of the tube.. and Auntie Rachelle's memory stick was full.. but hey we all had a blast anyways!

Check out Maddy.. this is her second time wakeboarding. 2 years ago when we were down for Auntie Angelene's wedding was her first time. Maddy makes it look so easy!

Looking good in the boat!

So this was my first time wakeboarding. I was relieved to get up my first try! Maddy took a couple pictures of me before the battery died!

Presley cleaning Auntie Angelene's pool. Getting ready for the party!

Most of the cousins came over for an August Birthday party Celebration! Swimming and Pizza!Oh and I cannot forget the Golf Cart! The kids had a blast getting to drive and ride around in it! It seemed that Krew couldn't fall asleep at night without his golf cart ride! Yeah.. I am pretty certain that this was one of Presley's Highlights of the trip! That and hangin' with her cousins Halee and Sage!

During the Party I snuck away and Picked up Steven at the airport! He flew in to surprise the kids! Afterall he hadn't seen them for a whole month! (the girls anyways)

Friday afternoon we had Family Pictures with the Whole Merrill Family!

It was Hot!

We had time to take a few picture of our own as the photographer took each families picture!Maddy my gorgeous Maddy... check it out! No Braids!
Syd had a braid but not her usual 2! So pretty!

Our Family! Together again!

Me and My Girls

Me and My Boys!

Alright here is all 31 grandchildren with Grandma and Grandpa Merrill! They all did amazing considering it was 106 degrees outside!
This all preceeded my Baby Sister Rachelle and her hubby Aaron being sealed in the Temple for Time and All Eternity!

What a special moment to be able to attend!


Oh, I have to mention that Sierra had an especially great time in AZ!

She got to hang with Uncle Zach's younger Brother Garrett. Thanks Garrett for giving Sierra something to smile about!

All good things must come to an end! We did get to see AirForce One at SkyHarbor Airport! Yes Pres. Obama had just landed in AZ as we were getting ready to depart!

Back in Oregon! Hangin' curbside for our ride home! Thanks again to all of our Family that made it possible for all of us to have such a memorable and fun summer!

Visit with Grandma Judy! Steven's Mom had her right hip replaced back on July 31st. We went to visit her when we got home. She is doing remarkably well. She is an amazing woman! Just don't ask her what she exfoliates her skin with! lol

We love you!

Some Catchin' up to do!

Well, for all of those who frequently or not so frequently check my blog.. here goes about 7 weeks of catchin' up to do! It may get done in stages or if my computer decides to be nice to me it may all get done today! (fingers crossed) Life has been just crazy busy! One event after another and unexpected ones shoved and crammed inbetween! You would think with my 4 girls being in Arizona for the past 12 days that I would have time to do this. But the Lord apparently has other plans for me. My new church calling has taken up pretty much all of my time. With Girls camp (July 6-11th)just 2 weeks after I got put in as YW Pres. (oh did I mention that I MOVED one of my VT Ladies and her 2 Felines to New York right in the middle of all of this) Inherited a rather uncomfortable activity my very first week... was asked to have the July(1st) combined mutual activity at our house..BBQ. Had Family from Arizona come and stay with us from July 2-10th, 4th of July was somewhere in there.. kinda a blurrr.. Cole went on The High Adventure July 13th-18th.. sent the girls off on the 18th, Drove Cole to Long Beach, Wa. hooked up with all the boys(cousins). Steven taught them how to fly kites.(fun)service at a retirement center, Stake Youth Conference/Helping Hands Service Project July 24th & 25th
Caught a cold from going 100 miles per hour... been enduring 100+ degree days for the past week as Cole has had Daily doubles for Football. 9am-11:30am & 5pm-8:45pm(evening time is a skill position camp) Now that it is Thursday July 30th.. I can finally start packing for Hawaii! Oh, gotta get Cole off to Az. on Saturday then we leave at 10am Sunday! I am pretty sure that I left out alot of details. I apologize if this is too much information and lacking in sense but I am not editing anything.. I am pressed for time! So here goes!

Portland Track Festival June 13th, 2009 Clear back to the first saturday after school was out. Cole and Maddy participated in The Portland Track Festival. It was at The Lewis And Clark College in Lake Oswego. This was Maddy's very first track meet. For Cole it was his first outside of School meets. It was very intimidating. There were teams from 5 states there. Cole and Maddy entered as individual athletes. (not on a team) It was a long day. Arrived at 8:30am- and got home after 7pm
Maddy ran the 100M and the 200M. She took 5th place out of 16 girls in both events. We were very proud of her. Her age bracket was 11-12 yr. olds. She was one of the youngest competing in her heats.

Cole came away with a 2nd place out of 16 in the 100M, 5th place in the 200M and 5th place in the long jump.

It was a bit cool in the morning but it finally warmed up afternoon.

Here is a view from the bleachers. They have a very nice field.

Here is the long jump pit. As you can see they allowed coaches and others to be right there. This Cole disliked very much. (there were some extreme coaches there)

Down time waiting for their events... listening to their ipods.

Steven napped on the downtime!(he did not appreciate me taking pictures of him sleeping)