Thanksgiving... Then...

Hosted Thanksgiving at my house for the Merrill's

it was a blast and the food was yummy!

Then it was off to my hunt

I love my husband so much!

Thanks babe for taking me and taking care of me!

This picture was right before he took is "hunting nap"

Chunk and Aaron glassing the hills
{See Chunk sitting to the left of Aaron on the ground}

I was glassing too...

On Saturday morning Chunk found this buck running with another small 2 point, he was a gentleman and let me shoot it. So I did...

One. Shot. Drop!!!!

It was a close shot only like 60-80 yards max

I'm pretty proud of my 1st whitetail buck!!!

It's a decent little 3x4

and on a wednesday...

Got home from Portland on Tuesday, and headed out to Disneyland on a Wednesday.

Thanks to my in law's I got to go to Disneyland for 3 days and it was a total blast.

Seriously so much fun hanging out with the Palmer's I only wish Aaron could have come!

Katie came in from Utah, and Brandon & Heather came from Safford...

The main excuse for the trip was that 3 of my nieces were performing at California Adventure, here is Brailynn, and Savannah

And here is Kacie, their performance was so cute!!!

Buzz Lightyear

Me and B on the Matterhorn

Kacie, Savannah, Chunk & Me, watching Tianna's Riverboat parade!

Tower of Terror!!!!

Michael's & Princess's first time... and by the looks of this picture maybe Jenn's???

Heather & Katie trying to avoid getting our hair wet! and it worked....

One of the funnest trips to DL ever!!!!

Thanks Denise for letting me crash ur room!!!!

Party in Portland

Well actually Gresham but close enough...

My sister and I were able to fly up to Gresham for my nieces baptism... it was so fun and flying with two babies is always a adventure! It was a blast!

My nieces Kashlynn and Sierra rocking out!

Picture time

Shopping day and we all wore shades of purple and didn't plan it!!!

And my niece drives!!!! way scary!!!

The reason why I was there.... Presley's Baptism

"us Merrill Girls"

The Fam... and Steven's mom Judy

Me and Diddy.... Love this little round face chick!!!

"Happy Birthday Presley"

Thanks for having us De

Nate is Great

{Jenn got everyone these cute glasses to wear at the airport}

Nate is home!
This is all of us at the airport to meet him!!!

almost famous

{he's the cute one in this picture}

Aaron's little bro is in the recent issue of the Ensign, this is him at conference with some of his mission buddies.

You can find his picture on page #96

PS. Chunk comes home on Thursday can't wait to see him!!!!

Holla-ween

Aaron and I hadn't planned on dressing up this Halloween, we didn't have anything to dress up for. But we were invited to a party last minute and this what what we came up with at my sister's house.

Me=Mime Aaron=Clown

And this was all of us at the party!
So fun

Pumpkin Carving Party

Was so much fun!!!

{yummy treats}

{cute girls}

{first time pumpkin carvers, yes... him}

{all the palmer kids!}

{prizes for the best pumpkins}

{everyone who came}

{all the pumpkins lit up}

too bad it was too windy outside to be outside, but i had fun anyways!!

Thanks to everyone who came!

If you happen to be in my hood...

Then totally stop by!!!

ya i blacked out my number i don't want any creepies calling but if you know me then you know my digits!!! hit me up for directions!!!

While Aaron was hunting... I...

Helped out at Aaron's older brother Russ's company party!

His wife Jenn is pretty much amazing and throws the best parties in the universe.

{note the location: Roger's lot and yes the wedding crasher was in attendance}

So much fun!!!

it was a little county fair... mechanical bull, cotton candy, pop corn, balloon lady, petting zoo, games, and of course tons of yummy food!!!
Then after the party I headed off to the Dunes to meet my sister and some friends!
Thankfully her little bro in law waited for me so i didn't have to drive myself
and let's just say that my Quad is a champ!!!
I forget how much I love it till I ride it again

Cruisin in the Golf Cart probably listening to something Kashlynn can dance too, cause that's how we roll

It was short and hot but totally worth it! First of what I hope will be many trips this season.

Cara, me, Angelene, & Brooke... all packed up to go

Please excuse the butt crack in the trailer

Yes he's drinking a Monster, and no there is not really Monster in it.

But it made him happy

Thee best boy band in Mesa

Love the boogers!

My dune trip was over and Aaron was back from hunting so we went to visit the newest addition to the Palmer Family born today!

"Marlee Palmer"

{Todd and Mel's}

She is beautiful, and I want one!

the return of...

2 very exciting things!!!!

#1:

my little bro in law Chunk coming home from his mission on Nov. 12th

{this picture was taken the night before he left all his little nephews look up to him so much and we are all sooooo soooooooo excited for him to come home!}

#2:

Dune Season!

{Can't wait, i love the dunes with almost all of my heart!}

Wow!

I saw this on TV and totally thought it was a joke infomerical like one u would see on SNL but no this is serious as a heart attack!
Amazing!!!
So who wants a "chia obama" in their kitchen??

something is seriously wrong with this picture!

Seriously!!!

only thing i knew about this book was it was about a vampire and some Mormon chick from Arizona wrote it! I didn't ever really care at all, until my friend Paige decided to tell me about the books and forced me to watch the trailer for "new moon" I was then a bit interested I dreamt that night that Aaron left me and I was doing crazy and dangerous things so that he would come to my memory and I would hear his voice and see a mirage of him telling me to be careful.

I was just going to watch the movie since I'm really not a reader but I couldn't find the movie in a Red Box anywhere, and to buy the movie they want $25 bucks!!!

NOT DOWN

There is a plus side to jumping on the bandwagon late I found all the books at Marshalls for $3 each...

So yes I started reading last night and am currently on page #348 can't wait to find out what happens at the Cullen family baseball game!

Conference

I was really excited about conference this month... I totally enjoyed all the talks that were given and just had a feeling before hand that one or two of them would spark something in me that I needed... and they didn't disappoint.

But there is something about those Heavenly voices that just sooth me to sleep. (don't act like you have never fallen asleep watching) I fought it, didn't let them this time...
They got the best of Aaron though... He really enjoyed conference too!!!
{i love his blanket, and he swore he woke up every once in a while and listened a bit}
Good thing we have DVR so he can watch them all when he's feeling more awake... (wink, wink)
I'm actually excited for the talks to come out on podcast so i can down load them on my i pod and listen to them again!!!

I made it!!

Caramel Popcorn that is!!!

Just got to float my boat for a minute... I have a mother who is an amazing baker, and a sister who is an amazing cook...

and i'm not a baker or a cook or a chef...

{Which is why I'm so proud of myself}
But i followed the directions and wa.. la...

Here is my handsome husband enjoying the final product..

I told him it was good and he said "ok, I'll try it" he took two bites and said "u didn't make this" in a sarcastic tone... translation = it is good!!!

He wanted u to see the kernels in his mouth...

{isn't that beard so hot???}

-here is the recipe-

My Amish Friend's Caramel Corn

INGREDIENTS
7 quarts plain popped popcorn
2 cups dry roasted peanuts (optional)
2 cups brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup margarine
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Place the popped popcorn into two shallow greased baking pans. You may use roasting pans, jelly roll pans, or disposable roasting pans. Add the peanuts to the popped corn if using. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C). Combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, margarine and salt in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring enough to blend. Once the mixture begins to boil, boil for 5 minutes while stirring constantly.
Remove from the heat, and stir in the baking soda and vanilla. The mixture will be light and foamy. Immediately pour over the popcorn in the pans, and stir to coat. Don't worry too much at this point about getting all of the corn coated.
Bake for 1 hour, removing the pans, and giving them each a good stir every 15 minutes. Line the counter top with waxed paper. Dump the corn out onto the waxed paper and separate the pieces. Allow to cool completely, then store in airtight containers or resealable bags.

In case u were wondering!

Aaron got a Bull!!!

{just kidding}

he didn't!!! sad.. sad... sad....

those darn elk just weren't cooperating better luck in another 10 years

TWO YEAR!!!

Two Years since THIS!!!! Hope we make it to THIS!!!

And THIS!!

**PLEASE NOTE** the above picture is intended to imply that i hope my husband still is attracted to me at an old saggy age... i have no idea who these people are please don't be offended it is meant to be funny, have a nice day!

A look back at 35 years

Here is a look back at Aaron's 35 years on this earth... and just for laughs I threw in some pictures of me...

I'm so glad that Aaron waited around for me!!!! I don't wanna imagine my life with out my "old man" I love him SO MUCH!!!! Happy Birthday Babe!

Aaron & I 1 year ago

Aaron & I 2 years ago

Aaron & I 3 years ago

Me 4 years ago (I knew Aaron then but he didn't realize he liked me yet)

Aaron 4 years ago

Me 5 years ago

Aaron 5 years ago (in the red shirt)

Me 6 years ago

Aaron 6 years ago (top left corner with the black hair)

Me 9 years ago

Aaron 9 years ago

Me 11 years ago (MJH Softball)

Aaron 11 years ago (hottie hunter)

Me 13 years ago {can't believe I LOVED that shirt}
(starting Jr High School)

Aaron 13 years ago (RM on the prowl)

Me 16 years ago (in 4th grade)

Aaron 16 years ago (getting ready to leave on his mission)

Me 20 years ago (starting kindergarten)

Aaron 20 years ago (sophomore in High School)

Me 22 years ago

Aaron 22 years ago (he's in the red hat)

Me 25 years ago (the baby with the black hair) and yes that is my sister DeLona who is holding me... your welcome De!!! :-)

Aaron 25 years ago

Me... still an angel

Aaron 28 years ago (ASU #44)

Me... still an angel

Aaron 30 years ago
Me... still an angel

Aaron 31 years ago
Me... still an angel

Aaron 33 years ago

Me 35 years ago

(this was the only picture i could find of angels... pretend i am one of them blowing on the horn)

Aaron 35 Years ago {cute little baby}

My old man is a old man!

Aaron turned 35!!!

wow... my old man is really a old man!!!

We celebrated Aaron's Birthday up in Pinedale, he has a Elk Hunt that (and I quote) "I have been waiting 10 years for this thing" needless to say he is very excited...

here is the amazing cake I made for him!

{sike}

i didn't really, but we can pretend

And here is Aaron's Birthday Bull!!!

{sike}

not really but hopefully by Thursday he will have one!

But I did get Aaron a Birthday present...

And... Aaron got a Birthday Nap!

If you know Aaron you know he loves his naps!!!! This boy can SLEEP! (is that i sign of old age?)

Birthday post to be continued...

Merrill Reunion 2009

This is my amazing Grandpa Merrill this year at the reunion we spotlighted him I am always so jealous of my cousin who had the chance to hang out with him alot, because my family was the city slickers and we where so young i only have a few memories of him but didn't know as much as I would have loved to but what i do know about the man is:

• he had very big ears
• he loved my Grandma (his wife) so soooo much
• he loved his grandkids
• he was a good trapper
• he had a sence of humor like my daddy
• he only fought with my Grandma once and that was about my name (i just learned this at the reunion) he swore when i was born my name was Wochelle and my Grandma kept telling him it was Rachelle and he didn't believe her.

does this look safe to u?

ya this is us pulling a trailer pulling my sister's truck pulling a trailer up Mt. Graham we all made it up the Mountain though and when we got there we:

took some rides in the Golf Cart, Artic Cat etc.... up to....

the look out...

and took alot of picture's of these cute little guys

even the messy one's...

We had activities here is my brother Sean and my handsome husband sawing a log... ahhh i don't think they won... but they were the best looking one's in the contest

cuddled up for some snap shots

photoshoot with my precious niece Caroline

tree swing

more tree swinging

we celibrated a Birthday!

Happy 30th Birthday Christine

Target pratice!

Getting ready for his Elk Hunt

The Gary Merrill Crew

The "Leftovers"

Uncle Larry, My Daddy, Aunt Judy, Aunt Kay

Waddddd is uppppppp?!?!?!?!

Another Post

Wow.... i have been blogging a lot lately but i figured this was post worthy a few weeks back my Family had some pictures taken by my most talented friend Heather

Here are my parents with there 31 Grandchildren

We hadn't had a complete Merrill Family photo for over 5 years so it needed to be done

i feel they turned out pretty awesome considering the following circumstances:

• 112 Degrees outside
• 31 of the 50 people being kids 16 & younger
• last minute planning
• 3 families that came from out of town with there 7+ Families

Too bad not everyone is looking but hey... at least i am... lol

Don't worry bothers and sisters i am burning the disk of pictures and will be mailing them out to you ASAP so hopefully you get them by Christmas

December is a busy month!!!

Which in turn makes August a very busy month with Birthdays!!!!

Between Aaron's and my families we have like (and I'm totally guessing but it's pretty close) 16 Birthday's in August... and yes that is just siblings nieces & nephews and in-laws.

So Happy Birthday to all of you! I'm not even going to attempt to name them all cause I would probably forget one and feel really bad! But you know who you are and I love you all!

Tonight we celebrated Aaron's Dad's 60th Birthday!!!

It was so much fun we did water activities in the lot next to Jon and Lindsay's new home (aka: Rogers lot, aka: across the street from Jen & Russ, aka: were Aaron & I had our reception)

So saying that guess who showed up?!?!?!

Yup the infamous Wedding Crasher

Here she is pictured with the lovely Erin, Bralynn & Savannah
Some of the boys with Baby Grace
Blaise, Dallas (with a fractured wrist poor guy) Bryson, Payton, Kash

Savannah & Maddy

Grace saying "Cheese" (also a August Birthday)

Egg Toss
Princess showing off her tossing skills

Sophie showing off hers... she never even threw it...

Slip n Slide Contest

Grandma Treatz getting cheered on by her grand kids... they chanted her name till she finally went

She got down but didn't move far so Aaron and his Dad pulled her

B-Dogg (aka: Bryson)

Grandpa the Birthday Boy

Jon

Ryan

Krew came along with me and enjoyed some crush soda

Payton

Jenn (also a August Birthday)

Blaise

Denise (also a August Birthday)

Aaron (who won the contest.... Whoop Whoop that's my man!!!)

Julie

Kacie

Arys

Savannah

Haylee

Cake Time

Cutting the Cake Time

It was a fun filled night Happy Birthday David!

Eternity it is!!!!

Aaron & I were Sealed in the Temple on Friday!

It was awesome...

Here are a few people who stuck around after the Sealing.

Because Aaron & I are blessed with such big families we could only invite our brothers and sisters. So I'm sorry to any of our close friend and Aunt's & Uncle's we truly wished you could have been there. Our Sealing fell on the day of Aaron's Grampy's 101st Birthday he used to be a sealer in the Temple before he passed, and the man who sealed us was really old (no offence he was amazing) but me not knowing Grampy could just imagine that he was Grampy talking to us!

Special Thanks to all my Brothers & Sisters who came!

DeLona was able to come from Portland, and Steven made a surprise arrival the night before!!!

And my two brothers from up north.

Seriously thank you so much for the support!

And to all of my in-laws

Thanks for the love and support also!

And for the dinner after it was more then i could ask for!!!

One Thing After Another

A great list of many things that we have been up to:

I turned the sad sad age of 25 :-(

I want to be 23 again and forever

June Palmer Birthday Party

Katie, Russ, Me, Dallas, Blaise, and Arys

I'm so blessed with a awesome family

4th of July in Showlow!

Chillin at the parade

Sassy Girls in Pinedale

Princess, Sophie, Erin, Bralynn

Having fun with brown eyeliner at Grandma Merrill's house

We all got beards....

Having my Nieces here from Gresham!

The Best part of "Girlz Night"

Second to the best part of "Girlz Night"

Sierra, Maddy, Syd, Presley, Harly, Daycee, Kenzie, Halee, Sage, Tatum, Maggie, and Jaiycee all staying the night for girlz night @ my house. It was fun but it will be awhile till i do that again

Pinedale again!

Todd Driving the the Prowler thru the tunnals under the Highway, and Mel not liking it notice the face is covered...

Aaron & Todd rounding up the cows that got loose

St. Johns Pioneer Day Parade

Sophie, Dallas, Bryson, Blaise, Cash & Princess after the fire truck sprayed them

Shooting with the boys

Swimming at Angelenes

Horay for the Temple

Lake Trip

Peace

Syd on the tube

Sierra catching some air on the tube, she's a soilder

Aaron's little sister getting Married

Waiting in the oven for her to come out!

Cooking

Congrat's Heather & Brandon

So Cute!

At the reception

The hot Sister in Laws

From the Beach to the Mountains

Aaron & I were lucky enough to be invited to the Berns' family vacation again!!! Newport!!! Loved it! Thanks Berns'!!!!!!

Huntington
Aaron & his buddies!
Garrett & Bo

Cruising....

Kashlynn's first time at the beach and she loved it!

Krew of course love it too! But had to hold someones hand so the waves wouldn't wipe him out...

Sage, Halee, Dallin & Wyatt had a swim meet at Brimhall Angelene and I went it brought back some great memories!!! Here is Sage and I with here ribbons, all my kids did so good! Watch out Micheal Phelps!!!!

Gary Merrill Family Reunion
Big Lake 2009

We went up to the White Mountains for a family Reunion. It was a blast as usual... I've gone up to Big Lake almost every summer of my life!!! It's crazy to see my nieces & nephews run around I remember being their size and running around just like them.... I'm getting old!!!

Here we are in the Artic Cat taking a Sunday Drive to west fork Black River.

Tatum and Krew really enjoyed the scenery!!

Dusty (aka Tank) had lots of fun throwing rocks into the lake! He's hiding under the dock so no one can get him cause he wanted to stay and we all wanted to leave... when i said "goodbye we're leaving" he just waved back and said "bye!"

This is my younger brother Glenn he just got home from his mission!!!

All the single ladies.... if you like it then come and put a ring on it!

My little hunters!

Clayton ~ Dallin ~ Cade

Kashlynn was ready to go for a ride!!!

They actually got something!

Clayton & Dallin showing off there kill... they were so proud... and so were there daddy's! It was probably the greatest Fathers day gift they could have given them!

The baby elk that just happen to stumble into our camp! It loved the kids!!! and shall i say the kids loved it!!!

Aaron dropped his phone into the lake!!

If you know Aaron you know that he ALWAYS has his phone on him and charged! So he was devastated that he dropped his phone into the lake... luckily it was by the dock in some shallow water so amazingly he was able to fish it out!!! We had heard the trick to dry out water damage phones was to stick it in a bag of rice and let it sit for a few days... so we tried it and wa laaaaa.... the all touch phone that was sitting in the lake from 8am till 4pm works perfectly! Like nothing ever happened to it at all!!!

Glenn throwing Krew into the air!!!

I love this picture....

Fishing time!!!

Kim had my camera and was taking some pictures of us out on the lake... she captured some funny moments... here I am reeling in my fish and i just got it into the boat... my face is scary I know... but the picture is cool!

Here is another fish we caught! That's Aarron (aka Goofy) on the left. Aarron is such a cool kid! He says the randomest things sometimes he cracks me up!

Aaron, Glenn, and Clayton coming in off the lake from their morning fishing...

they are all so handsome!

Aaron & I at black river...

I'm so blessed to have such an amazing family, everyone was there expect DeLona and her family we missed you De!!!! And Loren and Anna were there before I got there they left early to take their boys up to EFY

**update**

Does this look familiar? That's my armpit and my sign on American Idol Tuesday May 19th

I can't believe I was so lucky to sit so close! It was so soooo fun... Thanks Brienholts!!!

Here is a close up of my sign... the phrase was my 15yr old nieces' idea.
All of us who went! we drove all together in a excursion it was cozy but so much fun!
Rachel, Tyler, Brady, Brooke, Sean, Christine, Aaron and Me

The red carpet! we saw alot of celebs...

Waiting in line! We had to wait for like 1 1/2 hours but it was so worth it!

Palmer's Fishing Derby!

The whole crew!

Grandpa Palmer and some of the girls... i love this picture

The independent boys... how cute are they with there hats!!! love it!

Aaron was the official measurer... here he is with Sophie, this is as close as she would get to the fish... lol