Happy Anniversary!

Rick and I just celebrated 10 years of marriage.

Woo hoo! We certainly have grown in our love and

understanding of each other. I love him now

more than I did 10 years ago. I can't wait to

See what the next 10 years brings! Here are

some pictures of us at our wedding, 5 years

later, and now.

Here are some of my favorite Marriage quotes

and scriptures.

"Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always

hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."

(1cor13:7)

"A Happy marriage is union of two good forgivers."

--Ruth Bell Graham

"Marriage halves our griefs, doubles our joys, and

quadruples our expenses."

-- Old English Proverb

"Marriage is a meal where the soup is better than

the dessert."

--Austin O' Malley

"Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads,

hundreds of tiny threads which sew people together

through the years."

---Simone Signoret

"Beloved, let us love one another:for love is of God.

Everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth

God"(1Jn4:7).

"So ought men love their wives as their own bodies.

He that loveth his wife loveth himself"(Eph5:28).

"Find the Good-- and Praise it!

--Alex Haley

Snow in Vegas?

I couldn't believe it! We had the worst storm that Vegas
has had in 30 years! The airport had to shut down
because of all the snow. They had to wait for it to melt
because of no snow plows. Some friends suggested we
should go to a park for family home evening and take
advantage of the snow. We drank hot chocolate and had
such a great time!

Christmas Traditions!

Last night we started a new tradition for Christmas.
We began with the scripture in John 21:15. It reads
"...Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest
thou me more than these? He saith unto him. Yea Lord:
thou knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him. Feed
my lambs." We then talked about what that meant.
I then read the story of the "Last Straw." The story talks
about service being "gifts to Christ." We then decided
to do secret acts of service for each other. We drew
names. Each kid got their own envelope of Straw like
material. We found a basket for a manger. Each act
of service a person does for their secret person they put
one piece of straw in the manger. Every week we evaluate
our progress and draw new names. By Christmas Eve we
hopefully have a manger full of straw where baby Jesus
can lay. We then will act out the Nativity!

My kids were very excited about this. They already have
started their secret acts of service.

I really love to hear what other people do for Christmas.
So I'm wondering what Christmas traditions do you have?

Happy Thanksgiving!

What a great holiday Thanksgiving is! I love
to eat yummy food, be with good company,
reflect on what I'm thankful for, and play
games. That is just what we did! We ended
up staying here in Las Vegas and got together
with friends. We had a Great Time!

We made these turkey hats for Family Home
Evening prior to Thanksgiving. We put what
we were thankful for on the feathers. Then
we acted like turkeys with our gobbles and
wobbles. The middle turkey had too much
of the gobbling!

I'm Thankful for...
Jenna-family, friends, pets, back yard, Jesus
Mindy-water, family, plants, animals, Jesus, love
Brittany-my bed, my flowers, my Jesus, my scooter

Surgery?

I went under the knife on the 14th of November for Surgery.
The name of it is a septoplasty which means I had surgery to
clear out the extra bone and cartilage in my nose so I can
breath better and hopefully help with my headaches. My
kids are telling everyone I had nose surgery. Now days
people question what "nose surgery" is all about. I
experienced this first hand when I went to my kids
parent teacher conferences. The teachers had been
wondering what was this nose surgery I had done.
I assured them it wasn't a "nose job". It's a medical
not cosmetic procedure. I still have my God given
state of the art Merryweather nose inherited by my
mother. Thanks Mom!

So How am I doing? I feel I am getting better everyday.
I feel blessed to have such a great support system. I
had my husband for four days. What a great help he
was. My family couldn't be here to help after that so I
have had to rely on great friends. I'm thankful to
everyone who brought food, their love, and support.
I wish I had great pictures of the surgery, but I don't.
So I guess it's left to the imagination. I also feel blessed
to not have much bruising. Some people who have
had it look like a raccoon with their black eyes. Can
you imagine the stories you could tell! So now I can
breath out of both nostrils. Yippee!! I haven't been able
to for as long as I can remember. The pain, pressure,
and headaches I will have to give more time. All and
all the I think the surgery will be a success!

Kate is One years Old!

I can't believe my baby is One years old! Kate
turned One on November 13th. It has
been a great year. She is so sweet and adorable.
She started walking just three days prior. I forget
how fun being one is. Some other things she does are
trying to dress herself, waves and says bye and hi,
dances to music, laughs at herself, chases her
sisters, and captures her mom's heart everyday!
Happy Birthday Kate!!!

Before the demolition

The Demolition

The Presents!

The American Veteran

Today I couldn't help but think of all those wonderful veterans that have fought for my freedom. We are so blessed to live in America and have the rights and privileges it offers. I have always been grateful for my Grandpa who fought and survived World War II. He is since gone but missed dearly. My step-Dad Tom fought in the Vietnam War and Desert Storm. My step Brother in Iraq. We owe a great deal to all those who have sacrificed in freedoms name. My Grandma wrote the following poem and is in honor to all those veterans out there.



The American Veteran

As I enjoy the rights of freedom
I can't help but stop and pause.
It was the sacrifice of veterans
That protected freedom's cause.

As I breathe the air of freedom
And travel freedom's lands.
I know that human freedoms
Were won by veterans hands.

The world still cries of bondage,
"Down with tyrant's cruel reign,"
And the veteran will be called upon
To protect mankind again.

A veteran never talks or boasts
O battles that were fought.
No one will ever know the scars
Those fight for freedom brought.

No one will ever know the pain
Those left at home endured.
The waiting, watching, praying,
Until freedom was secured.

Too many have forgotten
The sacrifices veterans made.
They've forgotten health and lives
Were the price that veterans paid.

Let us keep the memory of the ones
who answered freedom's call.
Let us honor the names of veterans:
They won freedom for us all.

Joyce Johnson Merryweather

Halloween Fun!

I love this picture because it is so like my kids! Brittany is
scratching you know where. Mindy is happily posing for
the picture. Jenna is thinking get this picture done. Kate is
working hard to get that hood off her head.





Rick was helping Brittany with her pumpkin.
She just couldn't stay awake any longer. I
Thought it was Cute!

Family Retreat Vegas Style!

We had a reunion with my side of the family at our house.
My family called me up several months back and suggested
we have it in Las Vegas. Rick and I are always traveling up
to Utah so they decided to do the traveling instead.
We had a great time! Here are some of the things we did.
Spring Preserve
We really enjoyed going to the Preserve. We learned about
our environment in a hands on way. Here is the website
if you want to know more www.springspreserve.org

Photo Scavenger Hunt!

We split up into two teams and took pictures with different
captions. The first team done was the winner.
Here are a few of the pictures we did.

Unusual Perspective

I'm Soooo Big!

What Disney Movie are we from?

I can't believe we all fit in here!

Random Pictures

Jenna is 9 Years Old!