My Beautiful Family

Not only was I excited to get my braces off, I was mostly excited because we had a family picture scheduled for the reunion. No tiny babies, no one is pregnant EVERYONE was there. It was perfect. You would not believe how long it took us to find coordinating shirts in just regular blue (Teal is the now color) My kids, and my hubby especially look great in blue. You know, you don't want to be too matchy matchy, but look like you belong. Yep, we spent way too much time on something that didn't even really matter, but we ended up looking good so

I guess it payed off.

Here is a sneak peak.I Think this one is my Favorite! Need I remind anyone of the puking episodes from Grey during these pics, and yet

he smiled so good :)

Yes, That is on HUGE family, I love it! They almost had to pull out the panoramic lens to fit everyone in.

We decided to snap a few sib shots after the photographer left. Should have thought about that before. I look at my brothers and sisters and can't believe how much we have all grown and done. It was such a fun reunion.

You and me up in the Tree's and the Forest will Give us the Answer

We have had a blast on vacation so far. After much consideration, we decided to go to the Redwoods in Cali this year. The first day of our vacation we drove from Pocatello to Reno. The drive was long and we heard a whole lot of this. We hit Reno about 7:00 and had dinner in the Casino and then hit the hay. Morgan had some great driving hair.

The next day we drove from Reno NV to Eureka CA. In the last 45 minutes of the drive as we ascended to the ocean, the temp went from 105 to 63 degrees. It was nuts.

On Friday morning we finally were able to hit the redwoods. I have heard how amazing these trees are, and I can tell you how amazing these trees are and show you pictures, but until you are standing next to one, you just don't get it. The Camera just doesn't do these giants justice, but here are a few pics for the heck of it. It was truly amazing. I am now a tree hugger, this kinda shows you how big the roots of some of these trees are. This is the "family tree" it has 12 other trees growing off of it. The boys loved this hike, plenty of roots and trunks to climb.

Even when there are no light sabers around, sticks can make due and the battles can continue.

I was so excited to drive thru this tree. Mostly to say that I did it, but it was very cool and unreal that this tree is that big.

Here are just a few pics of these amazing ginormous tree.

If I could say I had a favorite tree, this would be one of them. This is the brotherhood tree. It is like 1200 years old or something.This is the root of a tree that has fallen down. I wish I would have stuck Bri in there so you could see how big it is. When you walk through these trees, it almost feels like you have entered another world. Like Lord of the Rings or something. You feel miniature.Okay, so I hope I have posted enough pictures of trees :) Maybe just enought o convince you to go, it was so wicked awesome. Oh, and of course, we cannot forget the ever popular lunch in the back of the van. Will finished his lunch and sighed and said "This is the best day ever" I gues that makes all of the driving and frustration of the drive worth it.

Now onto the beach.

I may have only been 58 degrees, but that did not stop us. The sand was warm so of course Mojo loved it.

She was a little iffy about the waves, but was a good sport.I am also pretty sure that Mo ate her body weight in sand.Will loved chasing the waves and searching for "agates" with his dad. I think an agate is a rock that has been tumbled by the ocean waves and starts to become transparent. Grey had an unfortunate tumble in the waves (he did not run fast enough) so he spent most of the second day playing in the sand. (Although, I don't think he minded that one bit) We usually hit the beach by 3:00 and the fog and mist had allready rolled in. It gave the beach a really cool feel. The kids had a blast chasing waves and plaing in the sand.

After plenty of sweet trees, a whole lot of driving in the car and some fun at the beach, we are now in San Jose, Cali. Miranda is taking us to ride a train today and the go to the beach, so there will be many pics to follow. Oh and of course wicked tomorrow!!!! So stay tuned for more boring pics from our family vacation :)

Merrill 09 Reunion short

So much fun + too much delicious food + lots of "Merrill's" running around = a super fun time with a lot of laughs. This years reunion was a blast. My sister Miranda and her family were in charge this year and they chose an olympic theme. First night was opening ceremonies. Each family made a flag and we all were announced and put our flashlights into a big vase to make a torch (who designed those amazing shirts you ask?) Our flag read:

Crazy, Funny, Good Looking

"That's All"

Fulks

The ceremonies were just too much for little Mo Mo Jo

There was bounteous treats and snacks

Greyson + all you can eat snack buffet = 1 happy boy

(I am amazed that he did not puke rainbow colors that night)

The next morning we started the olympic events.

Here is a lowdown of the day. If you didn't look close enough to see, I won the gold Medal for being "Wicked Awesome"

That night we met again at the clubhouse for the closing ceremonies and a talent show. The boys Showed off their Jedi skills, and Brian and I sang "please read the letter" by Allison Krauss and Robert Plant.

To keep this post short, that is all I will share, but we had a blast. The next day we met to have a GINORMOUS family pic, as well as individual family pics. Greyson got sick that morning and we had to take breaks in between takes for him to puke along side of the road. Poor guy, I guess all those treats caught up to him. ( several people in the family ended up getting sick that night. What a way to end a reunion eh?}This is the only pic we have so far of Brian and I so more are soon to come. Hopefully the photographer can photoshop some color into Grey's face :)

The 4th in Idaho Falls

We went up to IF for the 4th. The day started with the parade. Weather was overcast and beatuiful.. Here is the gang awaiting the arrival of the CANDY! Words cannot express how much I love Brian in his new shirt. It has nothing to do with the 4th, he is just hot!Proof I was there! Me and my handsome Master William.The Bear was not so sure about all of the loud noise (SHOCKER!) He has no idea what awaits him at the fireworks :) Mojo had a blast with the balloons, the horses, the water, and basically just loved being outside all day.

Next we were off to Grandma Fulks house to have some fun in the sun. Dad of course had to join in on the fun. Much to my suprise, Morgan was in love with the slip n slide. I had to pull her off to let the boys slide and she would crawl right back in. She stayed in until her lips were blue and I had to pull her away screaming. The boys of course had a blast.

Later that evening we went down by th falls to enjoy the Fireworks show. Mojo just sat and stared at it all, Grey bear was burried in his Grandma's chest, but actually watched most of the show without his hands over his ears. Will was hyper the entire evening and cheered for all of the fireworks. They all sacked out after our short hike back to the car. We got home about 12:30 am and found that our fridge door was left ajar and all of the food inside was ruined. I cleaned up the mess while Brian ran to Winco for some grub for Sunday. We had a great 4th.