Re-enactment of the Pioneer Trek

During fall break from school this year, Tessa, Josh, and Megan participated in a Pioneer Trek in Forest Lakes, Az. It was 23 miles in three days with several hard climbs and long stretches of bumpy, rocky areas. Josh was ill for a little of the time but over all they all enjoyed the opportunity. I went along as one of 6 Trek Photographers. It was hard to take the pictures sometimes as I wanted to lend a helping hand as they struggled. I was grateful for the opportunity to help be a part of preserving the memory of the moment. A DVD is being put together and wards will receive a lot of the pictures that were taken. Hopefully my kids will remember this experience and use it later in life to help them through some rough times.


Here is Megan putting her "shoulder to the wheel".


Here is Josh pulling the handcart up the hill on the Men's pull.


Tessa on a pretty steep incline.


Here the four of us are.

My kids prooved that "You can do hard things!" Because they did it on this Trek. I am so proud of them doing it.

Cycling Race

Alan has been training for several months for the LOTOJA cycling competition. LOgan TO JAckson Hole 206 miles, 3 states, in One day. September 11, 2010. Each of the participants have to have "support" or someone to make sure they have enough water and nutrition during the long grueling day. This "support" was me. I would drive ahead to specific feed zones and wait until Alan got there and we would trade out water bottles and whatever else he wanted from my bag. He then would take off and I would go to the next feed zone and wait.

Here he is with some riding buddies at the start 6:31 am in Logan, Utah



Here are a few shots of him in the last 40 miles of the race. It was the only time I could pull over and get a picture of him.





Here he is coming into the finish line in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. He is looking strong.



The finish line. The guy in the helmet on the left of your picture is Mike Austin. Alan rode some with him in Utah this year and started the race with him.



Here Alan is with his AZ friends. They are the ones he started the race with. He wasn't in town when they decided to wear red so he had to wear his blue jersey. I am kind of glad because he was the only one wearing that jersey and I knew it was him.



1100 riders signed up to compete. 971 finished the race. Alan came in 186th. In the division he was in 58 competed. He was 22nd. He did amazingly well. I am proud of him.

Football

So...I guess you can label me as a football fan, only because Josh is now playing. It is amazing to me why someone would purposely hit another person with their body or put their body through the pain it must receive going through a three or four hour game to put some points on the board.

Here he is talking with the coaches.



In these two he is pursuing the quarterback.





This is the one where he sacks the quarterback. Sorry the image is blurry, I got a little excited and wasn't very steady.



The following game, Josh injured his hip flexor. He has had to miss one game. He is hoping to be back at it soon so he can play. He loves it. GO HAWKS!

Prayers

So...I start blogging about all the hard things I have had to deal with in the last couple of days and decide that those that read my blog probably would not want to hear all my whining. So I erased all that I had written. Instead I will blog about one of the wonderful things that happened this last week that gave me gratitude. Gratitude to know that God answers prayers.

Our Cockatiel "Sugar" has been a member of our family for a very long time.



He was originally Alan's Grandmother's bird. (I personally have known the bird for 21 years.) When she got so that she couldn't take care of him, he became ours. He would whistle and talk. His favorite sayings, " Hello Baby", "Whatcha doing baby?", "Are you my baby?" His song would be one that "Nanny" had whistled to him from the moment she got him. Over the years in my attempt to copy her whistling, it has changed to my song. When he would carry on, Alan and I felt like she was near and he was chatting with her.

Sugar has been aging. (These birds can live up to 40 years. Serious thought has to go into owning one because of the many years they live.) We were gone to Utah for a whole month and he was doing fine. On Sunday he took a huge turn for the worst. I think he ended up with a broken foot and this caused him not to be as mobile. He went down fast. I knew he wasn't doing well and expected him to die while I was away from home on Tuesday. Wednesday he was worse. He was suffering. So for our evening prayer, the children and I asked Father in Heaven to take him "home" so that he wouldn't suffer any more. With in twenty minutes he gave his last breath and died.

I knew that God was listening to the humble pleas of our family and because of His love for all things, our prayers were answered and our loved pet was released from the pain. He cared about the cockatiel suffering in the cage and if He could show such love to a bird, he cared about me. I know He does. I know He cares about all his children. I am grateful to know this.

Hands

I have ugly hands. I have always. They are scarred with short nails that can never really grow because I have the thinnest fingernails ever. They rip off very easily. So I keep them cut short. I have envied beautiful nails and hands for awhile now, but have never been willing to do anything about it. And here is my reasoning.

In high school, I had the opportunity to be in the school musical "Once Upon A Mattress". I played the role of Queen Aggrivaine (not sure if that is the correct spelling but I am going to leave it.) For the role I got DRAGONLADY fake fingernails put on for the duration of the play. For those who have never had nails put on, I think they are the longest possible nails you can "put on". They stuck out from the tip of my finger about three quarters of an inch. A friend of the family put them on for me. They were a pain in more ways than one. For someone going from having no fingernails to having them so long, it put a lot of pressure and pain at the nail bed. They were now a lever. The guys liked them and would come up to me and ask me to scratch their backs.

But the other problem was that I could not button up the 501 Levis I wore in high school. I would get ready for school as well as I could, take care of the necessities and then not drink water all day as to not have to go to the bathroom. This is probably too much information. The point I want to make is that they were a hassle, in more ways than one. I will probably never get nails that long put on again, if at all.

Instead, I want hands calloused, and worn out in the service to others. Perhaps some day when I see my Lord, he will judge me by the appearance of my hands, knowing that I did use my hands to be His. That is what I dream of, what I long for. For "only in the service of your fellow beings" are "ye in the service of your God".

Family Reunion

During the summer, we attended the Merrell Family Reunion. My Siblings and their children and grandchildren. The event wasa wonderful success. Friday night the siblings and their spouses got together and had dinner. We each took a turn updating the others on our families, going over each family member. I personally think that it was the most enjoyable part of the reunion. I enjoy my siblings and their spouses. The family memories were shared around and we laughed so much. I watched a sister-in-law laugh so hard I thought she would pee her pants. Her laugh is so contagious! I loved that so that my heart took a picture. I will never forget it.

The next morning we met in a park with all the children and grandchildren of my siblings. I don't think anyone ever counted how many were there. Many came later and some left earlier but it was a wonderful time to get together and play. Kickball, basketball, and ultimate frizbee were some of the favorite games played. But most of all it was for the story telling and laughter and talking that was done. We had quite the variety of people in attendance.



Cousins were the biggest hit with my kids. They enjoyed seeing cousins that the most often only see once a year.







My siblings were a big hit with me. Shawna, the eldest of my siblings, lives in Salt Lake. She puts on a wonderful reunion.


This is Crew. The newest of the Merrell Grandchilren. He was 10 days old (I believe).



Spencer, shortly returned home from one of the Mexico missions. (currently teaching in the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah.)



Second generation cousins. Kenna and Maylie. These girls were so cute together I had to get a photo of them.



Tana, second oldest in the family with her newest grandchild Jack. She had most of her nine children there.



My eldest brother Ken and third in the family with his grand daughter Avonlea. I love to see these interactions of my siblings with their grandchildren. They are sweet. (Ken is the author I have told some of you about.)



This is Winnifred and Charlie. (They are the ones that work with the curtians and drapes in the Temples.)



This is Don. He is just older than I. He has a missionary in Mexico and is wonderful at making everyone feel welcomed and a part of what is going on. This is his grand nephew he is holding. He always has loved kids.



There was a lot of loving going on.




I am next in line in the family lineup.



Maureen and her family with three strapping boys and husband. She is the last of my siblings. The boys wore the red, white, and blue because it was the 3 of July.



This is some of the Merrell family that were present when we took the family photo.



And here we are being our crazy selves.



Is there anything better than family? I don't think so. They are the most wonderful people on the earth. I know that they would drop everything and come to my rescue at any time I needed them. One of my sis-in-laws was diagnosed with cancer shortly after this reunion. It affected all of us deeply. We have rallied around her, fasting and praying for a quick recovery. The outlook is better since that day of prayer and fasting in her behalf. That is what family is all about. I love them dearly. It is hard to be so far away from them all. I know that they are mine forever. And I thank the Good Lord above for that.

I LOVE MY FAMILY!

Need to blog

Don't give up on me, I will again return to blogging once I get the kids back to school and have a schedule and routine again.