RIP Merlin 4/23/2000 - 1/2/2011

Our family dog and best friend Merlin died on Monday. It was very sad to see him go, but it was time. He was such a sweet dog and was always so patient with all the kids around, but he had developed cancer all over his body and was really having trouble walking and going up and down the stairs because of the pain and weakness. He was one of the calmest, sweetest and happiest dogs I have ever known and was perfectly designed for our family. My brother Roderick and brother  in-law Rich took him to the vet to have the procedure done and Rich stayed with him until the end. He said that it was very peaceful and he was very calm throughout it. Before they administer the sedative, they gave him an IV pain reliever and Rich said that he was immediately relieved of all his pain from the cancer in his body and he seemed very peaceful. I'm so glad that he stayed with him and I know that he is so much happier now that he is living pain-free! I have no doubt that he is a celestial soul and would make a perfect pet for some adoring angels.

Such a handsome boy!

RIP Merlin, you will be greatly missed.

Born Easter morning in the year 2000, died January 2, 2011, almost 12 years old.

Never much liked fetch, but loved to chase birds and rabbits.

Happiest in the mountain trails behind our house, running free without a leash.

Loved to pretend that he was running away, but he would always come back when he lost sight of you.

Always let the little ones tug on his ears and climb all over him without complaint.

Scratching him under his collar was his weak spot.

Ate just about everything under the sun without ever getting sick. He was the ultimate garbage disposal and floor sweeper. My dad called him a first-rate "Crumber" because he ate everyone's crumbs.

Never did learn to roll all the way over. Lazy dog!

Loved to be underfoot. Wherever his favorite people were, he was always nearby.

Always gave "hugs" when he saw people hugging. Unfortunately, his hugs usually knocked both people completely to the floor!

Nicknamed Eeyore from Winnie the Pooh because he was gray and lazy.

Excellent bark to scare away unwanted solicitors at the door. Scared the living daylights out of the deacons collecting fast offerings.

Never went through a chewing phase. He only had his special bear that we called "baby" and he never chewed up anything else of ours. Best dog ever, right?

130-pound mass of love. He was such a lover!

The goodbye hug in his last moments with our family

Thanksgiving 2011

I totally stole all of these photos from my sister Karyn's blog because I was lazy and didn't take a single photo this year... But here are a couple shots of the festivities. We stayed in Utah and had dinner with my family this year and are going to Bakersfield for Christmas (can't wait!) so it was pretty low key for us. My mom actually let everyone help a lot more this year than she usually does and made assignments for a lot of our traditional food, so we mostly made pies and the turkey at our house. Thanksgiving is such a fun relaxing weekend and I love spending time with my sisters and mom.

Here are all the girls Thanksgiving morning

This is a cornucopia made out of bread! For the tutorial click here.

This is an apple pie. We stamped the entire top crust with my pie crust cutters from Williams-Sonoma

This is Mara's pecan pie that we also decorated with my pie crust cutters. So cute, huh?

halloween 2011

This year was a fun Halloween. My parents' neighborhood has a really fun tradition where several houses sign up for special events at their house the night of Halloween. One house makes hundreds of caramel apples only for the parents of the trick-or-treaters, one house shows a movie projected on the wall of their garage (Hocus Pocus this year), one house does a big haunted house, there are donuts on a string, bobbing for apples and several other typical fall activities at other houses, too. It's really fun because you go to a few houses and trick-or-treat, then you stop and do a fun activity, then trick-or-treat some more. We went around with my sister Karyn and her three kids, so it was a lot of fun to see their reaction to everything. Here are a few of pictures of Saron and I. She was a lion and I was a lion tamer! Our costumes were really cute and all from thrift stores or borrowed. Now that's my kind of Halloween.

watch it.

Oh man, I am so behind on blogging. Sorry... I wish I could say that I have given up wasting time on the internet, but I have just gone from wasting time reading blogs to wasting time on Pinterest. Have you discovered Pinterest yet? It is a serious time-sucker, so only join if you have oodles of time to waste. Which I don't, but I still waste it anyway... But if you want to see the coolest video ever, check this one out!

saron: eleven months

Saron walks like a pro now. She does this little laugh when she gets excited where she wrinkles up her nose and breathes in and out of it super fast and it is ridiculously adorable. She is learning how to be mischievous and opening drawers, cabinets and trash can lids. Now that she is so good on her feet she can also stand on her tip toes and reach on top of tables. Sheesh we have had to hide everything haha. She has ten teeth, and two of her molars just popped through.

Saron loves:

• Emptying drawers and boxes. She loves to pull things out one at a time, look at it, taste it, throw it on the floor and grab the next thing.
• Trashing toilet paper rolls. She also loves getting in my tampon boxes and carrying them around with her. The bathroom is off-limits and she knows it. Whenever she sees that the door has feel left open, she runs over screaming with delight!
• Rough play on the floor, tickling, wrestling, etc. She loves getting tossed and thrown around.
• Trying new food. She'll eat anything! If she likes it she will scream for more. If she hates it she will put her hands in front of her face to hide. It's really cute.
• Boppers! That's what the grandkids call my dad. She is OBSESSED with him and thinks that everything he does is hilarious. In fact, he was out of town for a little bit and while I was upstairs doing something she wandered off. It got quiet so I was wondering what she was doing and I found her in my parents' closet snuggling up to one of my dad's shirts and sucking her thumb! The poor girl just really missed her Boppers!
• Naps. She is a great nap taker (finally). She goes down really easily and always sleeps well.
• Dogs. She plays with my grandma's dog and it is so hilarious! She tries to take his toys and they have serious tug-of-war fights. She also loves chasing him around wherever he goes. My parents' dog Merlin is too old to run around but she loves climbing all over him. He's such a good sport about it and totally lets her!
• Playing peek-a-boo and chase. Sometimes I can hardly feed her a meal because she is always playing peek-a-boo in between every single bite. And she loves to be chased now that she is faster and more steady on her feet. I crawl around on the ground and she runs away screaming and laughing.
• Taking food out of the pantry. She knows what the Cheerio's box looks like, so when she wants a snack, she just gets in the pantry, opens the box and takes a handful! It's pretty funny.

Saron hates:

• When she is getting into something bad and I take it away, like garbage, the crate of onions in the pantry or any other thing that she can destroy
• Being physically restrained in any way. She hates when I hold her hands to wash them, when I try to hold her still in church and when I wipe her face