Grandma Merrell's Place

The Good Humor Man

2011-10-30T21:53:00.004-06:00

Most of the books at our school library are donated paperbacks. When this one came across my desk the other day I experienced a rush of happy memories so strong I wanted to grab the book up, place it in a protective case and hang it in my personal museum of cherished life experiences. Vera is probably the only one who shares these memories with me. We both attended Robert Goddard Jr. High in Lanham, Maryland growing up. When you entered our cafeteria the stage was to the right, the serving lines were straight ahead and to the left, under the windows is where they pushed the big silver cart full of "Good Humor Ice Cream Bars" everyday of school as lunch was winding up. They didn't do this in elementary school and so this was something to get excited about. The first day, since I was a 7th grader and knew nothing about this marvelous tradition I had no money to buy ice cream. Ice cream bars were 10 cents each. Since my Dad loved chocolate, and every birthday every year for us four girls was chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream, I chose the Good Humor chocolate covered chocolate bar on a stick. Heaven! Not only did I make sure I had 10 cents almost every school day, the Good Humor man drove past our house in the afternoons along with two other ice cream trucks. I always waited for the Good Humor truck and bought another 10 cent chocolate covered chocolate bar. Would miracles never cease? All these years later I find a book about "The Good Humor Man" and I can feel the sense of anticipation each lunch period, see myself in the first seat directly across from where I know they will park the cart and preparing for my 3 foot dash to beat all the other students to an ice cream bar. It only lasted a year but has had a lifelong impact on me as I look back on these memories and realize how ice cream makes life seem just a little better. So on days you can "double-dip," life seems sublime.

Visiting Allen

2011-10-29T14:45:00.000-06:00

So I went up to Orem two weeks ago and here are the highlights:
* Grandma and RyLee polished off a pint of raspberries while Mom wasn't looking--and YES RyLee ate most of them.
*Allen came to Ron's house and made RyLee laugh again. It's funny to watch her look at Allen and then look at Ron and then back to Allen and try to decide which one is her Daddy.
* We all went to see "Uncle Hal" give a presentation at the Orem City Library with the author of Candy Bomber. Here we are getting authographed books! (Can you hardly wait 'till Christmas?) Colonel Halvorsen is 92 years old and still going strong-AMAZING!
*There is also a glamor shot of me with Linda Bethers the author of Christmas Oranges. She wanted an autographed copy of Candy Bomber from the Bomber himself. It was a librarians dream come true--Surrounded by famous authors!
* Here are a few shots of Allen at his apartment this year.I bought a couple of picture frames and added 6 family photos so Allen could have SOMETHING on the walls to look at besides paint.
*Stopped by to see Grandma Merrell also but those pix were on my phone and I erased them. Oops!

Make a Run for the Border

2011-09-04T21:40:00.010-06:00

After hiking in Zion's, Karen and I went to the Shakespeare festival to see the final performance of Richard III. Enough of the killing already! On the way home we stopped in to see Audrey at Taco Bell. Who doesn't have fond memories of their first minimum wage job. Midnight at Taco Bell is a happenin' place!

P.S. Thank Karen for getting me back into my blog so I could post again.

ZION at last!

2011-09-04T21:40:00.000-06:00

Karen drove up from Phoenix for the Labor Day weekend and took me to Zion's National Park. I have lived in St. George 3 1/2 years and have never been in the park yet. We went up Kolob Canyon. It was a 5 mile round trip hike and we didn't make it to the end before we decided Audrey would be late for work at 5pm if we didn't turn around. It had absolutely nothing to do with my red, red face and rapid gasps for breath of refreshing mountain air. It was so wonderful to be outside in the mountains with Calvin, Karen and Audrey. Calvin was very patient with the three of us and usually took up the rear. I had Karen pose in this last picture because this rock looks like something straight out of a Syfy book.... "Little did she know that as she sat down to rest, the seemingly solid rock beneath her was preparing to absorb her amino acids to sustain its life force."

Randy Merrell Celebration

2011-03-07T06:58:00.003-07:00

A box of pictures fell out of my closet and so I took the time to go through them. Here are a few I'd like to share with all those who knew and loved Randy as much as us...in honor of his 3rd year anniversary. One of the pictures for my movie doesn't show all the kids so I am including it separately. It is priceless because Karen is doing the "I can't believe I still have to hold this lamb" groan, which everyone took a turn doing sometime during the line-up with Dad. Good Times...in retrospect.

Super Bowl Sunday

2011-03-07T06:58:00.000-07:00

Sowards don't have cable so they came down to St. George to watch Green Bay play Steelers. Ben served his mission in Green Bay teaching the Hmong people so we all felt obligated to cheer on Green Bay. Here's how we celebrated:

Randy Merrell Video

2011-03-07T06:57:00.000-07:00

Hawaiian Christmas

2011-01-17T17:52:00.003-07:00

Our generous Mom took Robin and I to Hawaii for Christmas. We were on the islands 11 days. We did the cruise thing around the islands and went ashore everyday for fun excursions. My favorite days were snorkeling and the day we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Here's a picture of Robin and I doing the hula with the natives (great hip action) and Mom standing outside our hut. My favorite moments were hearing the "Hawaii 5-O" song played in different places and Elvis' "Blue Hawaii" sung in the Fern Grotto.

Baby Boom !!!

2011-01-17T17:38:00.000-07:00

Our family was blessed to have three healthy (very lucky) babies born at the end of 2010. Valerie Sowards was born to Ben and Connie Sowards October 8, 2010. Tyler Adair Merrell was born to Brian and Caroline on November 16, 2010 and RyLee Alysa Merrell was born to Ron and Verenda on December 16, 2010. I now have 9 grandchildren. Grandmahood is fun.

Programming Students' build 'dancing robots'

2011-01-17T17:24:00.000-07:00

We are so behind in our posts but at her high school,Audreys ' robot won second place. Under the picture it says "Desert Hills Computer Programming students Kira Benitez and Aurey Merrell check the robots they programmed for a robotic dance competition on Sept. 9. Kira's grandpa was the cropduster that sprayed all of Grandpa Merrell's crops in Animas. They lived in Deming. Small world, huh that now their granddaughters are best friends.?

Self-Esteem Boost!

2010-09-22T22:37:00.000-06:00

Today I got on the Utah Teacher Site USOE and found out they mailed my Level II license yesterday. I know it doesn't mean much to anyone but a Utah teacher but it was really fantastic news...trust me. They also included a list of all the things I am qualifed to teach. Talk about a boost to my self esteem! I look totally awesome on paper!!

Qualified To Teach

USOE Qualified
NCLB Qualified
Barbara Merrell
CACTUS ID: 554462

Assignment Code	Assignment Title / Name
02010000010	Art (K-5)
02010000015	Art 6
02020000001	Dance (K-6)
02030000050	Drama (K-6)
02040000015	Music (K-6)
04010000020	Health Education (K-6)
04020000081	Physical Education (K-8)
06010000060	Elementary Reading
06020000010	Language Arts 6
07010000007	Mathematics - Grade 6
08050000005	Science (Grade 6)
09090000010	Social Studies (Grade 6)
15000000008	Character Education
15000000045	Learning Strategies
19010000001	Library Media (K-12)
21030000040	Principal, Elementary Teacher (2+hr/day
21040000020	Administrative Intern
22010000002	Grade 1
22010000003	Grade 2
22010000004	Grade 3
22010000005	Grade 4
22010000006	Grade 5
22010000007	Grade 6
22010000008	Grades 1-2-3
22010000010	Grades 3-4
22010000020	Grades 4-5-6
22010000030	Grade 7
22010000040	Grade 8
22020000001	Kindergarten
22040000001	Early Childhood (Pre-K)
24040000010	Youth in Custody Teacher
24040000080	Student Advisor
24040000090	Teacher of Homebounds & Hospitalized
24040000150	School-Level Education Specialist
24040000160	LEA-Level Education Specialist
24040000170	Adult Education Teacher
24060000001	Information Technology Specialist
24060000020	Early Childhood Mentor Teacher
24060000022	Elementary Mentor Teacher
24060000040	LEA Mentor Coordinator
24070000010	Paraprofessional
24080000001	Fellowship-Sabbatical
24080000098	USOE Curriculum Specialist
24080000099	USOE Professional Personnel
25020000010	Student Study Skills

AND 'YES' I WILL POST A PICTURE OF MY NEW LICENSE WHEN IT COMES!
It was Ben's birthday yesterday and I was the one that ended up getting the present :)

Phoenix or Bust!

2010-09-11T18:02:00.000-06:00

Over labor day weekend, Allen and I helped Karen move to Mesa, Arizona. They both spent the night with me in St. George. We woke up to Calvin making us a gourmet breakfast. Next, Allen checked the hitch to make sure we didn't lose the Karen's car we were pulling and then we were off. There is a picture of Karen in her favorite room--her new kitchen and all the boxes we unpacked before I left. Her apartment is not two blocks from the Mesa temple it's more like 2 rocks.

Sleep-In

2010-06-28T19:52:00.000-06:00

So what do you do when you want to do something daring and exciting but it has to be legal? You have a sleep-in at Wal-Mart. I made Audrey come at 11:30pm but these girls sure had fun being silly for a few hours. The manager walked by and told them it was OK as long as the pillows stayed in their plastic sleeves. You may want to buy pillows elsewhere. Nice manager wouldn't you say?

Youth Conference

2010-06-28T19:37:00.003-06:00

For Youth Conference this year the kids were divided up into tribes and Audrey will have to tell you the rest of the fun stuff they did. They have the tribal banners standing outside our Stake Center for a week and they are so fun to drive past. I had to take a picture in case anyone wants to copy this fun idea. Audrey was in the tribe of Naphtali. I took a close-up of Joseph since most of us are really from that tribe.

Family Video at Ned's Funeral

2010-06-20T12:26:00.000-06:00

Chillin'

2010-06-20T12:17:00.001-06:00

So after a hard day of playing we came in to watch a movie and next think I knew, Kate had assumed the position in the zero-gravity chair and was nibbling on mints. She looked so adorable I had to take one last picture :)

Summer Fun at Grandma's

2010-06-20T11:54:00.005-06:00

We started to hatch ducks in my 2nd grade classroom. They hatched two days after school got out. Four hatched and three survived. Kate thought that was great fun. She was laughing and quacking up a storm with the scared ducks. Her hands fit perfectly around their little necks too! I love pictures like this that show pure joy on a child's face! After all the duck excitement we played on Grandma's waterslide. Kate was fearless this year going down. I caught Jared playing outdoorsman. You've gotta love the look of "getting caught" on his face.

The Gila Family Temple

2010-06-20T11:35:00.006-06:00

After Uncle Ned's funeral, Karen and I hung out with Harmon's and visited The Gila Valley temple before heading home. Guess who we saw as we were leaving the temple? Von Richardson formerly of Animas, (Charles and Ilene's son) and his wife. Small World!

Robin's Visit

2010-06-20T10:56:00.003-06:00

My sister Robin was able to come up to Salt Lake for my niece Kaila Graves's wedding. We were trying to get the beautiful flowers on temple square. We also took our picture as immigrants in the JSB Family History Center. Obviously, the trip across the ocean wasn't too hard on Robin. Way too chipper! If you want to see pictures of Kaila's wedding and the totally awesome cake we made out of sheets of chocolate you have to go to Karen's blog.

Easter Happiness in St. George

2010-04-11T13:00:00.024-06:00

It was beautiful weather and it seemed to bring out the best in everyone. Happy times!

Piano Recital

2010-04-10T09:10:00.003-06:00

For those family members that missed the latest piano recital of Lucinda and Sarah Sowards here they are posing at the piano after the recital. Don't feel too bad, Connie missed most of it too. She was out in the hall with very noisy Jared. The girls are quite accomplished young ladies.

The Secret Lives of Teachers

2010-02-26T16:45:00.003-07:00

About 15 people from my school went down to Las Vegas for a Kagan (school stuff) training. One first grade teacher is in love with Donny Osmond and two teachers went to see the Donnie and Marie show ($250 per person). They took millions of pictures with my camera (they left theirs at home) and bought T-shirts and sat starry eyed in our workshops for the next two days. This woman, Tammy, has been in love with Donny her whole life. She once got to go to a wedding reception where half the wedding party was the Osmond family and she shook Donny's hand in line. It's what she lives for and now she can die happy...she saw his concert and sleeps in his T-shirt. She's almost my age and it made me feel good to know there are other crazies in the world. She walks around school now with a constant smile and we know what she's thinking about. LOL

Connie the Amazing!

2010-02-26T16:39:00.002-07:00

Not only does Connie wrestle 5 kids, keep Bishop Sowards fed and ironed, run fund raisers at the elementary school but she finds time to run down to my school and put up fabulous bulletin boards for me. Look at the size of this box of chocolates. It was huge..about 3 feet high it was filled with Little Debbie snack cakes in silver cupcake tins that made it look like a box of GIANT chocolates. The kids went crazy over it and insisted on eating a stale chocolate from the box 2 weeks later. I let them. Thanks Conners for making me "look good"!

Sexy Lady Brabra

2010-02-03T21:28:00.001-07:00

6th Sense

2010-02-03T21:16:00.006-07:00

I will always be amazed what pets let little children get away with that they don't let adults get away with. Kate was taking our cat Toast by the sides of the face and forcing her head around so she could look the cat in the face. Then she proceeded to point to the cat's eyes, her eyes, cat's nose, her nose. Toast let Kate mess with her repeatedly over and over again. When she turned her head away she then let Kate grab the sides of her face and turn her back. AMAZING! Animals have a 6th sense around babies I'm sure of it. My Grandmother, Dorothy Murial Norman Capener told me a story of her 5th birthday. Her mother had made her a brand new apron WITH A POCKET! That was her one and only present back in 1907. She was so excited she ran outside to show her Daddy. He had just opened the gate to let all the horses out to graze. The pack of horse was charging straight for her. She stopped dead in her tracks. The lead horse spotted her and jumped to the left and all the other horses blindly followed the first horse. She was left standing in a cloud of dust but untouched. Animals just have this 6th sense about little children.
(not a very glamourous setting for these pictures...but you have to click on the pics to enlarge them and see how cute Kate was with Toast).

Six degrees of seperation

2010-01-17T09:15:00.005-07:00

This is a sister's quiz.
Guess who showed up randomly at my house Friday night?
Here are your clues:
Her Aunt, Dottie Bell, lives in my ward and I was her visiting teacher.
She grew up in Pleasant Grove.
She now lives in Logan.
She is Teresa Allred's visiting teacher.
Her first name is Sharon.
Do you give up?
She is Clark Salisbury's wife.
Yes! Clark and Sharon stopped by to say hi the other night on their way to Zion's National Park.
I LOVE St. George! It's actually on the way to somewhere!
I felt like I was seeing a long lost brother. Sharon may have thought I hugged her hubby one too many times but it was just sooo good to see them!

Carry On!

2010-01-17T09:00:00.004-07:00

This weekend I made a wedding cake for a friend of Connie's. The mother of the bride was actually Sarah and Anna's kindergarten teacher. This cake is covered with fondant balls. It seemed weird but looked kinda cool when it was finally put together. I made the fondant bow shiny by brushing it with cooking oil. I had to show off my new armware also. Friday I went to the Dr. (for the first time in lots of years) for a sore elbow that seemed to get worse these past few weeks...very painful and sore to the touch. When I left I had two wristbands for carpal tunnel and a black band to place below my elbow for tendonitis. I also had three steroid shots--one in each wrist and one in my elbow. The bad news is I am not able to participate in the Winter Olympics XX but the good news is the Dr. said he would write me a note to miss Primary music for the next six weeks. I opted out of the permission slip. I had to take off all the software to make the cake but I did have partially numb hands because of the steroid shots. I had no idea all this would happen when I went to the Dr. There is always something happening to make life interesting and challenging. My motto: CARRY ON!

The Three Stooges

2010-01-13T21:07:00.003-07:00

"So there I was..." (to quote Brother Hancock) coming out of my Wednesday night ESL class at 8pm tonight and trying to get in my car door. An elderly gentleman was getting in the passenger side of his car which was next to mine. He turned to me (or so I thought) and said, "Where've you been?" I perked right up and said, "I have been at a class learning how to teach children that don't speak English." He then pointed to his wife who was coming up behind me and said, "I was talking to my wife." His wife replied, "Why do you care where's she's been?" and hit him in the ribs. I thought he was talking to me. He thought he was talking to his wife. She thought he was talking to me...and then we all burst out laughing. It was one of those "you needed to be there moments" but it sure made my day :)

You Always Win With Grandma!

2010-01-10T12:13:00.003-07:00

While watching the grandkids yesterday while Connie and Ben were at the temple, I was playing "Battleship" with Jared. Being very intelligent like all my decendants, I began to explain to him the strategies of playing the game. I showed him the ABC's and the 123's along the tops and left side and how at each turn we would say one letter and one number. Jared could do one or the other but eventually caught on and would call out "CD" or "AB" on his turn. When it was his turn he would put a peg or two into the board. The color was determined by my telling him he had a hit or a miss. On hits he used a red marker and on misses he used a white marker just as I had taught him. On my turn I would correctly model how to call out a location of my battleship by saying "J10" or "F7". We were having a great time playing, but not really playing, the game. Jared kept shouting out, "I'm winning aren't I Grandma?" I would tell him that indeed he was winning and was very good at playing. You can see from the picture how Jared's gameboard looked. On my turn, Kate who was sitting on my lap would put a peg in the board and then clap excitedly...as if to say, "I got one in and now let's all applaud appropriately because I am very smart just like all of Grandma Merrell's descendants."
Inevitably the fun abruptly ended when it was my turn and I called out, "I1". Jared's face crumbled and he said, "YOU won? I thought I was winning Grandma?" Wanting to burst out laughing, I instead held it in and recovered by saying, "Oh that's right Jared. You are winning. Grandma meant to say, "D4"...and the game continued on with everyone satisfied. Aren't kids great? You always win with Grandma!

John Canaan

2010-01-04T20:03:00.008-07:00

Kohler's went to church with Brad's brother and they announced a concert that night in the St. George Tabernacle was going to feature John Canaan. He was very popular when Robin and I were in college. His most memorable song of the evening was, "You're Not Alone." He walked around the crowd and sang and I bawled and bawled. I sure am glad someone was paying attention at church.

Julia Child Fan

2010-01-04T19:10:00.003-07:00

So after everyone left St. George and the Christmas events, Connie brought Annie down to go to the doctor and we sat around for two days and recouped. All of a sudden I realized I didn't know where Kate was and hadn't seen her for quite some time and jumped off the couch in a panic and ran through the whole house and didn't find her! When I came back to the living room I saw her sitting on the kitchen table giving herself a bath in butter. I sure was relieved to find her but not happy about the greasy mess we would have to clean up. Connie says Kate LOVES butter and has done this same thing several times at home. It's hard to get riled up when she is having so much fun.

Sidewalk Art

2010-01-04T18:57:00.009-07:00

Our goal was to walk from the Venetian in Las Vegas to the M&M store (1.4 miles one way)but we kept getting distracted. Here we are watching a sidewalk artist. He used spray paint and a can lid and paint scraper to make AMAZING pictures! If you want to see pictures of us attending "Blue Man Group" for my sister Robin's 50th birthday you have to go to her blog.

Hanging Out @ Christmastime!

2010-01-04T18:45:00.011-07:00

For Rent: Viper

2010-01-04T18:38:00.004-07:00

This beautiful car was sitting outside a convenience store on Miracle Mile in Vegas. It would have been fun to rent but David and Audrey settled for a glamor shot.

Christmas Babies

2010-01-04T18:27:00.007-07:00

We see Brian, Caroline & Johnny Merrell.
We see Audrey & Johnny.
We see Aunt Vera and Troy Hakes.
We see Josh and Hailey Hakes.
We see Brad and his baby boy David.

Christmas Gifts

2010-01-04T18:23:00.003-07:00

With all the presents stacking up under the tree, our cats, Toast and Crouton, wanted to leave us an offering to show they loved us too. This is the first time they shared their meal since we have lived in Utah. In Clint, Texas we usually got rabbit ears.

Thanksgiving Dinner

2009-12-06T17:45:00.004-07:00

Not only did Calvin carve our Thanksgiving turkey he artistically displayed it back on the platter. Pretty fancy, eh?

Now showing all over St. George

2009-12-06T17:23:00.003-07:00

Audrey performed with two groups this past week. She played trumpet with her high school jazz band and french horn with her band and the Dixie State University Band. French horns always get all the good parts and she had some good ones plus a couple of solos. She sure loves her music!

Babies and Water

2009-12-06T17:19:00.003-07:00

What is it that babies find so fascinating about water? At home, Kate loves to sit on the edge of the sink and fill little cups with water or just splash as the faucet is running. Grandma figured out a way to keep baby happy without having to hold on to her the whole time. We both had a GREAT hour.

TERRY FATOR LIVE in VEGAS!

2009-11-28T09:52:00.006-07:00

Connie and I took Katrina and Karen to Vegas for their birthdays last night. It was loads of fun. We began the evening eating in a Tapas Bar. You order different Spanish appetizers and share them. It was sooo good. Karen got the winning dish of ham and cheese thingies. I came in 2nd with bacon wrapped stuffed dates with blue cheese. They really were delicious!
We saw Terry Fator at the Mirage. This was the first show I have ever been to see in Vegas and it was really good. I didn't like the feeling of developing lung cancer as I walked through the casino to get to the theatre but the rest of the evening was firs rate! Here's a link to Terry if you haven't seen him or know who he is:

Link #1
Link #2

28 Days 'Till Christmas

2009-11-28T09:47:00.003-07:00

If you wonder what Santa is up to as we approach the holiday season...he is in sunny St. George relaxing at my house. Eat your heart out!

Camoflauge the Turkey

2009-11-28T09:38:00.006-07:00

I sent home turkey patterns that the students were supposed to dress up in such a way that they wouldn't get eaten on Thanksgiving. Here were some of my favorites: the turkey as the hunter instead of the hunted, Santa turkey and Kevin from "UP".

Wonderful Connie!

2009-11-28T09:35:00.002-07:00

This is the bulletin board Connie came and put up in my classroom for November. During parent conferences one parent turned to me after looking at the bulletin board and said, "You really LOVE teaching, don't you?" What could I say? I replied, "Why, yes I do!"

Couponing

2009-10-11T19:19:00.003-06:00

Karen and Verenda have started shopping the Super Savvy Way with some lady at the Daily Herald. Coupons are the way to go! They got me excited and I connected with the online sight for St. George and as soon as I get my newspaper coming in, I will start buying smarter. I have printed out online coupons from coupons.com, redplum.com and smartsource.com to get started. Since I ALWAYS have more month than money I'll let you know how I do. If you live in the greater St. George area and your only local Sunday paper is The Spectrum go to www.grocerysmarts.com and type in the code for our area which is g84cjg (case sensitive) for local specials. YEA saving!

Conference in Orem

2009-10-11T19:10:00.004-06:00

We watched the remainder of Conference at Ron and Verenda's house. Pictured are Calvin with pen poised enjoying the "highest form of meditation" to quote Randy, which is sleeping during a church meeting. Ron picked me a colorful crop of carrots and other goodies from his garden to take home. His favorite veggie was the flying saucer squash that grew from an heirloom squash seed Karen had given him.

Temple Square

2009-10-11T18:58:00.003-06:00

WOW! What a thrill to be in the right place at the right time with the right people...if you know what I mean. It was powerful to be seated with God's living prophet on the earth and most of the twelve apostles. Just like in days of old. The Stake President seated behind us had brought an elderly non-member relative and was showing him pictures from an Ensign of the "Twelve" and explaining their previous jobs and what they do now. It got me excited to hear him so excited as he tried to get Uncle ___ excited. We were there Saturday morning for the powerhouse talks. It was so GREAT that we ran back to Nana's apartment, gulped down her homemade veggie stew and ran to get in line for the afternoon. One of these pictures shows us after they let 600 more people in the Conference Center. We were numbers 601, 602, 603 and didn't get in. *sigh* We had to settle for watching conference in the historic tabernacle. There was lots of room in there. The next best seats were the Joseph Smith Auditorium with plush seats but we wanted to tough it out on hard wooden benches in the balcony. We were basically too lazy to walk to the Joseph Smith building.

Second Grade

2009-09-19T09:56:00.007-06:00

Here is the bread we cultured in our class. After recess we gently rubbed our hands over a piece of whole wheat bread and then gave it three sprays of water and sealed it in a plastic bag in the dark for 2 weeks. The control bread looked good enough to eat. It was amazing what grew! Our volcanoes were lots of fun too!

Fall! I Love High School Football!

2009-09-19T09:40:00.004-06:00

Calvin and I went to Desert Hills High School Homecoming football game last night. The stadium was packed and there were swarms of kids covering the grass over both end zones. This is a predominantly Mormon community so if each family brought an average of 5.5 kids....It was something to see. I wore my Bob's Team t-shirt and it happened to be the color of the rival team. My bad. This picture is Audrey in the pep band with her friend boy, Kyle. For half time the band stood on the field and played (no fancy moves which was disappointing because I thought they had been practicing a drill). They did look good as they marched out--perfect formation.

I Love To New Temples

2009-08-31T17:58:00.003-06:00

So I took Allen to the St. George Temple and we had a unique experience. I had family names that needed to be done but was saving them for Ben and Connie since it was a couple. Since I had Allen with me we got to do the work for them. The baptisms had been done but we did all the rest of the work including being married. It was fun do go through the whole process all in one day.

Audrey Moments

2009-08-31T17:29:00.005-06:00

Officially in high school, we see Audrey with friend Megan at a cross country meet with the nieces cheering on "The Thunder". She is SOOO excited to have a band uniform and get to march at football games. I wonder how long that will last? Their band is about 70 students.

The Return from Mexico

2009-08-31T17:21:00.008-06:00

Allen returned from the mission field August 14 at 11:07pm. He looked good and had a way good accent. Allen is now officially taller than Ron 6'6' vs, 6'5'. We enjoyed him 8 days and he was off to BYU.

Ghosts of Christmas Past

2009-08-29T11:57:00.004-06:00

If you read Karen's blog, she is catching up on her posts and inspired me to do the same. She talks about our adventure in the snow at Zion's park. Here is the cowboy riding off into the sunset at the end of our trip. I love this picture!

Memory Lane

2009-08-28T22:50:00.005-06:00

So while we were in Animas we visited Guy and Audrey Miller in Portal. They are doing amazingly well. We were going to name Audrey after Guy if she was a boy but she was a girl so we named her after Audrey Miller. We sure had lots of fun reliving roping memories and seeing the old stomping grounds.

Father's Day 2009

2009-08-28T22:42:00.006-06:00

Audrey, Karen and I ended up being in Animas for father's day this year. Karen is having a diet coke with Dad and then she shared some with him. I just want to say once that it is unsettling seeing your name on a headstone when you are in your 50's.
We sang earlier that morning at my Dad's grave in Cruces but we couldn't choke it out for Randy...a little too emotional.

Phobias

2009-08-28T22:27:00.003-06:00

My greatest fear is height combined with motion. It goes without saying I will NOT be crossing the Hoover Dam bypass EVER! It is so unbelievably scary looking. Enough said.

Called to Serve

2009-08-28T22:23:00.005-06:00

I spent a week in July with Mom. Here she is as a missionary in the new Church History building lobby where she works and another picture of us posing with the brethern.

Days of 47

2009-08-28T22:18:00.003-06:00

Washington County had an All-High School band march in SLC in the 24th of July parade. Audrey is front and center playing a melophone. It was a very impressive parade!

Summer Fun!

2009-08-28T22:14:00.006-06:00

This picture is for my sister Julie who gets to stay home all day and play with the Grandkids. Since Vera and I both HAVE TO work full-time we thought a little payback was necessary. Everyday we eat our hearts out that you are a stay at home Mom so just for you...eat your heart out! I'd like you to think this was a movie star but we're really kissing cousins :0

Sharing the LimeLight :)

2009-03-28T17:04:00.003-06:00

The highlight of my Friday night was running to Cedar to see Cindy and Sarah in the play, "Once Upon a Mattress." In support of their siblings, Anna and Jared dressed as a Princess and a King and cheered them on from the audience. Ben always buys the girls flowers after their performances and this is what I saw...Sarah approached a little girl that was in the play with her and asked, "Did you get any flowers?" (This could have turned out badly but...) The little girl said No and Sarah said, "Oh! Have one of mine! Another example of how the little acts of kindness we bestow on others are passed on and we never know where our influence ends. Way to be SARAH!

February Kinder Bulletin Boards

2009-03-28T17:00:00.002-06:00

As I was looking through my pictures I saw our darling work we did in kinder in February and know everyone else will be as thrilled as I was to see kinder crafts!

President Holland Family Reunion

2009-03-28T16:31:00.006-06:00

So it turns out that Uncle Reed Morrell is related to Jeffrey R. Holland and today was a big family reunion and bar-b-que here in St. George. Jerry Andersen sculpted their ancestor Robert Gardner and he now stands in the middle of the round about in front of the St. George Tabernacle. It was a fun day for even shirttail relatives. Audrey and I pushed through the throng to shake Pres. Holland's hand and it was very soft. I don't think I've ever had the honor of shaking the hand of an Apostle. Another only since Utah moment for me.

Spring Break!

2009-03-18T15:35:00.003-06:00

The second Spring Break started at 2:45 on Friday, Audrey and I took off up north. We had a little car trouble but made it for most of the British Brass Concert in Provo where Karen was featured as percussionist extraordinaire again! If you have never heard a British Brass group and you love horn music it is an experience you must work in sometime in your lifetime. Vera and Clint got there right before intermission and got in free. It was fun to have them with us.

Saturday, Aunt Janis,Uncle Rich,Karen, Audrey and I ran in the Rex E. Lee annual Cancer Run. He was a president of BYU who died of cancer. We were pounding pavement around the BYU campus for the cure! I would like to tell you I won a medal like Rich (2nd place) but the truth is I did beat 35 people out of 1,500 and all the ones in wheelchairs too. I was feeling pretty good about my casual stroll around the campus and the free T-shirt I got.

Saturday evening, Ron,Ren, Audrey and I went through the Draper temple for their open house. It was the last day and we were part of the 20,000 crazies that waited until the end. For all you Merrell's... we were on the BLUE bus from the Stake Center to the temple: blue,blue,blue,blue... What a surprise to see Vera and Clint working as ushers when we got off the bus. That was fun. The Draper temple sits high on the mountainside and you can see all of the Utah Valley spread out before you to the North. It is something to see! Inside the temple the ceilings extend 2-3 stories high in the baptistry and celestial room. It is so open with lots and lots of windows and so very beautiful.

Sunday we got to eat dinner in Draper with Vera and Clint. She made us green enchilladas that were yummy. It is always fun to talk to Clint's Mom, Audrey, because we talk about widow things and it is amazing to me how much we survivors have in common. It's like you get to talk to someone who really, really does understand what you are thinking and feeling because they have been there. She was widowed at 54 also. We had a special treat getting to see baby Sydney. She is 8 months old and can crawl all over the place. Erica sure is a good mommy and looks so beautiful. Motherhood is good for her I think!

Monday was the BIG day and the reason the Merrell's gathered on the BYU campus. Brian flew in from L.A. and we heard Karen present her Doctorate Thesis to her Doctorate Committee. She did a one hour power point presentation preceeded by her world class cinnamon rolls. Then, we were all kicked out and her professors grilled her for an hour. At the end they clapped and congratulated her on passing. She is now Dr. Karen Merrell, PhD. BioChemistry. She is more smarter than the rest of us!

We ate out a lot in honor of Ron's birthday and Karen's graduation. On the way home from Provo, Audrey and I picked up Jared and Anna for another sleepover at Grammies. The fun never stops :).

I will be adding pictures to this post as they become available.

2009-02-15T16:23:00.002-07:00

OK. Here's another "Only in Utah" moments for me.
I was priveledge to go with a co-worker to her Stake R.S. Women's Conference on Feb. 5. Ardeth Kapp was the featured speaker. Her talk was entitled, "Peace Within You." She asked how we manage day-to-day and then gave us 3 ways: 1) Goal-Setting 2) Live with anticipation and 3)Drive ourselves. She suggested that we type or write out some scriptures and insert our name into them and mail them to ourselves. She said it sounds silly but she does it all the time and gets so excited when she gets a letter addressed to her and then gets to read it like it is a personal message from Heavenly Father (because that's where the scriptures originated). For a full transcript of my notes please send a self-addressed stamped envelope to .....

Love Songs

2009-02-15T16:12:00.002-07:00

I got two free tickets to go hear Michael Ballam, the church opera singer sing here in St. George. His first piano teacher and Jr. High choir teacher (same guy) lives here in St. George. Michael sang with the Southern Utah Symphony Friday Night. It was lots of fun. I have never heard him in person and it was such a treat. I consider this one of those "It could only happen in Utah" moments.

Baby Big Ears...Nothing New

2009-02-15T16:00:00.003-07:00

I almost forgot I even had a blog. Other relatives have been telling me how much they laughed reading my kids blogs and then is when I remembered we all have blogs. After four months of hitting the books and staying focused on school activities I am anxious to catch you up on my adventures.
Let's start with Brian and Caroline's future son. When I read that he has big ears I had to go find my photo of our long line of big eared people. In this picture you see L-R, my Dad,William Norman Capener, my Great Grandpa, Arthur Rigby Capener (the original big ears), my Grandpa, Arthur Dean Capener and on the front row, L-R, Vera age 3 and me, Barbara, baby big ears! Sorry Caroline, it just runs in the family. so how big are the Beus ears?

Happy Anniversary

2008-11-23T20:21:00.004-07:00

This is a picture of Papa Adair and Mary from 1992. All the years we lived in Animas they could never agree or remember if they had been married November 18 or 19th. It was actually the 19th and I just remember how sweet Adair was to Mary and how much he loved her. It was always such a treat to go out to eat in Lordsburg to celebrate a birthday or anniversary with them. Lordsburg was 25 miles away and Silver City was 70.
Happy 60th Anniversary Momma Mary :)

China Temple

2008-11-23T19:30:00.005-07:00

November 13, 1976
Randy took me on a date to eat at the China Temple in Las Cruces, NM and then we were going to a dance at NMSU. After we finished eating we walked out to the car. Before he opened the car door for me, Randy turned me around and proposed. I was so shocked I couldn't say anthing. He let me in the car and we drove to the dance and after we had been at the dance awhile I told him I would marry him. He was probably dying thinking he had made a big mistake in popping the question. We had only been dating six weeks and I already knew I wanted to marry him but....I wasn't expecting him to propose so soon. I can also remember him calling his Dad to tell him the next day while I was at his trailer and I don't think Papa Adair was too excited about Randy and I getting engaged after only six weeks of dating. We had actually know of each other for six months though. LOOK HOW YOUNG AND SKINNY WE USED TO BE! I remember thinking "Here is tall, dark and handsome, in the flesh!"

Merry Christmas!

2008-11-17T20:37:00.001-07:00

For the faithful few that ever look at my blog, here is a preview of the picture our family took recently and will place on our Christmas card this year.

From the Mission Field

2008-11-17T20:31:00.000-07:00

Elder Merrell says (Nov. 17, 2008):
Our district here is doing really well. In the Branch Chiapa de Corzo they had 11 people in Sacrament meeting, and they have planned 6 baptisms for the end of this month. I hope that the investigators accept the challenge to be baptized.

In our Area we have two people that have accepted baptismal dates for the 29th of February, and 5 others that are progressing. The other Ward that is in our district has 9 prospective investigators for baptism in December.

I am excited for the opportunity to train trice. It will be a learning experience for me. Also as District Leader I will have added responsibility and Leadership opportunities.

This past Sunday was the Rededication of the Mexico City Temple. It was super. They had a cultural program that was really neat that tied in the history of the Book of Mormon plus the history and Heritage of the Book of Mormon, plus song and dance. Then Sunday President Monson and President Eyring dedicated the Temple.

Keeping Up with Brother Jones

2008-10-19T11:50:00.000-06:00

We did spend one whole day working on Ron & Verenda's new home. We painted the shutters black, the mailbox post black, mowed and edged the lawn (my personal project), changed doorknobs and closet knobs, laid carpet in the family room and hall and hung blinds and changed toilet seats. We got lots done and here is our final project...with lots more to do.
P.S. With four bedrooms to fill, here is a picture of Ron practicing for a family (quiet the crying baby...good job Ron!).

Jumping Geehosalotsafat

2008-10-19T11:36:00.000-06:00

We ended our weekend at a warehouse that is wall to wall trampolines. Karen and a friend are going to have their joint birthdays here in November. We stayed one hour which was 50 minutes too long for Grandma but Jared never did stop. At one point he got onto a platform and never broke his jumping stride up and down and yelled at us to get back on the trampolines. There is also a picture of Ron and Audrey on a dance fever machine if jumping isn't enough exercise for you!

Pumpkin Posing

2008-10-19T11:33:00.001-06:00

With so many pumpkins everywhere I had to get at least one picture of pumpkins. Here is Cindy outside Wal-Mart after she and Audrey had their nails done.

The Many Sides of Kate-0-Eight

2008-10-19T11:27:00.000-06:00

Anna told me that Kate loves to have her feet kissed. Guess what? She really does! She stops crying immediately when Anna starts kissing her feet. Also, she is posing in her "I Love Mummy" onesie Grandma had to buy for her. It said it glowed in the dark and it really did during Karen's concert.

Birthday Buds

2008-10-19T11:21:00.000-06:00

Our next stop was at Karen's Brass Concert in Provo. This was the funnest concert of all time. The director wrote music from scenes of his favorite music scores all for brass instruments and then the audience watched the clips while the band played the movie scores. It was great! Music selections came from: Dumbo, Roadrunner cartoon, Bugs Bunny, Silverado and Apollo XIII.

Great Grandma Merrell

2008-10-19T11:11:00.000-06:00

We stopped and visited Mary at Bart's home in Pleasant Grove. Here she is holding Kate.

Cove Fort

2008-10-19T10:49:00.000-06:00

Audrey and I had a four-day weekend and so we headed North. Our first stop was Cedar to pick up Cindy and Sarah and then I wanted to tour Cove Fort so here we are...
Cove Fort was established between two settlements because the telegraph would only travel 30 miles and they needed a way-station in between to relay messages. It was built and maintained by Gordon B. Hinkley's Grandfather and his family for 20 years.

October Kinder Quilt

2008-10-11T18:00:00.000-06:00

Just showing off how talented my kinder kids are. We have mastered the shape, square, and our spiders are anatomically correct with 8 eyes each.

Dixie State College Homecoming Parade

2008-10-11T17:54:00.000-06:00

Here's our Desert Hills Middle School featuring Audrey on her marching French Horn going down Tabernacle St. early this morning in 52 degree weather.

Kate-O-Eight

2008-10-06T20:15:00.000-06:00

Audrey and I went up to Cedar to watch General Conference with the fam and help hold kids and give Connie and Ben a break. I don't know if we were more work or more help. Here is a cute picture I took of Audrey and Kate (2 months old). I thought she was smiling but she was sticking out her tongue...licking her chops looking for lunch.

Santa Clara Swiss Days

2008-09-27T15:05:00.000-06:00

I'll share the history of the area with all you bloggers as I learn it. Brigham Young sent a whole bunch of Swiss immigrants down to Santa Clara (NW of St. George), a rich farming valley, to settle when they arrived in Salt Lake. They were the first ones in the area. Every year their descendants put on a festival called Swiss Days. It was a typical carnival with lots of booths with food and all types of other products. Inside the community building the descendants of the original Swiss immigrants had genealogy and quilts and pictures displayed. That was interesting. Audrey and I also heard some little girls yodeling. That was fun. We ate some Swiss bread and went home. It was not what I expected. I expected Swiss chocolate everywhere in 97 degree weather or at least a few Swiss cows. I guess they were dirt farmers and not dairy farmers.

Return With Honor

2008-09-26T21:38:00.000-06:00

When Elder Karl Kohler returned from his mission in Monterrey, Mexico it was a happy day but noone was happier than Scott Kohler who had waited over a week to open his mission call until Karl could be there. What I remember most about that day in June was Karl didn't have a lot to say. I think he was still thinking in Spanish and trying to translate into English.

Love Ya' miss Ya' already

2008-09-26T21:34:00.000-06:00

This is what Audrey misses most about Dallas...trying to drive Uncle John and Aunt Julie crazy! This technique usually worked.

Pioneer Days 2008

2008-09-26T21:17:00.000-06:00

Our Stake really goes all out for the July 24th Celebration. Here are a few of the pictures I took of the grandkids that day. They were riding a horse made out of horseshoes and then making rings out of horseshoe nails. It was lots of fun!

Lucky 7

2008-09-26T18:04:00.000-06:00

I need to catch up with my blog news and so here is a picture I took the day Kate and Connie were ready to come home from the hospital. I was there for the birth of Kate and it was pretty exciting when the midwife announced the baby was born at 08:08 am on 08-08-08. I am still telling people about it and people I told remember me as the Grandma of the 0808080808 baby.

Outstanding Freshman

2008-09-26T17:49:00.000-06:00

This is Audrey's school picture from this year. This image could be out of date quickly. She has decided she likes her hair down and is waiting for the OD to call and say her new contacts are in. With her (merrell genetic deficient) astygmatism she is going into gas permeable hard contacts. She is pretty excited about it. She is also auditioning for the Zion Youth Symphony this Monday. They need french horn players and put out the word so she's practicing like crazy to see if she can make it. She is also playing trumpet in the jazz band and has a marching french horn that they play on days when they practice marching. Her school is called Desert Hills Middle School and has just 8th and 9th graders. She is having a ball so far with seminary ten steps away in its own building. She has it later in the afternoon. Right now she is reading the Brandon Mull "Fablehaven" series and LOVES IT!

From Brunettes to Blondes

2008-09-26T17:44:00.000-06:00

Here is us working on making a tree with Spring leaves and blossoms today. They turned out really cute and I was pleasantly stunned at how well 5 year olds did with tissue paper and glue. I have moved from the land of brunettes to the land of blondes. Are my students so cute you could cry? Fourth graders were cute too but these faces just make you glad to get up every day :)

2008-09-26T17:02:00.000-06:00

School pictures time! Here's what I look like teaching Kindergarten, September 2008, here in (still hot) St. George, Utah. I like it! Same ole eyebrow raised when the flash goes off, same ole thin hair, same ole big smile. I can't do much about my age or looks but I decided I can do something about my weight and our school sponsors their own "Biggest Loser" competition so I decided to join.

Hopefully you'll be seeing lots less of me.

Genesis 2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were finished (in 7 days)

2008-05-16T08:35:00.000-06:00

Everyone probably already knows the big news in the lives of Barbara and Audrey because in my excitement I have told everyone who isn't comatose. We will be moving to St. George, Utah around the 4th of July!
I had decided to stay in Clint because there are library positions opening and Audrey was good with that. In my earnest prayers I mentioned that I didn't know what else to do if the Lord wanted me somewhere else and to inspire me where to send more applications etc... The next morning I got a call from Washington County School District. They wanted to know if I was still interested in coming there. I explained how I couldn't even consider it because cost of living was so high and teacher pay in Utah was so low. They said, "Let's talk about it." By the end of the conversation we figured out that I would be making a little more than I currently am here in Clint and I told the secretary to go ahead and send my application out to principals. I had no intention of moving to Utah, thinking nothing would come of the conversation. Little did I know.... Within five minutes one pricipal called and another by the end of the day. They conducted phone interviews the next day and asked me to come to Utah for personal interviews. They mentioned they couldn't hold a position for me because they needed to wrap up their school year and first come first serve. I wanted to say, "I know that trick. Whatever!" but instead I said, "I can be there Monday for interviews." I made last minute airline reservations thinking, "At this price this better pay off." Connie and the four grandkids picked me up in Las Vegas and before the day was over I had interviewed with 9 principals and visited two schools.
As we left town headed back to Las Vegas we passed the community of Bloomington Hills. We swung in there to look at the school. It was about 5pm and we saw two teachers just leaving. They gave us a tour of the school and we all laughed getting to know each other. All of a sudden the kinder teacher turns to me and says, "Oh! You're the lady from Texas we're going to hire for kindergarten!" I was glad they had been talking about me but had not been offered any job yet." When we walked out of the school I noticed, for the first time, two huge building accross the way. I asked if the one on the right were a hospital. The music teacher informed me that it was the brand new high school that would open 2008-2009 and the building next to it was the middle school for 8th and 9th graders. Well, Audrey is going to be in 9th grade. "Do you mean to tell me that the kids from over there could literally walk over here?" She explained that the landscaping wasn't done yet and they still needed to put in a street light so it was safe for the kids to walk back and forth but yes, indeed, they could walk here. This is where I wanted to be! I knew if I were here at Bloomington Hills Elementary I wouldn't have to worry about Audrey.
The very next day Central Office called and offered me the job at Bloomington Hills Elementary. It had been exactly one week since I had mentioned to the Lord that if he wanted me somewhere else he would have to help me out a little. I will be 45 minutes from Ben and Connie and 5 grandkids and 3 hours from Ron & Ren, Karen and Calvin at BYU, Mama Mary and Bart and Janis in Pleasant Grove and lots of cousins and other relatives. I love it when a plan comes together but I love it more when the Lord blesses me through the Holy Ghost and I am worthy to understand the promptings and obey. Another 7 day miracle has occurred in modern times.
Click on this link to see my sweet principal:
http://205.126.24.6/Team%20Pages/Office%20Staff.html

Every Teacher Thanks You!

2008-04-12T18:17:00.001-06:00

What I love most about teaching is kids. It just wouldn't be the same place if they didn't show up and it sure wouldn't be as entertaining as it is if there weren't a wide variety of them with a wide range of personalities and learning needs. We find a reason to LOL everyday. Friday I passed out bubble gum that dyes your tongue blue and we pretended that we were practicing for the Texas TAKS tests because someone heard somewhere that if your mouth is moving your brain is in gear. We counted it as an educational experience.

2008-04-12T17:48:00.000-06:00

AUDREY has taken off for Dallas! We decided as a family (the two of us) that we could save a lot of time and money if she finished out the school year in a public school instead of home school. She took off with my sister Julia Blankenship and her favorite cousin Cristin. We gotta hand it to you Audrey and remember...someday you will be able to look back and laugh at all the things that now are so different from your past life: 1) going from too much alone time to none 2) mostly silence to late night serenades from an electric guitar AND enjoy all those things you may not see much of when you return: 1) regular meals 2) someone to play with 24/7 and 3) no birds, cats, dogs or lambs to feed. I dedicate the Trace Atkinjs song "You're Gonna Miss This" to you.
Love ya, Mom

Elder Allen Merrell in Mexico

2007-11-16T20:56:00.000-07:00

April 7, 2008 From the mission field:
"God may not always come when you call, but he always comes on time."
New email address: eldermerrell@gmail.com

If you would like to write to Allen in the mission field his address is:

Elder Allen D. Merrell
Mexico Tuxtla Gutierrez Mission
Calle Jazmines #210
Fracc. Los Laureles
Tuxtla Gutierrez, Chiapas 29020
MEXICO