Randy Merrell Celebration

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

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

Hawaiian Christmas

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 !!!

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'

    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!

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 Assignment Code Assignment Title / Name 02010000010 Art (K-5) 02010000015 Art 6 02020000001 Dance (K-6) 02030000050 Drama (K-6) 02040000015 Music (K-6) 06010000060 Elementary Reading 06020000010 Language Arts 6 07010000007 Mathematics - Grade 6 08050000005 Science (Grade 6) 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 22020000001 Kindergarten

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!

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

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

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.