May contain graphic tonsil images

Actually, all you can see are Z's pretty white teeth, mostly.
If you had a flashlight you would be able to easily see the humongous tonsils that had taken over her whole throat (and this is when she is well).
Dr.'s recommendation: Remove at once.
Z.'s reaction: Burst into tears and crying "I don't want to get my tonsils out!"

Mom took pity and offered a sympathy gift, with terms.
Z. won't whine, complain or otherwise bother others about the surgery in an annoying way.
Mom will buy whatever is necessary.
It worked!
She chose a 20 piece gift set of lipgloss and nail pretties(she never gets tired of lipgloss).
She cried every night for a week about her fears and insecurities, which was just fine, but we never had to hear any whining.
She was beyond stoked, the night before, to open her beautiful shiny girly stuffs.
Nervous, early morning face.
I bet she can't even remember this moment now.
She was curious about the "gown" she would be wearing in surgery(no, not princess style unfortunately) so I asked the nurse on the phone what she should expect.
Tiger PJs.

Super fast, super easy surgery.
Recovery was quick too.
She wanted to get out of there and home asap, for ice cream (she is a Merrill you know)!

Unfortunately the first few hours home were sleepy, nauseous, achy, not the best for ice cream.
Miraculously she never felt enough pain to cry.
She lifted up fingers to show her pain scale.
Usually 2 , once in a while 4.
Tough kid!

Day 2 she wanted a beauty shop morning.
Put that lip gloss and polish right to use.

Lots of drinks, movies,video games and a little forced nap time(mom says!) were all done on the couch.

No one wants to be left out of the tonsil party so the brothers joined in on the couch with games and movies too.
Days 3 and on were mostly spent following mom around the house and playing with T. and C.C.
Lucky kids to have big sister around.
No more of that couch nonsense.
Day 7 "I don't feel like I even had my tonsils out!"
Hope that means healed, not swollen till she cant swallow.
I wouldn't let her carve the pumpkins yet(we need to have all of the kids and dad there making grossed out faces for mom to tease) so she found one of the gourds, in her boredom.
Yes, the gourd got his tonsils out too and he is smiling also!

The very best part of it all was the Popsicles and the fun new sympathy gifts from the grandmas.
Thanks Grandmas!

Mom is so very ready to reclaim the living room and reinstate the food ban.
No more stickies on the floor and tables, Please!

Fall break

Our visit to the American West Heritage Center. Coolest farmstuffs around.

One of the more exciting tractors. Big sharp parts. Cool.
The boys in the barn. What is it about barn wood that is sooo cool?
Pirate ships made out of haybales.
Ship under attack.
Hay Jump. Blast but ichy!

The kids love the little goats and loved petting and chasing them.
OK, most of the kids, some didn't like what they had to scrape off of their shoes after being in the pen.


Daddy and N. sawing wood, not even knowing there was a cornbread reward after the work.
The whole fam. in line for the little train ride(no that bearded guy with the afro isn't someone we picked up on the road, its daddy, promise). N. was cooerced into riding along but found out a minute later that it had a jail caboose.
Z. looks like the corn is growing out of her hair.

Now you're talking!!



Pony Rides, sweet, unless you are a tween, and then the only thing half way cool is running to find the gourd launcher.



Whoever came up with this idea is a genious. Gourds aren't good for much else but launching anyways.

Maize Maze

...but first a picture of our Punkin with a pumpkin.
So cute!


Anyways, on to the highly anticipated, begged for, everyone talks about it, Corn Maze.
The kids at school, the radio ads and the neighborhood teens make it sound like a definite "no miss".
Here are the 2 fastest kids racing around corners and then back in the first few minutes.
OK.
Fun enough.
Nothing is bad at least.



C.C.is having a great time picking up corn kernels.
Mom is wondering, at this pace, how many hours will this take?




About 15 minutes and full pockets later.
Maybe she wouldn't look so stressed out if mom wouldn't have said the word "lost".
Do 2 yr. olds know the word lost?
Apparently.




For sure her way out of the maze would have been the faster route, problem is the sign saying "Do not cut through stalks".
She may know the word lost but she still cant read.

30 minutes later the whining started, from all 4 of them.
This isn't fuuuun.
I'm boooored.
My feeeet hurrrt.

Poor T. is just too big for carrying very far but also too young for so much walking(around and around and around and around).
"I hate this!"


N. is the brains around here and could have had us out of there in a jiffy if it weren't for the impatient siblings running like wild turkeys.
He even had a map.
A map without any symbols like "you are here" or "start"/"finish".
You know, silly things like that.
Turns out it is very important to know where you are and where you want to end up, even if you have a map.
We could look at that map all day in the dirt and we would still be lost in a corn maze.



We made it!! (even if it was out the entrance)
T. really was happy about getting out of there but somehow ended up cutting his finger.
Once the whining started it took candy to stop it.
Sad Truth.

Will we be going to another Corn Maze again anytime soon?
Negative.(unless Daddy stays with us instead of leaving to do homework. Someone would need to carry 4 kids)

And just to remind me of the blessing of spending a saturday with the kids, I need to forget the whining , and remember their cute faces.(thats why I am posting the pumpkin 2x)

Hobgoblins

October means Hobgoblin cookies!

Candy corn, chocolate chips and sprinkles.

The sprinkles are a substitution for the traditional (tasty, I think!) raisins.

S. says hers is a Temple.

Cute, but wrong idea.

Well, maybe we all have the wrong idea about how Halloween cookies should be decorated.

Maybe she is the only right one.

She sure seems to think so most of the time!

I'm surprised that this is the only finger licking picture I ended up with.

There is more finger licking than frosting going on.

Exactly why mom decorated 30 cookies and the kids each got to do 2 or so.

Funny enough we all finished up at the same time.

Harvest time

So, the garden this year ended up being mostly pumpkins and tomatoes.
Pumpkins look cooler sitting on the front porch though, so we harvested them and left all the tomatoes to fend for themselves.

The weather has been absolutely beautiful and somedays ,like this one, its actually hot.
In October.
In Northern Utah.
Strange.
The kiddos were happy to be able to finally pick which one was "theirs".
I think the dog wasn't so happy about having to sit for a picture, she would rather be looking for a bathroom spot in the garden. Gross.
"When can we carve them? " is the new question.

Never say never

Not sure how well you can see D.'s tongue here.

As usual while doing any project it is totally unconsciously sticking out from between his teeth.

Now, for anyone who has known me for very long and has heard my "never" list you will know that this exact look is something I call the Duh face.

Many times before I got to know the real world I have said how I disliked it, and the open mouth staring at the TV face ,which has the same name.

Crazy enough, it turns out people who are Awesome and creative pull this face.

Even crazier is how much I have grown to Love the look.

Who ever could have guessed way back then, when I was making the never list, that I would end up with a house full of beautiful inherited Duh faces.
Ether 12:27
And if men come unto me I will show unto them their ^aweakness. I ^bgive unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my ^cgrace is sufficient for all men that ^dhumble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make ^eweak things become strong unto them.

I do know puppies aren't a replacement for babies

..but I was hoping that she would at least stay a puppy for a little while. Are we going to have to have a van full of puppies too, before that feeling of wanting a baby something goes away?

This is Harley the day we brought her home. Perfect size for Izzys old crate. A week later she was too big already!

The replacement crate is GInormous! Several of our kids and a neighbor kid or 2 fit inside. We hope she isn't really that big in the end, but just in case. Notice the little crate next to it, that is the old one, half its size.

Being a dog and all she still prefers to nap on the floor with her blankie or a willing lap.

They grow up so fast!