July

Once I was done with summer school I finally had the chance to run down to Pocatello and watch these cuties play some t-ball. 

 It was seriously probably the cutest, most entertaining thing I have seen! 

*All I had was my phone so the pics are not the best*

In the outfield (Sofia with dad at short stop and Luke playing 3rd baseman)

Sof rounding the bases

Warming up :)

Luke at bat

 I seriously can't believe how far these cuties have come in their short little lives.  Love them so much!

That same week we were lucky enough to spend some time with this handsome Elder before he took off for the MTC and just 3 weeks later, Wisconsin.

 The night before he left we all gathered together in Shelley for his setting apart then it was off to one last supper together at Texas Roadhouse.  Once we'd sufficiently stuffed ourselves it was back home for some family time and fireworks (since he left just a few days before the 4th).  It turned out to be quite the comical/scary experience when Bruce lit the box of (illegal) fireworks without making sure they were standing on the right end.  There was lots of "duck and cover" for just a few moments but all ended well and with a good laugh :)

We can't believe that he is actually old enough to be out representing the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints as a Messenger of God but we are so proud of him and wish him all the best and can't wait to see him in 23 months or so :)

That weekend for the 4th of July we decided it was high time that we got our butts to SV for some much needed "hometown" time.  Now that my parents aren't there anymore our time spent there is few and far between.  Even Dillon says he misses it.  I knew he loved Wyoming :)  We left Friday morning and got there just in time for the good old 4th of July Parade on Main Street in Afton.  We managed to catch a little bit of candy and not die of the heat AND got to watch it go down both sides of Main Street :)  Then it was back to my sister Heather's house to get ready to eat some yummy grub with family before the Ranch Rodeo that night.  (All of which I didn't get a single picture of....sorry.)  The Ranch Rodeo didn't disappoint in the entertainment department and Roy even managed to get a good laugh poking at my fat feet. 

 The next day was spent hanging out with siblings, taking a little nap that Heather finally quite laughing long enough for us to take :)  then it was time for some good old Red Baron food before Dillon and I took off to go do a little camping.  Thanks again Heather and Roy for letting us crash at your place.

We REALLY wanted to go camping at least once this summer but I honestly wasn't sure how much I was up for so we opted for just a simple single night trip at Palisades on the way home from SV.  Since it was 4th of July weekend, finding a place to camp (not on top of multiple people) proved to be much more difficult than we expected.  But... after much MUCH driving around, some frustrated conversation, almost giving up and a few tears from this pregnant lady, we managed to find us a very nice little spot :)  AND we even got camp set up before dark, not much before dark, but before dark non-the-less.  

That evening we just spent time around the campfire hanging out together in nature and eating dutch oven cobbler which was, of course, delicious as usual.  Right before we headed to the tent for bed a moose and her calf ran past us just a handful of yards away.  Kinda made for a nerve racking night wondering if we were going to get trampled by a moose in our sleep, but I still managed to sleep quite well :)

The next morning we (I) took our time getting 'out of bed' and Dillon cooked me a super yummy dutch oven breakfast.  We didn't have any plans for the rest of the day and it was so nice to just hang out.  Dillon did decide to go on a 'little' hike up the mountain to see what he could see.  I stayed behind and watched over camp :)  

These were some of the pics he took from the top.....

The picture makes it hard to tell, but this is the 'little' mountain he hiked to the top of....

See those 'little' rocks up there?  He waved to me from the top of these at one point.  He was so tiny I could barely see him

 When him, and Skeeter, got back poor Skeeter was exhausted and immediately plopped himself down next to the tent in the shade and fell asleep.

He was pretty tired, and hot too.  But isn't he just so cute??? :)

 After a little relaxing we decided to drive across the road to the lake and try our hand at a little lazy man fishing (sitting in a chair in the shallow of the lake) and a little swimming.  It was still a little cold for much swimming from me, but it felt so nice to sit with my feet in the water waiting for a fish to take our line and run with it.  BUT, since no fish wanted our line we just spent the time relaxing and playing with Skeeter in the water. 

My quite large self at Palisades Lake at 34 weeks

Skeeter a little tired from all the hiking and playing in the water.  And since his frisbee kept landing the wrong way in the water, water would just kinda get scooped into his mouth as he swam back causing a lot of coughing and choking.  Poor guy :(

 Once we had had enough of the sun and water we headed back to camp for a quick late lunch of roasted hot dogs then it was time to pack up camp (quickly too since it was HOT HOT HOT and all the shade had left us) then a stop for some square ice cream before making it home.  

Our camping experience started out rough (thanks pregnant lady emotions) but turned out to be great and I was actually wishing we could have stayed another night.  I love camping. 

Later in July my mom was nice enough to let me come down to her house and spend a few days with her shopping for and sewing things for little Lucy.  If I'm being honest, mostly I just watched my mom sew stuff but I did dig in a little bit and sew up a few things for baby girl.  

THANK YOU MOM for all your help and for EVERYTHING you have gotten and made for this already spoiled little baby girl!

While I was at my mom's there was lots of excitement here at home as Lucy's cousin Lexi made her way into the world.

 Isn't she just so adorable and doesn't looking at these pictures just make you wanna squeeze those cheeks??  Dillon's sister Tosha was a trooper and went through a lot to get this little big 9 lbs baby girl into the world.  The timing worked out perfectly for me and I was able to stop in and see her for just a few minutes on my way back from my mom's.  It has definitely made me that much more anxious to get our baby girl here! :)

After meeting our newest niece, I ran to my Dr appointment then ran to meet up with the rest of Dillon's family at his sister Taya's to celebrate the birthday of this little cutie

I can't believe he is already ONE!  Happy Birthday Cael man, we love you.

That weekend Dillon decided he wanted to meet little Lexi so we headed back South, stopped in Pocatello to do a little swimming with the Bastow's at Ross Park, and I didn't take a single picture :( then headed to American Falls for Dillon to meet his new niece.  She is seriously so precious and seeing him interact and love on her again made me that much more anxious and excited to see him with Lucy girl soon :)

Thanks to the reality check that baby girl is coming SOON, the next week we spent a LOT of time FINALLY getting everything ready for her to make her big debut.  Dillon thought I was a little crazy but being the fantastic hubby he is, he put up with my craziness and helped me out with anything and everything I asked.  We originally weren't going to put too much effort into making a nursery for her since there is a chance (we hope) that we will be buying and getting into a house of our own sometime this fall.  But the OCD in me couldn't handle it.  I packed up a LOT of the stuff we don't use often and did a LOT of reorganizing but now I am happy to say Lucy girl has a room of her own :)

A small portion of the mess I made

I just love him!

 It's nothing super amazing or fancy since there is the chance we are moving sometime soon(ish), but I'm just glad she has something.  And I have moved a few things around since I took these pics, but you get the idea :)

This was before her crib bumper and skirt came, so it does look cuter now :)

Ignore Dillon's gun/bow collection in the corner, there was only so much I could pack up and put away or hide.

Now she just needs to come :)

On July 25th Dillon and I celebrated SIX years of wedded bliss. 

I am so grateful that Dillon chose me, of all people, to marry!  I love this man so much and am so glad that he has been the man by my side, getting me through the last 6 years of my life and that I get to have him by my side for the rest of eternity.  

I love you Dillon Rhet Merrill!  

To celebrate Dillon took the day off and we kept things simple and spent the day fishing at the river just down the road from our house.

I just love these 2 men in my life :)

 And it doesn't look like it but it was freezing!  We managed to choose the coolest day of the summer to spend entirely outdoors.  Because of that little fact we decided to forgo the swimming portion of the day and instead went home and took a little nap before getting ready for a night out on the town in good ol' St Anthony :)  We went to dinner at our favorite Mexican Restaurant here in St A then it was off to the rodeo.  It was a great day spent with the man that I love :)

Since then we have just spent our time running to Dr appointments, getting last minute things in place for baby girl to come and just keeping ourselves busy in general (fishing, bowling, and even a little jet skiing).  

We can't wait to see how the rest of our August goes :)