A New Life

When you're a member of The Church, your ward is a great part of your life. Today, the three wards - Newbury Park 1, 2, and 3 - that attend the Stake Center a block from my house, were completely dissolved and everybody was released from all callings.

There was a special Sacrament Meeting held for the 3 wards together, which was as big as a Stake Conference, where this was all presented. Talk about change! New boundaries have been drawn. This was long overdue since there was a huge discrepancy in the wards, where one ward was so anemic they were unable to fill callings, one person would hold multiple positions, and there was even only one counselor in the bishopric. Whereas another ward was bursting at the seams, the Primary was twice the size, many people had no callings, or 'made up' ones that people joke about like Hymn Book straightener. I'm making that part up. Maybe.

We are now in the newly formed Los Robles Ward and John is serving in the Bishopric, under Bishop Steve Lang. During his testimony, Bishop Lang said he was grateful to have John serve with him and that he "has known is wife since she was born." I thought that was pretty funny. I've seen Steve in the halls several times since he has moved to Newbury Park over the last year or so and it will be fun to be reacquainted with him and his wife Marci. They are fun people. And I do suppose he has known me since I was born as his family is from my home ward. Our wedding reception was held at his parents' home.

This will be A New Life for us. John was ordained a High Priest today. I teased him that he now has to fall asleep all the time and is too old to have any fun anymore.

We have to act like grown-ups, go to High Priest parties, and hang out with the old people.

No more sleeping in.

No more family time on Sundays. That will be the hardest since Sunday afternoon was the only time we had to hang out and relax as a family!

No more help getting the kids ready for church.

No more help with the kids during Sacrament meeting.

No more 'tag team' staying home with sick children.

Our new ward will meet at 9:00 a.m. from now on, not changing every year. He will have to be at church at 6:30 a.m. every week from now on. We are not morning people. Definitely a New Life. The fun part is they have to now fill an entire ward with callings. They have their work cut out for them!

I'm not sure how it will all work out, but I'm sure the Lord will provide a way.

His first meeting is supposed to be Tuesday night.

Oh sorry, he's in Texas.

Things are set up for November.

Oh sorry, he's in New York for those two weeks.

Visits the first Wednesday of each month.

Oh sorry, Track Club board meetings are then.

I thought he was busy before and didn't think it possible to squeeze another hour out of him. The Lord will definitely have to provide.

Now, how about providing a bathroom? Hmmm . . . . I'll need a miracle for that one. (My bathroom is still half-gutted).

On a serious note, I know these changes are inspired. There are a few things that have occurred of late that have confirmed to us that this is the way it's supposed to be. John will be excellent in his new calling and we will grow and be blessed exponentially as a family. It will be different. It will be challenging. It will be fun getting to know new ward members. It will be sad missing our good friends from our old ward. It will be worth it. It will be a new life.

I Can See Clearly Now

Last week at the pediatrician, Brooke had trouble with the eye exam. She was devastated when the doctor gave the news, it was so sad!

While she has been home sick this week, I took her to see an ophthalmologist to see what's going on. Now that we know there's an issue, she says she's been having trouble seeing the board if her teacher writes in orange marker, and she has headaches often. This may explain it! She is just a bit near-sighted and will need glasses during class time or when she needs to see far away, but not during sports.

We shopped and shopped for glasses and I was a bit surprised at her preference - she likes a bold and trendy look - and I think she's adorable.

She settled for a cute purply black Ralph Lauren number which she says is personalized for her with "Lauren" on the case. Cute!

When we got in the car to go home, she looked at the building and said, "Look at all the lines in the bricks! Wow! Look at how clear everything is!" A definite improvement already.

Yeah for Brooke ready to see the world clearly now!

Conversion

The Baptism of Brooke Lauren Merrill and Megan Rose Campbell

Brooke's friend Megan turned 8 last May and has been taking the missionary lessons as she comes from a part-member family. She wanted to be baptized, and wanted to do it along with Brooke, so the two of them were able to be together and it was beautiful! Megan is an only child with a small extended family so it was good that she was able to be with us (because we know how to pack the house!).

Last week I took pictures of Brooke in a beautiful white "baptism" dress.

Megan came over for pictures, too. I wanted to have a picture of them for the program. We took a zillion pictures and had a lot of fun doing so, and chose this picture for the program. It turned out beautifully printed on the inside:

It's time for the Baptism. There were so many people that came, so many people that love Brooke that we had to all move into the chapel to accommodate the crowd. I love having a big family and wonderful friends.

A handsome, worthy husband dressed in white and worthy to exercise his Priesthood to baptize and confirm your daughter . . . mmmmm doesn't get much better than that. No sir-ee!

When I was helping Brooke get dressed after the baptism, I asked her how she felt and she exclaimed, "Happy!" She was radiantly happy, even though she was coming down with a fever and sore throat.

I am very proud of my little Brookie-Boo and the decision she made to be baptized a member of the Church. She understands what it means and has been looking forward to this day for a long time. She is also excited to partake of the Sacrament for real tomorrow morning and to be introduced as the newest member of the ward. She's worried that she won't be well enough to attend!

Lots of food: salads, home made breads, orange chicken, sweet and sour meatballs, zucchini soup. Delish!

The desserts and the cucumber lime spritzer punch were major hits!

This cracks me up. Christian changed his clothes four different times, and had to match his cousin Spencer. Too cool boys! I think it cracks me up more though to find this on my camera. I didn't take it, nor did I know they were acting this way. Funny!

Presents!

Grandma Merrill made a cute baptism book with scriptures, stories, and pictures to go along with "I Am a Child of God" with family pictures and testimonies from every one in our family from both sides. Definitely a treasure! She also got a little hymnal to match the quad scriptures that we gave her.

Auntie Marylyn made her a beautiful journal and Brooke has started writing in it already. She has many beautiful memories to record.

When I Grow Up I Want to Be a BaLLeRiNa

When I Grow Up I Want to Be a BaLLeRiNa so I can wear pretty pink dance clothes every day!

We have tried to do a dance class again, and are having had MUCH better success this time around. If you recall from last spring, Ashlyn danced to the beat of her own drum. Now she is able to follow along for a longer period of time, and is thrilled that her cousin Chelsea is in her class. The only problem is that Chelsea's BFF is also in the class, which causes a 'spot' problem again as often Addy and Ashlyn struggle over wanting to both be by Chelsea.

Ashlyn practices getting into 3rd position with Miss Melissa

It's time to plie at the bar . . .

. . . or maybe it's time to just hang around.

Well Ashlyn, you did well for 90% of the class. We are proud of you.

A [Pretend] Sleepover Party

Every other year, my kids get to have a birthday party of their choosing. Turning eight, this is Brooke's year and she wanted a "pretend" slumber party where the kids get to stay out later than they normally would, do slumber party-ish type activities, but go home and sleep soundly in their own beds. It's a win-win. The kids have fun, and the parents do not have to contend with overly tired and cranky kids recovering for the next two days.

The invitation: A sleeping bag that we stitched up the sides.

The girls arrived and decorated their little canvas tote bags.

They went home with a tote filled with a nail file, nail polish, wash cloth and a head band.

Pizza Pizza!

Christian is the lone boy in the midst of 13 girls. He'll thank us one day.

Spa treatments for the birthday guests:

Nails

Facials and Cucumber eyes

Freeze Dance - which proved to be difficult for most of the girls because they were watching themselves on TV - major distraction - but fun. It's hard to concentrate on freezing when the music stops when you are having so much fun watching yourself dance on a big screen! Lots of squeals, lots of grooving.

Instead of a cake, Brooke wanted to do ice cream sundaes, so we pre-scooped the ice cream into a 'cake' so she could blow out the candles, and the sundae line could go more quickly.

Easy, fun, and enjoyed by all. Definitely a one-size-fits-all dessert.

Brooke has a a thing for whipped cream . . .

Time to take the sundaes out front for movie time: Hannah Montana

We've been having a bit of a heat wave and it has worked to our benefit - it was a nice, warm night and perfectly pleasant to be outside.

The kids loved the movie and being in the outdoor setting made it even more fun.

I think I need to apologize to my neighbors, though. It was a bit loud and I'm sure they were wondering what was going on. Again.

An impromptu dance after the movie . . .

Everyone was poppin, lockin, polka dottin'

Cousin Domonique came after she got off work - the kids were so excited!

Present Time

Present Time

Open the presents to see what's inside!

Happy Birthday Brookie Boo!

It was a fun party - a total success!!

Happy Birthday Brooke!

Today is your birthday

Shout Hooray!!

September 21, 2001

8 lb 5 oz

Lots of beautiful dark hair

Who knew that she would donate twice to Locks of Love before she was even six and a half

Beautiful bright blue eyes

and rosy cheeks

Full of smiles and life

Now a darling Eight-year-old girl getting ready to be baptized

1. Brooke loves to help with everything, particularly in the kitchen

2. She loves to plan and organize

3. She has a lot of energy and still awakes early every morning

4. She loves babies and has a knack to make them laugh

5. Some of her favorite foods are salad and sushi

6. She plays piano, soccer, and runs track

7. She is eagerly anticipating her first Activity Days

8. She is a joy and is ready to get baptized!

Happy Birthday Brookie-Boo!

We love you!!

Serious Soccer Stuff Goin' On

Soccer has started.

The games have begun.

Three teams: U6 boys, U8 girls, U12 girls - two different parks now.

Practice has been underway for over a month now, but last week the season opened.

Good-bye Saturdays.

Hello Peppertree and Dos Vientos Parks.

We know you well.

This was today:

7am - John takes Madison to her field at Dos Vientos (with Ashlyn) for her 8:00 game. She needs to be there by 7:15 for warm-up and practice; he needs to help set up the field.

8:15 - I take Christian (with Brooke) to Peppertree for his 8:30 game. We are in charge of snacks. Because it's an early game, I'm able to get front row parking (miraculous). We arrive at the field, set up a chair and realize the cooler of snacks is still in the garage where it was set down in order to find his soccer ball. Ooops.

Run (I mean drive fast) back home, get the cooler, come back to Peppertree in record-breaking 11 minutes later only to find the parking lot and overflow is completely filled and need to find parking up the hill, across the street, in some business lot.

Christian plays his game, blocks 2 goals, feels really good about himself, team enjoys snacks (grapes at half time and chocolate-chip zucchini muffins with a juice box after the game).

9:45 - stop by the church on the way home to see if we can help with our cleaning assignment. Everyone is exiting the building as we get there, all the cleaning is done. Do we get credit for trying? We are hoping so. Something about Pathways and Good Intentions nag me though.

Drop Christian and Brooke off at home, see how Madison's game went. Go to the gym.

10:20 - start work out, but don't have much energy

11:00 - Discover piano lessons are at 11:30 today. Go home to get the girls.

11:30 - Piano lessons (back to Dos Vientos)

12:00 - Grocery shop at Trader Joe's

12:30 - Pick up girls from piano lessons (back to Dos Vientos)

Go home to unload groceries and get the rest of the family.

1:00 - Back to Peppertree for Brooke's 1:30 game

2:30 - Brooke plays an awesome game. She played all four quarters.

Great throw in, Brooke!

We are grateful for a wonderful big sister who can take the little one to the bathroom. Ashlyn is lucky she has someone like Madison she can 'look up' to!

3:00 - home from soccer games and hurry to take showers.

4:00 - Back to the church for baptisms. Brooke and I enjoy the baptisms of her good friends Tiffany, Heather and Chip. She was supposed to be in with this group, but her birthday is just 2 days past the day. She has to wait for next month.

Meanwhile, John and the other three take Cole for a walk, he fixes a broken sprinkler, patches some things on the roof, repairs other home-related things while the kids build forts and do art projects.

5:30 - Go to Party City and Target to look for birthday party stuff for Brooke's party that's in 6 days.

6:30 - Stop by Fresh and Easy on the way home to get some burgers to go with the buns that I've been meaning to do something with all week.

6:45 - throw the burgers on the grill, inhale dinner, get ready for a wedding reception.

7:00 - oops, forgot I haven't wrapped the present yet (but at least I have it!).

7:30 - arrive at wedding reception. Enjoy food, dancing and friends.

9:00 - home to put extremely tired and sugar-fried children to bed.

The fun never stops!

Brooke is on the left with the ball.

They tied, by the way.