August 2014 - The one month of the year we actually travel.

August 2014- We left REXBURG!
We had a fun time in August we went to the Oregon Coast with my family for the Willmore Family Reunion. It was a great time. It was a long drive, I slept the majority of the time in the car. I get car sick so the easiest way to avoid it is to sleep and it makes the car ride go by real quick. Besides having a " bladder that mattered"- as my mom would say... we made plenty of pit stops along the way. A few highlights were the fish hatchery, proposal rock, deep sea fishing for the boys- ask Mitch how that went... he got a little bit sea sick, but he caught a fishy!

 The ocean was freezing cold. So no we did not swim. We relaxed on the beach, spent time with family eating yummy meals and laughing. We made some great memories. The Willmore family is full of some really sweet and special people. I am so grateful to be apart of such a fabulous clan. My Grandma Reeser has raised some great boys and a sweet girl and now her posterity has grown. I am so thankful for my Grandma- she is a wonderful example of love, dedication, and putting family first always.

7 week break for Mitch = landscaping and a beard all day every day.

We also went to Bear Lake with the Merrill Family- it was freezing and rainy the whole time we were there so we didn't get in the water besides using the paddle boards and kayaks. There was a hot tub and pool close to where we were staying so we spent the majority of our time there. We went to The Pickleville Playhouse. It is a lot like the playmill in West Yellowstone - so naturally we loved it, but it was so much more hilarious. We saw the production Who Shot Juanito Bandito. It was so entertaining! Of course we got some raspberry milkshakes- twice. They were divine. We had a fun time in Garden City with everyone that came. We did miss Brittany and Quinn though!

Before August ended we spent the last weekend up at the Family Cabin in Island Park- Just Mitch and I. It was relaxing, yes we watched the BYU football game and it was a lot of fun just to spend time together and do absolutely nothing. Island Park is beautiful and you could feel that Fall is coming!

August marked me @ 7 months pregnant. Baby is healthy and cute as ever and making my belly grow! My family members and friends held a great baby shower for me. We got SPOILED. Our little girl sure is going to be wearing some cute clothes, but more importantly she is already loved by so many people and I cannot wait for her to meet them all. I have been blessed through this pregnancy and can't wait for her to join our little family.

It is crazy to think last August we were in New York City. We have had a great summer 2014.

Merril life in May, June, July 2014

So April through July were really great! Better late then never! Mitch and I finished up the Spring semester with some pretty good grades. Which is surprising because the Spring Semester is theee hardest to stay motivated because summer weather sets in. Even though I was working all day every day it was hard to come home to homework when the weather was so inviting and we wanted to go outside and play. Needless to say we got our homework done assignments turned in and tests taken, but definitely didn't get our nice tan skin like summers in the past. I guess that is part of growing up. The best part of the end of the Spring semester was the moment I got on I-learn 2 or 3 days after the semester ended and my "student" tab had changed to "former student" That is the moment when I screamed so happily "halleluiah!!!" I was done with school. It was my last semester as a BYU-Idaho nursing student. BYU-Idaho provided me with a great education. So to those who find themselves complaining about BYU-Idaho try to find the positive and look for ways that the school blesses your lives, because it did mine.

I earned my BSN degree in nursing and I am so grateful for all of those who supported me through it. It is possible to go to school, work full time, be a relief society president and be a happy(most of the time pregnant) person. I don't know maybe ask Mitch how I did, he may give you a more honest response.  Mitch is now a junior! He is getting closer and closer! Time is going by quickly. So to be honest my pregnancy has gone by so quickly. I think from January to July it didn't really hit me that I was actually expecting a sweet little baby girl because I was so distracted with good things to keep me busy. 

 In May we went to Arizona to Quinn and Brittany's wedding. It was SO beautiful and pretty hot. Brittany and Quinn were so happy and it was such a fun weekend with the Merrill family. They were married in the newly dedicated Gilbert Temple. All temples are very beautiful, but this one had a majestic staircase inside and was so beautiful.  Brittany's family was so sweet and it was fun to meet them. We got to eat some Paletas Betty Mexican Popsicle. Talk about best thing on the planet. I got 2 and didn't regret it one single bit.

June was filled with another beautiful wedding of Karli and Brady Walker. Karli has been my life long best friend. She married Brady Walker in the Salt Lake temple. They were a stunning couple and seemed so happy. It was so special to be at these two weddings to support some special people who we love so much.

Mitch and Mom- we went to the Red Iguana,  delicious Mexican food.

Luckily Mitch was actually fun to be around on this 4th of July- you can read my post from last July.. But if not I'll remind you that Mitch had some pretty serious bites and was completely miserable. Looking back now, we laugh at how horrible it was. Some evidence in the picture below...
One thing I have learned about Mitch, he doesn't have the typical reaction. He has really,really, really bad reaction and allergies and his body likes to manifest them very well. Whether its a bug bite, misquote bite, cat or dog hair, anything really his body gives a pretty good response. Also benadryl knocks him out almost immediately. It's like his kryptonite or something ;)

Then my belly started to really pop at the end of July beginning of August. Like people were actually staring as my stomach. Being at work surrounded by little kiddos is probably my favorite place to receive staring eyes. Kids that are 5 years old and up like to look at it and the parents are even better at checking out my belly.  I smile and in my head say, "Yes, I am pregnant, but still completely capable of giving your child a shot." All the wonderful nurses I work with have been so great to hold down the legs for our kinder-vaccines, since those 4,5 and 6 year olds tend to freak out once they realize that getting shots for school isn't really what they expected. The Doctor's I work with have been so great as well. I work with the best Pediatricians in Rexburg. 

This is completely random , but we went to two country concerts this year so far.. Lady Antebellum and Scotty McCreery. Great times. Loved them, but loved my date more. 

July we made it to West Yellowstone and we drove through the park. We saw a whole herd of buffalo! Even little baby ones. Mitch and I had to go to Bear World a week later to actually see Bears and some more wildlife. Bear World was pretty fun and we watched the baby cubs for about an hour.

May-June-July was pretty great!