The Mergenthaler Family

Still catching up. November went by quickly with Gavin playing flag football and Brooklyn and Sean playing basketball. One weekend, Brooklyn and I had a good time together while everybody else went to a BYU football game in Virginia. Sean was around too, but busy with basketball. So we super-cleaned and organized Brooklyn’s room, hung pictures, wandered a furniture store, shopped for funny T-shirts, invited friends over to make pizza and sit in the hot tub, and watched All Creatures Great and Small together.  I visited Makayla and Karitza in California the next weekend. Makayla and I visited Grandma and Grandpa  Allen’s graves in Manteca.  We also spent some time in Watsonville by the beach.  When I got home, the kids had decorated for Christmas. I cleaned up the leftover Christmas clutter before we had some of Rick’s international PhD students for Thanksgiving dinner. I don’t have a picture on my phone of our gathering, but I think Rick does. One Saturday afternoon,...

The pictures loaded backwards, and I don't have the ummmph to rearrange, so let's remember Halloween first and work our way back to the beginning of October. Makayla is in California with Karitza and family. She's doing really well there and I'm so proud of her. I have more fun pictures of her on my phone now than when she lived with us. Hope she doesn't mind me posting. :) Halloween trick-or-treating with the Neilson's. Respective ward parties. Our local ward Halloween party was pretty basic. Karitza and Makayla had an amazing party complete with an ofrenda and international dancers. One lonely weekend when Rick was out of town, we went to Wasson Farm for ice cream and farm life. This Halloween, Gavin brought Daniel's joker suit back from it's retirement. Here's Gavin in his school parade: Here's Daniel in his school parade: Sean missed the bus for a field trip and got a ride with a police officer. Brooklyn's dream of having a blow-up costum...

I won't have another birthday without remembering my 45th, the day after Dad's memorial. Believe it or not, the whole thing was really nice. I felt such peace and love, and it was the first time in a very long time that my entire family was there. Unlike Emily and Logan's wedding, the cousins and siblings got to spend fun and relaxing time together.  I was spoiled. The view from the back porch of the rental house was perfectly fall-like. We did not get colors like that in Arizona.  At the end of our shenanigans the night of my birthday, I thought, "Dad got everybody together for my birthday." He wasn't one for crowds (and, actually, neither am I), but it really was special to have everybody there. I love my family!