What Time Is It?

SUMMERTIME!!

Thursday was a cold and rainy day, but that didn't stop the fire department from hosing down the sixth and seventh graders at the middle school. It's a tradition for their school to have sprinklers, squirt guns and the fire truck on the second to last day of school. The kids didn't seem to mind. Clayton, his cousin Ryan and their friend Blue were totally wet from head to toe. The boys were so cold when I picked them up from school that they even wrapped up in baby blankets to get warm.

Later that evening was Christie's high school graduation at the dome.

She looked gorgeous on her special night.

(Christie is second on the right in the row standing)

After the ceremony we went to Rita & John's for dinner.

Christie with her boyfriend Paul

Rulon and his goofy friends

Cammie and her friends from Phoenix

The last day of school was only an hour and a half long. Clayton had his award ceremonies so I hung around to take pictures.

Clayton received two awards: one for being apart of student council (treasurer) and the other for always using his school agenda. He got a candy bar and a soda.

Clayton and his cousin Ryan (Secretary) with their student council teacher, Mrs. Matthews


Carson received the Presidents Education Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement. It is signed by President Obama. This is Carson with his teacher Mr. Sassarini. He was an excellent teacher for Carson.



Harly with her teacher Mrs. Hogle. Harly got all A's and one B on her report card.

Good job Harly!

Daycee with her teacher Mrs. Larson. We are going to miss Mrs. Larson, she is taking a break to be a stay at home mom with her kids. She is a wonderful teacher.

Grandma & Grandpa Wellman were in town this weekend for the graduation. After school on Friday we decided to take a drive to Alpine where the old candy shoppe just re-opened. Anyone who comes up to visit us will have to go there. It was a child's dream.

Grandma Wellman with some of her granddaughters:

Cammie,Daycee, Kate, MacKenzie and Christie

Inside the Lollipop Shoppe!

MacKenzie, Kate and Daycee were too excited to pick out their candy!

MacKenzie with her lollipop

Daycee with her lipstick candy

Kate with her lollipop

After our lollipop adventure we went to the Udall's for stew and cornbread. It was the perfect ending to a cold and rainy day.

Cammie and Adam

Dayson waiting patiently for his food!

Mom with her two prettiest daughters!

(Oh well, It's not my fault you live in Utah and Idaho.

Maybe if you were prettier mom would visit you too!)

My First Hair Cut!

Aunt Kristie was nice enough to cut my kid's hair and this was Adam's first hair cut. He did okay at first but decided he didn't like it one bit. Thank you Kristie for putting up with my family on that very hot day.

"This isn't so bad"

"I don't think I like this too much"

"Yep, I hate it"

"It's getting better"

"Dang, I'm cute"

End of the school year!

You can always tell when school is almost out. There are so many last minute activities to attend. We went to the science fair to see Carson's project. He did such a good job on it. He scored 21 points out of 30.

After that we dropped Carson off at his baseball game we than headed to MacKenzie's preschool graduation ceremony. She did such a good job on performing her songs. When asked what she wanted to be when she grew up she said a "cop". I thought that was pretty cute. Dayson is a proud papa.

MacKenzie receiving her diploma

MacKenzie with her teachers Carolynne and Susan

Once the ceremony was over we went back to Carson's game that ended in a tie after 9:00 pm. Clayton and Harly stayed home with the little kids and that was a lifesaver. After we got home Dayson went back to work for two hours to do a little DUI task force. Well that's just a typical night for our family, lately!

Carson playing short stop

First couple of days on the job!

Dayson heading out to his first day on the job

Dayson's first day at work was pretty normal. He started at 9:00 am and it was pretty laid back. He came home for lunch and had tostados. I think they had one call to Greer for shots being fired, but they couldn't find anyone or anything. He was able to get off at 5:00 for baseball games and didn't go back to work. His partner said they could make up the last two hours on Tuesday. Their plan was to meet up at 8:00 am. But the phone rang at 6:50 and they were called on a search and rescue. Than they had to serve a warrant and search a house, mission accomplished. Than at 2:30 a brush fire starts between here and St. Johns., so they went and worked a road block and evacuated some houses. He didn't get home until after 9:30pm. He made up his two hours from the day before and had a couple extra. This morning, again at 6:50 he gets called out to an alarm going off. He's been staying really busy and loves getting called out.

The Weekend We've All Been Waiting For!

Thursday morning the kids and I went to Phoenix. We first stopped at aunt Kristie's for haircuts. She cut everyone's hair including mine. She did a great job. This was Adam's first hair cut and he sat very still and looks like a big boy now.

Thursday night my mom and I went out for our birthdays and Mother's day while Dayson stayed home with the kids. It was his time to be alone with all seven. We got pedicures and did some shopping. I had a lot of fun hanging out with my mom. Happy Mother's Day!

Friday morning was the final Flag Ceremony and "swearing in" for Dayson. The kids and I arrived around 7:30 am. Thank goodness it was early because the sun was shining pretty good.

This was our first time to see Glenn since he got home from his mission. The kids were really excited and Adam wasn't to afraid.

We waited for about 30 minutes (in the shade of course) for the ceremony to start.

The men started by walking in formation with Flags in hand.

It is very quiet, except for the one who is directing the men to their positions. I don't know military talk, but I'm sure there's a name for it.

Dayson is the only one in tan. He is raising the Arizona flag. The men stayed in this position for about 10 minutes maybe less, but it felt like forever.

After the flags were raised, the judge had them raise their right arm and repeat after him. They are now officially law enforcement officers.

After the ceremony we were able to go down and congratulate Dayson. We met his Sergeant and his RTO's. This is officer Miller. He was Dayson's biggest pain in the neck, but later became a good friend.

This is a dummy used in the OC Spray qualifications. He was beat up pretty bad. Clayton, Carson and Harly thought they could take him too.




Before the graduation I took some pictures of some of the men standing out in the foyer.
On the far left is Dayson's car pool partner Andrew Williams. He was Dayson's bestfriend throughout the academy. He pushed Dayson and kept him going. We are very greatful to have Andrew apart of our family now. The other two men I think are Colburn & Schichilone (or something like that). I will have to double check with Dayson.




Dayson and the boys. The other kids stayed back home with Zach, Courtney & Jenna.

The graduation finally started and there were only 11 men in their class.

Dayson was presented with his badge by his cousin Troy Merrill, DPS officer.

And I got to pin the badge on Dayson. I barely found out 30 minutes before that I would be doing it. I am very proud of Dayson and all the hard work he has done for the last 18 weeks.

Deputy Dayson Merrill

After the ceremony was over we took a lot of pictures.

Sheriff Dedman and Deputy Merrill

Sgt. Webb Hogle, Deputy Merrill, Chief Deputy Brannon Eagar

Deputy Merrill and Flavio


Deputy Merrill with his family.

"Sweethearts"

Report writing instructor (?) & Deputy Merrill

Moreno, Shaddow, Merrill and Morley

Merrill & Colburn

After the graduation we went to Garcia's mexican restaurant and these are the people who came with us to celebrate.

Grandma Slade, Flavio, Marsha & Robert Wellman
Rachelle & Aarron Palmer

Andrea & Chris Slabaugh

David & Andrea Archdeacon

Kristie & Adam Merrill

Aunt Judy & Anna Merrill

Gary & Sharlene Merrill

Amaron & Satya Merrill

Glenn Merrill

Carson Merrill who had a headache and is very grumpy.

It might have something to do with the fact that his older brother was bothering him.

Clayton was the photographer for the evening and he forgot to take pictures of Amy & Troy Merrill and Megan & Rusell Stewart who were also sitting with us at our table. We had so much fun talking and catching up. It was like the good old days. When we were newlyweds and no kids!

Dayson and Me

To finish off our weekend we slept in on Saturday morning. Dayson until 6:00 am, whoa! And myself until 7:00 am. We had chocolate chip pancakes with my mom and dad. They didn't like 'em to well. I don't like them either but my kids have to have them every morning, thanks to the Udall's. After going to the store for more milk, Dayson and I went to Andrew's (Dayson's carpool partner from the academy) apartment and helped him move to a new apartment. Then later that night we went out to eat at Black Angus, Andrew's treat. That was really awesome of him. We can't wait for him to come up and visit us in Springerville.

The next morning was Sunday and we packed up to go home. But before we made the trip we went to church with the Merrill's. Glenn was reporting home from his mission and he did a very good job on his talk. After church we went back to Dayson's parents and had barbeque beef sandwiches with all the trimmings. Thank you Sharlene for making such a great lunch on your special day. You are an amazing mom. Happy Mother's Day, we love you!

We finally headed home but not without an adventure. When we finally got to Show Low, Dayson noticed I had a flat tire. So we pulled over and he put on the spare. Of course nothing can go right and it was flat too. So after pumping it up at the gas station we headed home,it was 10:30 pm at this point and it was all I could do to stay awake. I probably would have been pulled over for drunk driving if seen by a DPS officer. We finally made it home and realized Dayson forgot his work boots that he needed for the next day. So he polished his brown boots with black shine and made do until we can get them from Anna who is bringing them to Show Low on her way home. Thanks Anna your a life saver! Cammie, my niece is picking them up from Show Low, because she was already going there, and bringing them back to us. Thanks Cammie you're awesome too. I have such great family. We also had a message on our phone that Dayson would start work tomorrow at nine unless they got called out in the middle of the night. So here it is 11:50 and we aren't in bed yet and there is a chance that Dayson could be called out in the middle of the night. The phone never rang and Dayson and the boys got up at 5:00 am to start and finish Carson's science project. They returned home at 7:00 and got ready for school. These boys are going to be tired for baseball tonight. Oh well, that's our life, always something!

I also want to thank everyone for all of the nice cards and gifts that were given to Dayson. It means a lot to Dayson and I to have such good support from our family.