Two Weeks Ago...

My brother came out with his family from Georgia two weeks ago.

He likes to ski.

So do I.

This cute little girl can't ski yet but she still had a good time.

These cute girls had a good time too.

If you look really closely you can see my brother and I on top of that mountain getting ready to ski down. Squint really hard and use some imagination.

Time for Another Birthday!

January seems to be the birthday month for the Merkley's like August is for my family. Today is Lizzy's birthday, and how glad we are that we get to celebrate it. Liz is a real trooper - she made it through years of persecution by her brothers and still talks to them. My favorite story of those years is when Mark and Erik sat on either side of Liz in church and started drawing on her arms with pen. She couldn't yell or move and just had to take it. I'm grateful that she helped Erik learn how to treat women well.


This is Liz with a much younger JJ. She's a fantastic aunt, and is always on the lookout for little gifts for the girls. JJ could hardly contain herself when she first saw Lizzy this last weekend - she immediately dragged her off to play "puppy school" in Lizzy's room.

Here's Liz at our wedding. I'm so glad that she's my sister-in-law! She's constantly teaching me things and is an example of generosity and forgiveness. Love you Liz!

The New Lauren

Most people just make New Year's resolutions to change themselves, but Lauren takes it a little bit further. On January 2 she underwent corrective eye surgery. The Lasik procedure went well and now she can see better than she ever has.


She also decided that she wanted to cut her hair. She has been threatening/warning/preparing me for this for months. I can honestly say that I love it!

Happy Birthday Abby!

Hooray for a wonderful and welcoming sister-in-law! Today is her birthday, so I thought I'd share some pictures of Abby over the time that I've known her.

Here she is with her finest creations. She's a great mother.


This is Abby and her husband Mark on our Caribbean cruise. She's also a great wife. I'm amazed by all that she does to take care of her family.


What a good looking family. I love having Abby as part of my new family - she's the big sister I never had! Happy birthday Abby!

PS. Sorry this is so late, Abby... all the pictures were on the laptop, and the laptop was at school with Erik... but hey, it's still the 14th!

It's Resolution Time...

I realized that I personally have not posted since the middle of November. Erik has taken to blogging with a passion, which saves me time, but then he steals all my pictures and ideas if ever I do want to post. Sigh. The trials of married life. I decided that I wanted to get some input from all of you devoted readers on the subject of exercise. I hate it. I hate to do it, but I want the benefits that come with it. Like being able to climb a mountain without calling the paramedics halfway up. Or being able to wear a bathing suit fearlessly. Or even just fitting into pants that match the length of my legs. I'm hopelessly out of shape, and Christmas/New Years did some unkind things to me. Here's the deal, though; I'm uncoordinated, unathletic, fiercely competitive, and lazy (that may sound contradictory to you, but it's true). And I hate exercising in public. All of these things add up to no exercise. So how do I get over this and get in shape? Keep in mind that I'd be starting from pretty much rock bottom. I'm on a medical school budget and need ways to motivate myself, because to be honest, my resolutions to work out usually last one day. The satisfaction from one workout can last me for a year... Any (kind and loving) ideas out there?

A Swell Vacation

A heartfelt Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from the Merkley's. We have been fairly busy since our last post, which was last year. A long time ago.


While in Arizona we went with Lauren's family to a fun-park that for a fee gave you unlimited go-kart rides, miniature golf, and bumper-boating. I had never heard of bumper-boating, but as you can see, Lauren was in her element. I couldn't get a clear picture of her driving a go-kart because she was too fast.

I gave myself a Christmas Eve trim. In case you are wondering, I was wearing a garbage bag. It will soon be the rage in style magazines.

We enjoyed a lovely Christmas-day dinner. And no, that is not an alcoholic beverage.

These nice folks are Lauren's family. From the top left: Becky, Stephanie, Jon, Dave, Sandy, Lindsay, Lauren, and E. The day after Christmas we started our journey back to Utah. There we encountered the nice lady pictured below.

This is my wonderful mother. In late November she had foot reconstruction surgery. Now she zoots around the house on this wonderful little cart and still gets more done than any of us. Kind of reminds me of a flamingo.

We went and saw this little movie. Look at the cute little puppy and the PG rating. Oh what a nice family movie to go and see...not. I have no idea why that was rated PG. I still managed to cry the last twenty minutes of the movie because the story was almost identical to the end of my dog's life.

To work off some of the emotion from the night before, I went snowshoeing up by Snowbasin.

My cousin Trevor is pictured on the right. He is 23, attends BYU, and is single. Interested parties may inquire.

For some reason somebody made an "E" on the snowbank by the road where we parked. No doubt it was one of my fans or the paparazzi.