And again, we go to Thatcher...

This was a big weekend.

Not only did Uncle Heber graduate, but Grandma Merrill turned... well, let's not disclose that ;)  But the lady had a birthday.  Plus we squeezed in a little Father's Day celebrating too.

Also, Porter got his head super glued back together.

Yup.  It's always my kids.

So, there was some hanging out being done and some party prep happening before the big surprise party...

Wyatt wanted to run free and wild on all of the farm equipment, which his over protective mother could just not allow.  Thus he did a lot of this:

We also got our snuggles on with this handsome fella

Then us ladies sneaked out to set up for the party.

All of the genius, planning, and details belong to Miss Jessie.

  

And when Grandma and Grandpa showed up...

I gave Adi and Piper the camera for a bit to let them get a few candid pictures.

My kiddos product tested the games Jessie brought...

We then shoved as much of Jessie's delicious food as possible into our mouths.

Gifts were opened,

Ah, this family.

Did I mention the photo booth?

       It was pretty epic.

Back to Grandma's house to prep for Heber's celebratory dinner.  Well, some prepped, some played.

Grandma gave the little girlies decorating control... and they made little posters for Hebes plus they added pictures that he had drawn years and years ago.

We all played hot potato with Mr. Kolter.

The girlies also got their nailpolish on.

Congrats, Heber!

It was a truly perfect evening.  Perfect for a little golf.

 

And I made everyone pose with Heber.  Everyone really loves when I have my camera out :)

This Dad.

A few years ago, I made a fateful decision.

I decided to hitch myself to this tall, skinny, rather funny farmer boy.

Let me tell you: best.  idea.  ever.

This Orrin of mine has turned out to be quite the awesome dad.

Seriously: he is sooo cool.

You can tell just how amazing he is by how much his kiddos love him.  These mini Merrills are all pretty sure that no one on earth is as perfect as their daddy.

While I happen to know a few of his faults, I generally agree with them.

On Father's Day, Orrin came down to very manly breakfast of bacon pancakes (yummo).

OP may have helped me put together his gift since I had been working on it for 20 minutes and was no closer to having all in one piece.  Who knew that a stinking computer chair could come in so many pieces.

We made him a nifty board to hang up in his man cave (thanks to Shanty2Chic for the idea).

Yeah, yeah.  I didn't stain the back.  I sure do like to cut corners.

He got a bucket of treats (thanks to the Dollar Store) and a homemade book all about the awesomeness of him.

And a extra-large glass cup that Orrin has taken to calling his "down the hatchet! cup".

The girlies took the initiative to write things that they love about their daddy and taped them down the stairs.

Yeah, yeah.  I haven't finished painting the stairs.  I am the Queen of unfinished projects.

And then I stopped taking pictures.

Well, one last one of Orrin using his gift.

A quick trip...

This ginormous Merrill family just grew again.

Welcome, welcome little Kolter Wright.

We had to get down to Thatcher to meet this lil' fellow.

I can't believe that my baby is this massive dude. (He looks just like his Daddy when he sleeps).

You may be wondering why everyone is wearing ear pods?  Our sweet little Wyatt is a talker.  He specializes in repetitive talking. As in, "Dad!  Dad!  Dad!  Tountain (mountain)!  Up! Up! Up!  Dad!  Dad!  Dad!  Tountain!  Dad! Tountain!  Up!"  And that went on for 45 minutes.

Forty five minutes, people!

I couldn't get a picture of the other two kiddos from my seat... they were the lucky ones :)

We walked down to the little train car to get ourselves some yummy frozen yogurt.

I tried to get a group shot of these Merrill and MaGill cousins... 

I get an A for effort, I do believe.

Awww- big bro and lil' sis.

I got me some yummy cheesecake fro-yo.  You did notice that I said we walked here, right?  I totally deserved this cup of awesomeness.

Once our bellies were full and we sauntered back home,

we got our snuggle on.

Such a sweet angel boy.

After Kolter decided he wanted to eat, we headed to the pool.  And it was a bit chilly.

And, oh sweet niblets, there was a water slide.

 

 

Porter so wanted to go down one of those slides, but, alas, his scaredy-cat side came out (he gets that from me) and he couldn't quite get himself up there.

 

 Adi tried her hardest to convince him to go down with her...

But Porter was just too afraid that the lifeguard wouldn't catch him and he would suddenly forget how to swim.

Where was Wy-Fi during this swimming adventure?  Checking out the cool tractors at Grandma and Grandpa's farm with his Daddy.

He was in heaven, I tell ya!  This kid loves anything with a motor and wheels.

It was only a day trip, but it's always fun to see our Thatcher family!