Returned with Honor

Well, Wednesday was the day that Kathee has been waiting for for who knows how long (okay if you don't count the first day of being glad to have him out of the house and on a mission, then that leaves 729 days of waiting!)


Only Kathee knows what is going through her mind as she waited for her son's plane to land.


Four future missionaries!


The joyous reunion of mother and son. I wish I could say this was his first hug, but what we didn't show was his bother elbowing in for the first one!

Who's happier?

The Elder Stephen Merkley fan club.

Mission accomplished!

Here we see Stephen taking his well earned spot on his father's right hand side. And if it looks like he was watching TV already, well, it's because he was...but it was a missionary video he created while on his mission. Hopefully, Ryan will convert it for us and we'll have it here for your viewing pleasure.

Well done, Elder Merkly. We look forward to hearing from you for our March fireside!

Did anyone notice his first initial on the name tag? When did that start?

February's Family Fireside

Seriously, this month must be the month of title aliteration....

February's fireside was presented by Glenn Beck himself. At the request of Edith Stradling, he spoke to us on his conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and all those weirdo saints that don't drink coffee and have way too much fun with their families.

Due to the economic downturn, Glenn felt it best to not spend some of his million dollar contract to visit us personally but to do it via DVD. Being the Merkley's that we are, we understood completely and enjoyed an evening of comedy and insight given from such a "vile sinner."

Thanks to Misha for the cupcake deserts, especially the ones with the cardinal's colors. Although, it didn't help them in the last quarter as they lost 27-23 (I hope I didn't ruin it for Robert Merkley).

Bradshaw Baby Blessing

Evan Leon Merkley....I mean Bradshaw was blessed on Sunday, February 1st. After slipping on the baby's name (for obvious reasons, an easy thing to do), Clint went on to give a very moving blessing that not only prepared the child for this life but directed him to follow the examples put forth by both sets of grandparents during his preparation.