Ellowyn Snow Merrill

Welcome home dear little Ellowyn! ( Took you long enough to get here.)  Sorry about the noise.  The other girls are just excited and they really don’t have indoor voices. 

This is Elizabeth, the oldest.  She’ll be helping out a lot and also getting right in your face all the time.  Just holler if she’s bugging you and I’ll shoo her away.

This is Catherine and she will only pay attention to you when Elizabeth is playing with you, so you won’t have to worry too much about her.  Just don’t take anything she offers you.

This is Alexandria (we call her Lexa) and she apparently thinks that you are her own personal baby doll.  I’ll do my best to keep her from poking your eye out.

There are a couple of cats around here too so I hope you’re not allergic.  They pretty much keep to themselves.  Just stick by me because they usually stay out of my way.

This is our house.  It’s pretty cramped, but you get your own room.  Better enjoy it now because it’s most likely the only time you won’t be sharing.  I’m just down the hall so yell when you’re hungry and I’ll eventually come.

Being the fourth of four girls, you have a whole wardrobe of clothes.  Unfortunately all of them are used.  Not so much these first 2 sizes, but they start getting worn by 6 months, and pretty much all the size 12 months have stains on them.  Especially since Lexa really loves spaghetti.  I do promise to buy you at least one new outfit every 6 months or so for pictures.  And once in a while when I see a cute one at the store.

Also, now that there are six of us, we don’t have as many funds available for extra things.  We used to go to Disneyland 3-4 times a year, but now we’ll be lucky if we can get there once every two years.  There will still be fun times together (I hope you like basketball) but it will generally be things that don’t cost much, like trips to the park down the street.  Or maybe to the park up the road.

Sometimes it gets a little chaotic around here.  Your father and I both have full time jobs as well as church callings, so you will have other people around to take care of you.  They will always be people who love you just as much as we do.

Speaking of that, you have way more family than just us.  You have 2 great-grandfathers, 4 grandparents, 5 uncles, 5 aunts, and 18 cousins.  Then there are also a bunch of related aunts, uncles, cousins and second cousins that you’ll see occasionally.  They’re mostly harmless. 

There’s a great many more things you’ll learn as time goes on.  You’ll learn that I have a really short fuse when I’m stressed, but I’m always available for hugs and kisses.  You’ll learn not to bother Dad when he’s playing a game and I will agree to just about anything to get you to go away when I’m reading.  You’ll find out that Dad is the best for any problems during the night and his shoulders are great for snuggling.  Elizabeth is the best entertainer, but Catherine is better for playing with since she’ll sometimes let you do things your way. 

Your father and I will do our best to teach you everything you need to know.  It’s our job to help you get from total dependence to complete independence in 18 years (or less) and we’ll still be available after that for consultation.  Just remember that we’re just people and still learning a thing or two ourselves, so we’ll make mistakes sometimes.  And once in a while we’ll own up to it.

So welcome to the family!  It’s too late to back out now; you’re sealed to us forever!