Utah Trip

This past Tuesday I just returned home from Utah.  I guess I should be more careful how I use my words to express my feelings on my blog.  I debated deleting it all together, but I've come to the conclusion that it wouldn't be very fair to our family who is far away and likes to keep updated on our little family in Alaska. 

The Latest.......

Tuesday, May 24th, Kolson and I flew on three airplanes to get to Las Vegas and then rented a car to drive two more hours to Hurricane, Utah.  I was so impressed with how well he did.  He slept from Skagway to Juneau and then took another nap from Juneau to Seattle.  From Seattle to Vegas he just played and colored pictures.  He was amazing.  I was really nervous about the whole trip.  The hardest part was getting from the Las Vegas Airport to the rental car center.  The Las Vegas airport is a nightmare.  As soon as we landed there I just wanted to be back home in Alaska.  I used to be such a city girl.  I loved going to Las Vegas every chance I could.  Now it is just too much chaos and the town is focused on well.... Inappropriate stuff.  Kolson then slept in the car from Las Vegas to Hurricane.  I grabbed some late night food at Del Taco. That was nice.  I haven't had tasty fast food in a long time.  I stayed at my sister's house the first few nights.  My nephew was nice to let me have his room to myself.

On Wednesday I spent the day fasting and doing everything possible to get in the best focused and mental state possible for the following day.  I renewed my temple recommend just a few days before leaving to go to Utah.  I was so happy to be able to go in the St. George Temple and do a session.  I've always wanted to go into that temple, but I haven't had the opportunity since I first received my recommend.  Nick and I were sealed in the Idaho Falls Temple in 2007.  It was such a great experience.  I sat in the celestial room for quite a long time praying and thinking.  I am so glad I chose to spend my day there rather than out doing some long awaited shopping.  Here's a picture I took when I got back outside.

Thursday was the much anticipated and yet dreaded day.  I was so grateful to have Nick's parent's come down from Idaho to support me.  They are the best in-laws anyone could ask for!  Kolson hung out with his Grandpa Pickett for the whole thing.  They had fun playing at a cool water park near the court house.  I was frustrated to begin with because my black shirt had a bleach spot and a couple of holes and I couldn't find one I liked to replace it before court.  I'm sure it didn't matter too much what I wore, but I was still freaking out. 
I won't get into the details of what went on during the trial, other than I wasn't really happy with the picture of me that was painted.  I was under the impression that an oath was an oath to tell the truth.  Apparently that doesn't matter to everyone.  I was only allowed to state the positive things of the situation, but when I would try to speak and tell the truth it was objected and I couldn't speak.  If Braxton couldn't speak for himself I was going to try.  It wasn't fair.
I am really impressed that I didn't cry through the entire thing.  I know that it was because I had a lot of help that day due to a lot of prayer's and support from friends and family.  My mother-in-law told me I did a good job with my testimony and staying calm.  I told her it wasn't me.... because I know I couldn't have done that on my own. 
Court ended without a decision.  Our attorney's need to file some more paperwork that will be due July 1st.  After the Judge get's a chance to read through those we should be able to expect a decision sometime near August.  I wanted a decision then, but I am praying that this extra time for him to think will help him to make the best decision for Braxton and his future rather than making a quick impulse decision.

Friday I was able to pick up Braxton for the long weekend.  I almost wasn't allowed to bring him back to Utah, but my attorney did some negotiating for me.  It was the first time I'd seen him in 10 months.  I had to forfeit my Christmas break with him because I could either have the money to retain an attorney and hopefully get Braxton back full-time, or I could spend Christmas with him.  It was a very hard choice, but I hope it was the right one. 
I was so happy to be able to grab him and just squeeze him.  He is such an incredible son!  We drove back to St. George and met Nick's parents at Pirate Island Pizza.  It's a cool pizza place that is decorated like a pirate ship inside with an arcade.  They were so excited to see him!  They are coming to Alaska to visit us this summer, but Braxton will already have left to go back to Las Vegas.  Braxton looks up to his Grandpa Pickett because he is a scientist.  Braxton loves to read non-fiction books and learn a lot about different wild-life.  Grandpa Pickett is cool because he sends Braxton interesting things from the North Slope at the top of Alaska where the Polar Bears live.
Braxton beat me at a game of air hockey and at a target shooting game.  I was under the impression that we had unlimited bullets and he informed me that if the bullets were unlimited then how would the game end.  He's very smart.  He also beat Grandma Pickett at a few games.  I'm not sure if he won against Grandpa.  After dinner we went to the house where they were staying and Braxton proceeded to kill us with his farts, but hey, it wouldn't be Braxton if there wasn't gas involved.

Saturday I trimmed up Braxton's hair as much as he'd allow.  At least we got it out of his eyes.  We went into St. George and got some shopping done.  He was sent without a toothbrush and with a pair of holy jeans and a t-shirt.  We ate In-N-Out Burger.  He wanted a Double Double Burger and I was really amazed to see him eat the whole thing plus fries and a milkshake.  Him and Kolson had a ton of fun playing.  That night we went and watched the new Pirate's of the Caribbean 4 movie.  His eye's were glued to it. 

Sunday we went to church with my sister.  I was so happy to have both of my son's with me at church.  The only thing missing was Nick and Aspyn.  Later that day Braxton and Kolson played with their cousin's while I made a big chicken enchilada dinner for everyone on my last night there.  My mom came up to my sister's to see my boy's and spend some time with us.  That night we stayed with my friend Holly who recently moved from Las Vegas to Hurricane.  She has been my good friend since way before Braxton. 

Monday we headed back to Las Vegas.  We got in a little early and Braxton wanted to take me to see the Silverton.  It's a casino/hotel, but it has a cool aquarium full of sting ray's, sharks, and tropical fish.  It also has the biggest Bass Pro Shop I've ever seen.  I only wish I would've had more room to buy a couple fishing poles there for Salmon fishing up here in Alaska.  Time passed too quickly and I had to take him home.  Luckily he will be flying into Alaska this Friday the 10th.  Kolson and I stayed the night at the Circus Circus where I got us a room for $23.00.  I took him to the circus act on the midway.  He was super excited and shaking his arms.  Then I realized he wasn't even excited about the performer.  He was excited about the drummer.  His dad would've been so proud!

Tuesday was the longest day of my life!  I got up at 4:00 am.  Which is actually 3:00 am Alaska time.  I had arranged the night before for a shuttle to pick me up and take me to the airport at 5:00.  They either didn't show up or they left me because I didn't get out there until 5:03 am.  My suitcase weighed 73 pounds and I had a 30 pound back pack on my back and a 30 pound Kolson in my arms.  I didn't realize how hard it would be to get from my hotel room down to the shuttle area.  Luckily I was able to catch a different shuttle.  I wanted to sit on the floor and cry at the Las Vegas Airport and just quit.  I was so frustrated.  I had a ticket for a free checked bag in my pocket, but it had fallen out.  I had to pay for the full 73 pounds.  Finally we made our plane and arrived in Seattle.  We had three hours there before our flight left to Juneau.  We ate Wendy's for lunch.

When we landed in Seattle I almost cried because I was so happy to see beautiful green again.  Southern Utah is beautiful, but in a different desert kind of way.  Washington and Alaska have beautiful tree's and mountains. 
Waiting to board in Seattle I came across a friend here from Skagway waiting to board as well.  My friend Brandy was just returning from a DDF competition in DC.  Sadly I didn't know she was hanging out in the same airport as us a few hours earlier.  She was also with a friend of hers who Nick and I just hired this past week to work for us.  Exhausted by the time I reached Juneau just to find that my Air Ex flight to Skagway was cancelled. Kolson and I were fortunate to hop on a Wing's flight and get home.  Our luggage followed the next day.  Through all of our 6 airplanes that we went on throughout the entire trip, I was very happy to find that Kolson and I were lucky enough to sit by nice non-child hating people on our flights.  Also, Kolson has to be the best baby that anyone has ever travelled with. 

I am so happy to be home.  I enjoyed visiting family and friends, but I really missed home.  I missed my husband and daughter.  I came home early because they missed me a lot and Aspyn wasn't doing so well with out her mom. 

I can't wait for Braxton to come on Friday.  Well actually Saturday.  He flies into Juneau on Friday and Nick will meet him down there.  They are going to go to a movie together and then fly home Saturday with a bunch of groceries.  Nick was jealous that I got to see Brax this last weekend and he didn't.

Summer is approaching.....

We have been extremely busy lately!  I started a new job in March working for a small airline here in Skagway part-time on the weekends.  Nick is working on-call part-time at the Skagway library.  We officially opened up the RV Park Easter weekend.  Yay!  Aspyn finished pre-school a little over a week ago.  Kolson is still a sweetheart, but he is entering that terrible toddler stage.  Nick decided to call it terrible toddler instead of terrible 2 because the age really has nothing to do with it.  It's not magically over when they turn 3.  It just doesn't work that way.  Braxton moved into another house, now he live's in Henderson, Nevada.  I go to court at the end of the month.  Hopefully everything goes well and my boy will get to come live in Alaska with our family.  We have missed him terribly!


The first cruise ship arrived yesterday.  It was the Disney Wonder ship.  I've been subbing at the school this week and they had a special assembly yesterday for all of the kids.  They had a visit from Mickey, Minnie, Chip & Dale, and Pluto.  Every one had the chance to stand in line and hug the characters and get their picture taken with them if they had a camera.  It was awesome!  They also gave out little stuffed Mickey's to all of the kids.  The school also had a visit yesterday from the Governor of Alaska.  He shook my hand.  Now I can say I've shaken hands with the Governor.


We moved into a new to us house just before Easter.  We now live in town and not out on the Hill.  It is good for a few reason's, but one being that gas was $4.53 per gallon last week and has been going up 10 cents per gallon for the last few weeks.  Other than the cost of living, we are still loving Alaska.  It is such a great place to raise a family.  It is so safe here and the beauty is incomparable.  Our new house is great because it has a lot more space and we are 2 blocks from the school and right across the street from the Rec Center.

Long Time No Blogging

So it's been a while.  Sorry about that.  We have had a few big changes in our life since I last posted.  We live in Skagway, Alaska now.  Nick graduated school in April and got a seasonal police job here in Alaska.  He moved up at the first of May and the kids and I got here at the end of June.  We weren't sure how long we would be staying here in Alaska.  I told Nick I'd give it 2 years, but now it looks like we'll be here at least 5 years.  We found out last week that we won the bid to run an RV Park here in Skagway for the next 5 summers.  We are super excited to have a business opportunity like this.  I was nervous about coming here, but now I have fallen in love with beautiful Skagway.  I highly recommend anyone and everyone to come visit this amazing place! 

Kolson turned 1 year old last Wednesday!  It was so much fun giving him the chocolate cake beater to get messy with.  He loved it so much.  Here are a few pictures for all of you to see.  I will try to get more up later.

Braxton caught his first fish this summer.  It was a pink salmon in a stream out in Dyea, Alaska.  He was so super excited about this, as you can tell from the look on his face.  

 Aspyn is still as curly haired and crazy as ever.  There aren't too many people in town who don't know who she is.  She go's to preschool 2 days a week now and isn't sure how much she like's it.

I have a Family

My family life has been a bit confusing.  I have had different step-fathers throughout my life, but I hardly knew my birth father.  He would visit me once in a while when I was younger, but the last time I saw him was when I was 10.  Since then I haven't seen or heard from him.  We moved a lot so that might of had something to do with it.  My mom had tried to find him, but had no luck. 

The cool thing is a few weeks ago I had a friend request on my facebook page.  It was from a Josefina Munoz.  I replied with a message to see if we were possibly related because I knew my father's last name was Munoz.  As it turns out she is my Aunt and she has been looking for me by request of my father.  How cool is that???  It is so exciting.  One day I went from having a mom and a sister.  That's it!  The next day I find out that I have a dad, 4 Aunt's, 3 Uncle's, Grandparent's, and I think 28 cousins or some huge number like that. 

Anyhow, this is so exciting to me and I just thought I'd share with all of my friends my awesome news.  I guess now I should invest some time into learning Spanish huh?!? 

Long time no posting

So what's new with us Picketts?   Actually, a lot.  Nick is in school.  He is in the Parks Law Enforcement Academy here in Mount Vernon.  He is getting beat up weekly.  His graduation date is set for May 12, 2010. 

Also, we have our new edition now.  His name is Kolson Zakye Pickett.  He was born on 11-10-2009 at 6:27 AM.  He weighed 7 lbs 11 oz and was 19 inches long.  He is now 3 months old and absolutely huge. I am so in love!  He is wearing 12 month clothes already and he only weighs 7 pounds less than Aspyn.

Braxton is still living in Utah with his dad.  We miss him terribly and look forward to his visits.  He comes again in March for Spring Break.  He is doing awesome in school though and I am very proud of his academic progress.

Aspyn is still spunky little Aspyn.  She's crazy all the time!  Or maybe I'm the one that's crazy due to her.  Probably the latter.  She is insanely smart.  She talks too much and learns things she probably shouldn't.  She amazes me every day.

As for me, I'm just staying at home keeping busy playing mommy, cook, maid, wife, homework checker and Young Women's leader.  I am also trying to sell Scentsy on the side to make some small ammount of money.  So if anybody wants to buy some let me know.  You can look at my website at www.scentsy.com/merinda   Nick is in school 40+ hours a week so for now he is only working 8 hours a week on Saturdays.  My mom has been living with us since New Year's eve.  It has been really nice to spend time with her and teach her the gospel.  She also hasn't smoked since she got here and I am so proud of her.  Unfortunately she will be going back to Utah next month since things haven't worked out financially like we had planned.

Congratulations to Nick!

This past week Nick received his acceptance letter to The Parks Law Enforcement Academy.  I am so proud of him.  He starts in January and it is about a 6 month program.  He will be gone from 7AM-5PM 6 days a week.  It will be difficult, but the program has a 98% job placement.  Some even get job offers before they complete the program and he will be able to work at almost any National Park in the country.  He will finally have the opportunity to do something he enjoys and he will get paid well for it.  We are way excited!

Current News

On Friday we took Aspyn to the Allergist/Asthma Specialist.  She had a panel of 14 different tests to see what she is allergic to.  She is officially allergic to Cats, Dogs :( , Grass, Mold, and Poplar Trees.  They can do more tests when she get's a little older, but for now.... We won't be getting a dog.  It's so sad because she loves them so much!  She also has mild asthma and is on a special inhaler 2 puffs 2X per day for 2 weeks.  After two weeks if she is doing better we can take it down to once a day and so on.  She has had a nightly cough for about 6 months now so we are hoping this takes care of it.  They also weighed her on Friday and she weighs 23 pounds 4 ounces.  She has gained about 3 pounds in the last 2 months.  We are so happy to see a progress.

Aspyn has also been working hard on potty training since September 1st.  She is doing exceptionally well.  She loves to wear big girl underwear and is especially a fan of her bikini underwear.  She chooses them over her Tinkerbells and Dora's.  She is also staying dry at night already.  I still put her in a diaper just in case, but when she wakes up in the morning her diaper is still dry.  Oh, and she's been going through a new streaking phase.  The other day I had to dress her 4 times in ten minutes.  She enjoy's running around naked.  We struggle to keep anything on her.  She just loves the freedom I guess.  It is one bright side I have found to Braxton not being home right now.  Aspyn is also talking full sentences with quite the diverse vocabulary.  She is truly exceptional and we just love listening to what she'll come up with next.

Braxton seems to be doing well.  He get's to come visit for a couple days in October.  We can't wait to see him.  We are trying to plan lots of fun things to do while he is here.  He wants to go to the Woodland Park Zoo. He says, "It's not only a place to see lots of cool animals, but it's also a place to learn."  He's so cute like that.  His favorite lately is the Salt Water Crocodile.  I miss taking him to the library because he would always ask the librarian to help him find a book on _____ and he wanted it to be a nonfiction book.  He loves to learn.  From what I hear, he is doing well in school in Utah.  He got 100% on his spelling test and is doing well with reading and math.  He is also going to boy scouts there and he's enjoying that.  We miss him very much and can't wait for him to get to come home permanently.

As for the baby.  We've chosen to name him Kolson.  The meaning of it is... Son of Nicholas.  We are still trying to decide on a middle name though.  I would like something that rhymes with Ty and Skye since Braxton and Aspyn's names already rhyme (unintentionally).  I am down to 9 weeks left and am struggling on a decision between a C-Section or a VBAC.  My Doctor has cleared me for a VBAC (vaginal birth after ceserean), but Nick is a little nervous about it.  Does anyone have an opinion they'd like to share?  I've been having Braxton Hicks contractions for a few weeks now depending on my activity or stress level.  My hips are killing me and sometimes at night I have to get up and take Tylenol so I can sleep through the pain.  So far I have only gained 15 pounds, which I am way proud of.  With Braxton I gained 65lbs and with Aspyn I gained 35lbs.  This is most likely our last baby.  I don't know how much more my body can handle and Nick and I both are unsure of how much I can handle more emotionally.  3 is a good number.

Nick is hating work and trying to get a new job at the college as a security guard there part-time.  It pays better than Ross too.  Right now he is at the college trying to get his classes and financial aid all worked out.  He didn't do very well in his summer semester so we are hoping they will give him a second chance.