AM Photo: Merrill Family Photos

The Merrill family. Where do I even begin? I owe Amy Merrill A LOT.

A few years ago when I was miserably working at Target (yes, retail :/ ) Amy, who was in my parents ward at church, came through my line.
"Oh! Hey! I didn't know you were working at Target!"
"Ya... don't remind me..."
"Hey, do you want to be my nanny?"
"Can I start tomorrow?"

That's pretty much how it went. Amy and I worked it out and after 1 "trial" day it was a done deal. (even though ANYTHING was better than retail corporate America so I would have taken the job pretty much no matter what) Amy had 9 month old twin girls. They were SO cute and well-behaved! I watched them, on average, 3 days a week for a year. It was the best job I ever had. I fell in love with the girls. They only got cuter every day.

Besides Amy saving me from the terrible Target monster, she shared her sweet girls with me, and gave me a job I was excited to go to and didn't feel like a job! Not only that but the girls came to love me which made it even better. I loved showing up and having the girls be so excited to see me. On top of all that Amy has taught me a world of things about how to be a good mother and set an amazing example of what kind of mother I want to be when that time comes. Through the minutes she spent with the girls before she left each day and through talking with her she was such an example to me. I really haven't seen many mothers with as much patience as Amy; especially not with twins! And if all that isn't enough, Amy has given me her friendship. Amy is in a different stage of life than me with 10 years or so of marriage under her belt along with two, three year olds, and me having less than a year of marriage and no kids. But we talk like she's my exact age.
After MyLove (Chase, the hubby) finally met Amy and Tony and we had spent some time talking with them, on the drive home Chase and I talked about them. I kept saying- "Aren't they cool?!" "I love Amy and Tony!" You might think I'm crazy, but MyLove agreed! We decided that if there was one phrase to describe Amy and Tony, it would be "Young At Heart."I don't know how to describe them otherwise.

All in all I am SO grateful for the Merrill family. For Amy and Tony trusting me with what is most important to them, for teaching by example how to be good parents, for being great friends, and now for trusting me to capture their Young-At-Heart-Wonderfulness and show it to the world. I hope I did your beautiful family justice. And to their girls A & M- you are so sweet and I love you! You light up my day when I get to come play with you and you are sitting out front, waiting for me to pull up. <3

Ok, ok! On with the pictures!