Merrill and Roberta Simon and Family

Maverick Winchester-Sloan Simon What a great name!!! It embodies all that I miss about Dallas. More than that, it means unconventional, standing up for what you believe, going against the grain. This much we know, adopting a baby at 50 and 52 is all that and more. We are in love with this happy little man who keeps us beyond busy. He just knocks our socks right off. He makes us all laugh. It is worth it to have him. Getting ready for the ice cream party. Whoohoo , Gary, LisaMarie, Pat and dad taking on the earthquake. They won. LOL A tender moment with dad sharing the ice cream, Sharing our first family photo, with everyone except Mallory. So that is 14 boys and one girl. Such an amazing thing really. I am so proud of them.

Our family was asked to meet with Senator Ensign. I have to say that it was just an unreal visit. He is such a neat person and he took the time to talk to us, to share about his family and his son and to actually play with the kids. It is hard for Merrill and I to fathom why someone of his importance would even want to take the time to meet us and the children. We are still tickled as we think about just how special that day was. Below is a picture, although not that good of the plaque that he presented to the family. We are truly humbled to have received this recognition.

I am not even sure how to write this BLOG. It feels so undeserved and for the most part nearly selfish. I went on a seven day vacation without Merrill or the children. Yes, you read that right, no other members of this family went with me. WOW!!! It all started nearly a year ago with a email sent to my brother and sister. For any of you that follow this blog, you know that our daddy passed away just a bit over two years ago. Our mama has been gone for most of our adult lives. The harsh reality that it is just the three of us, well it was really settling in at that time. Bobby called us, put us on speaker phone and told us that he was going to take Tammy and I anywhere in the United States that we wanted to go. It was our choice. Well, it took a few months, but we decided that we wanted to go to Disney World. On many levels, that is just plain funny, but it turned into a trip of a life time. It was so way over the top that it was nearly unreal. It involved first class airline tickets,