Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all our Friends and Family and pretty much everyone!
Emily has survived the first nine months of our marriage and life is looking pretty good for us. It's definitely been a new, exciting, not-lonely, FUN year and we're excited to wrap it up with our first Christmas together (as a married couple).
Emily graduated last week on the 19th of December from the Nevada School of Massage Therapy. We're both relieved to be done with that and the long/expensive commute to school (in Henderson) 5 days a week. Emily graduated with a 4.0 GPA because she is so brilliant in every way and was recognized during the Graduation Ceremony because of her greatness. She is certified in Swedish Massage, Russian Sports Massage Therapy, Injury Therapy, and Nine other techniques that blow my mind and body. She hopes to find clients in the community here (Moapa Valley Area) so feel free to contact us in this regard.
Throughout school Emily has had to work on Saturdays giving massages so we've had to put off weekend getaways and traveling. Now that she's done and since I only work Mon-Thurs, we're hoping to get out on the weekends and visit cousins and relatives a bit. We are planning on attending the Wollenzien Family Reunion this summer in Montana and hope to see a lot of family that I've neglected while I was in Hawaii for the last 8 years.

Anyway, better add a few photos here. Above is Emily receiving her diploma and award for 4.o GPA. We're loving our first Christmas together and bringing our family traditions together (got the Wollenzien train around the Christmas tree). Yes - it's a homely little tree (but cheap!) and kinda barren of ornaments (which we hope will come in time and with kids). With Emily's schooling we were on a tight budget and are waiting until the day after Christmas to get our decorations and such. We did get a strand of little lights up in the front yard and found some colored bulbs for the light fixtures on the fence and drive way. Our neighbors, the Jacksons, had the lighting covered good enough for our block anyway --->.

Merlin's scary pumpkin!

We wre taking pictures of the roses because its finally cool enough that they finally bloom pretty instead of just potpourri.





Anyway we ended up just taking pictures of ourselves . Turns out these are the only semi-decent pictures.


I wasn't explaining very good how i wanted him to stand...

Pomegranates!

Well Autumn is here and that means the surf is picking up out at North Shore (6-8 feet this weekend). Of course that doesn't matter much to Emily or I anymore because we live in Southern Nevada. It also means the pomegranates are in season and ready to be picked! For all you Hawaiian's or foreigners, pomegranates are about the size of a grapefruit with a tough red rind. Inside are pleasant little juicy globe shaped seeds with a taste similar to a cranberry. They're very high in antioxidants and very much in demand. They sell for $1.50-$3.00 each right now.

Anyway, we're blessed to have about 20 fully mature pomegranate trees on our (my parents) property and have been greatly anticipating their harvest. They were fully ripe by the end of October and last weekend Dad and Uncle John came down with a big press juicer and we spent a Day picking and juicing the pomegranates. I drove my tacoma truck in the backyard and we filled the bed to full capacity. After picking, we cut the fruit open and threw them in the juicer. When it was nearly full we'd stick the wood top in and start cranking it down until the pressure was near 300 psi. Each batch provided 4-5 gallons of juice and we probably got about 20 gallons altogether. Emily and I took about two gallons and the rest of it went to the relatives and my sibling. It's pretty potent (usually a bit on the tart side) stuff to drink straight so we mix about 1 part juice to 2 parts water with 1/4 cup sugar to get a heavenly little fruit drink.

Last night Emily and I looked up some jelly recipes and made a dozen 1/2 pints of pomegranate jelly for gifts and for the fridge. It was our first time making jelly and it turned out pretty good.

Latest Water Activities

Aloha everyone, the summer is drawing to a close and I (Merlin) figured I'd better drop a few lines and updates here. Emily is still driving to Vegas 4 to 5 days a week for her message therapy schooling. She is about half way through the program which concludes towards the end of December. She's like the valedictorian of her class cuz she's pretty much brilliant and gives awesome massages.
We made it out to Lake Mead a couple times lately via Boulder City Marina. Cousins Eric and Scott Hardy have some skis and a boat and all the toys. Emily learned how to single or slalom ski and of course it was easier for her. Eric and Scott are already professionals at wake boarding and can jump the wake with a few other tricks and maneuvers in the process. Emily's brother Evan came too and pulled off a flip on the wake board though the landing was a little sketchy.
Rick and his friends and I went to the reservoir last Saturday with my surf board and his four wheeler and he pulled me through the water from the beach. It was nice to get up again. To bad my arms are weak now and I can't paddle worth crap - lucky for me the 4-wheeler did all the work.

In other news, I've had an irrigation leak in the backyard under some pomegranate trees. The water has been coming out of the ground from around an air tube. It had gotten a lot worse in August so one Friday afternoon I started digging down to see if I could find the hole and repair it. I dug about six feet down all the way to the main pipe and found that the air tube wasn't sealed on to the main pipe very well and that the irrigation company would have to come repair it. Normally digging that much out would have been a headache of a job but after doing so much computer work every day it felt nice doing some real masculine work and I felt much more manly upon completion of the pit.
Now I thought I had timed it so that the irrigation was off during the weekend, but sometimes it's just random and just my luck - it came on that night with more furry now and flooded the yard real good which wasn't such a bad thing I guess. Robert and Rick were down over the weekend and took advantage of the new pool that I had dug. I got a hold of someone from the irrigation and they turned it off then came and repaired it early the following week.
The fish pond and water fountain in the front yard are still looking good and the fish (my little babies) are still alive and growing. I have a few gold fish, sarassa comets and a Japanese Koi. I like to spend a bit more time working in the pond then the rest of the yard. It's like my little piece of Hawaii. Earlier in the summer the lily pads blossomed real nicely - click on my photo at lower-right and you can probably see the yellow & white blossoms in the pads. I also picked up some floating plants (Blue Shellflower Water Hyacinths) last spring that have multiplied. I pushed them up toward the fountain so the lily pads would have room to grow. They blossomed beautiful blue-purple peddles a few days ago and I need to get some new photos of them. You can see them getting high in the photo below with Emily and (Drum roll.... ANEPO!) Yep, our little Anepo came to visit from Hawaii. She was visiting Jared in Arizona and the Bachelor family here in Moapa and she spent an afternoon with us. Anyway if anyone wants some floating water Hyacinths give me a hollar. I've got too many and need to start thinning them. They are pretty green and really nice when they blossom and they do pretty well in the desert environment (providing they are floating in water).

Beaver camping trip

We went on a camping trip and met up with all the Wollenziens a couple weeks ago.

Merlins got some competition...
I couldn't quite swing my legs around.
Here is the love shack.
I was probobly beguining to stink by now.
I used a crate and bribery to get on.
Yep, Im the Pooper Scooper.
For some reason I had a picture fetish with all the fences. I have like 20 pictures of fences...
Mama Wollenzien driving the Kubota halling firewood.
Silly Merlin jumped on bareback backwards. He wasn't expecting it to start trotting away.
I got kinda scared after taking this picture cus I realized they were running straight at me.

Our Dating & Engagement Story

Her Story:
To whomever cares,
Let me tell you about the first time I saw Merlin. I thought: "he's wonderful". It was at a campfire game night at the Hukilou Beach Park. He was in charge of the werewolf game and Mer's natural charisma and how fun he made things, immediately attracted him to me; and, he sparked a small flame. This spark in my heart eventually grew into this huge, giant, four-alarm fire, all consuming, but, yet continually burning!
I wasn't able to talk to him that night, I guess I was too overwhelmed by his presence, but the next night we met again at a singles conference hoedown, and I was lucky enough to watch him dance a little, His dancing was so cute. Mer came over and started talking with our little circle and I found out he snorkels, and hikes, and he surfs, and I thought: "I've hit the jackpot, the virtual mother load of funness"! He was exactly the person I wanted to meet and hang out with for my two month stay in Hawaii. I got his number and the next day we hung out on a bus ride for a Single's Ward outing-thingy, It was the best bus ride of my life! Merlin called me to go out on an adventure soon after, and I was hooked like a marlin.
We hung out for nearly two months before we started dating. When we finally got to that first awkward moment, you know the time when you first hold each others hand, and you know ... , well you know, it was about a week and a half before I had my plane ticket to go home.
Merlin made my life so much more complicated! I hoped he didn't think I was some summer romance, and would just disappear. I left, and flew home, and after a lot of praying, and talking to my mom and dad, I decided that if Merlin was the one, I needed time to get to know him, and fall in love with him more, much more! I made my decision and came back in a week and a half from home, and we were together every day for the next three months.
On Christmas day, at my parent's home, early in the morning, Merlin proposed to me, making me the luckiest girl in the universe.
I am so happy and so blessed to have Merlin in my life, and soon for eternity, and beyond!

Emily Ellen Ellsworth (now Wollenzien!!)

His Story:
I met Emily at a beach activity one night in the middle of June. We got more acquainted that weekend at a church service activity. Most of my friends had left the island for the summer so I was stoked to make some new ones (Emily and her friend Sarah). I was particularly happy that they didn't have jobs or schooling so they would always be available to go diving and adventuring with me after I got off work at 3 each afternoon.
Little did I know just how adventure capable Emily was. She followed and usually exceeded my skills as we hiked, climbed, and rappelled around the Ko'olau range. The third time I took her surfing was at leftovers break on North Shore. The waves were 4-5 feet in height and I was a little apprehensive taking Emily as the break was a bit more difficult and dangerous, but I couldn't say no. After we paddled out to the deep I watched her paddle down a swell and disappear from my site. I was a little nervous - expecting her to wipeout and swim up through the whitewash behind the wave. I stared in disbelief as I saw her little head appear near the top of the wave as she surfed it in towards shore. When she paddled back out I told her that I would be happy if she were my wife and I could spend the rest of my life surfing with her in Hawaii. She didn't comment on my suggestion at that time.

We spent every afternoon and many dinners together throughout the rest of the summer. She was beautiful and I loved every minute that I spent with her, but my conscious never ceased to remind me of our age gap and the fact that she was only here for the summer. I never imagined she would be romantically interested in me and I felt it unethical to make a move on her. I took a trip home in August and when I returned I spent a day surfing with my buddy Randy who seemed to know something about Emily and I. He was adamant that I ask her out or at least talk to her about our relationship. I was even more doubtful about a potential romantic relationship by this time, but I thought I'd at least try something. The day we dropped Sarah (Emily's sidekick) off at the airport I invited Emily over for a movie that evening. I got out a big beanbag for us to share and watch the movie on. We were close on the bag but I was still to apprehensive (chicken) to make a move. Half way through the movie, with a sigh of frustration, she grabbed my hand. I was blown away that she was interested in a relationship with me. I didn't know how it would turn out, but I knew I would enjoy our time together a bit more than before.

Merlin is Dead to Hawaii - This is his Will

Suliyo - To Yo I leave one of my most prized and hard earned skills. You are bestowed with unprecedented breath holding & cave diving abilities. Most importantly you are given the mentality that you can always go a bit deeper and further through caverns despite the near black-outs you will experience. Though your underwater navigational skills will still be a little sketchy, you will have the luck of always finding a way out while on night dives in the sharks cove labyrinth of caves. I have selected this skill particularly for you in regards to spear fishing. You are blessed to sustain your poor little Asian self and receive nourishment for your tight lil Asian body and provide Sherpa-mule-like cargo carrying support for me during my hiking visits to the islands.

Joshua Nielson - To Josh I leave all my Take-It-Like-A-Man abilities for surviving 8+ foot wave faces at Pounders and Waimea. Included is the love and desire of having the sinuses and digestive system throughly washed with salt-sand water. In addition you are given the ability to survive major wave body-slams while trying to paddle out to the surf in 4 foot deep coral lined ocean water (not exempt from receiving minor bruises, cuts, gashes, etc that take 10 months or less to heal, though you are blessed with mind frame to enjoy all such injuries and return to the waves and surf despite healing status of received injuries). You are also given responsibility to document/photograph/video all awesome water-related activities and ensure participants receive copies of media and send to acquaintances that are not in Hawaii to cause envy.

Jared Hinton - To Jared I leave my power of reasoning and choice of selecting Hawaiian adventures and ocean-self-gratification over all educational and other occupational time constraints. You are bestowed with the indisputable belief that choosing the former will somehow make you successful with the latter in the end anyway. You are also blessed with Blevins house survival without eviction for at least 3 years from beginning of your stay.

Jada Quigley- To Jada I hereby grant unto you a diploma for graduating from beginner to intermediate Tour Guide for all adventures listed on the www.merman.us website. With the intermediate skill set I grant you permission to supervise and direct all listed activities and appropriately instruct all newbies on given activity. With this responsibility you are required to submit monthly reports and photographs of all activites to your immediate supervisor (myself) for review. I will also leave you a skill set to magnify independently - I give you my hardly-a-trail ridge hiking/camping skills. Included is the ability to make awesome rain-proof lean-too's and shelters on completely random and sketchy ridge tops. You are now granted permission to snuggle on cold ridge top nights (Not with Yo though - I will retain him for myself).

Billy M - To Billy I leave my ability to hike 1,000 foot high, two foot wide ridge tops in the middle of the night without a flashlight - and like it. I also leave you my inability to date after getting off the mission and, after slowly easing into dating, and sending a few girlfriends on missions, finally getting married at age 29 to the hottest-awesomest girl on the plant (2nd hottest/awesome for you).

Jason Snelson- To Jason I leave my ability to send someone else down first on a flooded waterfall rappel or any other such questionable act or activity.

Matt Redding - Matt you receive my ability of jumping off fallen trees without seriously spraining an ankle. Better yet, you are blessed with the mind not to jump from six foot or higher drops (unless there's a pool of water at the bottom - then it's unlimited).

Sarah Mcmains - To Sarah I leave my ability to hike Sacred Falls and all other off-limit trails an infinite number of times without getting caught.

Bracken - Any and all success & joy I ever had surfing I now bestow upon you Bracken. You are expected to magnify this art and joy during your time in Hawaii.

Randy - To Randy I return the gift of successful dating and courtship that he had graciously lent to me.

Halty - You receive my ability to snuggle other men when stuck on emergency, cold, wilderness survival outings.

Fun 2 months!

Its May, which means Merlin and I have been married two months. This last month has been a long one considering Merlin is working and I've just been a stay at home wife/reader/ maid/ amature painter/ seamstress/ gardening/ lazy/ Sweet Nectar. But this coming week I'm starting school at the school of Massage Therapy and I'm pretty fired up.

We've gone on some fun adventures this month. Merlin still the amazing tour guide led the way to a mystery cave. Merlin Led on the dirtbike and I followed on big red and we road to a mountain an hour away from home, then we hiked to this cave and repelled down 60ish feet to a wee cave. Poor Merlin had to wait up for me along all the ridges. I got pretty winded pretty quickly. But luckily it was a nice, breezy, sexy day outside. We beheld some cute Stalactites. Wish I had remembered to bring a camera along. A common growth rate for Stalacites is 1 millimeter a year. Another growth rate I found is that one can grow ten centimeters per thousand years. Crazy! But anyways I really enjoy the quiet and darkness of nature and love the time I get to experience the simple beauty.

Another fun hike we went on was Ice Box Canyon. My family cordinated it and we hopped in the back of my moms little beetle bug(to our discomfort) and headed to Red Rock Canyon outside of LV. We went on the little senic route and the bikers in their tight little biker shorts were passing us up going fifty. I just hope those little biker shorts really make them go quicker and arn't for looks. Anyways I kept tring to pull Merlin back with the group but the mountain goat in him wouldn't let him go that slow it would seem. Haha. The hike is through a river bed and at the end there is evidence of a waterfall but no running water. A nice green pool though. It was a fun little hike. Its always fun to be with family.

Monday I had an amazing experience. My Sister Ashley invited me to see her new little baby's birth. It was such a beautiful sacred experience to see that little boy come into the world. My brother Thomas, who is going through EMT school right now had to watch a couple births and said how you just get a cool feeling when you see life coming into the world right before your eyes and I feel the same way. It definately made me excited to be a Mom. But for a little while we'll just be practicing creating for a while longer.