100th Post Giveaway!

This is our 100th post here at Greetings from the Merritts...crazy, right?!

To say danke to our fabulous readers we'd like to offer up some tasty German treats to TWO lucky winners! To enter, please answer the following question in the comment section below:

What is the BEST vacation/trip you've been on and why?

All entries must be submitted by noon (Pacific Standard Time) on May 20th, 2010.
Two lucky winners will be chosen at random.

Photo Essay: Puppies

Good Lord! These puppies are too cute for words. We don't know which color Rocket Man is wearing, but we do know that the boys are sporting light blue, green, and purple ribbons, while the girls are wearing the ever-fashionable red, orange, and yellow.

Storm Gazing

Last night as we were getting ready to eat dinner we heard a long lost friend rumble in the distance. Thunder. We couldn't believe it! We were going to get an honest to goodness thunderstorm (after living in San Diego for a few years, you really do come to miss them). We peeked outside and saw the front moving right before our eyes:

We loaded our plates with food, pulled up two chairs, and hunkered down in front of the open window to watch the storm sweep by us:





As the storm cloud neared our window, the wind began to pick-up speed, the rain fell harder and faster, and bright white lightening bolts lit up the deep blue-gray sky.

The lightening and thunder raged on for a few more minutes and just as quickly as the storm came upon us, it was gone. Light blue skies and puffy white clouds ushered in a quiet, calm spring evening.

Our Puppy...

...was born on Mother's Day! As well as his 2 brothers and 3 sisters.

Mama Lara looks pretty wiped out after welcoming her new babies.

Don't you just LOVE those puppy tails?!

Or how about this little one...not even as big as Mama's paw!



Our puppy's full, breeder-given, name is Forester's Rocket Man of Darkmoor. Ha! It definitely made us laugh. It sounds very knightly or something. We're still working on our name for him, but we've got 8 weeks before we can take him home so we have some time still. We will be getting photos and updates every day so we'll be sure to post more pictures of our little Rocket Man.

Frühlingsfest, Part Deux

This Saturday we ventured back to Frühlingsfest for a final hurrah before the Fest closed for the season. Needless to say, we had an awesome time drinking beer, singing along to songs we don't know, and wearing our lederhosen and dirndl. To give you a taste of what it's like inside the beer tents we took a little video. Enjoy!

The tents are smokey, warm, loud and a touch chaotic with people milling around everywhere. The beer tent we were in this Saturday was much smaller than the one we were in the first time. Not only smaller, but MUCH warmer. We all started sweating right after we walked in so you can imagine how extra refreshing those beers tasted.



Frühlingsfest season has officially ended. We had a blast and now can't wait for Volksfest!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to our two loving, warmhearted, fabulous moms!

Thank you so much for everything you've done for us. We love you both very much.


On top of that, we want to wish a BIG Happy Birthday to Brian's mom, Joan!



This mountain mama's birthday is today, May 9th.
We wish you lots of sunshine, laughter, and relaxation on your special day!
Love - B & C

We Need Your Help

Image courtesy of Triporati

We are excitedly trying to plan a belated anniversary trip. We need your help though. We started looking into Corfu, a Greek island, and are still considering it, but we don't know a lot about it and started to think that there are SO many other Greek islands that maybe we should broaden our search. That's where our fabulous readers come in. We love getting travel trips from family and friends so we'd love to hear from you! Please leave a comment with any insight or suggestions you have regarding traveling to a Greek island (or any island in the Mediterranean for that matter).

Did you stay on an island you loved? Did you stay on an island you hated? Adored your resort, hotel, or villa? Read a great article about an island/resort/location? Even if it's a friend of a friend who has a suggestion...Let us know!

Thanks in advance for any potential advice that might come our way.
We appreciate the help and our fantastic readers!