Christmas Review

Merry Christmas!

23!

(For this post I'm choosing to have number dyslexia, but that's how old I FEEL...so it IS partly right.)

The benefit of having a birthday on a Friday is that the whole weekend becomes an ongoing celebration. On Friday, we went to dinner with Kristin and Preston. The food was terrible (ate at Buffalos because we had a gift certificate---DON'T EAT THERE), but the company was great...of course. We came back home and ate my yummy carrot birthday cake (Nothing Bundt style) that Nathan made. I know...my husband is wonderful and I'm so lucky to have him! On Saturday, we went to Cedar City and had dinner at Rusty's...soooo good! We had quite a party with my parents along with four of my siblings and their spouses. We were all brave and made it up the canyon through the blizzard. It was even braver of us (probably stupid) to drive home after dinner. We should have stayed the night, but we felt like we needed to get back for church at 9:00 am, so we drove home at a snail's pace through the snowstorm. We've driven through several bad snowstorms before, but this trip was ultra-stressful with a baby on board. McKay actually slept the whole trip home, but I was pretty anxious until we made it to clear roads.

I won't list all of my fabulous gifts, but I will show a picture of one of my favorites (from Kristin and Preston):

That's right...it's the Alamo...all lit up for Christmas! I LOVE the Alamo and I'm tempted to leave this out all year. I can't believe how closely this resembles the real thing...right down to the doors.

Thanks to everyone who made my birthday so special! Oh, and my sister made me cry with this. (Sisters are the best!)

One Christmas Party Down!

Last night we had a little Christmas party for the Young Women in my ward. It shouldn't have been as much as work it ended up being, but it was fun. I hope the girls had a good time. Here's what I made them for their Christmas gift (the tag reads, "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, Do You Know How Loved You Are?"):


We had some activities throughout the year that were based on a star theme (Girls' Camp's theme was A Wonderful World Starring You), and we hope this gift will help them to remember some of what we talked about.

So now I'm done with this project, I can work on the mountain of other projects that have piled up. What am I doing still sitting here?

A Tag: 7 Random Things

7 Things I Can Do:
1. Find a bargain.
2. Refurbish furniture.
3. Remember phone numbers.
4. Teach piano lessons.
5. Assemble things (furniture, cakes, jewelry, recipes, flower arrangements and crafts).
6. Tell Nathan what to do. :) (He would say I'm an expert!)
7. Be happy and grateful for all I've been given.

7 Things I Can't Do:
1. Feel my baby toe on my left foot.
2. Get the insurance company to pay for one of the remaining claims from my back surgery. (So frustrating...it's been over a year-and-a-half! I'm going to have to get Gephardt!)
3. Watch movies starring Barbra Streisand or Susan Sarandon (except for Enchanted).
4. Eat pizza or ice cream. (Counting down the days.)
5. Kiss my baby enough.
6. Stop downloading free digital scrapbooking stuff.
7. Read the same book twice. (With the exception of the BOM, of course.)

7 Things I Always Say:
1. "I love you!"
2. "Is that so?"
3. "Interesting."
4. "You've got to be kidding me!"
5. "Don't bite Mama!"
6. "What should we have for dinner?"
7. "How does my hair look?"

7 Things I Always Eat:
1. Almonds
2. Oatmeal
3. Bananas
4. Turkey Burgers
5. Dreyers Fruit Bars
6. Chips and Guacamole
7. Potatoes
(Someday I'll eat like a regular person again.)

Not tagging anyone else...Merry Christmas!

What? It's December?!?!

I was going to write a list of all the things I did last week, but I'm afraid it would take me too much time and too much brain power to try to remember it all. To say that it was a busy week would be an understatement! We were so blessed to have the Wrigleys (Jared, Sarah, Logan and soon-to-be-born) come stay with us for most of the week. We always have tons of fun when we get together. We didn't have much time to play around though...it seemed like we were always coming and going or cooking and washing dishes. Somewhere in the middle of it all we had Thanksgiving at Nathan's parents' house with many extended family members. I made three pies (of seventeen), gravy, cranberry sauce and eight dozen of these (this is the only picture taken by me on Thanksgiving):

We usually try to split up the day between both our families, but this year we broke with tradition since there was way too much work to do, so we just did the Miller thing. I did manage to sneak away for a couple of hours to play some Guitar Hero with my 17-year-old nephew, Christopher (who totally creamed me by the way). I guess it was to be expected since I haven't played in almost a year (my hands were numb for the last several months of my pregnancy). I'm going to have to break out my Guitar Hero to practice up for a Christmas rematch. He did warn me a couple of months ago by saying, "I just want to let you know that I can pretty much beat you now at Guitar Hero." I admit, he's pretty good and can play the hardest on expert, but just you wait, Mr. Christopher, just you wait!

In another break with tradition...I did not go shopping on Black Friday. The only thing that I felt like I missed out on was the special sister time that usually takes place that day at 4:00 am. Maybe next year?!?! I did go shopping on Saturday afternoon though, the stores were not nearly as crowded as I had anticipated and I did get a few great deals.

I broke down and went to see Twilight on Friday. Hopefully I waited long enough to not be considered an obsessed fan. I did like the movie...didn't think it was the best movie ever, but it was good. In a couple of supposed-to-be-serious moments, I couldn't help but giggle at the way a few of the lines were delivered. I think I'll wait until its DVD release to see it again.

Even though we were pretty busy, I did enjoy Thanksgiving and did find time to reflect on all I'm grateful for. I won't list everything (see first paragraph), but I am most grateful for my angel miracle baby who has filled my life with so much love and joy. I have "thanksgiving" in my heart every day for this precious gift Heavenly Father gave to me. I'm sooo looking forward to Christmas this year I can't even stand it!

McKay Goes Retro

I'd been meaning to take some pictures of McKay wearing this outfit for a while. It belonged to Nathan when he was a baby...I think he wore it when he was a year old. It is actually in pretty good condition considering how old it is. I'm glad I decided to take these pictures today...it was a little too short!

Fourth Folder, Fourth Photo

My cute friend Sydney tagged me! The game is to open your fourth folder, post the fourth picture and give a brief explanation.

This picture was taken when McKay was ten days old. I wish I could remember if Nathan was talking or singing to him. Either way, McKay is paying attention! After I opened this picture, I had to go back and look at all of McKay's newborn pictures. I can't believe how much he has changed in six months!

Keeping with the "four" theme, I tag my four sisters: Holly, Janet, Suzanne and Kristin.

Sweet Harmony Jane

We took a quick jaunt to LV on Saturday to get a peek at my precious new niece, Harmony Jane. She is SO yummy! She definitely resembles her siblings, but she also has her own look. She has dark hair, gorgeous almond eyes and cute full lips. I don't think I've held a newborn since McKay was born...it made him seem so grown up. This got me thinking I'm ALMOST ready for another one!

I just have to take a minute to talk about how nice Janet's room/hospital was. The wooden floor was so shiny and clean. Wait, aren't all hospital floors supposed to be shiny and clean? You would think that, but it isn't so---at least not at the particular one I'm thinking of. I could go on and on about the negative qualities of that one, but instead I will focus on the oustanding qualities of this one. The nurses were sooo cheery and helpful. Janet's recovery room was so roomy with FIVE chairs for visitors to sit in, not one or even two...but FIVE! Okay, I guess that's enough, but I'm seriously thinking of how I can have my next baby there. (Not that it's in the works...yet.)

Sentimental Journey

I'd been procastinating putting away McKay's clothes that are too little (all the way back to newborn size). They were being stored in a basket in his closet and the basket started to overflow some time ago. I decided today was the day to pack it up. This task took a little longer than I planned. I sat on the floor in his closet and held each outfit up and thought about how much I loved it and how cute McKay looked in it. I smelled them, rubbed them against my cheek and then folded them neatly before putting them in the big blue storage bin. I'm really not ready for him to be "big." I waited too long for this time to have it go by so fast! I bought some of his clothes years ago and spent hours (collectively) admiring and imagining a baby (MY baby) wearing them...and now it's a little surreal for him to have actually outgrown them. Thank goodness for digital cameras! I'm sure we have a picture of McKay wearing each item of clothing at least once. I can't imagine not using them again. If I don't have another boy, will I be holding on to these clothes until he's 50....or as long as I live? Of course not...I'm not THAT sentimental to need to store/move them. I would rather have another baby (if not my own) get good use out of them, but I'm sure that there are at least a few items I don't think I'll ever part with.

A Boy and a (Sippy) Cup

I gave McKay his new sippy cup today with a little water, and as you can see by the following pictures, he LOVED it! He did drink some water, but he mostly enjoyed chewing on the soft spout. I'm a little afraid that this will only encourage the same sort of behavior during feeding time---if you know what I mean. His razor sharp tooth is visible in the last picture.

Oodles and Oodles of Free Sheet Music!

I came across a website a while ago that I've been meaning to mention. It was like opening a treasure chest I didn't know I'd been looking for. The website is actually a blog that has a GAZILLION links to all sorts of FREE sheet music---from classical to popular. You don't even need to register! Check it out here. Shame on me for waiting so long to share. If you already knew about it and didn't tell me---shame on you! :)

'Twas a Happy Halloween

Happy Birthday to Nathan!

I just can't seem to do a post without pictures, but this time there are only a few. How you can you talk about a birthday without sharing pictures?

We had a fun day celebrating Nathan's birthday. McKay and I took balloons to Nathan at work. McKay LOVED the balloons and couldn't stop laughing as they bounced off each other as we walked into the office. Nathan brought the balloons home, and in my attempt to get McKay to laugh with them again, I popped all of them but the foil one (didn't pay attention to how close they were to the ceiling fan). He still loves the one that's left!

McKay had so much fun helping open the presents. This is his first-ever present-opening experience:

I am so grateful for Nathan, and for the magnificent husband and father that he is!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NATHAN!!!!

1/200th of a Century

My baby is six months old today! He is growing so fast and is so fun to play with. His new favorite game is "Peek-a-boo," he sits up by himself, he rolls and rolls, and he pulls himself forward by grabbing the carpet. We think tooth #2 is soon to appear. We love him so much and wonder how we ever survived without him!

Here is how his six-month photo shoot at home went (his outfit says I Love My Mummy):

Last Trip Pictures (I can't promise!)

We visited a pumpkin patch just down the road from Suzanne's house. We found the outing to be another great photo-op.

Sea World

We rode many of the rides at Sea World. My favorite ride that day was Journey to Atlantis with my sister and not quite 3 1/2 year old niece, Abi. Abi insisted she wanted to go on the ride (she barely met the height requirement). She was so brave! Here we are on the front row:

Feeding the dolphins---McKay looks like he's ready to jump in (on the left):

If you look closely in this picture, it looks like McKay is actually holding the fish out for the dolphin to eat:

McKay met a horse for the first time (a very pretty Clydesdale):

I love when I can get a picture of a dolphin or whale mid-jump:

McKay was mesmerized by the Shamu show: