Miller Milestones

I Love Fall!

2011-11-11T14:13:00.001-05:00

The leaves are a gorgeous yellow, orange, and red. Anytime I drive anywhere I say to the kids "can you believe how gorgeous these leaves are?" Nate says "Why Mom?" I guess he'll really appreciate them when he's older. We are baking pumpkin cookies, pancakes, muffins, and eating pumpkin ice cream. The weather is brisk enough for light jackets and long sleeved shirts, and the crisp air smells magical. I LOVE FALL! I guess it reminds me of trick-treating in the snow as children and of family get- togethers coming up. I also love the warm, cozy feeling of being in my house bundled up in a blanket with a good book. Alas, now that we are a few months into fall, I definitely have some catching up to do.

At the beginning of the season, it was finally cool enough to go camping. So we packed up our 10 man tent and headed to Prince Wiliam Forest Park with our friends the Cranes, and some of their friends. All the kids got along great, and enjoyed finding sticks together, playing tag, roasting (and eating) marshmallows, and watching the fire. Nate and Kaitlyn loved their new sleeping bags, and once the settled down from all the excitement of camping, finally went to sleep. Us adults, stayed up and talked late into the night as well as sang around the campfire. It was a great way to welcome the new, crips weather.

We spent Labor Day at Burke Lake Park with the Hunts. The husbands took the kids on the train and to the playground. While the wives went running for 5 miles around the lake. The weather was wonderful and it was a perfect day for a run and to spend some family time outdoors.

My baby moved out of her crib:( I guess she's not a baby any more, I'm in denial. The kids and I have been spending rainy days inside painting, baking, reading, and doing a lot of rough housing!

At the end of September, we went to Cox Farms for their preview weekend- only $5 a person and the best deal in town! We love that place- it has a hayride, complete with sound effects and a Disneyesque tunnel, barrel slides, haystack slides, and a huge dinosaur slide that you use burlap sacks to go down. They have lots of mini slides as well as farm animals and the best part, all you can eat apples and apple cider. As a bonus, you get to take home your own mini pumpkin. We went to another pumpkin patch several weeks later with Nate's preschool, but it wasn't nearly as good. Even still fall festivals are always a fun way to celebrate the new season:)

Here is Nate's preschool field trip to Clark's farm in Fredericksburg:

Fall is here! But first, let's do a little recap of the end of summer...

2011-10-09T19:18:00.002-05:00

I celebrated my 30th birthday, yes, my 30th!!! I can't believe I'm already 30. I'm supposed to have it all together by now, right?! Well, maybe I can shoot for that goal by 35:) Andrew took me out for a nice Italien dinner using a groupon, and then to see Guys and Dolls and Wolf Trap, an outdoor theater. It was a perfect way to celebrate! My hubby is so good to me:) On my actual birthday, I got a sitter so I could get a mani/pedi, new clothes, and new running shoes. It was definitely relaxing and I highly recommend it. That evening, we went out with the kids and then came home for a homemade icecream cake- half PB and chocolate and the other half mint and chocolate. What a perfect way to celebrate my 30th:)

The kids and I kept busy by going to lots of playgroups, including an awesome splash park, Burke Lake Park, which has a cool train and carousel, Pirates Cove again, and the lake and pool.

My cute, crazy kiddos:

KK let me french braid her hair!

The kids' favorite pasttime is trying on our shoes!

KK loves to put as many "headbams" on her head as possible

Nate did this puzzle all by himself with no help (the 2nd or 3rd time!)

The kids and their "Dora backpacks" from a birthday party, and of course, KK in her sunglasses- she's obsessed!

Later in the month, we went to OBX with our good friends from Maryland, the Murphys. We had an awesome week with great weather and enjoyed laying out in the sun, swimming to our hearts' content, playing games and watching movies late into the night, and we even enjoyed a date night sponsored by Court's mom- she watched the kids and paid for dinner- she was great and the kids had to fight over who got to spend time with her. We stayed in Corrolla in a resort community, complete with great sidewalks to run on (Court and I were both training for the Ragnar), lots of swimming pools, a tram service to and from the beach, bbqs, movie nights, and a 5k. We wanted to do the 5k, but Hurricane Irene cut our trip short and they evacuated everyone the day before it was supposed to happen. We were a little rebellious and went to the beach the day they evacuated tourists. It was gorgeous weather and we just couldn't leave! Besides, by the time we left that night, there was no traffic so it was a win-win:) It was a perfect vacation, and we were all well rested by the end of it.

Our beach house! (j/k-next year?)

This was really our beach house. It was cute and quaint and had an amazing master bath!!

waiting for the trolley to the beach!


the kids loved the tram ride everyday and it was a nice way to get to the beach!

our cool set up

I got lots of good R&R!

so I looked like this most of the vacation!

This is how KK liked to relax at the beach

Nate tried the boogie-board one day, and actually got a few pretty impressive waves, but the next day he wasn't even interested.

KK thought boogie boarding on the sand looked a little less dangerous than in the water

Grandma playing with the kids

Andrew turned me into a mermaid!

Walking to the pool

KK thought the goggles were a new, cooler form of sunglasses...

so she wouldn't take them off,

not even at home!

Spencer and Nate (and buzzes) enjoying their ice cream. They were best buds, it was like we never left Maryland:)

Sammy leading the kids in "We're going on a bear hunt"

My favorite time was early morning when the tide was low and we could collect shells. We even saw some dolphins!

Nate thought the raft looked a little less dangerous than the boogie board!


Nate loved every minute of the beach!

We found a cool lighthouse on our date

after our date night- we went "restaurant hopping" and then came home to settle in for a good movie, "Soul Surfer", while the kids were sleeping

Here are the kids at the popcorn place we went to on our date, we took them back the next day

sporting my new hat!

kk sporting her new glasses!

All good vacations must come to an end sometime- the kids played so hard everyday that this is typically how they looked on the way home. Thanks for such a great vacation Murphys!!!!

J'elaxin' in July 2: Speidel Reunion in Emden Maine

2011-08-14T21:08:00.001-05:00

The big highlight of July was meeting up with my family in Maine for our 2nd annual Speidel reunion. We had such a great, relaxing time last year that we just had to rent another cabin this year for some more relaxing and catching up! We had a kayak, a canoe, a hammock, a raft, and our float plane. We also found a few swimming platforms to jump off in the lake as well as a water trampoline:0) We spent our time swimming, playing with the kids, soaking up sun, playing games (including pool), rafting, hiking *, running, flying, canoeing, kayaking, fishing, watching movies, and even had a dance off with the Wii one night. It was a great time all around and I think we have finally found a vacation where everyone feels like they can relax, except maybe poor Grandma because the kids constantly wanted to play with her!

*Nate hiked 3 hard miles on the AT trail. Andrew only carried him a few times. I was having a hard time climbing over those boulders, and he didn't complain once:)


Kaitlyn and Dash in the motor home on the way to the watering hole (2 months apart!)

Kaitlyn and Dash on the way to our hike LAST YEAR in the exact same position! (they grow too fast:)

hiking to the watering hole

exploring the watering hole

Jake climbing to the top of the waterfall


quite picturesque

Riley and Nate- best friends:)

Nate and Riley LAST YEAR!

The grand-kids couldn't get enough of Grama and Grampa! ( and the hammock:)

Grandma organized activities for the kiddos each day- they caught caterpillars!

Me and Hanza!

Nate liked being upside down more than right side up:)

Brr...it's cold!

Dash and Kaitlyn were in charge of moving all of the rocks to make us a sandy beach:)

When we couldn't find Doree, we knew she was out in the kayak or canoe

Beautiful sunset!

Getting our Bollywood on!

Yes, everyone participated in the WII dance off!

Jake trying to convince Dash that the water was not cold:)

We went down the river for 9 miles on these...

and in this! (the canoe, not the car:)

What a relaxing day on the river! (thanks for pulling us once the current quit Jake!)

Nate's face is hilarious! He's really wanting to make cookies and sick of waiting.

Grama's at it again- entertaining the grand-kids:)

We did a lot of chillin'

More chillin'

Dad and Jake flying the float plane

my view

this is us landing on the water- a little scary, but quite a thrill!

the evenings were always so peaceful, and everyone watched as the float plane landed each night

Hannah even flew the float plane! (Nate didn't want to go this year, sorry Han:)

Here is Kaitlyn's party #5: Grandma had a pinata for the kids and Ali made her famous chocolate cake to celebrate:)

Family Pics

the toy room kept the kids completely entertained- that alone was worth renting the cabin:)


This year's cabin was rustic and over-decorated, but we still loved it!

Jake described it as TGI Friday's

Our menu for the evening!


Here is the view

Although we loved the cabin this year, here are some things we missed from our cabin last year:

alright, the view was better last year

we had a speed boat the whole week...

so we could go tubing!

we all made it on the hike!

we exercised a lot more, even though Doree and I did run to train for our Ragnar Race!

Nate went in the float plane

we had cute chubby babies, and now they are toddlers already!

it was cool enough at night to make s'mores.

we had a porch swing,


and an enclosed patio.

but really what made the cabin this year so much better was that toy area for the kids. We'll see which cabin we'll choose next year...One thing's for sure, it will have fishing and boating and we will get plenty of R&R. Thanks for the great trip everyone!

J'elaxin' in July

2011-08-07T21:53:00.001-05:00

July has been busy because we've been playing a lot! Our little family went to Waterworks, the local waterpark. I got a discount for being an employee of parks and rec, and they told me I got 1/2 off for my whole family b/c I was a part-time employee, so we got in for $9! I tried to explain to him that it didn't make sense for me to get more of a discount than full time employees (technically only the employee, not their family, is supposed to get the discount), but he wouldn't listen, so it wasn't worth arguing over. Anyways, we had a great time swimming, splashing in the fountains, going on the waterslides, and having a picnic. Andrew and I would take turns with the kids so we could go on the big water slides- I can't remember the last time I went on one. The kids also loved jumping in from the side, and actually preferred the bigger pool to the kiddie play area. We also brought a picnic and enjoyed it outside of the waterpark (they held our food for us at the front). It wasn't too crowded either and the kids were both in great moods, so that always helps!

Kaitlyn loved carrying around and buckling all of the lifejackets.

Kaitlyn was modeling in the water and loved laying back in it!

For the 4th of July, we got up early and took our decorated bikes to the church for the annual pancake breakfast. We did a flag ceremony, ate delicious pancakes and eggs, had a bike parade, played some games (including bean bag tosses, balancing eggs on a spoon, and the three legged race), and the kids got their faces painted.

In the evening, we had some friends over for a bbq and to light off some of our own fireworks. Nate found a "shark" firework at the stand and enjoyed throwing the snappers at my feet. He also liked the snakes. Kaitlyn was a little freaked out by the noisy fireworks, even though we didn't have any that whistled or anything. After everyone left, we tried to get over to the Montclair fireworks at the lake but saw everyone walking away from the lake when we arrived. Apparently they started the fireworks 20 minutes earlier. This is the 3rd year in a row we have not seen professional fireworks!!! I was totally bummed and so was Nate, but overall, we had a very eventful and enjoyable 4th. Happy Birthday Country!

Aww, I love you too Nate!

4th of July trifle! YUMMY:)

doing sparklers for the first time!

watching fireworks

lighting snakes

Mid-month, we had a "Maryland reunion" with some of our friends from Maryland. We really feel like they are family and when we haven't seen each other for awhile, we pick back up where we left off. We had 8 adults here and 18 kids. We met here for a bbq and then everyone found a room to change in for the lake. It felt like the movie, "Home Alone" with people everywhere all trying to rush out to get somewhere. One minute the house was chaos, and the next everyone was piled in their cars ready to go. I loved having a full house! My kids didn't know what to think and had several meltdowns, but calmed down once we got to the lake. We caravaned over to the lake, with 4 minivans following us. We then spent the afternoon catching up and playing in the sun. It was a great little reunion and we feel so blessed that everyone was able to come visit!

We took up a lot of the beach!

the guys

the gals

our very full house!

Kaitlyn was unsure about the whole day!

Us girls goofing around on the platform- the husbands had the kids, so why not?

now she's happy!

Some of our Maryland friends, the Robinsons were not able to make it to the reunion b/c they have their hands full with triplets! We went on a double date to catch up with them, and tried out the new Serendipity that is in Georgetown. We ate yummy sandwiches and huge sundaes and had great conversation. We even walked along "m" street and went in some of the trendy stores. We also went to the waterfront and saw the Kennedy center. We definitely need to go on dates more, and it was really fun being in a hip enivironment like Georgetown, b/c most of my life is spent cleaning up crumbs and wiping bums, even though I do love my life, don't get me wrong! It's just nice to have couple time and adult conversation. Thanks for the fun date Robinsons!

Emily got mac and cheese and I got an open face turkey sandwich with apples, chives, swiss, and raspberry mayo

our incredible sundae!

a fountain across from the Kennedy center

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn!

2011-07-31T21:30:00.000-05:00

Kaitlyn turned 2 on June 23rd! We had to celebrate a lot, so she ended up having 2 friend parties and 2 family parties. So yes, she had 4 parties !! For some reason we can never do simple birthdays.

Party #1- The Tea Party:

I was supposed to work at the rec. center on her actual birthday, but was able to find a sub, so we invited 2 of her friends over last minute for a tea party. April was kind enough to take Nate, and I had Mason, so we did a kid swap. It was better that way, b/c then I could totally focus on the girls. We went to the dollar store and got them jewelry, hats, and shoes and then set up a tea party in our dining room. They were quite adorable pouring each other apple juice tea. Kaitlyn just kept saying, "Masn" "Halee" and pointing to them. She was really excited they were there! We then played in the basement for awhile and decided that we needed to go swimming, so I put the girls suits on and we filled up the baby pools. Hallie wanted to play hide and seek so we did that too! It was fun having a girl's only party and I think KK loved it! When Nate got home, he was sad the party was over, but cheered up after I told him the treats were not gone yet.

Party #2- The Family Party to On the Border:
That night, we had to celebrate and go out as a family. I can't not celebrate on the actual day. We let Kaitlyn open her presents from us: a bike, a dollhouse, puzzles, books, crayons, and a bubble lawnmower. She kept singing "Happy Birthday to KK!" but of course wouldn't do it for the camera, and would instead say, "No Happy Birthday!" We took her for Mexican food and let her get a sundae. The kids were both fairly well behaved. I can't believe my baby is 2!

Party #3- BBQ at the lake:
We invited several friends to the lake for a bbq to celebrate! I always like an excuse to get friends together:) I made fish shaped cupcakes ( I got the idea from my sis-in-law Ali!- thanks Ali!), and we bbqed the usual. Kaitlyn didn't like all the attention, but enjoyed having her friends there and playing in the sand and water. Each of the kids got a large water shooter and a bucket and shovel. Thanks to everyone who came and made her day special:)

Party #4- With my parents:
We had another bbq with my parents, went to the lake, and they took Kaitlyn to the store to let her pick out a present or two. She loves her grandparents!

Talking to Grandma and Grandpa on her big day!

The tea party!

Hallie looks like such a lady here, I love it!

They were quite adorable playing together:)

Friends at the lake party!


Another bbq!

And just for fun, I wanted to include a pic from each month this year. Kaitlyn, we love you and we are so lucky to be your parents! She is smart as a whip and talks a mile a minute. She is also very sassy, but helpful and the best cuddle bug. What a joy!

23 months

22 months

21 months

20 months

19 months


18 months

17 months

16 months

15 months

14 months

13 months

June- Jumping right into Summer!

2011-07-31T20:17:00.000-05:00

We jumped right into summer by going to play groups and on family excursions. We went to the lake, pool, waterpark, mini golf course, temple, and on an ambitious overnight campout in Pennsylvania.

Pirate's Cove Waterpark w/ friends:)

Another fun day at the lake! They look exhausted:)

beach beauty! She always wears her sunglasses upside down!

Princess and Prince Tea Party with PWC's SAHM's

Bug Party @ the Cranes


Nate did pretty good for his first time mini golfing- he could hit the ball fairly straight!

Andrew and Kaitlyn at his Mormon Orchestra concert @ the Temple Visitor's Center

We went on an overnight trip to Pennsylvania and visited with the Amish. On the way, we found a beautiful relaxing park where we had a picnic. That was the most relaxing event we had the whole weekend. The first day, the kids took a buggy ride that was pulled by a small pony. We weren't going to let Kaitlyn do it, but she was pretty insistent and the 11 year old Amish boy who was driving said she would be fine. He was 11 going on 19, I had never seen a more mature 11 year old. He took care of the ponies all by himself. We stopped by an Amish bakery to try some shoe-fly pie, whoopie pies, and homemade rootbeer.

We then went to an Amish farm, saw some goats, chickens, geese, and cows. The farmer told Nate if he layed down and called for the goat Robert that he would come and jump on his back. Nate was very brave and called for Robert. Sure enough, he came and walked on Nate's back! He was very friendly and confident with the animals after that and didn't have a problem catching the chickens in the chicken coop. When we went to milk the cows, Nate thought he would visit the geese. I told him they would bite and to get away from them, but he didn't listen and sure enough one of the geese attacked him. He just got pinched but was pretty traumatized. Right after that incident a big cow came right up to him and licked him on the same leg! He burst out into tears and said he needed new shorts. There was cow drool all over him, so I don't blame him. He was a little more cautious with the animals after that. The farmer let us milk the cows, and let Nate and another boy his age give the new calf a bottle of his mother's milk. That calf was so hungry I had to help Nate hold the bottle or it would have been ripped out of his hands. Quite the experience! Another Mormon family went on the tour with us, so it was fun to meet and talk with them. We got to our campsite a little after 5 and it took us 2 hours to set up our new 10 man tent, put air in the queen and twin mattresses, put up the pack and play, and set up the fire for dinner. We had hotdogs and s'mores and tried to get the kids to sleep but they were overly tired and wired. Not a good combo!

I can't believe he actually held still while the goat was on his back:)

Kaitlyn was imitating Robert the goat!

The next morning we went to the "Day Out with Thomas" event and rode the Strasburg Railroad with the Thomas tank engine. The kids loved it! She kept saying "tains, tains." We took pics with Thomas and Sir Topham hat, rode the mini train, pump car, and let Nate play in the train tent- his dream come true! We were hot and hungry so we went to the Red Caboose for dinner. It was a restaurant inside a train car and we could actually feel when the train went by. It added to the whole experience of the day! The kids were so wiped out that they slept the whole way home. Our first family campout was a success, but Andrew and I were sure tired afterwards.

on the train

I love this pic! He looks so content:)

the push car that we waited in line forever to do!

Nate could have stayed here all day

the huge train inside the Red Caboose gift shop

Nate's "tough" face inside the Red Caboose Restaurant

May- Mother's Day, Maine, and My Mane!

2011-07-31T16:29:00.000-05:00

As always, I'm behind in my blogging, so here are some quick updates:

In May, we celebrated Mother's Day! I'm so grateful to my sweet mom for loving me and believing in me and being such a creative and wonderful person!!! LOVE YOU MOM:) Andrew spoiled me by making me fancy chicken roll-ups, asparagus, and the most amazing raspberry dark chocolate tart you can imagine! The kids made me a card and got me flowers. My family is so good to me! I truly love being a mom, even though those adorable kiddos of mine test my patience time and time again. They bring me so much joy and I love them so much!

Nate also had his end of the year preschool party. He had a great time with his buddy Nathan. How could they not be friends, having the same name and all? They are rascals together, but cute:)

Nate had his first father/son campout, and Andrew said he did great! The report that was mostly he just chased his buddies around with a flashlight. He also enjoyed the tree swing, s'mores, and fireside where they mentioned Joseph Smith.

I decided I needed a change, and went from this ponytail look:

To this: (I loved it at first, but miss my long hair sometimes- it does feel good for the summer, though:)

At the end of the month, we went to Maine for my niece's 6th birthday. We've been meaning to go for the last several years for her b-day, and finally made it this year! She had a lively pirate themed party on the beach, and my sister and I came up with a treasure hunt for the kiddos. They had to dig up their buried treasure that my brother so mischeviously buried. The cousins love playing together, and they spent almost all their time in Riley and Dash's new playground. We also enjoyed going to the zoo with Aunt Doree!

Happy Easter!

2011-06-05T08:15:00.000-05:00

So, I wrote this about a month ago and just finally got around to editing it:) We made it through the illnesses and cold weather of winter and finally Spring is here!!!! This year was especially nice because we have a house now with azaleas and a magnolia tree that are such beautiful contrasts to the dead winter. My parents came for Easter, which was really fun for all of us! The kids totally forgot who Mom and Dad were because it was all about Grama and Grampa. We took them to the circus on Friday, which was a reminiscient childhood memory of when my parents took us. The kids did great and were mesmorized by the acrobats, the clowns, and the animals. Nate said he especially liked the motorcycles and the elephants. When the elephants were done, KK kept looking at Grama and with her big eyes said, "happened ephes?" and she would shrug her shoulders and gesture with her upturned hands. When they came back on for the finale, she was super excited!!!! On Saturday, we went to the Easter egg hunt that Montclair puts on at Dolphin Beach. We have almost lived here a year, and we finally made it to a community event! They divided the beach up into age categories so Kaitlyn lucked out because she was in the 0-1 category. Her competition for the eggs were not very mobile so she was able to get a lot in a short amount of time. She was so tired of picking them up that she started throwing them back in the sand! We awaited the arrival on of the Easter bunny who showed up on a boat and while we were waiting to take pics with him, Kaitlyn discovered her candy and Nate hung out with some of his friends he saw there. It was a lovely Spring day and we just enjoyed being outdoors. Later, we all dyed Easter eggs. Even Grampa got in on the action!

We began Easter day by getting the kids all gussied up for church. They looked quite adorable in their Easter attire. Kaitlyn especially loved her "at" which I found her wearing when I went to get her out of her crib. She was quite adorable sitting there sucking her thumb in her pj's with her hat on her head! We took some family pictures and then headed off to church. Andrew and I were singing in the choir so my parents sat with the kids. Not even half way through the program, I looked out in the congregation and they were not sitting where we left them. I don't even know if they heard the quartet that Andrew and I sung in b/c they were trying to contain our little rugrats. I love music at Christmastime and at Easter. I feel like it invites the Spirit so strongly and I love singing and listening to music about our Savior. Andrew and I got to sing the song "This is the Christ" which is one of my favorites. It wasn't our best, but the message is so wonderful. Our Savior truly loves each of us so much and gives us daily hope in our lives. The atonement and resurrection are so marvelous! My parents, unfortunately were not able to get as much out of Sacrament meeting, but we were so grateful for their help:) Maybe next year we'll take turns being in the choir. After church, we prepared a fun Easter meal complete with ham with pineapple glaze, baked potatoes with all the fixings, bunnies on the lawn (pear bunnies on green jello that kind of ended up looking like mice), asparagus, coconut macaroons, and Andrew's lemon bundt cake- yummy! Nate and I also made bunny cupcakes for fun. Another fun thing about having our own house is we got to hide Easter eggs in our own backyard and the kids loved it, until they realized that there was no candy inside. Their tears quickly dried when they realized the Easter bunny hid Easter baskets around the house with plenty of candy inside.We then took a family walk to make room for cake and ice cream. It was a perfect Easter day and we such a great visit with Mom and Dad, even if Dad and I kept beating Mom and Andrew at hand and foot!!!!

Happy New Year!

2011-02-06T20:18:00.003-05:00

I know it is February, but our computer got a bad virus and we had to wipe it clean. So I am saying, "Happy New Year!" in February. It is still pretty new, and yes, I often have to cross out 2010 and rewrite 2011 because I'm not used to it. We have had a very blessed year and I would like to briefly revisit some of our highlights that I missed this year. Don't worry you don't have to read it all, just skim through the pics:)

Christmas
My sister Doree visited us for Christmas and we had such a great time with her, although I was sick most of the time. Andrew had planned to take the week off before Christmas so we could do some festiv family things together since this was our first Christmas that we celebrated with just our little family. Sadly, the only things we managed to do were see a Christmas display in Mannasas, decorate gingerbread houses, and do some baking and delivering cookies (I stayed in the car). The rest of the time, I was in bed sick while Andrew got some quality time with the kids and some empathy for my daily job:) Not quite what we had in mind, but it was a blessing to have him home. On Christmas Eve, we had clam chowder,french bread, homemade mac and cheese for the kids (and Doree!), and leftover cookies from our baking spree.Clam chowder is a tradition on Andrew's side. We then sent the kids on a scavenger hunt to look for new pajamas and ornaments(Doree made it up and used Christmas songs for the clues), which they found in the dryer. This is a tradition from my family, and most years Mom did hide them in the dryer, but it was always fun! After we gave the kids a bath and put them in their new jammies, we came down to a cozy fire in our own fire place that Andrew secretly made! That was my favorite part of the evening because it felt so festy and was so fun to be able to celebrate our first Christmas Eve in our house with a fire going. After we enjoyed the fire a bit, we reinacted the nativity, wrote our letter to Santa, and put the kids to bed. Doree, Andrew and I then stayed up, watched old Christmas movies and played Santa. It was super fun to be sneaky and fill up the stockings, put together the train track, trampoline, and baby doll set. It is almost more fun being Santa than receiving presents from him. For any kids reading, we were really just Santa's helpers:) The next morning the kids were really excited to see all the presents under the tree and played with their Santa gifts for awhile. Andrew said he wanted to open presents before the kids did! We had homemade cinnamon rolls and orange rolls which we munched on all morning. The kids got games, clothes, and toys galore, but the highlight was the joint gift from Santa- an indoor trampolie, which they still play with almost everyday and is great for getting out their wiggles. They were quite adorable squealing with delight as they jumped and jumped. I got a new camera from Santa, which I love b/c the old one got left at a fall festival and was never recovered:( Andrew got some new power tools, and Doree got a lot of gift cards. We were spoiled! We were also spoiled by the light snowfall that we got on Christmas day. Growing up in Colorado, it was very rare that it would snow on Christmas day, so that was a treat.That evening, Nate had his Thomas the train and Buzz Lightyear join us for dinner and we were still in our pajamas as we ate ham, rolls, mashed potatoes, steamed veggies, and pumpkin pie. We had a wonderful holiday. Christmas is the greatest and we were so blessed to have Doree with us, she made it that much more fun. But we did miss all of our other loved ones. Thanks for being so generous everyone, we love you!

2 days later, Andrew and I celebrated our 7 year anniversary and he took me to a French bistro in Lake Ridge that was quite yummy and impressive. Thanks Doree for babysitting:)The next weekend, my parents came out to babysit while Andrew and I went to Williamsburg for a weekend away. We had planned to go to Busch Gardens for their Christmas celebration, but I was too sick, so we went out to eat and watched movies in the hotel. It was nice to get away, if just for a few days.

Thanksgiving

For Thanksgiving, we hosted my whole family which included my brother, SIL, niece, nephew, Mom, Dad, and my 2 sisters. It was fun to be able to fit everyone in our house and it gave us an incentive to finally paint the basement. The day before turkey day my sisters and I went to get supplies to make all of us aprons, well we ironed on names and added some bling! That got us in the mood for our all day cooking event the next day. Before we started, we did a family Zumba class, my 5 year old niece Riley was pretty awesome! Then we got to work. Everyone had a task. Jake, was in charge of the turkey, which he took very seriously, checking the temperature religiously and us girls did everything else, which included mashed potatoes, funeral potatoes, green beans, rolls, homemade stuffing, cranberry jello, sweet potatoes, apple crisp, and pumpkin pie.Andrew was sick the whole day so he was "MIA." The kids get along really well and kept each other busy. Dash and Kaitlyn are only a few months apart and Riley and Nate are best friends. Grandpa and Grandma also kept them entertained by putting together a Thanksgiving skit for us all to enjoy after the meal. The babies were the wild indians, Grandpa was the chief, Nate and Riley were the pilgrims, and Mom narrated. At the end, Riley put up a sign that said "End The." They were quite adorable! The food was delicious, and the dessert was divine. I bought a Costco pumpkin cheesecake and some chocolate/vanilla cream puffs, but the homemade desserts were better. We are so grateful to have such a fun, loving family!

Everyone except for Ali, Doree, and the kids left the next day. We went to the inner harbor the next day and looked at the light display, rode the indoor train, and enjoyed the fake warm snowfall. It was a fun way to kick off the Christmas season.

Fall Festivals
(My fall post I wrote in October)
I love Fall! Everything about it, the cooler weather, the fact that I can sleep better at night, the leaves changing colors, raking and jumping in the leaves, the long sleeved shirt weather, the cider, the fall festivals, Halloween, Thanksgiving, chili, pumpkin desserts! (bread, pie, cookies, you name it:) So here it is what we've been up to this Fall...

We visited several fall festivals, including Cox Farms, Leesburg Farm, and the Old Mine Ranch. The slides, food, animals, pumpkins, hay rides, and scarecrows really made it feel like fall. The weather however, felt like we were still in summer with, so we enjoyed ice cream instead of hot cider! At Leesburg, we lost our camera :( so the really cute video of KK talking to the ducks is gone forever. Well for the record, it was really cute b/c they would quack and she would make high- pitched noises back to them.

Nate's Birthday

Nate also had a birthday this October and turned 3! I can't believe my little boy is 3 years old. He talks more and more and is super independent. We had a friend party for him as well as a family party with my parents. He wanted a shark cake and a spider pinata. Andrew and I found a picture of a shark cake on a blog and tried to replicate it. It didn't turn out as well, but we were pretty proud of ourselves. The camera ran out of batteries before we could take a picture of us cutting into the cake. We made it red velvet, so the inside would look like blood. The boys thought it was pretty cool. We did a pirate theme, and when the kids came into the house they got an eye patch, a gold medallion, and the option of getting their faces painted. Marshall was the only one brave enough to do it. We then played games in the basement. The highlights were pin the treasure hunt on the map and the cannon ball game where each team could throw cannon balls at the other ship, not the other pirates. We then went on a treasure hunt with our compasses and found the treasure hidden under some balloons in the bathtub. Each of the kids received a pirate booty bag and then we were off to hit the pinata. Several of the kids got some good whacks out of it and they were very good about only taking enough candy to fit in their cups. It was then time for cake and ice cream and presents. Each kid wanted Nate to open their present, and Nate wanted to open the packaging of each one to play with it on the spot, so it was kind of a struggle. Andrew and I were exhausted by the end of the party, but the kids seemed to have a good time and our birthday boy enjoyed having all of his new friends over to play. Thanks for making the day special for him everyone:)

My parents came into town thenext week and we went out to "On the border." Nate loved the chips and free brownie and ice cream dessert with a candle. It is always a treat to have Mom and Dad for birthdays and it makes the day extra memorable. They also got him his own airport, which he loves. Even to this day, anytime I ask him what he would like to do for the day, he says "go to the airport, go on a plane, and go to grandma and grampa's house." For his actual birthday, which was a Sunday, we made him pancakes with a candle it it. Happy Birthday little Nate, we love you!

Halloween

A week after Nate's birthday was Halloween. I found some cheap costumes at Old Navy, a ladybug and a shark. Perfect because Nate loves sharks! They looked adorable going to several Halloween parties, including the trunk or treat at the church. Andrew and I dressed up as Adelaide and Nathan Detroit, and we had fun, inspite of the fact that most adults didn't dress up. Boo! On Halloween night, we took the kiddos down one side of our street and back up the other, after which, Nate sat down on the curb and exclaimed, "I ti-red." So ok then, that was all the trick or treating for us. We then let the kids eat some of their loot, had chili, and headed over to a friend's house for late night games. Halloween is fun when you have a great neighborhood to trick or treat in.

Kids are funny!

2010-09-29T22:45:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Nate came into the kitchen with a blanket over his head and said "Mom, I a ghost, a holy ghost!"- well, like Dad said, at least we know he likes friendly ones:)

Kaitlyn can say 3 words, "mom" (in several different forms), "dank ew "(thank you when she's giving us something, usually), and "hi, hi" (when she's talking to Nate). After I changed her diaper, she got up and ran away from me as I was chasing her naked bum and then she proceeded to crawl upstairs, giggling the whole way. She saw Nate and said "hi, hi" in a very guilty tone. That little stinker.Yeah I could have caught her, but she was too darn proud of herself for escaping. Luckily, there were no accidents.

She also takes after me, according to Mom, and loves to sing in the car. She gets very upset when we arrive at our destimation (Nate's word, not a typo) because the music stops playing. At the end of each kid song she sings "ahh" because Nate and I like to say "yeehaw" after a lot of them. It's pretty cute. She even does it if Nate and I don't. They seem to have some country flavor for some reason.

House Pics!

2010-09-19T22:21:00.004-05:00

Our Room!

Kaityln's Room

Nate's Room

Kitchen

Living Room

Dining Room

Deck

Backyard (someday we'll have grass!)

I finally got around to taking pics of our house! I still want to stencil the kids rooms, but I'm waiting until Doree comes to visit to help me:0) She's the expert and I'm too chicken to do it myself. I will also post pics of the basement once we get that painted.

Maine Trip!

2010-09-19T17:35:00.001-05:00

Coming Soon!!!!

Washington Trip!

2010-09-19T17:34:00.000-05:00

Coming soon!!!!

Updated Videos

2010-08-22T18:59:00.003-05:00

So I know I am way behind in posting about this summer. We have gone on several family vacations and took a lot of pics, so I will eventually get around to blogging about those. But I wanted to post some videos of the kids. Kaitlyn started walking and is so proud of herself! She walks more and more everyday and soon she will be a natural:) Nate is talking up a storm and getting smarter by the day! Oh here's a funny story about Nate- We were at the beach the other day and I was busy talking with some girls from my ward. Nate came up to me and showed me a lollipop. I asked him where he got it and he said "the bithday paty" I looked behind me at the picnic tables and saw some girls around 9 picking up candy off the ground. Nate had participated in the pinata! I hope they didn't mind:) Enjoy the videos!

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn!

2010-06-29T09:17:00.006-05:00

I already talked a little about Kaitlyn's birthday, but I wanted to go into more details. We had my parents here from out of town to celebrate with us. In the morning, KK woke up to balloons all over the floor. Nate showed her how to have fun with them. We gave her a bucket and shovel for the beach. We packed a picnic and headed to the lake. She wore her new swimsuit from grandma. We had a great time sun-bathing, playing in the sand, and splashing around in the water. When we got home, KK went right down for a nap and I finished making the frosting for her cake. Grandma, Grandpa, and Nate went to order pizza. Kaitlyn loved the pizza! We tried to stick her princess hat on her but she hated it so we didn't get any great pics of that. After pizza, Nate wanted to open presents. Grandma got him some to make him feel better, but of course he had to help KK open hers. She was more interested in the wrapping paper then the gifts, but she still liked her turtle that lights up and sings and reads to her. It has a lot of buttons, and she's into pushing buttons these days (not mine, real buttons). Grandma got her a cabbage patch doll that laughs and she loves to stick her doll's ponytail in her hair and crawl around the house. It was fun to have a girl birthday! She also got a new outfit from Grandma, so we had to put her in it before cake. I made a pineapple cake and the frosting was crushed pineapple with whipped topping. She didn't like the frosting so much, but she sure gobbled up the cake. Nate decided the candle was "too scadee" because it was hot. It was a very fun, but simple day. We are so blessed to have her in our lives and I can't believe she's already 1! Time just flies. I wanted to include some pics of her throughout this year. See the previous post for actual birthday pics. Enjoy!

Doubled Our Family

2010-06-28T01:00:00.006-05:00

Our sweet children are the highlight of our lives! We find so much joy and humor in their little personalities. It is definitely fun to watch them grow and change so much. Nate is talking in complete sentences these days, we can't always understand what he says and sometimes it sounds like a foreign language, but his speech is really taking off. He loves to ask questions and often says, "Mom, what you doing?" expecting me to then ask him what he's doing to which he will reply "I helping daddy" or "I reading books." He likes to "help" daddy do yard work and is very flattered when our new neighbor boys ask if he can play (they are 4 and 6) and he loves playing with older kids because they can handle his rough housing. He also loves the park, baking, play dates, the beach, and our new GPS. He always asks to see "Nate's car" on the GPS screen and gets a kick out of the lady who tells us to "turn left" or "right." He often tries to guess where she is going to tell us to turn. He is a great big brother, although he still doesn't understand why he can't wrestle with his baby sister. He likes to feed KK and make sure she gets enough water. He will also "trade" toys with her and if she is napping asks "Happen kk?" He usually answers his own question and says "she's up,up, upstairs"- he doesn't stutter, he just likes emphasizing words by saying them 3 times. Oh, and I almost forgot, he loves to sing! He sings in church and opens up the hymn book. The other week, Andrew and I had to crack up because he sang the last phrase at the top of his lungs and held out the last note, almost in tune with the rest of the congregation! He is my wild, but really sweet little boy.

Our little Kaitlyn, who goes by KK thanks to Nate, turned 1 this last week! I can't believe it. Time just flies by. She is just as feisty as her older brother because she has to hold her own with him, but cute as a button. She is pulling up really well and is a super crawler. She can also climb up slides and is a daredevil on Nate's roller coaster. She leans forward with her arms stretched out. She still sucks her thumb, which is adorable, and eats anything we put in front of her, especially popcorn and frozen blueberries. We are so blessed to have her!

Lost 100 pounds

2010-06-28T00:34:00.004-05:00

Obviously we didn't lose 100 pounds each. Andrew lost 50 and I lost the other 50, except for days when I indulge then it ends up being more like 48:) Anyways, after KK was born I was feeling so relieved to not be pregnant anymore and I was tired of being overweight. I told Andrew I wanted to join Weight Watchers and reach my lifetime goal this time. Later he told me he wanted to do it with me. I was thrilled to have the support, and later found out that he did it at first to be supportive and then as he got into it he did it for himself. We both are thinner than we were in high school which is really great. I have learned that no one can make you lose weight, that you need to have an internal motivation to do it, and that I am still an emotional eater. Moving has been a little rough because I am tempted to eat to fill the void of loneliness or homesickness. However, the good news is that I don't overindulge or feed my emotions nearly as much as I used to before I did Weight Watchers. I have done Weight Watchers since I was an overweight kid and it amazes me that I was able to lose weight this fast and reach my lifetime goal! I still want to tone up, but I am definitely proud of what I have accomplished:)

In the Last 3 Years We...

2010-06-27T09:55:00.002-05:00

This week, we are headed to a family reunion on Andrew's side of the family. Each family was asked to submit 3 pics that represent what they've been up to since the last reunion 3 years ago. In my next posts, I'll talk about each of these in greater detail:)

We bought a house!

2010-06-27T08:29:00.031-05:00

I haven't blogged in awhile because we have been working on house hunting/fixing up for the last few months. We had outgrown our 2 bedroom apartment with 2 active little ones and no storage space. Our apartment felt tense often, especially since Nate is really active and does not do good if he doesn't have space to run, dance, do flips or whatever else he feels like doing. We decided to start looking for a house because it is a great time to buy. We also knew we needed the $8000 tax credit if we had to make any improvements to the house, which gave us a little over a month to find a house. We wanted to stay close to Greenbelt, but soon realized that we could only afford a shoe box.

We started looking in Woodbridge because the property taxes are lower in Virginia and we could get a decent sized single family home for our price range. We did our research and time and time again were given the advice that location is everything. We found many newly updated homes, but settled for a foreclosed house in Montclair, VA. We contacted someone from the Dale City ward to ask about the best areas to live in Woodbridge and she said Montclair was the nicest. We researched the schools and they have a good reputation, and then we learned that there is a private lake with beaches and private playgrounds and that the community has an active home owner's association. The neighborhood is beautiful with big trees and big houses. We have the smallest house on the block, which is good because it makes our house worth more. It was also assessed for more than we bought it for, which is also a good for selling purposes. We decided it was well worth it to put in all of the work to fix it up. We have been painting and scrubbing and working non-stop to get it the way we want it. It feels like there will always be a home improvement project to work on and that we will never actually finish, but that's just me being dramatic. I will put up pics when we get it all painted!

Luckily, my parents came into town for a week for Kaitlyn's birthday, so we got to take a well needed break from painting and cleaning to get a little R & R at the beach. Here we are at West Beach.

We had such a nice and relaxing time, we decided to try a new new new beach (Nate likes to say new, new new!:) The kids got more comfortable playing in the water and the sand. This is Dolphin Beach.

Although we love our home, our new neighborhood, and all of our new space (3 1/2 baths and 3 beds + a den in the basement!), we still are homesick for our friends. I miss everyone! Come visit- I added the beach pictures, so you would want to come and have a mini vacation:)

Kaitlyn's eyes

2010-03-31T13:35:00.004-05:00

A friend of ours took this picture of Kaitlyn and I just had to post it.

videos

2010-03-27T23:09:00.002-05:00

Here are two of our most recent videos of the kids. The first one demonstrates Nate's shark naming skills and the second is of Kaitlyn talking and moving and grooving.

Updates

2010-03-27T19:26:00.005-05:00

So I didn't want to blog after my beautiful Hawaii post because I didn't think anything could beat that. However, it's not true. My darling kids are getting cuter by the day and growing and changing so much. Nathan is talking up a storm and has become very polite. He says "thanks" a lot and still uses his please sign as he's saying the word "pease." He's mastered the names of sharks in his shark book and he loves dinosaurs just as much. Of course anything that is scary with teeth. He's such a boy. His nursery leaders have predicted that he will be a football player, which is a nice way for them to tell me that he likes to tackle the other kids in nursery. Poor Kaitlyn gets tackled almost daily but she just grabs his hair and yanks on it. Nate performs for her by dancing around in circles or jumping off the couch. She cracks up at him which keeps him going. KK, as Nate calls her is rolling around a lot and is getting quite excellent at her plank poses. She then puts her bum in the air and takes a few steps with her feet before plopping back on her belly. She squeals a lot and is pretty feisty. She also says "ba ba ba" which I'm sure means mama :) and blows raspberries with her mouth. At her 9 month check up, she weighed in at 20 pounds. She's an awesome eater, what can I say. She eats anything we give her and her favorites lately have been avocado, bananas, and black beans. My favorite days are when Nate plays with Kaitlyn and brings her toys, we dance around to music, and KK giggles at Nate's goofiness. Being a mom is pretty great, super hard, but pretty great!

Mele Kalikimaka 1

2010-01-15T22:30:00.061-05:00

Yes, we are too lucky- we got to spend Christmas in sunny, beautiful Hawaii. We spent 16 days there.

As you can imagine, we were not looking forward to the flight with a 6 month old and a 2 year old, but they did really great. They slept a lot and Nate watched his "bovies" on the dvd player and was entertained by Andrew's ipod touch. Kaitlyn was a doll and didn't even cry when the plane descended to sea level and my ears were killing me. We did travel all night though, so we were pretty exhausted when we arrived. Luckily, it was 9 pm Hawaii time so we got to go home and have a full night's sleep- almost. The kids slept so much on the plane that they got up several times in the night.

The next day was Tuesday. Andrew's parents and sister had to work, so we hit the beach. We went to Hukilau beach on the north shore, and loved swimming and basking in the sun. We built sandcastles for Nate to destroy and Andrew made a tunnel. Nate liked feeling the sand and he enjoyed the water, but if we let go of him even with one hand, he would say "Carry you!" (carry me). We even put KK in the water, but she didn't last long. We also tried out the rope swing and Nate looked like a little Tarzan. Life was great and carefree:) We then got in the car and headed to one of our favorite places to eat, Ku 'Aina in Haleiwa. The kids fell asleep, so Andrew ran in and got us our sandwiches. I got mahi mahi with ortega and Andrew got pastrami. Mine was better. We parked overlooking the harbor and ate our sandwiches. We then drove to Wal-mart for new swimming suits and some other odds and ends.
On Wednesday, Karen came with us to the swap meet in town to find some matching aloha wear- I figured we can do matching while the kids still don't have a say. We also got some other fun Hawaiian souvenirs. We decided to go on this day b/c it was supposed to be rainy, but we learned early on that the forecast in Hawaii is never correct. It was really nice and sunny. On the way home, we stopped at the Dole Plantation where they grow pineapples and rode on the pineapple express. Nate liked the train and taking pictures behind the pineapple people. He also liked feeding the fish, but his favorite part was the pineapple "happy cone" we got at the end. That evening, Andrew's best friend growing up, Perry and his wife, Amy, took us out for Mexican food at Cholos in Haleiwa. Karen and Dwight were great to babysit for us and we had some much needed adult time.
On Thursday morning, we went to Hukilau cafe for some good old Hawaiian sweet bread french toast. Other then Nathan spilling his ice cold water all over my lap, it was fun and nostalgic. By the way, the Hukilau Cafe they show in the movie "50 first dates" is not the real one because the real one is located in Laie. We then headed off to Hukilau beach again because we had such a good experience there the first day. However, we quickly learned that the beach is not always relaxing with little ones. After a few hours, both kids were hot and miserable and crying to let us know it, so we headed home. After naps, Andrew took the kids to the playground at Laie Elementary and Nate gave Andrew a tour of Andrew's old elementary school. I went to the beach to have some real relaxation time. That night we went to the Ward Christmas party in our matching aloha wear, but Nate fell asleep within 15 minutes of being there, so we were unable to see Santa. We still hadn't adjusted to the time change yet.

On Friday, the weather was not great, so Andrew and I went through some of our college boxes that we left in the shed. It was fun to go through all of our things and the memories that went along with them. It was funny to find dating journal entries and pictures and look back on how young and naive we were. In the afternoon, we went with Karen to Shark's Cove for a picnic. The weather got a lot nicer and it was a perfect day for a picnic on the sand! Shark's cove is known for it's great snorkeling and it has many tidepools for kids to look around in. Nate enjoyed seeing the fish and crabs and throwing rocks in the water with the other kids. Little KK even put her toes in the water! We then headed to Haleiwa for some Matsumoto shave ice! We told Nate it was a "big happy cone." He was kind of frustrated with it at first because it was so cold, but he got into it and really enjoyed his rainbow shave ice. That night, Andrew's sister Leilani, invited her boyfriend to come over for pizza and games.

On Saturday, Leilani, Andrew, Perry, and I went hiking in the morning to Mauna Wili Falls in Kaneohe. Andrew's parents were very gracious to watch the kids again- I think they enjoyed the time alone with them:) We hiked about a mile and a half through lucious green foliage and ended up at a magestic waterfall. We then climbed up the waterfall and found another waterfall to swim to. It was really refreshing to shower under it. It definitely seemed like we were in a movie. We then climbed back down to the top of the first waterfall and jumped in the pool below. I only jumped about 20 feet, Leilani and Perry jumped 30 feet, and Andrew, being the daredevil that he is climbed higher, and jumped 40 feet into the pool below. I am not a daredevil when it comes to jumping. After our refreshing swim, we headed back down the trail. It was a perfect hiking day- not too cold and not too hot. When we got home, we played with the kids for a bit and then took a nap. That night, Andrew and I went out for our anniversary. We got some take-out at one of our favorite local grinds- L&L's. I got terriyaki beef and he got chicken katsu. We then drove to the Turtle Bay resort, ordered a virgin pina colada at the bar to validate our parking, and found a picnic table near the hotel overlooking the waves. We were all alone, so it was quite romantic. The food was really good and inexpensive. We were debating whether to do this or go out to a nice restaurant, but I really liked our low profile date. We then took a stroll around the hotel enjoying the waves and each other's company.

On Sunday, we got up and went to church, but we weren't feeling well so we went home early. That night, we celebrated Andrew's birthday with some of his friends from growing up and some of my friends from college who are still on the island. We had a great time reminescing and enjoying each other's company.

Mele Kalikimaka 2

2010-01-15T22:30:00.060-05:00

On Monday, Andrew and I were both really sick and couldn't get out of bed, so Aunti Lani and Grandma took care of the kids for us and took them to the playground. That evening, we all went to a local beach called Alligator's pond because there is a big rock shaped like an alligator. It is great for kids because the rock breaks the intensity of the waves and the water in front of it is calm. Nate loved throwing rocks in the tide pools and playing with the other kids.

On Tuesday, Auntie Lani and I took the kids to the beach while Andrew slept. He was not feeling better, but I was feeling well enough to go to the beach. I figured I might as well soak up some sun while I'm recovering. It was Andrew's birthday, so he had another friend visit, but he could barely talk so it was a good thing we had his big celebration earlier in the week.

On Wednesday, Andrew was feeling well enough to go somewhere so we decided to head to the other side of the island and go to Sea Life Park, Oahu's version of Sea World. Nate loved the dolphin show and later that evening told us all what he saw using his hand to demonstrate how the dolphins swam and then jumped out of the water- "dolphins, swim fast, jump, water!" It was very cute. We didn't know if he was really into it at first because his face was so serious, but he was just taking it all in. We also saw sea turtles, a seal show, and scuba divers feeding huge manta rays. That night we went to the new night show at the Polynesian Cultural Center. It was much improved because it had a storyline. There was a young man that lived in different Polynesian cultures throughout his life. It showed the similar values among the cultures and emphasized the importance of family in all of them. It also showed the unique songs, dances, and traditions of each culture. I was sure that Nate and Kaitlyn would be asleep by the end, but they both loved it. Nate kept asking questions, clapping, and saying "yay!" and when Grandpa tried to put Kaitlyn on his shoulder to sleep she arched her head around so she could see the show.

Thursday was Christmas Eve, so we spent the morning baking and decorating cookies, a Miller tradition, went to the beach, went Christmas caroling (even though most of us couldn't sing due to our colds), had Clam Chowder, and read the Christmas story. We decided that we weren't well enough to travel the next day so we called the airlines. They said due to the blizzard back east, there was an east coast waiver for travelers to change their flights to up to a week later with no penalties. We decided nothing would make us better faster then staying in balmy Hawaii. Tough luck, hugh? I actually had a hard time deciding whether or not we should stay because we couldn't see my family for New Years like we were planning on. They assured us that we would see them later and felt we needed to stay in Hawaii to get well enough to travel. Knowing that we didn't have to pack made Christmas Eve a lot more relaxed, though.

Friday morning, Nate woke up to a tree full of presents and was excited to see everyone open presents that Santa brought as well as to open his own. We would have brought his big present with us if we would have know we weren't going home on Christmas day, but Nate enjoyed playing with Andrew's old leggos and watching his new movie. He also loved opening up his stocking and finding the chocolate and clementine inside. We had a nice Christmas dinner and then that night went to a showing of "Avatar." I wasn't thrilled to see it, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was a really good mix of sci-fi, fantasy, and adventure.

On Saturday, we all got up, packed a picnic, and headed to bathtub beach- another kid friendly beach where the reef breaks the waves to create a bathtub effect. There was an old bunker that Leilani and Nate had a fun time playing in. We also saw this new sport where people paddle themselves around on surf boards. It looked like fun! We spent a good part of the day there and Nate played up until the very end.

On Sunday, Andrew woke me up before the sun was up and took me to Pounders beach to watch the sunrise for our anniversary. He made apple cake and cut up yummy tropical fruits for our breakfast. The sky was gorgeous and we cuddled on the sand as we listened to the pounding waves and watched the beautiful colors in the sky. We then went to church and enjoyed a quiet evening playing games and enjoying our families' company.

On Monday Andrew' family went back to work and we headed to alligator pond again to enjoy the beautiful weather. That evening we walked to the temple visitor’s center to see the Christmas tree displays. The lights of the temple were dark because they are remodeling it, so that was sad, but the visitor’s center was great. Each stake on the island was in charge of decorating a Christmas tree using the theme of a Christmas scripture.

On Tuesday, the weather was not beach worthy, so we hung out at home in the morning. Kaitlyn rolled over for the first time! Nate spent his time playing with the leggos and making a fruit loop lei with Grandma. We went back to Wal-mart to return some items and then went to Perry and Amy's for dinner and to let the kids play. They have kids similar ages, so our kids enjoyed playing with them. Nate loved the new toys and the trampoline. Us adults enjoyed playing Wii and eating pizza.

Wednesday came too fast and we spent the morning packing. We were hoping that the weather would get nice enough to go the beach, but it wasn’t so we decided to have a family photo shoot on campus in our matching aloha wear. Andrew’s dad is a professional photographer so he took our pictures, while Karen tried to make the kids smile. Afterwards, we went out for lunch and I got L&L’s one last time. That evening the weather cleared up, so we took a picnic to Sharks Cove and the tide was really low so we were able to walk among the tide pools without getting wet past our waist. Nate didn’t like it at first, but it wasn’t before too long that he was splashing in the tide pools like the rest of us. He got a kick out of the fish swimming past us and said “fast” as they dove under a rock or in the corral. Andrew, Leilani, and I climbed up the lava rock wall that separates the ocean from the cove to check out the magnificent waves crashing on the rock. Wow, what a view! It was at that moment that I realized just how much natural beauty Hawaii really has and I felt kind of small and insignificant as I gazed out at the vast sea. I kind of took a picture in my mind and then we found a spot to jump off back in the water so we could stomp through the tide pools and get back on shore. We ended up eating in the dark because we had such a great time playing in the water. It was a perfect ending to our vacation.

The next day was New Year’s Eve and Andrew’s family dropped us off at the airport. We had such a great time with them and were very glad they were so generous as to let us stay another week. Nate was excited to get back on a “big plane” but he still talks about Grandma, Grandpa, Auntie Lani, the cat Misty, and the water at the beach. The kids did great during the flights home and luckily it was uneventful. When we got off the plane in Maryland, it was New Year’s Day, and when we stepped into the frigid weather, we missed the tropical 80 degree weather we had grown accustomed to over the last few weeks. Hawaii is always a great place to visit and we were so grateful we were able to go!

Thanksgiving

2009-11-29T23:44:00.003-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving! This is our most recent family pic. I am so thankful for all of my blessings, but especially for my loving husband and our 2 sweet children. I feel like the luckiest person and couldn't be happier.

My sister Hannah came for the festivities and we had a great time cooking an easy, but tasty Thanksgiving feast. We made cornish hens and stuffed each one with stove top stuffing. We basted them with olive oil, rosemary, sage, and thyme and threw in some garlic for added flavor. We cooked them in my stoneware covered baker, so they turned out really moist and yummy. It was also fun to have our own individual birds. Andrew made garlic mashed potatoes, and we had sweet potatoes with pineapple and brown sugar (just enough sweetness), green beans, store-bought rolls, cranberry sauce, and my favorite- pumpkin pie. We had a Marie Calendar's razzleberry pie, but were too stuffed to eat it that day. We saved it for the next day. Needless to say, I feel like we took a step backwards in our diet.

We traced the kids hands to make turkeys and watched the Macy's day parade while Andrew was playing football with some of the guys from church. This is a horizontal pic, so I'm not sure why it is shown here vertically, but you get the gist.

Hannah made a turkey out of her foot.

We then turned Nate into an Indian as part of the Tribe of the 3 feathers. Here he is doing his tribal chant.
Hannah and I had fun this week. She was very sweet about helping out with the kids and Nate loved playing with her. Some highlights were when we took Nate to an open gym where he got to jump on the trampolines, jump in the foam cube pit, and run around on the padded turf with balls where the gymnasts do their floor routines. We then got to leave the kids and go out to a movie. I can't remember the last time I did that. We saw "The Blind Side" with Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw. It was one of the best, and most uplifting sports movies I've seen in a long time. It had the typical plot of an underdog boy who turns into a professional athlete, but it had a lot of genuine and touching moments and was based on a true story. True stories are always better than what Hollywood writers can come up with. I would definitely recommend it to anyone and would see it again.

Hannah also gave me and Andrew a break, so we went on a date to get a Christmas tree. I wanted to get our tree early this year so we could enjoy it until we leave in a few weeks. Nate is showing it off after it got decorated.

We love you Han! Thanks for the great visit:)

Halloween

2009-11-29T22:15:00.006-05:00

Here is a quick Halloween post. So it was 4:30 on Halloween and we had to be at the church at 5:00 to set up for the Halloween party. We didn't really have costumes. The kids were going as a pirate (see the post about Nate's b-day to get his full pirate attire) and a flower. I told Andrew I thought it would be fun if we had a family theme. This is what we came up with:

Andrew used Nate's wig and hat since Nate wouldn't keep it on. I went as his pirate "maiden," although he informed me that it's actually called a wench.

We found a bandana for Nate, which he kept on most of the night.

And little Kaitlyn went as our pet monkey. We had this costume from when Nate was a baby and decided it went better with the theme then a flower.

The ward party was small, but fun. I had to include this pic of the Stromsdorfers and their family theme of "The Wizard of Oz." They looked adorable! The primary put on a cake walk- Nate was so excited about the cupcakes of course. They also had a fishing pond put on by the "Fishopric", well actually their wives. There was also pin the bone on the skeleton, the jackolantern ball toss from Nate's b-day, a nerf gun game, and pinatas. Nate was more excited to put the turtle head in his bag then the candy, though- kind of funny. We then did trick or treating in the classrooms around the church and the next day when we went to church, Nate said "trick treat?" He wanted to do it again, apparently.

This is our jackolantern for the year. Mom gave this "Mr. Potato Head" kit to Nate and it was the easiest jackolantern I've ever done. Andrew did make a pirate jacko, but we didn't get a pic of it.

This is Kate's reject costume that I made, but she did get to wear it at a play group earlier in the week, so it wasn't a total waste.

Nate's b-day- He's already 2!

2009-11-24T19:08:00.007-05:00

Nate turned 2 on October 24th! I can't believe my baby's already 2- how time flies! We decided, since he is such a social guy to throw him a birthday party and invite a few friends.We did the party on his birthday, which was a Saturday and did it early, so we could have the rest of the day to relax and enjoy time with grandma and "baca" (Nate's word for grandpa). We had to dress Nate up in his $5 consignment deal pirate costume, since the theme of the party was pirates. He kept this "Jack Sparrow" wig on for about 10 seconds, long enough for a picture, and then refused to put it back on. He was pretty cute in it, though. He was hesitant at first to get in to the party, but once he saw the other kids having fun, he joined in.

We played put the treasure chest on the "x" marks the spot and throw the balls in the jackolantern.

I then sent the boys on a treasure hunt around the house- there were clues, like "where does Nate sleep?" with a picture of a bed and they would have to go there to find the next clue and a gold coin. At the end of the treasure hunt they found swords at the bottom of the bathtub covered in orange balloons. We didn't get a picture of this, for some reason. We then had a sword fight until it got too rowdy. Andrew offered to make everyone a balloon hat, as you can see my dad was the one who liked them the most.

It was then time for the fishing pond and they got their goody bags and some goldfish from the pond. (this pic is actually from after the other boys left and Nate and Spencer wanted to fish again.)
We put on "Bob the Builder" and fed the boys a lunch of hot dogs, cheetos, and apples as they had a picnic in front of the movie. We then brought out the cupcakes- Nate was so excited! - and everyone sang Happy Birthday. The boys helped Nate open his gifts and he was good about letting them help and play with his toys.

The boys helped Nate open his gifts and he was good about letting them help and play with his toys.It was a pretty successful birthday party- no tantrums, potty accidents, fighting, or crying. It was kind of amazing! All of the sources I looked at said to invite the parents to parties for this age, but I think they might behaved better without their parents and they had a really good time. Most of the boys were 3, except for his friend Spencer who is just a few months older than him. He came late, so after everyone left, Nate and Spencer did all of the games again 2 year old style.
Nate got many cool presents from his grandparents. This one is a musical table that has several nursery rhymes and lots of different instrument sounds. It also teaches counting and the alphabet. Nate loves it! He also got a fisher price "play my way" table that has a kitchen bin and a tool bin. He plays with it everyday and is getting really good at hammering nails and using the screwdriver. He now cooks for me from his "chicken" (kitchen) and I order pizza, eggs, and spaghetti. He brings it to me on a plate with a fork. It's kind of a nice role reversal change!

Andrew and I got these cool blocks for Nate. They are cardboard blocks from Melissa and Doug, and they are sturdy enough for kids to stand on. We have a lot of fun building towers, chairs, runways, stairs, and anything else we can think of. His favorite part is destroying what we build, though. They are really fun because you can be so creative with them.

Happy Birthday Nate! We love you:)

Nate is old enough to travel by himself!

2009-11-24T18:02:00.002-05:00

So my sister Hannah is visiting for Thanksgiving. Nate woke up from his nap and wanted to play with Hannah's suitcase in the living room. He started pulling it around and then conversation went as follows:

Mom: Nate, are you going on an airplane?

Nate: (matter-of-factly) Yes!

Mom: Who are you going to see?

Nate: (thinking for a second) Riley (his cousin)

Mom: Ok, see you later.

Nate walks to the door with the suitcase, turns around to blow us a kiss and says "bye!"

It was pretty cute:)

Fall Festivities: Butler's Orchard

2009-11-08T21:08:00.007-05:00

For Columbus Day, our neighbors told us about this place in Germantown called Butler's Orchard.

It was a fun fall event for our little family, but it was the first cold day of the year- the temperature was probably in the low 60's. I'm sure my family from Maine doesn't think that's cold at all, but we were having like 80 degree weather. Anyways, the orchard had fruit that you could pick yourself, but it also had a whole fall themed area with fun things to do like...

admire the pumpkin people, ( they even had some pumpkin people that resembled the Charlie Brown characters from the movie "The Great Pumpkin")

push and ride the tractor bikes,

throw balls in the jackolantern face, (Nate kind of cheated by actually climbing up on the platform and putting the balls in the holes, rather than throwing them in from off the platform)

jump in haystacks,

pet the animals at the petting farm, ( Nate loved the sheep!)

ride down their huge metal slides and tube slide on burlap cloths,

make your way through a corn maze,

and my favorite part- take a hayride and pick out your own pumpkin. The kids were done at this point, hence the frowny faces.

We also played hide and seek in the covered haystack maze (this was Nate's favorite), raced rubber ducks, jumped in the jumping castle (another of Nate's favorites) and enjoyed a lunch of bbq beef and hot dogs. We had a great time and it was a fun way to kick off the fall season. After visiting Germantown, Andrew is determined to move there. It was a very nice community (from what we saw), but his commute would be a lot longer, so someday we'll have to find somewhere else just as nice.

A dance performance

2009-11-08T20:49:00.003-05:00

The same week as SYTYCD, we had a dance performance at the Visitor's center with our BYU-alumni group. We had been practicing for several months and were excited to finally perform. I was stressing out sewing costumes and remembering my dances. My mommy brain has kicked in high gear with 2 little ones, so it seemed harder than normal to remember all of my dances. I danced the "Pele," a traditional Hawaiian dance, a modern hula with couples (the only dance Andrew danced this year), a tahitian, and a samoan dance. Polynesian dancing is really fun and you need a lot of energy to do it. I felt really good about my performance, though, and felt like I danced my best the night of the show. It definitely gives you a rush when you can relax and enjoy the energy of performing. I know that if I didn't practice so hard I would have just been nervous and it wouldn't have been as fun. Nathan also made an appearance. He represented the Hawaiian islands in the fashion show that the kids did at the beginning of the performance of all the islands.

He was such a cute little keiki! The Murphy clan came to support us and I saw a few friends from Hawaii that I haven't seen in awhile. It is fun to be able to catch up. It also makes me miss Hawaii, but we are lucky to be able to go for Christmas.

Miller Milestones

I Love Fall!

Fall is here! But first, let's do a little recap of the end of summer...

J'elaxin' in July 2: Speidel Reunion in Emden Maine

J'elaxin' in July

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn!

June- Jumping right into Summer!

May- Mother's Day, Maine, and My Mane!

Happy Easter!

Happy New Year!

Kids are funny!

House Pics!

Maine Trip!

Washington Trip!

Updated Videos

Happy Birthday Kaitlyn!

Doubled Our Family

Lost 100 pounds

In the Last 3 Years We...

We bought a house!

More videos!!!

Kaitlyn's eyes

videos

Updates

Mele Kalikimaka 1

Mele Kalikimaka 2

Thanksgiving

Halloween

Nate's b-day- He's already 2!

Nate is old enough to travel by himself!

Fall Festivities: Butler's Orchard

A dance performance