December is here!

OK...this is supposed to be the LAST picture in this post! I still can't do this right! Anyway...so read the post, and then you'll know what this is a picture of :-)

Which means Maddy is 14 years old!

WE LOVE YOU MADDY!

She had a great day...her day started with opening gifts from Grandma Miller (a "Vocal Point" cd - yay!), mom (a cute notebook) and the Eberhards (an advent calendar!). She headed to school, where her friends showered her with love, gifts, and some fun surprises. She got to go to the Civil War Ball after school, and then right after that she was whisked away to a fun night of dinner at Red Rock with mom, Andy, Ben, Sam and Grandma Baker (dad was in Chicago). Ben and Sam both gave her Webkinz Holiday Hamseters! Then she got to attend a "Nordstrom" special event with Grandma and Andy, where she was treated to a new pair of beautiful black boots! It seems like there were other gifts...given months ahead of time ;-) We just love Maddy so much that we like to celebrate her all year long! Here's a (bad) picture of her wearing the birthday crown and her new sassy boots!

November was busy with school, college applications, more school, and finally Thanksgiving :-)

I, of course, forgot to take any pictures of either the Thanksgiving meal or the wonderful people we shared it with (Millers, Grace)...but I did remember to take a picture of all this polished silver. This all belonged to my grandma, Crystal Myrll Brown Baker...I love to polish it and think of her!

The day after Thanksgiving is one of my favorites every year...but not because of Black Friday sales! It's because the lights turn on at Temple Square! We were on time for the "flipping of the switch" this year...it is so beautiful to see how things go from darkness to being as bright as day! I think this is how the Gospel of Jesus Christ works in our lives...we go from being in relative darkness to having His light to help us see. One bonus to the seeing the lights turn on this year was that it was a really warm night! I don't think I've ever seen the trees with Christmas lights AND leaves before! Here's a (bad again!) picture of us in front of the temple.

That good weather is a thing of the past now! Last week we had a "very blustery day" and our trampoline hopped the fence, landed on our neighbors' pool, and then flew from there into a tree in their backyard! This is the second time we've lost a trampoline that way! Here's a picture of where the trampoline used to be, and where it finally landed (to the right of the picture in the tree). We have very nice neighbors who helped us dismantle it to get it out of the tree :-)

Last night we went and saw the new Muppet Movie! LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! It reminded me of the summer before we moved from Minnesota to Utah...all we watched were old Muppet Show episodes! It's how Sam discovered his love for Elton John, we all learned to speak Swedish, and why all four of our kids can toss out great Muppets one-liners :-) Such great memories! Here is a picture of Sam trying to be like Kermit!

OK - here are few pictures I forgot to add to the last post...

Ben went to a birthday party at Classic Fun Center in Layton...Take a look at the sign on the wall behind him. WHO NEEDS THIS SIGN?! Um...because if the sign weren't there then it would be okay to abandon your children? Too funny/strange!

Here is Stylin' Sam on his way to his favorite place - kindergarten! He likes to wear his backpack slung across his chest. He told me "It's cool."


Here is Sleepin' Sam! Because it's hard work being cool at kindergarten all day long! Not even that giant Coke next to him did the trick ;-)


Speaking of Sam, he and I have a lot of fun in the mornings together. We are silly and tell lots of jokes, and apparently play with the camer on the phone too :-) I am getting nostalgic because this is my last year with him home for most of the day.


Finally....what you've all been waiting for...a sighting of the rare Rahring Huffalo! This Rahrin Huffalo is not only ridiculous looking, it also tells jokes with Spiderman all through family prayers :-) Good job on nabbing that picture, Andy!

Oh! One more...Ben's classroom Halloween party! It was probably fun...we left shortly after it started because Ben was sick. Bummer.



TTFN, T

It's been a fun few weeks! UEA weekend was filled with cousins, apple juice, and a BYU football game. We jumped from that to a busy week at school for everyone, and now we are in full Halloween swing! Maddy and her cute friend Haley went to the haunted house at their school...

We drove the Alpine Loop yesterday. It was beautiful - even though we missed the fall leaves by a week or so! Maddy and I had a great time bundled up in the Saab with the roof down, blaring jazz, blues and classical music!

Timp is beautiful anytime of year...

The next few pictures are from Maddy's photography portfolio. I love fall and I love her photographs!

Pumpkins on the porch...



Leaves on the ground...


Fall berries...


Backyard leaves...


Tonight we had a fun Miller get-together. The main occasion was that D's cousin, Sara, is in town...here she is with Shelly and Jaron!


Miss Merzy wore her Rise-Up BYU gear...my kind of girl!


Maddy and Lexie...

Tom and Jeff...mind the gap!


We were happy that J made it back from TX to join us...here are he and Lu just before breaking out into the Sprockets dance!


Grandma and Grandpa Miller! Here's Hal dutifully doing the dishes...for which I am so grateful :-)


Dr. D about to dig in to the great gourd...


Sam (aka Spidey) grossing out over the guts!


We also got a visit from Tinkerbell...


A sleepy, sad, but very sweet skunk!


And her highness, Cleopatra!


We also had a rare sighting of ANDY! He has been buried under college applications, a 4,000 word essay on the Chinese economy following Deng Xiaoping, and finals last week...we are happy to see him!

Again, I wish I had taken pictures of the food tonight...the menu featured:

Jo's Carmel Kiss Dip with apples and pears

Jo's Carmel Apple Cider Floats

Butternut Squash Soup with either Cardamom Creme Fresh or Pumpkin Oil/Toasted Peppitas

New England Clam Chowder (Market Street Broiler style)

JeNeal's Sarah Salad

Grilled Cheese ala Andy (sourdough, pesto, tomato, fresh mozzarella)

Grilled Cheese ala D (white cheddar on light rye)

Fresh sourdough bread ala Thing 1 and Thing 2

Kalin's Farewell Red Velvet Cake

Jo's Pumpkin Cake

Hot Fudge Brownies

A nice warm up for Thanksgiving, don't you think?!

The weekly update

In the interest of full disclosure, you should know that: This is the most willy-nilly, disorganized, random post ever made to a blog! I need blogging lessons I think...but there are some cute pictures of the kids :-)

Here are our first week of school pics (kind of late, sorry)!

This was the first day of school for Maddy, Ben and Sam...

This is Sam's desk. He sits next to the cutest little girl named Paisley. His teachers are Mrs. Huber, Mrs. Hogan, and Mrs. Bellah, and they are all awesome !

Sam, Andy and I headed to Sunshine Cafe for some buckwheat granola pancakes while Maddy and Ben slaved away on their first day! Andy started a week later than Maddy and Ben, and Sam just had a little testing the first day...

Here are some random (remember, willy-nilly!) pictures we feel are important in understanding our everyday life.

Sam and Annalisa...

A better picture of Andy and the medal he won at the last debate tournament... before it heads to the awards cabinet at school :-)


All of the kids wish we could have a dog like this one...Henry! This picture is from a few weeks ago, but it is so cute I had to toss it in. And yes, that is Uncle J underneath Ben, Sam and Henry.

Stay tuned for Andy's senior pictures (hint, hint Andy!)

Doh! I thought I had figured out how to get pictures in the order I wanted them in...oh, well! Maybe next time...

So, here, in random order, are our offerings for the week!

Ben joined the Lego Master Master Builders Association. Very fun! The starter kit comes with a bunch of Legos and designs for three different things you can build with them. Then, you can create your own design and post it on the website. If I could figure out how to find Ben's on there, I'd post the link. Instead, here is a picture of one of the designs from the book. This kind of thing is right up his alley!


Ben and Sam had a Free Dress Day to celebrate the end of term. I LOVE Ben's outfit! Comfy pants and a Hawaii'an shirt! This is a kid who knows how to "chillax"!

Meet Sam, aka Flying Bat! He got off the bus with this great hat on Tuesday. He loves it - especially the blue feather, which we have reattached about twenty times since Tuesday. One of his teachers, Mrs. Bellah, told me that he really wanted his Native American name to be Garth instead of Flying Bat. Of course? Garth?! I actually like that name...but we're okay with Flying Bat too :-)

Sam's favorite things to do, when he's not in school, are stacking cups and doing puzzles. We splurged and bought him some blue cups to go with these great red cups (go Cougars!)

OK, this was going to be a cute sequence of how we got launched into school this year. So, the next three pictures are in reverse order and are supposed to be at the very beginning of this entry. Whatever...

Big events of the week:

Sam had fun with his cups, his kindergarten carpool friends, and his neighbor friend, Annalisa.

Ben turned in his great book project...(if I can figure out how to do it, I will attach a video)...he also learned how to carve with a pocket knife and soap. He made a great Christmas tree and also a sculpture of the Great State of Utah!

Maddy performed in both a choir concert and a band concert at her school. She stole the show with her rendition of Edelweiss. http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=2459494216090. This is a link to the video posted on facebook, but I am not 100% sure it'll worked...So, if it IS there, just know that the video doesn't do it justice because it is really echo-y, but it gives a nice idea. Maddy has an awesome set of pipes! (Skip the first 45 seconds or so of the video...I couldn't figure out how to edit it out).

Andy is learning how to host a debate tournament, writing his extended essay on Chinese economic policy, and reading Frankenstein.

OK - this has been frustrating today! Jo - I need a tutorial on the finer points of blogging next time I see you!

TTFN, T

Back in the blogosphere!

Bear with me as I learn how to do this! I have no idea where the pictures will end up, etc.

This week:

Sam made a paper chain counting down to Halloween. He is SO EXCITED to dress up as Darth Vader and go trick-or-treating!

He is also totally ready for the Children's Sacrament Meeting Presentation next week. His part reads: "Samuel Miller: The temple has blessed my family." And he says it just like that...he is having a great time learning to read and is insistent that he say the part just like it was written on the little slip of paper he was given. Love it!

Andy rocked the Beehive Bonanza debate tournament at the University of Utah, in the Public Forum category!! He brought home the 7th Place medal for best speaker!! This was a HUGE meet, so we are bursting with pride! He also attended a college application orientation night with his wonderful cousin, Emma...he has his sights set on either the University of Chicago or BYU. I, personally, am still in shock that my little boy is not little anymore.

Miss Maddy Miller bought a classy pair of black pumps (sorry for the sideways picture) for her upcoming Madrigals performance and band concert this week. She will be singing a solo at the choir concert...one of my favorite songs, Edelweiss! She and I had a fun girl night on Friday...shopping, eating, reading! We even braved a craft store...that is momentous!

Here is a picture of Andy in Germany...more on that later...

And here is a picture of the lighthouse at Skagen, where the North and Baltic Seas meet. Andy will do an entry about his trip with D and Grandma Baker to Denmark, Sweden, and Germany sometime (and maybe those pictures won't be sideways...)

Ben is a total piano pro! He has learned a bunch of Halloween songs and is going to start getting Christmas songs ready soon. He is working on a book project for the book "Doctor Proctors Amazing Fart Powder"...stay tuned for his "Good Book News" report video :-) He made a tv out of a cardboard box and is going to read his report with the box on his head. Clever Ben! Here is an old picture of Ben...he's just taller now - every bit as handsome though!

As for D and I...we're just not that interesting! But here is a picture of us in Etretat, France last summer :-)

I will say that we enjoyed a lovely fresh beet, goat cheese and arugula salad with sesame candied pecans for dinner tonight. I wish I had taken a picture!!

TTFN, T

Moving Partays

Party#2

  Hey~

Not too long ago we had a couple moving parties! Here are some pics!

Party #1

Party #2