December 2014

 This is what our Christmas tree looked like this year.  It's not a perfect one but we picked it out and knew it would be a fun one.  We liked it.

Mia really liked exploring the tree with the lights and pretty things all over it.  It made her happy.

I took the kids to the Sandpoint Festival of Trees, which benefits Kinderhaven, a home for displaced kids.  Our church had a tree decorated there and they did a great job.  It was a beautiful evening.

We didn't get any real snow until after Christmas.  It was strange but quite enjoyable.  Here is Owen and his buddy Evan, and Teslyn being the little sister that bugs the boys.

Our ward primary put on a Christmas program and they did a really great job.  The big kids had parts, and the little kids sang in the chorus.

Owen was the wise man with the gift of gold.

I pulled out my sewing machine to make Owen's wise man costume.  He thought it was pretty cool and wanted to sew something.  I taught him the basics and he made cute little pouches and purses for Christmas gifts.

Owen also received his Bobcat award in Cub Scouts this month.

We made gingerbread houses for a family night.

Our neighbor friends invited us over for a different family night to make candy trains.  It's a cute and fun tradition their family likes to do. We had a great time too, and they turned out super cute! 

We like our holidays to involve a lot of good food.  We really enjoy eating.  The day of Christmas Eve, I put Owen and Teslyn to work in the kitchen.  They were really good helpers and enjoyed it!

Teslyn rolled and speared bacon around pineapple chunks, and Owen chopped up some artichoke hearts.  They were all turned into delicious things.

 That night we had a Miller family tradition of a fancy meal.  The tall goblets and the candles are what make it fancy for the kids.  They really like that.

 

We gobbled it up then jumped in the car to head to Coeur d'Alene.  We didn't tell the kids where we were going or why, they only knew we had tickets to something.  We took them on a Journey to the North Pole Christmas Cruise from the Coeur d'Alene Resort.  The ride went past a big light show, across the lake to see Santa at the "North Pole."  While we were there, he read the names of all the kids on his nice list, which happened to be every kid on the boat.  Then there was a little fireworks show.  It was really fun and exciting for the kids, and they loved it.  We are glad we did it.  It might be a new tradition.

We hurried home and they got to open and put on their Christmas jammies.  It was a bit past bedtime. At least Mia thought so. 

In the morning we took a few minutes to read the story of the birth of our Savior, and tried to remind the kids why we are doing these things we do. We are blessed because of him and his birth, life and death.  That is like a gift to us.  We celebrate by giving gifts to others.

They got the gist of it.  Then they dug into the presents.  Nick and I spent quality time in the kitchen together that day whipping up another feast. 

It's a lot of work on our own since we don't have family nearby to share the duty with.  Since we had people over for Thanksgiving we decided to keep Christmas low key and do our own thing.  It turned out super delicious.

Having leftovers for days makes it especially worth it.

Mia started walking confidently on Christmas day!  What a fun present that was for us!  She kept us waiting until she was 15 months.  A month later than the other two.  Walking babies are just about the cutest thing.  It was worth the wait.

She discovered she could suck on this thing in the dishwasher to get a drink of water.

And she likes bathtub water.  You'd think we never gave her enough to drink.  Not true!

She was a happy little busy body this month.  She did a lot of learning and a lot of mess making.  Good thing she's cute.

I took pictures of the kids rooms one day after they had cleaned them.  No reason really, I just like to remember what it was like when they were little.  And it will be fun for them to look back and try to remember.  Teslyn's room:

Owen's room.

Nick and I went on a date night to see Meet the Mormons in the old historic Panida Theater.  It was a great show and a fun night.

A few days after Christmas is when the snow started to come.  The kids were super excited and had so much fun.  Hours at a time.

Funny shot of Owen spraying silly string while he sat in his snow seat that he made.

Next holiday up was New Year's Eve.  We picked up Chinese food and had a feast at home.  Then we played board games.  Owen LOVES to play board games.  We got The Game of Life for Christmas and it's his new favorite. I would say his second favorite is Pirate's Cove, next would be Settler's of Catan.  We don't play nearly as much as he'd like us to.  It's hard with the two little girls!  That's one thing I look forward to when they are bigger, we will have some super fun game nights!

Then we had our balloon popping game that we made up a few years ago.  Just starting new traditions.  They take turns popping balloons and get to keep whatever is inside.  Coins, dollars, and candy.  Health and prosperity for the new year!

At 9 pm we went across the neighborhood to watch a little firework show that a neighbor invited everyone out to see.  It was really great!  Perfect ending for a fun and cozy holiday home with the kids.  They went to bed shortly after, and Nick and I did too.  We didn't stay up until midnight, and didn't have much of a desire to.  We don't feel one bit bad about it either! ;-)

Happy New Year!!

November 2014

 I just realized I didn't take a whole of of pictures in November.  November is when it really starts getting cold here.  Sandpoint is also really foggy fairly often.  It used to be a super cool novelty but now we are very used to it.  Here is a foggy look into a forested area one chilly morning while I was out on a run.  One of the last before the snow showed up.

 

The highlight of November was Thanksgiving, and all of the festivities that surround the harvest, the season, and the big turkey dinner.  Last year we made the trek to Utah to be with family for Thanksgiving, and had Mia blessed.  This year we decided to not brave the uncertain weather and the long 12 hour drive with the kids for a quick weekend.  We decided to invite over a few other families who were also staying put for the holiday.

 We have had so much to be thankful for, and for that we are truly grateful.  I used this great idea that my sister did on Thanksgiving when we were visiting my parents and family last year.  I grabbed an armful of sticks and stuck them in a vase and had a pile of colorful leaves cut out from paper.  When friends arrived for dinner they wrote something they were thankful for on a leaf and hung it on the tree.  A fun Thanksgiving activity and decor in one.  I loved it! 

 This man knows his way around the kitchen.  Our friends contributed and brought delicious food for the meal, but I also planned a pretty big menu.  I couldn't have pulled it all off without Nick.  I handed him a few recipes and he was happy to do them.  He enjoys cooking when he has the time.  He even took off work the day before to help prep as well so everything would go smoothly the day of.

 

It was our first time hosting Thanksgiving and making the turkey.  I would call it a success!  I look forward to doing it again.

 As the daylight grew shorter into the month, we had to find more things to do inside.  These kids were used to playing outdoors, which was so great.  Here they are doing some painting of fall trees.

 

Mia turned 14 months old in November.  We fully expected her to start walking that month like her older two siblings did, but she kept us waiting.  She was a super fast crawler and great at climbing stairs, however.

Mia has been using her baby bouncy seat as a little recliner while she watches tv.  It's adorable.  She will climb in and sit and bounce in it too.  I guess I won't be packing it away for a while!

 Nick and I decided it was important to pick and accomplish some sort of emergency preparedness/food storage each month to sort of chip away at a daunting task.  It's become kind of fun for us.  This month I bought buckets and mylar bags to seal up a bunch of bulk oats, wheat, sugar and salt I had on hand for long term food storage.  Here I am sealing the mylar with my hair straightening iron.

 One morning after dropping Owen off at school I turned around to look at Teslyn.  I thought to myself, "wow, this girl is growing up right before my eyes and soon I will be dropping her off for the day.  When I look back she won't be there."  I thought she was so adorable, the way the sun was shining in on her as she gazed out the window, her messy bed hair and all.  She has such big bright eyes when she wakes up in the morning.  That's my favorite.

  

She's such a sweet and patient sister to her baby.  She is very caring and shows a lot of concern for her.  And she has passed on her love for the ipad.

 The end of November we went out with some friends to hunt and chop down a Christmas tree.  It was really fun.  It started sprinkling rain so we felt a little rushed to choose one, but we knew once it was decorated it would be ours and we'd love it.  We compromised with this one.

 It's a fun tradition to start.

 Here is the Christmas tree hunting crew!

 Our friends came prepared with hot chocolate and cookies.  They were so fun!