Mommy's Lesson

You think by now I would know to not go asking too many questions around christmas. Roper taught me a lesson last night that had me in tears. Bedtime was approaching and all I could think of was getting the kids to bed so my head could hit the pillow. I told Roper that if he hurried up and got his pajamas on, his teeth brushed, and his prayers said that I would read him a story. He did as I asked and I went hunting for the infamous "Twas the Night Before Christmas" book that I had placed on my dresser a few weeks ago. It was not there. I looked all over my room and soon became aggitated and I said (not very nicely I might add) "Roper, where did you put my book! Have you been in my room?!" He started to cry...which made me feel like crap. He cried all the way down the stairs and grabbed a present that he had hidden behind the tree wrapped with computer paper that he had drawn stars all over. It had a little box he had drawn on it that said to mom, dad, and mylee...frum Roper. He handed it to me still crying and he said, "It had been sitting there for a while mom, I didn't think you would notice! I wanted to get you something for christmas but I didn't have any money and I thought we could read this book on christmas." I felt HORRIBLE! I tried to console him but he just kept crying because he wanted to surprise me for christmas and now I didn't have a present from him. I convinced him to wrap the present back up and give it to Mylee and Dad for christmas and told him how much I loved him and how much I loved the present. Let this be a lesson for all of us parents this christmas... and when you can't find something you are sure was there earlier, maybe you just better leave it at that!

Just Kickin it with our Papa

These are some pictures of Raegan (she's Lindsay's youngest) and Mylee with my dad. My parents have two grandaughters who are the oldest grandchildren and then twelve grandsons in a row. So when the two latest grandchildren where girls we were all excited. I think my dad has a soft spot for girls because he raised five of them!

Happy Turkey Day!!

Have a very Happy Thanksgiving...and a very successful black friday shopping spree!! :)

Love,

Brody, Meckenzie, Roper, and Mylee

Funny Faces

I was outside mowing the lawn for the last time (because I was too lazy to rake up all the leaves...) and it was too cold out for Mylee so I set her inside by the window so she could watch me. After making a few passes up and down the lawn, I looked up and this is what I saw! Don't worry only the outside of the window was dirty!! She is growing so fast and tomorrow she will be ten months old! Where did the time go! She is so much fun and she is such a chunk. Last time we weighed her she was 22 lbs! She is going through a phase now where the world revolves around her Daddy. When he comes home from work he has a little shadow that crawls at his feet and whines until he picks her up. She loves it when Brody growls at her and pretends to gobble her up. Being a parent is rough at times but these little munchkins sure are cute!!

Samantha

Meet our newest addition...as if we didn't have enough animals right!? This is Samantha. We call her Sammy for short. We decided we needed another baby and this one doesn't need diaper changes or 3 am feedings! The kids really love her and as you can see.....

She loves the kids! Mylee is fascinated with her. She likes to get fists full of fir and pull her tail so she squeaks...(don't worry this only happened once when mom wasn't looking) Dash (our other border collie) loves to play with her for short periods of time and the rest of the time tries his hardest to get away from her because she has really sharp puppy teeth and likes to annoy him. In time, I am sure they will be best friends.

Happy Halloween

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween! We went trick-or-treating with Aunt Kendra and Noah, Carter, and Deagan. Afterwards, we drove over to my parent's house where my mom had made a root beer "Witches Brew" for the kids. Mylee was mistified!! Poor Brody had to work until ten that night so he missed out on the fun.

Trailer Trash

Roarke and Holly threw a Halloween party this past Saturday. The theme was trailer trash and the party goers did not disappoint!

Holly showing off her tattoo's while demonstrating a game for us Kendra enjoying the spread of scrumptious food (notice the ironing board for a serving table!)

Ya ain't seen purrtier girls have ya?

(if you are wondering why I have garbage all over me...I went as white trash)

The newly engaged couple "Timmy" and Marquelle

Who invited these hotties!?

Ma and Pa Miller

It's funny how dressing up like trailer trash can bring out the true "hickish redneck trashville"in all of us...some of us a little more convincingly than others ...Kyle, Brody, Dave, Dad...etc.

Thanks Roarke and Holly for a VERY memorable party!

We've Been Tagged by the Blanchards!

5 joys, 5 fears, 5 obsessions, 5 surprising facts, and 5 tags...Here goes

Brody's Joys (in no particular order)

1. Meckenzie
2. Roper
3. Mylee
4. Cutting Horses
5. Early mornings

Brody's Fears

1. Throwing up (Yes, this is his number 1 fear)
2. Death
3. Failure
4. Heights (above 2,000 feet... lol)
5. range cattle (They're wild and he's had to run from a few)

Brody's Obsessions

1. Cutting Horses
2. Ditto
3. Ditto
4. Ditto...and
5. Ditto (need I say more)

5 Surprising Facts about Brody

1. loves chick flicks (maybe Brian would like to go out sometime...ha!)
2. used to be a rodeo clown...aka bull fighter
3. he likes (tasteful, if there is any) rap music (yuck)
4. he changes the occassional diaper (hey, I've gotta count my blessings)
5. loves learning about anything and everything


Meckenzie's Joys
1. listening to Roper read
2. watching Mylee grow (she just started crawling)
3. a hot bath with a good book
4. lots and lots of creamy hot chocolate
5. watching Brody train and show horses

Meckenzie's Fears

1. Any member of my family passing away tragically
2. Scarry people who I know are out there deciding to come after me or my family
3. Heights
4. Cancer
5. Losing my mind

Meckenzie's Obsessions

1. Reading... particularly Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series (what can I say...I'm secretly crushing on a fictional vampire)
2. Photography and Photoshop (I'm just getting started!)
3. Singing (You know it is bad when your son covers your mouth because he is tired of hearing you sing)
4. Movies...all kinds
5. cleaning...but looking at my house right now you wouldn't think that!


5 Surprising Facts about Meckenzie

1. I'm a city girl being forced to live a country life...lol!
2. Give me anything silky and I will rub it between my fingers without being concious of it (I know weird huh?)
3. I am the only member of the Middleton chapters "Biggest Losers" Club who has gained two pounds instead of losing...come on Halloween and chocolate are WAY to tempting
4. I absolutely hate to run unless there is an object that I am running after...so basketball, volleyball, baseball, soccer, etc. are okay but you people who run for fun are CRAZY)
5. I sponsored an endangered Grizzly bear (payed $25.00) and I am married to a man who hunts bears!


OKAY...enough with the Miller family now it is time for us to tag five others...we tag

1. Rich and Lindsay Byram
2. Mike and Michelle Kynaston
3. Ben and Heidi Allen
4. Bryce and Marianne Blackwell
5. Ben and Monica Tanner

Can't wait to hear what you guys have to say!!

Happy Birthday Dad!

What would a birthday be without an angel food cake with lemon frosting (Brody's favorite), candles, birthday plate and cup, and a couple of cute little kids?! Yesterday, we celebrated Brody's 32nd birthday. He gets better lookin every year! We love you Brody!

Boise State Broncos vs The Oregon Ducks

Brody took a quick trip to Eugene Oregon to watch his BSU Broncos pummel the Oregon Ducks this past Saturday. Apparently Oregon fans are ruthless, so he enjoyed walking out of the Autzen Stadium with his Boise State hat and sweatshirt and a huge smile on his face....it's ok to gloat once in a while isn't it?!

Our Miracle Mylee

I can't help but cry everytime I think of the day when Dr. Slater at the fertility clinic told us we only had a 3% chance of ever having another baby. Tears still fall when I think of the day we found out that our InVitro attempt didn't work...and when we thought our nightmare was over and we were finally pregnant only to miscarry...I used to cry to Heavenly Father asking for some kind of peace and understanding...then came Our Mylee...
Mylee is my chubby, smiley, warm bundle of attitude. She LOVES her mom and I am more than happy about that. She strikes up conversations with strangers at the grocery store just with her shocking blue eyes and her big, whole face smile...
She loves food...She has this woody woodpecker coaxing sound she makes when she sees her bottle...she screams at you when you take something interesting away from her like plastic, the T.V. remote, paper, or miniature legos
Mylee is a connoisseur of binkies. She has tried them all and only prefers the playtex kind that you get at Winco. She sports cellulite on her little behind and three fat rolls on each knee, not to mention a dimple in her chin to match her daddy. She smells of lavender and desitin and she is her big brother's biggest fan. When Roper comes home from school she greets him with an ear piercing squeal, so we make sure we aren't holding her! Mylee feels that she needs to be awake at all times during the day so she takes about four, 20 min. naps a day but fortunately sleeps through the night. I can't even begin to tell you how grateful we are for our daughter. We worked so hard and for so long just to get her here and I would never trade that because we cherish even the hard times with her (like colic, teething, ear infections, and separation anxiety). This is our blessing...This is our miracle...This is our Mylee.
(These amazing photos were taken by my very talented sister-in-law Holly. Check out her website at www.hollymillerphotography.com . She really captures precious moments and personality!)

My Roper

When I think of these days with Roper I will remember the way he always smelled like outside....the little spots of spilled lunch on his shirt...the endless pictures he drew of dinosaurs...

his love for red ants and black widow spiders...the way he would roll his eyes at me when I would say some silly thing to try and get him out of a bad mood...

and how he would follow his dad around doing whatever it was that dad was doing...feeding and watering the horses...setting syphon tubes in the pasture...doctoring the horses...riding...killing weeds...mowing the lawn... I will remember how much he loved me and how he would make the bus wait so he could run back and give me one last kiss and hug before he left for school. This is my Roper and I am blessed beyond measure to be his mom.

(If you like these amazing photos, my amazingly talented sister-in-law Holly took them for us. Check out her website, she has a true talent for capturing personality..www.hollymillerphotography.com)

Sara Evans

I was having a really bad day this past Friday and I had spent a few hours over at my mom's just letting the tears flow. I can't tell you how grateful I am for her wisdom and her listening ear. Later that evening I was at home looking at a mountain of dinner dishes and two 5 gallon buckets of peaches to can when she called me up and asked if I wanted to go to the Sara Evans concert. I gave Brody this "please..please..can I go look" and he said "see ya later". So I pulled my nasty hair up, tried to make myself look suitable for public, and ran out the door. Brody took this picture of us by my Mom's "Z". (I can't tell you how happy my sister's and brother are that she has this car. After years of station wagons, vans, and beat up sudans she finally has a car that fits her personality..that's right she is a sporty, flashy, spit fire!!) We were on the floor ten rows back. I could actually see Sara Evans eyelashes...and she is just as gorgeous in person as she is on T.V. What a voice!! It was a riot to watch my mom dancing and singing along to her songs. We had so much fun! To top off my wonderful night, I came home to kids in bed and nineteen quarts of freshly canned peaches. Apparently, Brody and Roper pealed and canned peaches while rocking out to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" while Mylee kicked back in her saucer. Grandma and Grandpa Miller came over and helped too! I was jacked! I am SO thankful for my very patient and understanding family...I can really be a beast on my bad days.

Brody's Poor Bloody Thumb

I came home from running errands last week to find drops of blood all over the back porch. My first thought was, "Darn it Twinkie!" (our cat...she likes to catch mice, gophers, birds...anything really) When the drops of blood led up the back steps and into the house I was a little more concerned. Marquelle (Brody's beautiful sister for those who don't know) was using the tractor and she let me know that Brody had been shoeing one of the horses and had slipped with the thing-a-ma-jigger that he uses to clean out the junk in the bottom of the horses foot and cut right through his gloves and all the way to the bone in his thumb. Yikes! I have always thought that tool looked wickedly sharp. Anyway, he ended up getting six stitches and a tetnus shot which he claims hurt worse then the stitches. ...and I thought all we had to worry about was him getting bucked off a horse and breaking his neck...go figure!!

Sunday Evenings

Sunday evening chores are my favorite because we do them together...cat (Twinkie) and dog (Dash) included!

First Day of First Grade

Roper started first grade this year. He is just loving his class. His elementary school has been doing an educational study on the different ways that boys and girls learn. He is in a gender seperate class. There are 16 boys in his class and no girls...and since he thinks most girls are crazy (he tells me this while twirling his finger by the side of his head...I have no idea where he learned this but I think it is the internationally accepted way of saying some one is crazy) school couldn't be better. His favorite subjects are science, P.E., lunch, and recess. Every Monday I volunteer in his classroom. Without fail everytime I show up he wraps his arms around my waist and makes a big scene...I love that he loves his Mom!!

Chipmunks and Dirt

Every summer we try as often as we can to get away to my parent's cabin in Grandjean. One of our favorite past times is feeding the chipmunks. This year there were NINE chipmunks porking out on peanuts while we were there. It didn't matter how many people were on the deck or even if the kids were chasing them...they just were not afraid. Roper was more worried about them jumping on him! The kids also enjoyed the dirt as always. Carter and Lane had a blast playing trucks in the dirt and Kendra and Lindsay had a blast (lol) cleaning them up before bed.

Caldwell Night Rodeo

Roper and Aunt Marquelle.

Uncle Kyle and precious little Paisley

Spectators

Aunt Holly, Avery, Sadie, and Miles.

Aunt Bel, Paisley, Aunt Jenny and Mylee.

More Rodeo

Mylee's first Rodeo. She loved all the people and made sure she smiled at everyone within a 5 foot radius of where we were sitting.

Roper was so excited because he got to sit with dad down by the action. Brody, Marquelle, and Briggs helped out with the cattle chutes for the roping and the steer wrestling. You have never seen a little cowboy sit taller then when he is sitting next to his Dad!

Caldwell Night Rodeo

CHS 10 year reunion

This past weekend I had my 10 year high school reunion. It was a lot of fun to catch up with all my friends and to meet their families. I missed all of you and hope you keep in touch!

Roper's 7th Birthday

On August 1st, Roper turned 7 years old. He wanted me to make him a python cake and the picture on the far right is my pathetic attempt. He loved it! Happy Birthday Rope!

Mylee

Our sweet Mylee helping mom make breakfast in the morning. She loves morning...and she loves food! Look at those cheeks!