It's been a while

I know it's been a while and I apologize to all of my avid blog followers...(Hi Mom and Lindsay l.o.l.) Instead of a lengthy blog I decided I would just post some pictures that describe the fun that we had "in a nutshell" this summer.


Annie celebrated her first birthday! We had a blast at Aunt Tee and Uncle Mike's.





Roper celebrated his 9th birthday at Grandma's house. It was quite a "Lego" celebration!















We spent a lot of time soaking up the sun and having fun in the water. (This was at Aunt Lindsay's house)
















I cut my hair...actually I have cut it even shorter since this picture.











Grandma Hessing celebrated her 89th birthday. All of her 8 sons were there. (can you imagine raising 8 boys...grandma, you are AMAZING!)













The Miller Family Reunion was soooo much fun! How blessed we are to have a family that loves to spend time together and knows how to have fun!












Trip to the zoo with ALL of the Hessing grandkids. (My mom was beaming!)













Roper's coach pitch baseball. Even though they didn't win many games they sure played hard and had a good time.










Boise State Football was an excellent way to end the summer. We spent the opening game at Rich and Lindsay's.










I think spray painted blue and orange hair is very becoming on my parents...especially you Dad.









The summer of 2010 was an awesome one! Roper has started 3rd grade and loves his new teacher. He's really into Star Wars right now...especially Star Wars the Clone Wars. He also loves to read and I am so excited because he recently started the Harry Potter books!!

Mylee has really come into her own...sometimes that is good and sometimes not so good! She loves horses! We laugh because everytime we take her riding she cries hysterically when it is time to get off. She always waves and says good bye to the horses whenever we pull out of the driveway to leave. She also likes to ride on her Daddy's back and lead him around like a horse all over the house. (Brody secretly loves this as well)

Annie can currently say these words..."Hi, Ta-dah, uh-oh, cracker, and No." She loves her mama (I finally got one!) and she loves to read books.

Brody is just finishing up another 8 weeks of school towards his Masters. We can't wait for the spring so he can finally be done! I'm so proud of him.

Meckenzie is loving the fact that she is not pregnant and is not nursing....did I just say that! Yes, I did! No offense to all of my prego and lactating family members and friends but after a few years of non-stop pregnancy and nursing I love just having my body for me for a moment. Yes, we plan on more children but for now this is soooo nice. As for what I have been up to, well it's the same old-same old but I am loving life.

Now that I have updated everyone and feel as though I just sent you all a christmas brag letter...tee heee hee.... I will try to keep up with this blog a little better.
My love to you all,
Kenz

Ahhhhhhh!

For Valentine's Day, I found these cute dresses for the girls. I wanted to get a picture of all the kids on the couch together and Roper and Annie were more than happy to do so but Mylee...well she wasn't too pleased and she insisted on holding a transformers lunch box in the picture.








Mylee was more than happy to give me her best grin once picture time was over and she could play. She has so much personality and she gives the best hugs and kisses.










Annie loves to do anything and everything. She SERIOUSLY is the best baby! She didn't pose for this picture...on any given day and at any given moment this is what she looks like...grinning from ear to ear. When I see her, I think of the primary song.."I am like a star shining brightly..."!

The Viper!

We just experienced our first pinewood derby. Roper and Brody spent a whole Saturday cutting, sanding, building, and painting his derby car. Roper called it...The Viper! He painted a picture on the hood of his car of a snake with red eyes but unfortunately when we got to the derby we found out our car didn't weigh enough...so we had to put weights all over the hood. Rope didn't seem to care and even though he didn't win any of his races, we came home that night and he deemed his first pinewood derby experience as "the best ever!

What I'm up to

I have been on a two year break from singing pretty much. I sang for 3 years with an all women's choir called the Musettes based out of Nampa...and now I'm back! I really enjoy it. Some of the music we sing is not really my forte but, that's just because the ages in this group run from 20 to 80 years old. We do a lot of oldies (but goodies). I have made some really good friends in this group. Some of the ladies in the group have fought cancer, some have lost husbands, some are fighting major illnesses right now. We give hugs and words of encouragement and even take meals to one another. I guess you could say it is almost like a mini relief society. Anyway, I never really talk on the blog about what I am up to so I thought I would post this picture of the Musettes singing the National Anthem at the BSU mens' basketball game against Idaho. (I must say we were the definite HIT of the night...BSU stunk it up and lost by a landslide!

It's my party I can cry if I want to!!

I turned 2 on Wednesday, January 27th. I had a fever and wasn't feeling very well so Mommy took me to see the doctor and he said I had a sinus infection. We had a big party planned with uncles, aunts, and cousins but Mommy canceled the party and made me drink this awful medicine and put me to bed. Mommy said that we would celebrate my party on Friday but, I still wasn't feeling too hot on Friday...so...she made me blow out my candles and open presents with just me, Roper, Annie, and Daddy. I wasn't very happy with the whole situation until I realized that I got to rip paper off of boxes and there were toys inside!! My favorite toy was my barn. It ended up being a pretty good party...even if I was sick.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was at Nannie's house this year. We had our own live Nativity and as you can see most everyone wanted to be angels. Roper was a
shepard and Mylee was a donkey. Annie, being the only baby was obviously a shoe-in for the baby Jesus.








Papa read from the scriptures and we sang hymns and Nannie had a load of homemade candy for all of us to enjoy. I'd say Christmas Eve doesn't get any better than this.








Cari and the kids in their new jammies from Nannie and Papa.












The newly weds enjoying (with emphasis I might add) their first Christmas together. Ahhhhhh. Sigh. I remember the days back when....



















Not to be outdone......










Kysa and Taylor by the Christmas tree..oh so sweet

Utah Thanksgiving

We enjoyed Thanksgiving this year at Aunt Marquelle and Uncle Dave's house in Utah. As always the meal was excellent and so was the company. Marquelle out did her self yet again with a beautiful table and went above and beyond to make everyone feel comfortable. Mylee slept through Thanksgiving dinner. Here is a picture of her just before we were ready to eat. As you can see, she just couldn't make it any longer.




Obviously, (given the food all over his face) Roper thoroughly enjoyed his meal. He loves to spend time with his cousins!













Enjoying the meal...and discussing the finer points of Boise State and BYU football...as well as which team is best! (BOISE STATE!!)








After a nice nap....and a few hours after everyone else had their Thanksgiving dinner....Miss Mylee decides to eat. She did a good job too!!

A Baptism and A Blessing

The month of September was full of special events for our family. Roper was baptized and Annie was blessed. We were so proud of Roper. He has always had a fear of water. I don't know why! I can't recall any traumatic experience he had with water as a baby but it just seems like he came out of the womb not liking water. Sure he'd get in the bath tub or the pool but if any water touched his face or his head he would lose it. (You can imagine the drama every day when it came to washing his hair) Well, I gotta tell ya we were so proud of him when he decided he wanted to be baptized. It was a HUGE step for him because his whole body had to go under the water. He was so nervous! I can't tell you how grateful I am for Brody...Roper started to cry a little to his dad once they walked down the stairs into the font. Brody quietly reassured him that everything would be ok. There were more then a few tear filled eyes as we watched Roper put his trust completely in his dad. They said a little prayer that Roper would be ok and then Brody baptized him. The smile that spread across his face when he came out of the water was priceless. He was so proud of himself. I will always remember his baptism...it was so sweet and it took a lot of courage. I am happy to report that his fear of water has drastically subsided since that day!




Our precious Annie was not to pleased with getting her picture taken. It was really windy and she thinks she needs to eat ALL THE TIME!!

Our Big Weekend

We had soooo much family come for Rope's baptism and Annie's blessing. (It helped that it was also Labor Day weekend) The only person missing from the Miller side was Landon. (Geez...basketball is more important than your niece and nephew!! Just jokin Kess.. we still love ya)

We managed to get all of the Hessing clan here. Notice the cute girl with Nick...they were married the end of September. Her name is Chloe and we love her to death. She fits right in with our crazy family.

Our precious Annie

Life sure is busy these days. My days are filled with changing diapers, nursing, wiping noses, making meals, cleaning up the dishes and toys, reading stories, helping with homework, going to scouts, volunteering at school, coaxing kids to go to sleep, paying bills, balancing the checkbook....on and on and on. I'm sure most of you can sympathize. I can't seem to keep up with my blogging but I eventually get there. These are some pictures of our little Annie when she was a month old. Holly always does an amazing job. Annie is such a blessing! She is such a happy, sweet baby. Our only trial is the fact that she prefers mom to a binkie which can sometimes be a little difficult...especially at night. I couldn't imagine my life without her. Looking at these pictures makes me tear up all over again.

catch up time

Gleaning potatoes with the family.












Brody found the mother load where the tractor couldn't turn the soil.

















Roper (aka bumblebee) with his buddy Michael (aka dracula) at Nannies trunk-or-treat.


















Who does this cute little witch belong to?

hmmmm...Boise State Football....or...Scouts

Ok, so Roarke and Holly were throwing a BSU party for the first game of the season. Brody and I were so excited. Last year, Brody had the chance to go to Oregon and watch the Broncos take on the Ducks and beat them on their own turf. It was an exciting game and definitely one that he still talks about. Apparently those Oregon Duck fans are vicious...(excluding you of course Dave). Anyway, The night of the game also happened to be Roper's first pack meeting for cub scouts. He was to be receiving his Bobcat award. Brody and I had talked to him about the football party and we let him know that next month he could receive his bobcat award and he didn't seem upset about it at all. Well, the primary president met with him to give him his Faith in God book and he confided in her that Boise State football was more important then he was. She relayed this to me and naturally, being a mother, 5 alarm bells went off in my head and I informed my sports crazed husband that we would have to go to pack meeting and possibly miss the start of the game. What's more...I told him that he had to act excited about pack meeting and act like he really wanted to be there so Roper wouldn't get his feelings hurt and so he would know that he is more important then BSU football. So, here we have the pictures of me, in my BSU shirt, receiving my bobcat pin. (I guess they give awards to the mom's too because we help them so much). Brody obviously took this picture while sitting in the back by the door with the two girls waiting to book it to the car and get the heck over to Roarke and Holly's to watch the game. The good news, Roper knows that he is more important then BSU football to his parents and Brody made it in time for the kick-off after all. I guess you can have it all!

Dad! There's a badger in the backyard!

"Dad! There's a badger in the backyard!"...this is what we heard one evening from our Roper. We both thought...sure, wow, a badger...it's probably a dog. Well it was a badger and it wasn't really in our backyard. It was in the field behind our backyard but I think that is close enough for me. Brody called Grandpa and told him to bring his gun. Grandpa shot him from our driveway, went out into the field, and brought us back our badger. Ya know, they are kind of cute little animals until you look at their 5 inch claws!! This one happend to have a pipe stuck around it's neck. It wasn't very old so we probably saved it from strangling to death. Grandpa cut one of the claws out for Roper to keep but our dog ate it...LOVELY HUH?! Just another day on the farm...

Rope's Birthday Bowling Bash

For Roper's 8th birthday this year we decided to go bowling...it's fun for the kids and easy for a mom who just had a baby. We had a great time but I think all of us could improve on our bowling form...don't you?

She's Here!!

OKAY....We decided for the 4th of July this year that we would take a trip to eastern Idaho to visit Rich and Lindsay for a day and then head on over to Poky to celebrate the 4th with Tee, Mike, Bryce and Marianne....well....I woke up bright and early (5:30 am) the morning we were to leave so I could shower, finish packing, and get the garden watered etc... I was feeling a little crampy (for lack of a better word) but I thought nothing of it. I still had a month before my due date and the last time the doctor checked I was barely dilated to a one. We got the kids loaded up and headed to the gas station in Eagle to fill up and get some goodies for the road. The whole time we were in the car I kept telling Brody I just didn't feel good but I still thought nothing of it. While Brody was filling up the car, I went inside the store and bought some cereal, bananas, muffins, and drinks. On my way back to the car I had a big enough contraction that I had to hold onto the side of the car. You would think that THAT would have clued us in but, NO. When we arrived at my parents house my mom convinced me that we should go to triage just to get checked out before embarking on a 4 1/2 hour drive. I felt silly checking into triage. I kept telling the lady at the desk that it was probably nothing. I'm sure she thought I was strange. So, they outfitted me in a hospital gown, laid me on a bed, and wrapped a strap around my belly to monitor contractions. The nurse told us that I was having a few contractions so she was just going to check me and see if I had dilated any more. She slapped on some gloves, told me to spread em, and proceeded to check (I HATE THAT PART). Low and Behold, I was dilated to a 5 and 88% effaced. She said, "Well honey, you aren't going on any road trip I can tell you that right now...you are going to have a baby!" My mom and I just started laughing our heads off. We had to call Brody and have him come to the hospital and after an epidural and a few hours later...Annie Leigh Miller was born!! She weighed 6 lbs 8 oz. (which they said was great for a preterm baby) She was covered in that white stuff they call vernix because she was early. She came out screaming her little head off and no sound could have been sweeter. The NICU nurses checked her over, gave her a clean bill of health, and wrapped her up in a blanket and handed her to me. It was love at first sight. It still amazes me...the instant love you have for your child. When you feel them growing and moving inside you, you already love them...but seeing them for the first time...that just seals the deal and they have your heart forever. I CAN'T BELIEVE I HAVE THREE KIDS!!! After trying for so long to have children...I really feel blessed...I can't even begin to describe the joy I feel. I HAVE THREE KIDS....an amazing son, and two beautiful girls!! My cup runneth over!! So, I posted these pictures from that glorious day...You can tell that I am hopped up on drugs in them....Don't you love those labor room pictures?!