Santa Claus is coming to town

Last week at our ward Christmas party the kids got to sit on Santa's lap. It was lots of fun, Miranda asked Santa for Cinderalla and Jacob gave him a scowl. I am in charge of the activity so am glad that it went so well and even more happy that it is over and I don't have to worry about it anymore.

Where is the remote control?

Did you ever have one of those days that you couldn't find the remote anywhere. It seems that no matter how hard you look the kids have walked off with it and it is gone. Well I must say I had one of those days and when I finally found the remote I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time.
Jacob has a fetish with the dishwasher, he loves to get anything out of it that he can and because of that I have been training him to put things back in. Well that training has come back to bite me, as you can see in the picture I found the remote when I went to unload the clean dishes in the dish washer. That is correct, it was in the dishwasher for the whole cycle. Oh Jacob we love you!!!

Christmas is Coming

All the Christmas decor is up and we are ready to go. Because we have been so excited to get the Christmas trees up we started a little before Thanksgiving and finished up thanksgiving day. Unfortunately I don't really have any pictures of the finished product but the kids had so much fun helping and it all looks great.

Turkey Run

I am sorry if you were wanting to see pictures of Turkeys because there are none here (unless you count Steven or I) Turkey Run is a State Park near us. Thanks to some wonderful friends or our who watch our kids for us Steven and I were able to have a day off.(I know who gets a day off from being a parent) We are lucky and we took advantage of it. We had a great hike then we went to lunch afterward. We have been very bad about going and seeing all the fun things that are around us so we are so grateful for this opportunity to go and see it. Next time we will take the kids and see how they do at hiking:)

Ladders to get us out of the crevasse we were in, Steve thought it would have bee more fun to try and get out without them

Should I climb up on the top of the rocks or go down through the water?

PASS!!!!

Yesterday Steven had his Final Oral Exam. He has been working up to this point for months/years in his education. The past few weeks have been stressful because of his final written exam being 2 weeks ago and this oral exam yesterday. At the end of his oral exam is when they told him if he passed, or failed. If he were to fail the last 2 1/2 years would have been a waste of time (no pressure)
Thankfully, and of course I had not doubt that he would, he passed. Yeah!!!!!! Because of this great event he is now ABD(All But Dissertation) and is officially a PHD candidate. I am so proud of him for everything that he does and how hard he works for us.
There is nothing better than to have a great supportive husband, that works hard at supporting the family, being a great husband, father, and member of the church. Steven is so wonderful at juggling it all and I just want to let him know that we are happy to support him though this journey. I love you and all that you are.

Halloween FUN!!

Just wanted to share a few pictures from Halloween. We had tons of fun, did all the traditional things, and I even decided to dress up this year. Miranda was the cutest Tinkerbell (and has already told me that she wants to be Cinderella next year) and Jacob was a darling little Spider man.

Happy 1st Birthday

He was not so sure at first if he wanted to get his fingers dirty.

He quickly figured out that is was yummy cake and it didn't matter if his fingers get dirty.(or anything else)

Yum!!!

I am a little slow at getting these pictures posted but here we go. Jacob had a great first birthday. Of course we had the eating of the cake, the big mess at the end, and some fun presents. Happy Birthday Jacob we are so glad you are in our family. Jacob is an active and mischievous little boy that loves all the boys thing, balls are his favorite, followed by cars and computers. We are in big trouble but we are so excited to see him grow.

LadyBug Season

For those of you that don't know what I am talking about, let me explain. Each year around this time everything becomes infested with lady bugs. They are all over the laws, and you get attacked each time you step out of the door. Of course if you are lucky like me and you get attacked in your house as well. Our back door does not seal fully because of a slight bow in the door and the lady bugs have found a way in. I am amazed every year how many there really are. I used to catch them when they came in the house and throw them back outside (example in the picture) but it has become much to much work and so I just suck them up with a vacuum.

Miranda is afraid of bugs so it has been good to make her play with them but Jacob thinks they are so fun and yesterday there was a Lady bug crawling all over his hands. I looked over and saw it and the next instant he shoved it in his mouth and swallowed. I am sorry to say that I laughed pretty hard about it because that bug put up a good fight and tried to crawl, or fly out and Jacob was coughing and trying to grab at is for a full minute. I guess what doesn't kill them makes them stronger.

Palmyra NY

The Palmyra NY Temple. We had so much fun in Palmyra. The kids were troopers, we marched them all around Niagara the day before and they were still happy to go march around the sacred grove in Palmyra.

The colors were just beautiful while we were there and I don't think any picture will do it justice. This picture is us stand on the road in front of Joseph Smiths home and we can see the Temple through the tree on the next hill over.

Joseph smiths home he live in at the time he received the first vision. This is not the original structure but they found the original foundation so it is in the exact spot and the same size.

Daddy and Miranda walking into the entrance of the sacred grove. It is a very sacred and special place and we are so fortunate that we were able to go and see all the great sites. Inside the grove they have trails all set up the you can just meander around, it feels like you could just get lost. It was so great to walk through there and know that somewhere near God the father and Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith. I am so grateful for that event and all that came from it so that I could know about His plan for me.

Niagara Falls!!!

If you have never been, it is hard to describe. Niagara is amazing to see and we had fun. Miranda loved that we were in Canada

The whole view of Horseshoe falls

The bridge between USA and Canada

American Falls

I think that Stevens favorite part of the day was on our way back to the USA. We of course had to go through customs and the agent asked Steve, "Where are you coming from" to which Steve replied "Canada" :) Steven and I laughed and thought it was pretty funny and the obvious answer to this questions but the Agent didn't even crack a smile.

More Balloon Fun

Okay, I had to share every one's favorite balloon statue. Yes this is a man in an out house with his pants at his ankles and reading the newspaper. It is Hilarious!

Trip to Kirtland

Last week we went on a family adventure. It was so much fun, and to start our great adventure we went and visited family. (Steven's aunt and Uncle in Kirtland) Like always they spoiled us and took us all sorts of fun places.

Jacob wanted to try and milk the cow

We got to see a whole room full of balloon art. That entire tree was made of balloons, complete with a girl swinging on a tire swing, a chipmunk in the tree and a little boy in the tree with a frog in hand. It was amazing.

Aunt Sherri made Halloween sugar cookies with us and we got to decorate them with eye balls and bones.

This was just the beginning of our journey. There are plenty more pictures and stories to come.

Stay Tuned. . . . .

Lets Go For A Ride

Steven and Miranda have been working out in the garage the last few days to get Miranda's bike up and running. (it was a freebie that needed a little love) After some tinkering and one new tire she is ready to ride. She thinks she is so big now, with a bike that is like daddy's, and now that she has this bike she is ready to give her old one to Jacob.

Daddy helps her ride and since this picture we have gotten the training wheels. She loves it.

Of course Jacob thinks he is all big because he has his bike. Everyone is happy. Yeah!!!

Jacob Walking

Jacob has been doing this for a little while now but he is getting better everyday. Miranda didn't walk until she was about 14 months old so to have Jacob walking at 10 1/2 months is crazy to me. He is so fun and we still love and enjoy every minute.

The All Aboard DIner

This past weekend we went and visited Rachel and Dave in Chicago and we had tonz of fun. They spoiled us and took us to the All Aboard Diner. Our food was brought to us on a train, there was a train going round and round the room, Thomas the train movie was playing and Miranda LOVED it, as you can imagine.

Thanks so much for having us Rachel and Dave, we had lots of fun and it was great to see you guys and meet Daphne.

Climbing Stairs

Jacob loves to climb stairs. There is something horrible about watching a young child climb stairs, the thought of them tumbling all the way to the bottom. He has done great so far but I get nervous for him. I am one of those mothers that does not believe in gates, he needs to learn where he can go and where he can't go without a gate. I know he will learn fast because he has already learned that it is not time to come down from the top. He is a cutie and we love him, who wouldn't love that face.

Saying Farewell

For any of you who know me well and know how I cook you will know that this is a tragedy. This last week my sandwich maker died. I received that sandwich maker from my mother for my 18th birthday right before I moved out of the house, so it has served me for a good 6 years.

Now for those of you know don't know I do use my sandwich maker a lot.(at least once a week) When I need a quick meal I usually will use it for something. Some of my favorite things to do is make muffins for breakfast in it or make pizza pocket sandwiches for lunch. It will be missed very much. Steven said that I have to wait until Christmas before I get a new one but I don't think that I will survive.

The First Day of School

Okay I know this might be cheesy to do for Steven's first day of school but I am going to do it anyway because this is a very big semester for Steven. In approximately 9 weeks Steven will take his exit exams for his PHD program. He has been studying and working up to this point for a very long time now and it is a huge deal. After he takes his exams and passes (because he will of course pass he is great) he will then have his dissertation to write, after which I will refer to his as Dr. Steve (for maybe a day).

I just want to tell him how great he is. Graduate programs are hard enough to complete on there own but when you add in a wife, two children, a home, a job, and all his responsibilities for church calling and service, I respect how hard that can be and how much he does.

Good luck honey, We love you and we support you 110%.

Swimming Fun

At the mills family reunion we were able to do lots of swimming and the kids loved it. We had so much fun, and I just think they are so cute while they swim.

Jacob had so much fun swimming with Aunt Pam, he is a little fish in the water.

Look DaeLene went swimming. This is an almost never so I just had to take a picture so I could prove it. :)

Family Reunion Fun

We are in Phoenix and having fun. I don't have any pictures to show yet but just wanted to give an update. We went to the Mills family reuion this past weekend and had so much fun, swimming, hiking, playing, and most of all eating. Thanks grandma and grandpa for getting us all together we had a great time.

Our Adventures in Utah

At the beginning of July I went to Utah with Miranda and Jacob, and we had so much fun. While we were there we were able to go down to lake Powell for a few days, celebrate the 4th of July with my family and the most important (and real) reason for going was to celebrate the wedding of my SIL Tiffany and her new hubby Cameron.

There really is too much to tell so I will just throw in some highlights. I was so proud of Miranda for being so adventurous while we were down at Lake Powell, she was a little fish in the water and loved to hike all around on the rocks, Jacob also loved the water and I am sure he will be right along side his sister wanting to swim and splash.

We were also able to so see the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. It was so fun to take Miranda to that. She loved the sealing rooms.

For the wedding Miranda got to be one of the Flower girls, she did such a great job and my kids looked so great in the cute outfits. Thanks for having us mom and dad, We had a wonderful time.

Also Congratulations Tiffany and Cameron, we are so excited for you and are so glad we were able to be there.