G-A-R-E-T-T vs T-A-R-G-E-T

I have to share this awesome story about my sweet G-man!! Yes I am going to brag in this so if you don't want to hear a mother brag about her kid then do not continue. I'm giving fair warning...but in my defense of bragging, Adam's Grandpa says "if ya done it, it ain't braggin'!" So here goes!
On Tuesday I was running a bunch of errands with Garett and Logan in tow. We made a quick stop at Target (record for me at Target actually) to buy a gift for a birthday party Spencer was going to and to have a potty break! They have a family bathroom at our Super Target - which by the by I think is the most fabulous thing any retail company can do for their customers--anyway, Logan in the cart, Garett and I all go into the bathroom and while G was sitting on the potty he was looking at the word "Target" on the side of the cart and telling me all the letters. About half way through he says with excitement "Hey Mom! The letters in the word TARGET are the same as the letters in my name!". I looked over and by golly he was right!! The funny thing about that is that I absolutely LOVE Target and in all my years making on average one (sometimes 2) trips there a week, I'd never noticed that!! What a little Smarty Garett is!! Cool, eh?
I also need to brag a little more about him! Some of you already know this but when Garett was a little over 2 year old we became really concerned because he wasn't talking and anything he did say sounded chinese! So we had him evaluated and he was diagnosed with a severe speach delay! He immediately started therapy and though he made lots of progress he also had some setbacks! It was a long hard year that first year and when the second year started last fall we were sooooo worried. Only two more years until kindergarden and we had such a long way to go! Adam decided to give him a Father's blessing (as he does for each of the children at the start of the school year). In it he blessed G that he would be "caught up to other children his age by the end of the school year". Through his second year of therapy I really tried to remember that blessing when G would have a hard time in therapy and seem to be at a stand still in his progress. So three weeks ago his therapy started back up from summer break! His therapist evaluated him and told me that he is now "above average" for his age group and no longer needs therapy!! We are soooooo excited and soooooo proud of our little G-man! He has worked so hard and has come out way on top!! We really are blessed to have the faith that we do and to have Garett in our family!
We Love you G!

AWESOME Neighbors

We have seriously been so blessed with having AWESOME neighbors here! Our entire circle is great but especially our little corner! Between 7 families there are 22 children!! There a few families with younger kids who don't come out to play yet, but when all 7 families are out with their kids, you can imagine the chaos!! We take over the street! We have little SLOW DOWN signs out and yell at anyone who doesn't do just that! (you REALLY don't want to speed around our corner if those signs are out and so are we!) Anyway, we have a bike ramp and of late it has been the neighborhood attraction! Kids go over that thing on bikes, scooters, skateboards, tricycles, big wheels... you name it they try it just to see who can get the most air! It's so funny to walk outside and see this long line of kids patiently waiting their turn and to hear them cheer for eachother when someone gets over it for the first time and gets "sweet" air! Anyway, while Papa and Grandma were here we did a lot of playing outside. Here are some of the pictures!
This is Amanda and Tommy! They live across the street (in the yellow house to those of you who have been here). Amanda is almost 4 and Tommy is 2. He and Logan are starting to be good little buds!
After a long day of playing outside together, Annie and her best friend Maddy (Woog) from across the street came with Gramma and I to the Youth Dance Festival down at University of Denver (DU). They looked so cute in their matching outfits - khaki capris, black t-shirts and denim jackets with black flip flops! Logan wanted to get in on the pre-show pictures although he stayed home with the guys!
Logan and Makenna (Woog) or "kenna" as Logan calls her. She turned 1 in July and is such a sweet little thing! Her and Logan are really starting to get along! Megan is also an angel! She's Kenna's big sister! (they look exactly alike so I'm sure you figured that part out!)
Here's Logan driving the four wheeler. I put the pictures out of order so you can read the story about this picture below...

Logan is almost 2 but thinks and tries to act like he's 12. Initially I wouldn't let him ride the four wheeler alone so he rode along with G! They were both all smiles!! He insisted (in his 2 year old way) to try it by himself after he got off with G. With Papa there to help I let him try! Unbelievably he could do it! One problem...he doesn't know how to stop (ya just lift your foot off the pedal!) But he did get the steering down pretty good so he really didn't need to stop! Anyway, while I was busy taking pictures of all the kids, I thought Papa had an eye on him! Papa was watching one of the other kids do a trick or had to go inside or something and he thought I was watching Logan. So I look up and say "Where's Logan". Noone knows! So I go bookin' it down the street, around the corner from my house and there he is riding a long all by himself almost to the intersection!! Thankfully the thing doesn't go too fast and I was able to catch him and turn him around!! (that's what I mean about him thinking he's 12. What two year old just goes driving off into the sunset with out mommy I ask you?)

As you look at this picture of Annie in her clashing pink pants and red top, hair not brushed and riding a scooter I have two thoughts to share with you. First, I pick my battles with her and her clothes...it was a Saturday is all I can say about that. Second, I once saw a t-shirt with a picture of a girl doing some sport and the caption said, "I'm not a Tom-boy! I'm an ATHLETE!!" I repeat that to you about Annie as the thought of she's such a little Tomboy crosses your mind...Remember that is not so...She's an ATHLETE!

Our neighbor and one of Annie's best friends Sloane! She loves to go over the jump over and over and over!! I'm proud of her because she didn't used to be very brave and wouldn't even try to go over it! Now we can't get her off the thing!! Good job Sloaney!

Football Season

Spencer's first Football Season started at the beginning of August and this weekend was their preseason tournament!! Spencer is LOVING it!! They are in full pads and in the past three weeks he has had a blast figuring out how to run, catch, throw, etc. while in his gear! He's learned plays, positions, tackling, etc. Watching games this weekend was sooooo much fun! Especially cause Spencer was having fun! He didn't get to play a ton because he'd been out for a week with a concussion (not from football, from wrestling with my cousing Jordan) and got clearance from the doctor to start playing the day of the first game! He had been watching practice and able to do walk throughs of the plays so in the games he didn't do too bad!
When they put CHRISTOFFERSON on the back of the Jersey the said if there had been one more letter they wouldn't have been able to fit it!! Hilarious!
The first game they lost pretty bad I think it was 21 to 7 but the team was older and had been playing together for two years already. Their Saturday game ended in a tie though we should have won. The other team only had one kid that could run the ball. Spence had an AWESOME defensive hit on the kid as he tried to cut the corner and head to the end zone. Spencer told us after the game that when he saw the kid turn the corner he knew it was up to him and he thought (and I quote) "ya think you're gonna score...oh no you don't" then he hit him!!

So I tried not to put pictures in of Spence that show how REALLY big his helmet is. You can sorta tell from these pics, but I tried not to put the obvious ones in because it is REALLY obvious! He looks like a "orange on top of a toothpic"! The real "Heeeed Move Now". The shoulder pads help it to not look too big but we just have to face the fact that the kid has a big head. When we bought his helmet we had him fitted by a guy who works for the helmet company. Apparantly he had no clue what he was doing! When we the helmet home Spencer could barely get it on and off without crying. We took it back to the store and the 300 pound version of Ryan (seriously, the guy could have been Ryan's long lost twin brother. He looked like him, talked like him, moved like him....only a little slower cause he weighed about 300 lbs) who totally new what he was doing said he was gonna fire the guy who fitted Spence cause the helmet was completely to small AND the wrong shape for his head. We had to special order him a new helmet! He promised me it would last for years to come since it cost up the ying yang to buy! But now his head is protected properely and hopefully his head won't grow any bigger for at least a few years! (If it does we may have to quit football cause his neck won't be big enough to hold an XL sized helmet on it) :-) Oh the adventures of long last named, big headed, football playing children!!

Spencer had just come off the field in the shot below! The shot above is his coach, who we LOVE!! He is GREAT and really knows what he's doing. (he played college at CSU)

Papa and Grandma Visit

The last time the kids saw Grandma was at Christmas and the last time they saw Papa was in March when he came to stay on his way home from a Texas Trip. It had been WAY WAY too long!! I don't think we've ever gone that long without seeing them -- EVER!!! You can imagine the kids excitement (and Papa and Grandmas's for that matter) for the big day of their arrival to come. Since school had already started for Spence and Annie, Garett, Logan and I got to go pick them up at the airport. Garett was soooooo excited! He was antsie all the way to the airport! Right when Logan saw them he got a huge smile on his face and warmed right up! It was so funny because he started calling both Papa and Granmda "Gramma". He was so confused- the poor kid! We thought he'd get it straightened out by the time they left but nope, he didn't. Papa was Gramma and Grandma was Gramma!

Anyway, we got home from the airport just before the kids were dropped off at the bus stop. We walked down to the bus stop to meet them!! It was so funny. Annie flew off the bus and landed right in Papa's arms!! Spencer was not far behind and jumped into Grandmas!

We had such a nice time having them here. We went out to dinners, played outside, went to the Youth Dance Festival (Gramma, Annie and I with Annie's friend Maddy), shopped, watched movies...all the stuff we love to do! Most of all we just enjoyed being together!
(I don't know where Garett was for this picture! Probably off riding his bike somewhere!)
We love you and miss you Papa and Grandma! We can't wait for you to come back!!

My Random First Day of School Report: First Day, Bus Drivers, Hoodlums and Mothers

Today was Spencer and Annie's first day of school!! It was such an exciting day for them and a very emotional day for me! I can't believe they are growing up so fast! The morning started at the b--tcrack of dawn because they woke up so early from excitement. We got dressed, made beds, ate breakfast, cleaned up and then we were off to the school bus! The kids wanted to ride the bus but wanted me to meet them at the school to take them to their line ups with their teachers. So I drove down to the bus stop, took pictures of them with their friends and then the bus arrived. I hugged them both and was surprised at the emotions that rose...I quickly remembered I'd see them in 5 minutes at the school and pulled it together. Anyway, they excitedly loaded the bus, realizing that they had a new driver (a woman who seems very nice....thankfully since last year we had a pshycho, Iranian driver who thought the only english words were SHUT UP and SIT DOWN). I then jumped in the car and raced over to the school so I'd get their before the bus. When they got off the little boys and I were waiting and off we all went to drop Spencer off at his classroom. Now you need to know that this year not one, NOT ONE of his friends is in his class. There is one boy that was in his class last year but they weren't really friends.
Anyway, with Spencer I usually don't worry too much. He adjusts quickly, loves making new friends and can handle pretty much anything. Well, we walked up to the line where his teacher was and the first thing I noticed was this kid, as tall as me, with hair as long as mine, standing in the same line....next to him was another HUGE kid who looked just as scary!! Ahhhhhh!!! My first thought was my poor baby is going to get stomped by these hoodlums!! I turned around to say goodbye to Spence and I saw his nervous, scared but trying to be brave expression creep across his face...oh no, do I really have to leave him here? He bravely hugged me good-bye and yes, I left him there....Next we went to drop off Annie. She was so excited she could hardly stand it. We arrived at her class line up spot, found her teacher, found a few of her friends, took some pictures, hugged good-bye and off she went to her first day of First Grade. I have to say that I think saying good-bye to a first grader is a lot harder than saying good bye to a kindergardener. Kindergarden is only half a day...see ya in three hours kiddo...but first grade is ALL day and it's the beginning of all day for the rest of forever! Anyway, I cried a little and then started chit-chatting with some of the other moms. Saying good bye and being emotional about Annie took my mind off of Spencer....but only for a moment because as I was walking back to the car I ran into some other third grader's moms. One mom was saying how her son was all alone with no friends in his class, another mom was saying how she was worried to have a her son in a class with ALL his friends, so I tell Spencer's story of no friends and the "hoodlums". The minute I said hoodlums one of the mom's asks "Does he have long blond hair and is really tall?" I said "Yes, he's taller than you" and she says "He is such a good kid!! Really, he looks big and mean and scary but he's my neighbor and is SUCH a good kid. Don't worry, Spence will be fine!" Can we say RELIEF? I felt so much better and as I made my way back to my car, I thought about how strange it is that as a mothers our hearts ache for our kids, for their disappointments, for what they face, for what they are going to have to go through and for what they don't even know lies ahead... Sometimes it is sure a tough job....but one that I am so blessed and happy to have!!
Anyway, to my cute little grade schoolers, I love you both so much and am so proud of you! Have a Great Year at school!!!

Horseback riding pictures are in....

Heather emailed me my dad's pictures of the kids horseback riding last week. I am finally getting them posted. The kids LOVED their ride! Annie's Pony was Strawberry, Ambers horse was Sam (I think) and Spencer's horse was Cookie (notice he's black on his front and rear and white in the middle, just like an oreo. Clever name, eh?)

School Starts Tomorrow...What? Already??

I have always thought that when my kids were old enough to go to school, I would get so used to them being gone that summers would be horrible and I'd be counting down the days till they went back to school. I was ever sooooo wrong!! Tomorrow the kids start back to school (just a meet the teacher thingy and then a full day on Wednesday) and I am sooooo sad about it!! We have had such a fun, low key summer and I am so sad that we won't be hangin' together anymore. Between Pool days, bike rides, Water World, Zoo trips, golfing, friends, bar-b-ques, baseball, sleep overs, movie nights and our trip to Canada, we've had a blast and I'm soooo sad to see it end!! The summer just flew by and now I have a 3rd grader, a 1st grader, a second year preschooler and a toddler at home!! Honestly, where does the time go? Now it's back to schedules, packing lunches, early morning workouts (5am since Adam is teaching Seminary starting Monday), homework and school projects!! I'm not sure if I'm ready for any of it!! Guess I don't have a choice though do I? Anyway, I'll post some pics tomorrow of the kids first day back! Later!

Cute Cousins

Brooklynn and Garett could honestly not have been any cuter. The last time they saw eachother face to face was November of 2004. Brooklyn was 22 months old and Garett was 2 1/2 years so this time it was so much fun to watch them get to know each other and start playing together. It took all of an hour before they were joint at the hip! They were playing Pirates of the Carribbean, Spiderman Pirates,Spiderman, House...you name it they played it. At one point they were playing Pirates of the Caribbean. They were both in full character. Steve called out to Brooklynn and after a few times of no response he said "Okay by Brook, I'm leaving" She instantly turned and said "what?". Steve asked her why she didn't answer when I called your name before and she said "Because I'm Wizabeth". Hilarious because G ALWAYS does that when he is in full character. You have to call him by his character name. Anyway, honestly, I was surprised at how well they got along. Brookie seems so "girlie" and G is ALL boy and yet, they found a way to get along! They were inseparable! Dad reminded us of how last summer Annie and Jackson were like that. At one point Dad asked Jack if he wanted to ride in the tube behind the boat. His response: "I don't know, let me go ask Annie". Although no permission was asked for or given between G-man and Brooks, they certainly did everything together!! I'm so glad that even though my kids don't get to see their cousins very much, when they do get together, they act like they've been together everyday since birth!!

Check out Mom and Dad's Blog!!

While I was home I started mom and dad with their own blog! Mom FINALLY posted for the first time. Since many of you had probably given up on them ever doing it and stopped checking their site, I'm blogging to tell you to check the site out, and leave comments so they'll keep blogging! Way to go Mom!! Now just get dad blogging... (to get to their site click on the "Mom and Dad" link!)

Amber-dillous

We were ever so surprised when we got to Nana's and there was Amber, waiting to surprise us. She had actually fallen asleep since we got in so late but there was a sign on her door that said "Super prise"!! Totally cute! It was so fun to have here there with us! My kids LOVED having her there. They played non stop from sun up to sun down, giggling almost every moment! I can't believe how grown up Amber is getting. Since we don't get to see them as much as we used I notice the changes now even more. She is now 10 years old and starting to realize she is "almost" a grown up. Her hair is long and beautiful, she has quite a little sense of fashion, and much like the rest of us Millers, knows exactly what she wants!



I was most proud of her for being so brave by trying to water ski (almost getting up) and after the initial freak out this is scary continued to try it on and off through the day on the boat. Nope, she didn't ever get up all the way, but she got full points for fighting through her fears of being out in the water trying over and over to stand up on those skiis.



One of the days I tried to take her and Annie horseback riding. Amber LOVES horses and had been asking all week to go. FInally on Thursday afternoon we called out to Fairmont and their last ride had just gone out but they had ponies you could lead around while the kids rode. Annie, Amber and I jumped in the truck and raced down there. As we walked up the lady looked at Amber and in a thick German Accent said "Oh no, the little girl is to tall for the pony". Poor Amber. She was so dissappointed, but she did lead the pony around while Annie rode! Thankfully, Granddad saved the day and on Saturday back in Cochrane, took the girls as well as Spencer out to Griffin Valley Ranch for a trail ride. Amber was most pleased! (I'll post those pictures when my dad sends them)



Anyway, it was fun to spend our vacation with our little Amberdillous! We love you Amber! Thanks for a fun vacation!

The Moment of Truth- Spencer Cut His Hair

As you have seen over the past few months Spencer's hair has gotten really long and SHAGGY!! At first I loved it and thought it was so cute...then he started telling me how long he wanted it to get and whoa, something had to be done. So with football starting Adam told him how hot and sweaty his head would get and how much hotter he would be with long hair. It really didn't take that much convincing and he agreed to cut his hair while we were in Canada, after he went in the boat and felt his hair blowing around as we sped across the lake. Ha ha ha!! So last Thursday we took him to the salon in Invermere called ANGLZ and said good bye to Goldie Locks!! Here is the result!

BEFORE














AFTER













All the hair on the floor doesn't do justice to how much was really cut off!


After football practice last night Spencer was praciticing putting his helmet on and taking it off and commented "This is hard but would've been a lot harder if my hair was still long".

Just Hangin' Around

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On the Lake

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Of course the part the kids looked most forward to and enjoyed the most was the time we spent in the boat! They loved the tube, freaked out when we tried to teach them to water ski and got up on the surf board with a little help from daddy! Adam, Steve, Dad, Heather and I all learned how to WAKE SURF which was totally fun and easier than I thought it would be to learn!! And Heather and I were both able to get up on one ski! Last year we couldn't get up but this year we did it! We were sooooo happy that we figured it out!! Hooray!

Golfing Days

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Adam and Dad golfed every morning except Sunday! Mom and I went with them on Monday and Tuesday. Once Steve got here, Spencer completed the foursome and mom and I were out!! Mom is really quite impressive as a golfer. She outdrove me on a few holes!! WOW!

The Baby Sitter

Mom had a brilliant idea to bring a baby sitter with us to the cabin! We were going to have my cousin Jordan come but she wasn't able to, so we asked a girl from Mom's ward to come! Wow was she great to have there!! She played with the kids non stop, stayed with them a few nights while we went out to dinner, watched them in the early mornings so mom and I could golf with Adam and Dad, and stayed at the cabin with the napping babies while we went out in the boat. We did let her out a few times, in case you are wondering. She showed us her stuff out on the tube one afternoon. She also turned 17 while we were there so we had a special little birthday party for her! Thank you Stacey! We Love You!

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Rained Out Mallow Roast

On Sunday Night the kids asked Granddad to start a fire in the pit so we could roast Marshmallows. After two of the windiest days I've ever experienced in Windermere, the wind had finally stopped and the temperature was perfect. Granddad started up the fire and just when the kids started roasting their marshmallows it started to rain! They didn't let that stop 'em! We just got out two big golf umbrellas and kept on a roastin'!

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Calaway Park

Calaway Park was an amusement ground just outside of Calgary that opened 25 years ago. I had a season pass for most of my teenage years and have many fun memories of hanging out with friends, flirting with cute boys and thinking I was all that :-). I remember hearing a rumor that the plans for Calaway Park were to make it bigger than Disneyland.... As you can see from the pics of the day we took the kids, it was JUST a rumor and nothing more :-)

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We met up with Julie, Euan, Camryn, Jeremey and Campbell as well as with my good friend from High School Mickey Elick, his cute wife Melissa and their two little kids Maddy and Charlie! It was sooooo good to see them!

The Silver Springs Pool

One night Julie and Chris rented out the Silver Springs Pool. The very pool where I learned to swim and the very pool that just a few weeks ago I lectured my resistant swimming lesson taking children about how important swim lessons are and thatI took swimming lessons every summer at the same pool...it was fun to tell them..."THIS was the pool I told you about!"

It was fun to see all the family too! Chris, Julie and their boys, Jenny, Jeremey and Campbell, Laurie, Spencer and their boys, Devaughn and Kelly and Grayson, Mike (Meredith was still in Baltimore), their kids, Camryn and Max, Aunt Liz, Uncle Ian, Lisa, Sean and my dad!

The kids had a blast "diving" off the diving board and going down the slides! Definately good times!

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Lunch with the Family

One thing I miss the most about living in Calgary is being close to family. Since I grew up with cousins, aunts and uncles and Grandparents close by I took for granted how blessed I was to have them near. Whenever I go back I LOVE to see my cousins. This year my mom and Aunt Liz organized a "girls lunch out" at Joey Tomatoes! There was yummy food and fun catching up time!

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Post Vacation Blues

We are home from our trip to Canada and I have to say, I'm not so sure I'm happy to be home. We had such a great time and it just blew by!! When we got there there was a surprise waiting for the kids...AMBER!! The kids were so excited that Amber came up to visit and Nana and Granddad and to surprise them. She was there the whole two weeks and the kids all had a blast together! Thanks for the surprise!

So,I always go through the "Post Vacation Blues" when I get home from a vacation where I mope around and hybernate from life for a day or two but coming home from "home" I always suffer from "PVB" a little more! I absolutely LOVE going home! There is something about it that is so familiar, so comfortable and so me!! I LOVE being with my parents and other family members and am truely so sad when I have to say good-bye! I have a lot of friends who still live there and I feel sad that I miss out on the "long time" friend thing too! Despite the long cold winters and short summers, I know that if the right opportunity came along I would move back in a heart beat. If Adam would is another story though :-)...

Anyway,today I started downloading all of my pictures of the trip and it cheered me up a little to look at all the fun we had while there. I've put most of the pics onto slide shows so that there are not a gazillion pictures all lined up in a row, so be sure to play the slide shows to see all the pics!

Mom and Dad, thank you for another memorable vacation at home. I love you and already miss you much more than you know!