Christmas 2013

 Christmas is not actually done yet as we need to celebrate with the Diviney family, but I want to get some pictures up anyway. We enjoyed Christmas with my mother-in-law and hers on Monday before Christmas. Then we headed to mom and dads' for five days. Really we are so used to the six hour drive it goes by like nothing. Today (our trip home) Trinity got the snow she prayed for in the morning and it was a beautiful drive into Spokane. The next four hours everything was covered in frost, even the metal fencing looked white and the trees were spectacular. Many Washington locals know that as you cross the state right about in the middle, the farmers have put big light "signs" in various Christmas shapes on the ends of their gigantic rolling circle sprinkler systems. These displays have been up since I was a child and are still maintained and lit up each year. There are children's characters like Barney and Clifford and traditional ones like a dove, and nativity, and finally fun ones. . .rockets, race-cars, snowball fights, etc. The kids and I were shouting out what they were the minute we could make them out, a fun game for all of us. We had a wonderful time with all of our family so far.
 I only made one batch of cookies but I did make Jeremy a cheesecake since mom ended up with so much extra cream-cheese. We had our usual brunch of chilli relleno, cheesy hashbrowns, and cinnamon rolls. Mimosas were added this year instead of the plain champagne we usually have. Even I could drink to that. There were game nights, and we all watched The Big Year, which in case you haven't seen it, you should. Or maybe it's just a Miller thing. The kids got their sledding in, although it was runner blades only this year as not much snow but the perfect ice instead. I even got Trin to go down the big hill with me. I actually had to go sideways and bail on a friends driveway (that wouldn't have been there when I was a kid!) because we got going way too fast and wouldn't be able to stop at the bottom of the hill and we didn't have a spotter for cars. It reminded me or our sledding when I was younger. Man, we did crazy stuff as kids. No helmets, no protective gear, just four or five teenagers layered on a runner sled (with the top kid barely able to reach their fingertips to the sled base for balance and the bottom kid miraculously not crushed from the rest of them)  careening straight down a third of a mile hill. Even better if it was in the dark on a moonlit night. We. Were. Awesome.
 Home again now with the usual mass unpacking but first, pictures!

Diviney Family Christmas - part 1

slinky!

 iphone eraser, thanks zoey and hailee

 excited much?

 what's in here?

 peace, yo our shirts match

funky music robot necklace

not pictured "mr. mike", cousin William, grandma, auntie angie, auntie amber

btw Trudy's Almond Rocha is now expected at the Miller Christmas. Oh yeah.

Christmas Eve - Just Us

here is a funny video of their reaction to the Xbox 1

Christmas Day - in no particular order!

 Matching Dresses

 Granda and his girls

Shel and Philip

 Uncle Brian and Nancy Jane

 the Nee' Nee'

 yay! Sophia for Sophia!

 I managed to make Ben look chubby!

 what's this?

 Apparently in December when mom watched Isaac and he was sick he was very happy to play with this frog pillow at the store so that was his present. I love to hear of good bonding times. =)

pretty sweater for a pretty girl

 love this picture of the four girls

 typical face I get now when I ask for a picture

 she's too much. My beautiful girl

 similar smile

 rocket!

 hmmm?

socks

 
 cutie

okay so she wasn't super excited about the Katniss Barbie but her mother is more excited to play dolls with her now! and I DID get her a princess dress for it. . .

 
 LAVA LAMP

me and brother