We decided to have our Christmas Dinner two days early because we were leaving town after Christmas and wanted to eat all the left overs before we left. We had the missionaries and our good friends Aubry and Jason Woodbury for dinner (Aubry went into labor a day later!). We attempted to make our very first turkey! We usually do a ham but thought it was time to brave the Turkey. We pretty much had the traditional stuff: turkey, cranberries, gravy, mashed potatoes, salad, jello, yams, stuffing, home made rolls, and banana cream pie. It was delicious! The turkey wasn't perfect--it was a little dry, but our dinner was great! We showed the boys what the "wishing bone" was on the turkey and had them each make a wish.
Traditions:
Every night by the Christmas tree we would read a section about Jesus Life, read a fun Christmas book, sing Silent Night and have family prayer. We did miss a couple nights but for the most part we stuck to our routine. I think we all enjoyed gathering together with the Christmas Lights on having these moments together as a family. Astonishing enough--the kids actually sat down and listened and sang the song with us. It's usually very difficult to get those boys to sit for longer than 2 minutes. For reals!
On Christmas Eve we spent the day around the fire, putting puzzles together, and getting ready for the night. The week before we delivered our usual Miller Jam to our friends and some bread to other members in the ward. I tried to read something about the Nativity each night leading up to Christmas. The boys definitely learned a lot but next year I want to concentrate on adapting Christ's attributes instead of putting so much emphasis on the dates and events that took place (although those are super important to know and understand--I also feel like we could have benefited on more concentration on becoming more christlike while we were learning about his life).
We spent the night at Brandt and Lindsey Esplins house surrounded with lots of great friends. It seems like every time we are invited to their house something crazy happens. Last Christmas Eve as soon as the prayer concluded Reece threw up all over the floor--right next to the food table. There have been many other "Miller Moments" at parties that have lead us to the Emergency room, benadryl, inhalers….and so forth. I told them they had 3 rules for this party and they had to follow all of them to avoid making another scene.
Rule #1: no throwing up
Rule #2: if you have to throw up--go to a bathroom
Rule #3: refer back to rule #1.
Well, during the prayer I started hearing Tanner cough--I knew immediately it was a bad asthma cough. I ran and grabbed him off the stairs and immediately went into the bathroom. I quickly gave him one puff of albuteral and out came the vomit. I was so happy it happened in the bathroom I wasn't even bothered! Maybe next year we can make it into the toilet! Always a Miller moment. My Sister-in-laws think I need to write a book about all our crazy stories--we have far to many.
On our way home from the party it was dark outside and it had snowed a couple 4-5 inches. It was truly a winter wonderland. It looked like it was just off of a movie. Spencer was in heaven--and so were the rest of us. The streets were filled with peace and magic was in the air. Everything was picture perfect. Spencer and I were feeling so blessed to have three wonderful boys to be parents to and for all the many blessings the gospel has brought into our life. The Lord has always been by our side and we can see the hand he has played in our life--especially in helping us raise our children. It was a special night and our hearts were filled with true happiness and gratitude for all we had.
