More December Photos

Honestly, December was pretty great.  I tried to keep things simple and not over-book my family.  Its a miracle, but I actually did it! We had fun, but we weren't running around like chickens with our heads cut off.  It was a beautiful month filled with lots of fun and love.  Here are some things we did:

Played in the snow A LOT!!! 

Went sledding and snow skiing

Went shopping with Spencer

(first weekend in Dec):

Spencer and I went to Lakeview Hospitals Christmas party-- I was seriously so giddy about this--like giddy for weeks! Spencer moonlights at Lakeview.  It felt like we actually had a real job! It was the first time I actually felt like we were real grown ups with a real job and a real Christmas company party.  I know its not that big of a deal-- but to me it was.  IT helped that two of our friends from Mayo were there too.  It was a beautiful night and we had SOOO MUCH FUN being real adults!

Benson and I went to the Utah Symphony

Spencer and Reece went to a Utah Jazz game

(2nd weekend in Dec):

Ju went to Minnesota with friends

Grandma Blo came and watched kids

Went to Temple Square and looked at lights

Had ski lessons and chess club

Candice, Kayle, and the girls living with us for a while

(3rd weekend in Dec):

Ski lessons and chess club

Spencer, Chad, Kayle, Reece and Benson went to a BYU basketball game

Mormon Tabernacle Christmas Concert-- Spencer spent one night putting all our siblings names, parents and a couple friends names into the drawing for tickets.  He ended up with 10 tickets so we took Reece, Benson, Candice, Kayle, Nicki, Chad, and Bryce and Dani.  It was another magical night with our kids.  It melted my heart to see the boys enjoying the performance.  Espcially during the really awesome organ solo.  Benson leaned into me and said, "I bet I know what instrument is your favorite". He said the funniest thing all night long.  It was also great to catch up with Bryce and Dani-- they are one of our all time favorite people.  We want to be like them when we grow up.

(4th weekend in Dec)

Enjoying Christmas

sledding

lots of movies

After Christmas--

Sledding

Mom and Dad anniversary Date to The Roof! This is one of our favorite places to eat.  WE had a table next to the window that looked right out to the SLC Temple. It was a beautiful night.

The weekend after New Years we went to Rexburg for Great Grandma Miller's funeral.  She lived to be 92 years old.  She had such a sweet and tender heart.  She never said a bad thing about anyone (except Bill Clinton).  That night we went to Shelley, ID for my cousin Heathers wedding reception.  Kate was TERRIBLE in the hotel room on Friday night so we decided to drive home after the reception to avoid another long night in the hotel room.  It was worth the drive and we all slept peacefully in our own beds.

Christmas Morning

Christmas morning was magical! The kids SLEPT IN~ miller tradition! Spencer and I woke them up at 8am! They were super excited-- like movie-like excited. They looked at each others presents and got excited for their siblings (that's the best for me to watch). 

After presents were opened we had a big breakfast and hung around the house playing with our new toys.  It was another peaceful and fun day with the family-- I couldn't ask for anything better.

We've gotten a lot of snow and so we played outside for a while-- it was refreshing to get some fresh air.  We had left overs for dinner, watched a movie, and then went to bed!! :)

 Here a run down of some of the favorite presents:

Reece: 

Star Wars lego star fighter set

The Candy shop wars books 

Cover your assets game

watch

Benson:

 light saber

"the ghost" Star wars lego set

spy gear glasses and watch

Golden Owl beanie baby

Tanner:

wagon

squigs

blue race track

dog beanie baby

**Each boy also got a remote control car

Kate:

Book

dancing robot that sings

Spencer:

Remote control car that goes 70 MPH (big boy toy)

Sound bar for the TV

Juliann:

I trip to the Mall of America with her friends!! (The best present ever!).

Christmas Eve

 We spent Christmas in our home in Sandy with just our little family. It was wonderful, lovely, and everything great.  I love being with my extended family during Christmas; I love the parties, the entertainment, the craziness of it all, but now that I have my own little family I really just like being with them.  It's not very often that we are able to sit back and just relax and enjoy being together without an agenda or to-do list hanging over our heads.  It was peaceful, calm, and exciting.  The kids were so nice to each other. There was a special spirit in our home the couple days leading up to Christmas and I am so grateful for that.

Last year we went home to Boise for Christmas so we could bless Kate with all the family around.  Reece was so mad we couldn't have our own Christmas with our family in OUR HOME and so we promised him we would spend this year at our home with no one else.  I am actually thankful we made that promise to him-- it was a beautiful and unifying couple days.

Here are some of the things we did:

*Spencer took Reece and Benson snow skiing

...Tanner and Kate napped while I wrapped Christmas presents while watching a Hallmark Christmas show-- my favorite!!

*Spence took Reece and Benson to the new Star Wars movie (huge success!)

----Another afternoon of Kate napping, Tanner watching movie downstairs, and me wrapping the rest of the Christmas presents while watching another cheesy Hallmark Christmas movie!

*Went on a night drive looking at beautiful Christmas lights while eating McDonalds in the car for Dinner.  People here in Utah have some amazing shows with lights that dance to music. We ended at the Draper Temple. My favorite part of the night was when we were at the Temple talking about the real meaning of Christmas.  The kids were all saying how Christmas is really about Christ and the gospel.  They had such sweet things to say-- it made my heart burst.

*Delivered Cookie Dough to neighbors and friends

*played in the Snow and found a SWEET sledding hill where the boys got a ton of air.  Some twenty year old guys thought the boys were so cool.  They were taking picture of them sledding off this crazy jump-- they were loving the attention.

Here are some pictures from Christmas Eve:

The boys have all loved the train set that goes around the tree.  We started putting presents under the tree and so we moved it to under the Piano.  That train has entertained my children for countless hours over the years.

Kate was her usual sweet self.  She just "bum scooted" around the house and then when she wanted to be picked up she would put her hands up in the air and look at me with this darling face!

After the boys came home from the Star Wars movie we opened our presents from Grandma and Grandpa Miller.  They each got a lego set and pajamas from Canada that had a book that matched the pajamas.  The boys quickly started on their lego sets which gave Spencer and I the perfect amount of time to put together our traditional Christmas Puzzle.  This year our puzzle was of the BYU stadium which is fitting for our family-- our boys have become avid fans since moving to Utah.  We watched one of our all time favorite cheesy Hallmark movies "It's the most wonderful time of the year".  It was a perfect afternoon.

We then made a delicious dinner with ham, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, jello, corn and a delicious drink mixed with juice and sprite. We cleaned up and then had our Christmas Eve program that included singing Christmas songs next to the piano and then reading and acting our Luke 2.  It was a beautiful night.  Spencer read "The Mansion" to the boys while they were laying in bed.  It's one of President Monsons favorite books to read around Christmas time.  It had a beautiful message. 

Good news! The kids were awesome this year and Santa Came! See next post for details.