Dunkley Carnival Reunion-My Mom rocks

My family rocks! Every two years my mother puts together a killer family reunion for the Dunkley side.   It's always a blast because we have so many fun and awesome cousins who now have a dozen kids each so it's total craziness!! Here are some pictures from our fun day.  Oh, and the night before this part we had a family recital at Dunkley Music which was super fun.  My family is so talented.

Before I get on with the pictures I had to add that this weekend was a perfect description of the gospel working in it's finest.  My Grandparents are in the 90's and have lived the gospels standards and principles taught their whole lives.  They have 5 beautiful children, 22 grandchildren, and who knows how many greats (over 50).  Each family is highly functional with very talented, creative, good people in it.  They all are hard workers who give back to society, great members of the church, and just fine individuals.  You can see all the good that has come from all the hard work my grandparents have put into their family.  They have loved and served us for many years and now we are reaping the benefits.  I am so grateful to come from a family who is so loving, kind, and obedient.  I see all the many blessings that come from it.  Dunkleys rock!!

Welcome home Miller family!

 A lot of people have requested photos of our home so I'll post just a few. We've been unpacked since the first week we moved in, but the decorating has been a different story. It's taking me forever. So I might have to post pictures of our rooms and the basement at a later time when i'm done making it look "Miller like"! And P.S. Spencer came to Rochester and picked out our home (I saw pics of it on the computer) and just for the record--he did an outstanding job. I LOVE LOVE the home. I love all the storage space, the yard, the open basement, and the kitchen!  This is a first--but I actually LIKE to COOK!!

 This little nook is just off the kitchen next to our kitchen table.  The kids LOVE this room.  They usually eat lunch here.  They've turned it into a zoo room, art room, and car collecting room.  It's a hit.

                                       This is the view from the front door when you first walk in.

                             The front door is on the left side of this picture.  You can see into the kitchen,

                                 and then the hallway goes to the master bdr and Tanner's room.

Upstairs bathroom--I love the paint color.  One of these days i'll get matching rugs (maybe next yr)!!

Friends and parade!

Spencer had a day off!!! Yea! His schedule has been pretty good, but he only gets one day off a week while he is inpatient.  Every other month he switches from inpatient to outpatient so his schedule can get a little tricky.  But we aren't complaning because it's far better then all the other programs we interviewed at.  We feel so blessed to be here and Spencer comes home happy every night so we are one happy family!

Tonight we went to the Byron parade with some of our friends.  We are so blessed to live here.  There are so many wonderful and fun families that are residents/fellows who have lots of kids and are in our ward.  Tonight we went with the Hull and Thurston familys.  Both families moved to Rochester the same week we did.  They are awesome families and great friends.  Here are some fun picture from the parade.

 Reece was dang cute.  Everytime someone would go past us he would wave his arms up and down so they would throw candy at him.  Since he is allergic to most of the candy, he would collect it off the street and then pass it to the other kids.

 Benson was elated because they threw out string cheese--his favorite snack!!

Jennifer, Ju, and Nellie

And the awesome kids! Love this picture.



Visitors!!!

 We had AWESOME visitors this week.  My sister-in-law Clarissa drove from Omaha with her two boys, Colby and Ethan to play with us for a couple days.  We seriously had so much fun.  I wanted to cry when she left.  The boys played their hearts out in the basement with all the toys and on the trampline with the sprinkler and otter pops.  It was so nice to have the kids entertaining each other so Clarissa and I could chat.  We didn't do anything outrageous, we just stayed home and played.  And we honestly had a party.  A BIG one.  I am one lucky lady because unlike most people--I actually LOVE my in-laws. Spencer has a great family.  They are fun and for some reason have accepted me and all my craziness.  Thanks for visiting, for making me laugh, and for being my friend!! Come visit again!

The Boys

 Summer time update!

1. Reece loves taking care of Tanner.  He is constantly in his face, making him laugh, and is a great little babysitter while I take a shower or need an extra hand. 

2. Best buddies: The boys have been awesome friends lately.  Two factors play into this awesomeness; 1) they are in a new place with lots of room to play and explore in and 2) their Mom isn't taking them from one thing to the next so they actually have time to play!  It has been so much fun to watch these two little boys laugh, explore, and play.  Their favorite game is called "Cars 1-2".  They play it all day long.  They are really happy here in Rochester--which makes me happy! 

3.  Little Tanner is just darling.  He's my little buddy that is almost always attached to my hip.  Some fun things about him are: 1) he's 8 months old! 2) he freaks out into these loud/screaming giggles when I take pictures of him 3) his first tooth on top just broke through his gums 4) he refuses to roll over and eat food (he will only nurse for the most part) 5) when he's mad or super happy he straightens his arms like in the picture below which is hilarious! 6) he's dang cute but likes to wake up multiple times during the night and then is up bright and early at 6:30am.  Fortunately for him, he is one darling little boy so you can't help loving him.

The boys are enjoying there summer and so am I! It's been fun and relaxing.  Just how Summer should be.

UW Medicine Graduation

Spencer is such a stud.  He really is my most favorite person, best friend, and loverboy!  What a package! He's also talented, intelligent, is many peoples "shrink", has great insight on many topics including religion and everyday life situations, and is just plain awesome. He worked so hard during these past four years.  The first two years he spent day and night reading and memorizing text books.  And the last two years he spent putting all that knowledge into clinical practice.  It's been so fun watching him become a doctor--a GREAT doctor! He put in so much effort, hard work, and dedication.  The best part of this whole process is that he absolutely LOVES what he does.  He comes home HAPPY and that is what is most important to me. 

Graduation really was awesome.  I don't know how else to explain it.  I cried throughout the entire ceremony.  My Dad said it was the best graduation he's been to.  I kept looking around the arena at so many of my dear friends and reflecting on what Spencer and our family has accomplished in 4 years.  It was an emotional experience.  I feel like we all have grown and hopefully become better people through it. 

We've had our ups and downs--but when I look back on the experience I would do it all over again in a heart beat (I'm not sure Spencer would want to relive the first two years--they were brutal).  We met the most amazing people and cherish our memories we share with them.  

I'm so proud of Spencer! Way to go Babe!  You worked so hard and accomplished so much. 

CONGRATS!

Here are a load of pictures from our weekend: (don't mind Spencer's black eye! He got it playing Frisbee)

 Check out how darling Natalie is!

 Spencer's parents gave him a Cardiology stethoscope for graduation! He was super excited.

 The boys playing the IPhone.  I don't hate many things--but I DO HATE ELECTRONICS.  They are so addicting to my little boys.  We seriously will never own a playstation or whatever those games are called.

                      I feel pretty lucky to have the best Mother and Mother-in-law! They truly are amazing.

                                                  Spencer receiving his M.D degree

Welp...do I need to say more?  We're somewhat crazy.  Still searching for the calm Miller family picture.

                                       This is me crying...yes the tears lasted for an hour in a half.

                           

 

 

 Our best friends, Traci and Brad Hansen.  We became friends the first day we moved to Moscow.  They are a great family.  Brad, Blake, and Spencer spent many hours studying together--they have some pretty awesome stories from those first two years of studying.

                              My dear friend Paola!  We became friends our 1st year of school

 I forgot her name, but she interviewed Spencer for Medical school and was one of the ladies that got him into University of Washington! Thank you forever!

                                                         Chad and Tanner Chad Miller!

Tender picture of Spencer and his Mom.  He was fortunate to be raised by his parents.  They were huge influences on him and definitely played the biggest role in Spencer becoming the person he is today.