Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Happy Birthday Logan

Yesterday, May 31st, was Logan's 5th birthday.  It was also Memorial Day.  We went for a walk as a family to visit the cemetery where Taiylor Haslam is buried.


We came home and got ready for Logan's "Campers Birthday Partiy"  We set up a tent and made a campers birthday cake.



 (It's hard to tell from the image, but the cake is supposed to be campers in sleeping bags around a campfire. Those pointy things are trees, but they were interpreted as mountains.  I think from far away, it looks like a three horned monster..  cakewrecks.com, here we come. Thank you Andrea and Ashley for helping with the cake.)

We were lucky to have.. Nana and Papa, Carrie, Mia the dog, Andrea, Travis, Spencer, Hunter, McKay, Camilla, Ashley, Tyler, Connor, and Kamree as guests.  Here are some pics of the party.

Ashley and Tyler 

Porter and Papa

Nana and Carrie

Kamree

McKay and Emma

Connor

Daddy with BBQ fire extinguisher (neighbor child's squirt gun)

birthday boy

Emma's gift to Logan - a Dog she made herself
 (Logan named it Molly)

"heavy, heavy, hang-over..." (I'm going to get whacked)
Dallin's gift to Logan - favorite editions of Kids Discover magazines.

$$$! Thanks Grandma!

Now that Logan is 5 years old, and is all grown up, he gets to travel with Nana and Papa all the way to Colorado.  He woke up this morning, got dressed, put his backpack on, and came into my room to say he was ready to go.


 This make kindergarten seem like nothin!




Porter wanted to go.  Papa rolled down the window of the car as they were pulling away and said,"Porter, one day it will be your turn.:"  He cried harder.

(He was okay about 5 seconds later.)  

I hope Logan, Nana, and Papa have a good week together.  We will all miss our little "Gobee-Dee" while he is away.

Sunday, May 30, 2010

Week in Review

Here are the happenings from our porch this last week..
Last Sunday Porter had a stomach bug and was on a strict liquid diet. 

 Yum!

He felt better after a day.  We got lots of baths and some good cuddling time in.


The kids decided after church that they would have a picnic in the backyard.  Whats On the menu?



Ramen Noodles.  Ummm....I'm guessing we don't usually eat Ramen at picnics, because we would all have to lie on our bellies with our noses in our bowls, and that would be gross.

It was Emma’s last week of first grade!  I got the chance to see her perform in her class play.  She played the part of Meg, who after having a tooth fall out, gives advice to a friend whose tooth is loose and hasn't fallen out.  She remembered all of her lines
:
Look, my tooth came out.  
Go eat something really crunchy, that may help.
Good for You!
Oh No!  My tooth came out!

She told me she was really nervous, but she did great. 

Lexi and Emma

We absolutely LOVE her teacher Mrs. Ogilvie. (Dallin had her too.)  She and Emma share a love of nature and gardening.  Emma was in the garden club with Mrs. Ogilvie.  They weeded, observed ladybugs. and got to see caterpillars change in to butterflies. Emma had a fun year and is going to miss Mrs. Ogilvie.

Sally Ogilvie and Emma

We spent our Saturday with some special people that we don’t get to see very often.  Nana, Papa, Cameron, Savannah, Abigail and Carrie, all joined us for a fun-filled day at Gateway Discovery Children’s Museum, in Salt Lake. Porter loved the balls, waterplay, and umbrella parachutes,
Porter with handsome Daddy

Emma loved the climbing wall, 

Nana (Marti Miller) and Emma

Dallin loved learning about building structures and earthquakes (Dallin must have been so busy, we failed to get a picture. Poor oldest child)

Logan loved the helicopter.

Logan 
 Abigail followed Savannah,
Savannah and Abigail with daddy Cameron in the helicopter

  Savannah followed Logan.... Logan ran away
.
Logan and Savannah

Pretty soon, however, they were holding hands as they walked down the sidewalk,  making a train down the slide with Emma, and playing hide and go seek in the park
.  
Logan, Savannah, and Abigail

Cousins are so fun!

Today is Sunday. We invited Cameron and the cousins to stop by our place on their way up to Logan, and while they were here, we discovered that Peach the gerbil was missing from her cage!  We looked and looked, but couldn’t find her in all of the obvious spots.  From previous experience, we knew the next place to look would be in the heat vent and sure enough, she fell in and couldn’t get out.

Emma writes "I hope Peachy Gets Out"

 This time we had to cut a hole in the vent to get to her.


  We are fresh out of duct tape, seeming we use it for everything but duct work, so painter’s tape will have to do for now.  (I wonder if a gerbil in the vent is like an ox in the mire.) The important thing is that Emma’s beloved pet is safe – for now.

Peachy - AKA "Houdini"

After the “Peachy Rescue II” Emma and some neighbors found a baby snake that Emma declared was her new pet.  (ugh)
Sam, Olivia, Emma, Elise

  She came up to my bedroom where I was taking a Sunday rest while Porter napped, knocked on the door, and said, “Mom, can you come here?
“Why Emma?”
“Because I want to show you something?”
“What do you have to show me?”
“A baby snake,”
“Emma, is the snake in the house?”
“Well, it’s not in the house.  It’s in a container.”
“Is the container in the house?”
“Yah”
“Emma take the snake outside.”
Emma

Before we could take a picture of Emma with her snake, the snake mysteriously disappeared from it’s container, (outside – we hope)  Emma was sad, but we promised that we would find another one eventually.  (ugh)



Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Kids Say the Darndest Things

Dallin: Who decides the measurements for the United States?
Mom: Who?
Dallin:  The Supreme Quart
Mom: ( “really, hmm the Supreme Court, wow, yeah makes sense.  Wait a minute, that’s a joke.”) Ha, I get it! Good one Dallin

Emma: Mom, Porter is kind of naughty isn’t he.
Mom: Yeah, he can be sometimes
Emma:  Yeah, he can be naughty.  Except when my friends or someone he doesn’t know comes over, then he acts cute.  All my friends think he’s cute.
Mom: Yeah, he is cute.
Emma: .....Maybe we should invite friends over more often.

Mom: Logan, what would you like for lunch?
Logan: uuuhhmmmm..... a Case of Dia (quesadilla)
Mom: (As in a disease?)


Mom: Good Morning Porter!  You want waffles for breakfast? (places a plate of waffles in front of him)
Porter: No waffles!  Yucky! (pushes his plate away,  Emma tries to feed him some.) Emma!! (Porter screams and swats at her)
Mom: Emma, leave him alone please. (places the plate in front of Porter) Waffles are yummy, see? You can dip them in syrup.
Porter: No Waffles!  Yucky! (pushes the plate away again and tantrums)
Daddy: (picks Porter and his chair up and takes him into the other room while the family continues with breakfast. After a few minutes, Daddy carries him back to the table.)
Porter: WEEEEEEE!  Mom, I floating (eats his waffles happily)
Mom: Porter, here are some pears.
Porter: No Pears!  Yucky! (Emma takes a piece of pear off of his plate and eats it)
Porter: Mom!....Emma! (Screams, points to Emma, gives her a look of death.)
Mom: Porter, it’s okay. Emma, don’t even look at him.
Porter: (Eats pears.) More Pears Pleeeeze.  (Pears all gone)
Mom: (*sigh*)








Tuesday, May 25, 2010

What I'm Most Thankful for Today

The other day, Dallin created a post on our Miller*Time family blog entitled "1st Waffles."  This is what it said:


"1st" waffles.

Hi. Dallin Miller here. Our 1st waffles were made yesterday. May 22, 2010. My dad forgot the eggs but they turned out great. Sadly, I was having my haircut so I couldn't taste them until later. still they were great. nothing I ever expected.


As funny and cute as this post is, it has helped me realize that it really is the simple things in life that mean the most.  Dallin, you have inspired me today to write about the simple things I am most grateful for.


Today I am most grateful for....


-  finding a matching pair of socks for Logan as I was in a rush out the door
- the simple faith in a prayer offered by Emma, hoping to find the backpack she accidently left on a stranger's front lawn, yesterday; and then finding it.
- Dallin arriving safely to his friend's house, after having to cross a busy road without me.
- the 2 year old taking his nap without a fight.
- sunshine (it snowed yesterday)
- good friends
- fun family
- sweet tired husband who walked in the door at 8:00 pm from work. with suckers for the kids and a fulfilled promise to put training wheels on Logan's bike.
- the ability to stay at home with my little ones.
- the opportunity to do it all again tomorrow.



Monday, May 24, 2010

Meet the Miller's


The Miller family was established December 4, 1999 when Nathan (Fred) and Tiffany were married in the Logan, Utah Temple.  Dallin Russel (notice the lonely L in the middle name - it's a long story), joined the Miller family October 17, 2000.  He was joined by a sweet, dark haired sister named Emma Noelle, on December 18, 2002.  The 4 Millers all lived in Logan Utah, where Daddy Miller was working full time and going to Utah State University full time, majoring in accounting.

 In December of 2004, Fred graduated and moved the family of 4 1/2 to Syracuse, Utah.  On May 31, 2005 Logan Maxwell Miller joined the team.

 Tiffany kept busy with 3 little ones at home while Fred made the 1 hour trip to work and back most week days, joined the City Planning Commission, and was called as a counselor in the bishopric of or our ward at church.  Amidst the craziness, Porter William Miller found his way into our lives.

  That was 2 years ago this past March.  Fred is still in the Bishopric, on the City Planning Commission, and works two days in the office and three days at home. I am still busy with the kiddos at home and am also working as a counselor in the Children's Primary Organization at church. We are loving life and learning lots.  The greatest lesson we are working on right now is finding balance in life, while making our role as husband and wife, and mother and father the number one priority.  It's really tricky!  We're always open for tips and tricks in this area, so if you have any, please send them our way.

Sunday, May 23, 2010

Our Front Porch

It has taken me a long time to finally convince myself that a Blog may be a worthwhile pursuit for me.  Don't get me wrong.  I follow the blogs of family, and enjoy keeping track of loved ones, and can see that there is a great potential of good that can result from blogging.   Up until now, I personally couldn't bring myself to create my own.  Two weeks ago, I came across something that changed the way I looked at blogging forever.  I saw a youtube video presentation about Stephanie Nielson.  For those who aren't familiar with her story. click on this link http://www.youtube.com/mormonmessages?v=KHDvxPjsm8E and it will take you to a short video entitled "My New Life."  In a nut shell, Stephanie started a blog a few years back.  She chronicles her life with her husband and 4 small children. In 2008, she and her husband were in a near fatal airplane crash.  Stephanie sustained burns over most of her body, and was in a coma for 3 months.  She is recovering and blogging about her experiences.  I found myself glued to her blog, nieniedialogues.blogspot.com and couldn't help laugh when she laughed and cry when she cried. I walked away with an increased love for my own sweet family, an appreciation for the simple things in life, and an increased awareness of  the tender mercies of the Lord I experience each and every day.   If one blog could do all that for me, I wondered if any good could come from the Miller home.  That being said - Welcome to our Porch