Polar Express

I haven't seen any pictures of the Polar Express yet, so I thought I would add a few. Thanks to Ann and Soott for the tickets. We had a great time and are glad that it worked out for some of us to go.

I'm So Excited

NFL playoffs have begun and I'm beside myself with excitement. I know I'm weird, and I'm embarassed to admit I have a Fantasy Playoff team, but really, nothing is better than this time of year for sports. I am rooting for the Packers this year - Favre is so much fun to watch, plus he's my quarterback. Go Packers!

It's a . . . .

Beth's ultrasound was this afternoon and everything looks great. The due date stayed the same, May 25th. Oh yeah and it's a girl.

We are both super stoked. You can read more about it on our new blog at http://emmettdoggies.blogspot.com/.

Don't Forget Millers Outpost

Hey all you savvy new bloggers- I just wanted to warn each of you that if you ignore the family blog altogether- there will be dire consequences. Just keep this blog in mind because it's still nice to have a single specific place for all family updates... also because I have absolutely no intention of starting one of my own anytime soon- I like checking in here... laziness, you know...

'nother new blog

I've come to terms with the fact that I am completely unoriginal. . . that said I've started my own blog as well. Here's the link; Noelle, will you do me the favor of adding it to the sidebar? :)

Hallie's Blessing

Hallie will finally be getting blessed on January 13th, 2008!
We will be blessing her in my parents ward at 9 am.

We are excited to come visit and hope to see all of you!

More Christmas

A Baby's Heber Christmas

Noelle's post described our Christmas very well; I just wanted to add a few of my favorite pictures of the kids.

*merry Christmas to our family*

Santa's cookies and milk
... and to all a good night.

Thanks Noelle for posting pictures, every year is a little crazy- this one seems to have taken the cake! We missed you! Ours was a littler quieter perhaps, but the kids had a great time and it was fun having my in-laws here. Greg managed to get sick Christmas morning and then Greg's parents flew out in the afternoon and then Greg spent three hours at the ER that night. What fun! I will post more pictures on my blog so check it out. This year I made orange rolls for the first time, mostly because I can't have Christmas without them! I don't think I've even watched grandma make them, but they turned out really good, what a treat. Love you and hope to see you all soon:)

This is the first of many...

...blog posts about Christmas and Anna's first Christmas Miller-style!

First, for those who don't know, Christmas in the Miller family is a BIG DEAL and it's always been the exact same as long as I can remember. Birthdays, anniversaries, other holidays or commemorations that possibly warrant gift-giving pretty much pass by without much fanfare. Not Christmas. The pictures don't do it justice. The presents come out from under the tree, go behind the couches and spread about halfway across the room, and those presents don't include the "Santa piles" for each great grandchild. Everything goes pretty much the same each Christmas - on Christmas Eve we do the family nativity, Grandma reads The Night Before Christmas, we leave out treats for Santa and the reindeer, and the next morning those of us who don't stay at the Heber House reconvene in the wee hours of the morning. After we're all there and ready to go, the kids run downstairs and go to their Santa pile, everyone in the whole family (there are too many to count now) opens opens their stocking, and then the great grandkids take turns opening one gift at a time from their Santa pile (in order of youngest to oldest). Once Santa piles are done Grandpa starts handing out the presents from "under" the tree and we open presents for a very long time. Then, Grandma makes her traditional Christmas breakfast of scrambled eggs, orange rolls, italian sausage, fresh sliced oranges, and my personal favorite, avocado toast. We spend the rest of the day playing with the toys and things Santa brought us and hang around and nap (or for those of us who didn't nap early enough, listen to Kate devote all of her Christmas energy to her new High School Musical karaoke machine) until it's time for Christmas dinner where we eat another delicious Grandma meal. We then reluctantly go home as another perfect Christmas comes to an end.

This year we spent Christmas Eve with Steve's parents and somehow we managed to all get into the same color of red so we looked somewhat organized. Anna loved her first Christmas morning with the family - most especially eating the ribbon off her presents, orange rolls, and napping in the "baby sleep chamber wonder of the world" otherwise known as Grandma's closet.

Nothing really ever chages in this scenario except that we used to do this very same routine in LA for years and then we switched to Heber. Also, the family keeps getting bigger. But ultimately, I can't imagine Christmas being any other way than exactly as I described above, and having to do my first Santa pile this year I have to publicly thank Ann, Grandma, and Mom for all the work they have put into making Christmas the best Christmas in the entire world for us every single year!

Merry Christmas from Poland

Aga, Kobra, and I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. We hope you all have a very safe time visiting with loved ones and friends. Christmas in Poland is pretty similar to Christmas in America so we will be spending time at her parents house feasting with relatives and opening presents. I will be calling the Heber house on Christmas so I look forward to talking with whoever is there.

As always if you are intrested in whats going on in my life you can check out my blog at OC_Photography. :)

My Very Own Blog

Like Emily, I decided to start my own blog to spare you all from Miller's Online Outpost becoming all about the Bates. It's called "The Juggle" and here it is: http://thejuggle.blogspot.com/

Mom will especially appreciate my comments about the "oppression" of LDS women and now grandpa will have to go somewhere else if he's curious about my thoughts on current TV programming. Ha!