Dancing Fools

My parents and brother gave us a Wii for Christmas this year. Santa gave us a Wii Fit and a couple of games. It was tricky because Santa's presents were there in the morning and they got the Wii in the evening. Brad and I told the kids in the morning that we would buy them a Wii after Christmas so the surprise wasn't spoiled for my folks.

Just Dance 2 was the game that Emma got-to the great enjoyment of all. One night we had a lot of family over and my sister-in-law Rachel came upon this scene:

So much fun to see them shake it, shake it like a Polaroid picture. For the record, I can keep up with the best of them and I even have a couple of the high scores. Just sayin'...

I have yet to see Brad dance, I'm not sure if I ever will, but a girl can keep dreaming, right?

From Steam Engines to Graveyards

On Labor Day, we did NOT labor or celebrate the fact that we are in an organized union (which we are not.) What we did do however, was hop in our car and headed toward Promontory Point.

I'm a little embarrassed to say that although I was born in Utah and have lived here my whole life, I have never visited this historic site. Brad hasn't either. Well, we remedied that situation. We got there just as they were retiring the Jupiter for the evening.

I told the kids how the Chinese were instrumental in connecting the continent. Caleb thought that was cool.

Just as an observation, Promontory Point is waaaaay out in the middle of nowhere. I'm glad we went but I'm not sure we will be going back there any time soon. On our way back, we went to the Farmington Cemetery where Brad's great-great-great grandpa is buried.

This is the grave site of Henry W. Miller. He lived in St. George and while he was visiting his brother Arnold Daniel Miller, he got sick and died. So, his final resting place is in Farmington. His wives and children are buried there too.

Henry W. Miller is quite prominent in Mormon history. He first met Joseph Smith when they were living in Quincy, Illinois. They joined the church and it is Henry and is brother Daniel, who were both carpenters, that built the aspen wood tabernacle where Brigham Young was ordained the second prophet of the church. Henry W.'s statue now sits outside the rebuilt tabernacle in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

He also crossed the plains several times leading wagon trains to the Salt Lake valley. We're pretty proud to be related to him.

We had a fun time looking at the pioneer headstones in the cemetery. Emma was pleased to come across this one.

Do you like how I inserted myself into Emma's picture?

 Emma, Emma, she's always had a fascination with the macabre. We went to a ceramic store where you can paint and fire something once when the girls were younger. I let Rachel (7) and Emma (6) pick out something to paint. Rachel chose a heart-shaped plate. Emma chose an eyeball. I encouraged Emma to choose something else.

Emma loves this picture and the creepy way her face is washed out from the sun. I know her Poa Poa would hate it.

Labor Day was a good day for us this year.

Channelling Our Inner Selves

Our ward had a Halloween party at the local fun center that our neighbor is the manager of. I wasn't planning on going but Rachel, Caleb and my friend talked me into it at the last minute. We threw our costumes together in about 15 minutes. I think we look pretty good.

Meet Rachel a generic 18th century girl (did you know that they hid their cell phones in their sashes?)

Winnie the Witch

Caleb the Nerd

Emma is revisiting a costume from the past, an 8th grade girl.

Emma and Brad stayed at home and watched the World Series (go Giants!) It was interesting once we got there. Caleb took off with his friends and played in an area called the Blast Zone, which is exactly what is sounds like- a sweaty stinky place where boys get to hit each other with foam balls. I stayed on the sidelines and talked to my friend, and Rachel and her friend Bailey put on skates and stumbled to the rink. It was interesting to me because within 20 seconds (no exaggeration) two or three boys came over to "help" Rachel stay up on her skate. How nice.

So I think that Halloween is a time when you get to be somebody maybe you secretly want to be. Caleb decided that being a nerd was NOT what he really was (too close to home, perhaps?) and we had a change of plans. Rachel wasn't satisfied with her costume either. She improvised a pretty good flapper costume but she left before I got a picture. Caleb became one of these.

Oh yeah, my son is a Greaser.

I remained a witch. What does that say about me? Just that I really, really like my cool hat.
The pumpkins that the kids carved were pretty cool, too.

Caleb carved the Grim Reaper, Emma did Cinderella and Rachel carved the black widow.

Happy Halloween!

Schusss!

During Christmas break we went skiing with the Tripletts. By we, I mean Rachel and me. Brad doesn't ski, Caleb is learning next year and Emma told us on no uncertain terms that she wasn't going this time.

Although it took us a lot longer than I had expected to get the skis, once we got to Brighton, it was beautiful! The sun was out, we were above the yucky air of the valley and we were dressed warmly. It was a blast and I enjoyed watching Rachel become quite the daredevil skier. She never complained, even when we went down some black diamond runs. I've been skiing since I was 14 and Rachel's been skiing three times- I think she will catch up to my ski level pretty soon. To add the the joy, both of my knees held up. (I've torn both my ACL's throughout the years from skiing). I can't wait to get up there again (hopefully with Emma too).

Cold and windy on the lift.

Bright Lights, Big City

A couple of days before Christmas we went to see the lights at Temple Square with members of the Miller clan who were in Utah. We met at a cute cafe downtown called the Bay Leaf and had dinner with Wood and Susan, Derek and Laura, Trent and Caroline and a various amount of kids.

Dan, Brad's brother from San Jose, was driving and trying to meet us in time for the event. Unfortunately, they got a flat tire in the Salt Flats. But all is well and they did eventually get to Salt Lake that night. Maybe they can join us next year.

After dinner, we walked over to Temple Square and enjoyed the lights. Ooo, aaah. So pretty and sparkly!

After looking at the lights, we went to Trent and Caroline's house downtown, which is a condo built in the early 1900s. Those two have an impeccable sense of style and I think that Rachel and Emma wish that they could live with them.

It is so nice to live close to the people we love, isn't it?

Christmas Morn

Although Brad and I thought we scaled back this year, the kids all dubbed it "One of the Best Christmases ever". I love it when that happens. I didn't take many pictures this year but I did manage to snag this of the kids coming in on Christmas morning. I have one other picture from Christmas morning that one of the kids took with my camera. It's of Brad. I'll spare him and you and just quietly delete that one.

A Time for Thanks

I'm not sure if you remember this but the the third Thursday in November is a holiday of Thanksgiving in the United States. So, here I am almost two months later to document a few of the activities. Many, many thanks to the two Rachels, my daughter and my sister-in-law for remembering to take some pictures.


We started Thanksgiving day at Brad's parents. Three of Brad's siblings and their families were there. That always makes for a lot of noise and good conversation.

Why did these boys choose to sit at the small table? "Because it's the one with the most champagne," said Max. Trust me, no alcohol was needed to get these boys silly.
While the adults were upstairs enjoying good conversation, the kids played downstairs. A game that seemed to be popular for the day was finding Reagan and various other cousins dead.

We really enjoy our time together with the cousins.

After hanging out with the Millers for awhile, we proceeded up to Orem and had a second (!) feast with my family. Although we were already stuffed to the gills, we couldn't resist my dad's turkey, so yummy! It was nice after all the mayhem of the afternoon to be able to spend some more quiet time with my parents and brother.

During the Thanksgiving Break, Sam and Rachel's family came to our house and hung out with us for a while. (I can't remember if it was before Thanksgiving or after: the reason being that I waited too long to post it.) Then the kids and I went to BYU to walk around and have lunch at the Cougareat with Grampa. We all had a good time. The girls and I had made a goal before Sam and Rachel got there to win their daughter Reagan over (their other kids already like us), because she can be a bit standoffish. Mission accomplished. We sure love their whole family!

Look at Caleb, the ladies man.

Great Costume, Poor Visibility

Caleb's Halloween Costume

Pretty cool, if I do say so myself. Now you can see why he didn't want to wear his costume to the piano recital earlier that day. He originally wanted to be Indiana Jones this year but we couldn't pull off a costume that was satisfactory. (I refused to pay $30 for a cheap felt hat and whip and he didn't want to wear Brad's cool hat because it was the wrong color.) My brother Ed has this authentic looking Darth Vader helmet and he suggested he be a Pez dispenser. So with a cardboard box, a little paint and some strategically placed foam, Caleb walked the streets as a giant inanimate object. Or should I say he waddled the streets. He had a hard time navigating the steps because the box was so cumbersome. Luckily he had his good friend Alex the Viking close by to navigate the steps. By the end of the evening he transformed from a Darth Vader Pez dispenser to a Caleb Pez dispenser.
Still, he was popular, he even got extra candy for his costume. He really enjoyed it. He was a hit at the school parade as well.

I was a little sad that Emma and Rachel didn't go trick or treating this year. Emma went to a friend's Halloween party and Rachel went to hang out at a friend's house. Emma never even got dressed up. Rachel dressed up the night before for a stake dance where she and two other friends dressed up as dead princesses who died of broken hearts. They looked really cute with just the perfect amount of creepiness without being gross. I wish I would have thought to take a picture of them. At least they carved pumpkins. It was a fun day.