Progessive Dinner

The Miller family celebrated the holidays by having a progressive dinner on Saturday night. I got some pretty good pictures from the night that I thought I'd share.

First we started out at Sarah & Jared's house for soup and salad. Melissa provided the salad - Jackson was sick at home.

Both soup and salad were delicious. The cilantro salad dressing was of course very popular

Jared and Sarah's front room was very popular for the kids to play in.

Though noisy at times, the piano was a big hit!

You can't tell in this picture but Gavin and Evan are dancing. It was a very precious moment.

If I would have thought ahead I would have made an effort to get more pictures of people or at least the couples but at I did get some pictures - mostly candid. I really like this one of Melissa and Delaina - a fun sisters one!

Then the main course was served at our house.

Meatballs, rice and Alfredo sauce - yummy

family time and the holidays - it was very nice, especially with two additions to the family: Josh's wife-to-be and Becky's new husband Trevor!

Then onto Becky and Trevor's cute and stylish apartment for desert

Homemade donuts, apple cider and hot chocolate - SO DELICIOUS

And yes, in order for the boys to be in a small apartment without toys and let the adults be at peace we brought a movie along!!

Along with the great food and family time we watched a video on Luke II and also played a trivia game on Christmas. It was a really fun night and everything turned out so nice.

Happy Birthday dear Amber!

Another year where Chad fooled Amber and she was surprised to find us at her door with food and treats of a bday celebration! Friends are a great blessing, especially when they are as fabulous as Amber and Natalie (and luckily they have married awesome guys)

The first three pictures I edited through Picnik (Amber told me about it and I am in love with it).

Me and the girls...the best friends a girl could ask for

I included this because it is the luxury item that Jake and I dream of and I thought, since the country is in recession, I'd tell all the readers that if you'd like to buy us a Christmas gift this would be a good one....
Jake and I are sick with colds so we kept our distance from Ivy which was so difficult cause boy is she the cutest - I just wanted to cuddle up to her - instead I took a picture.

It wasn't taken last night but I am including this picture of Brody and I giggling - he was resting his elbow on me at first and then he started messing with my face and we both started giggling!

It's Christmas time

I know Arizona winters are pretty lame compared to most other places in the US but I love the opportunity to cuddle up with a blanket, drink hot coco, wear sweaters (and sometimes scarves and jackets) and eat holiday goodies. Here are some pictures of the start of the winter / holiday season!

Brody and I have had colds on and off for the past couple weeks so there have been a lot of cuddling up in blankets!

Also a day here and there with no naps

Which has sometimes lead to a short snooze on the couch

I found Brody napping like this in his room the other day with his giant stuffed dog on top of him

For Josh's bday this month we decorated the tree

Brody had fun with some decorations

One of his favorite things to do lately is hang out in the gated area outside the front door and get in and out of his stroller (its probably his way of saying he wants to go on a walk)

While the Christmas tree was being put up he noticed the lights while he was looking through the window

Jake and Josh filled covered the entry way tile with wood to "finish" the living room floor. It looks so nice! I had to mention it because I never take for granted projects like this from the small ones to the big ones. Donna and I are grateful to have these men around to help make the house look nice!!

No make up and a little fuzzy but here is me pregnant 7 months!

Brody was tagged!

A tag from Amber and Natalie for Brody

Name & Meaning: I have loved the name Brody for years and luckily Jake liked it too. His middle name is Joshua after Jake’s brother. We feel this is why Brody can be a hellion and wants to be a night owl…he is taking after his namesake!

Age: Brody will be 2 ½ of the 16th of this month!

Nicknames: Bro, Brod, Brodster, Bro Bro, little man, bubbie, and we sing his name Brody to the tune of Money, Money, Money…I know that sounds weird but it actually works pretty good with that tune.

Favorite Activities: Playing with toys that make noise, trains and train tracks, singing songs (well listening to me singing them), climbing on everything, chewing on his bear blanket, reading books, playing in the backyard by far his favorite thing to do which then consists of gathering rocks, eating dirt and throwing botchy balls on Grandma Donna’s flowers.

Favorite Foods: Toast and almost anything bread, raisins, sausages, apples, bananas, mini vanilla wafers, teddy grahams, hot dogs, fish sticks, applesauce, cereal in milk (those two are just recently since he has gotten better with utensils…yes he is late in that), fries – especially with ketchup!

Least Favorite: Have a tough time getting him to eat any meat other than hot dogs, since he has a hard time with utensils and hasn’t let me spoon feed him since he was about 15 months there are quite a few foods he misses out on

Favorite Music: 5 little moneys, 5 little ducks, wheels on the bus, head shoulders knees & toes, taking home my little baby bumble bee, row, row, row your boat, ABC, Elmo’s World theme song and lots more.
Favorite Toys: Trains and most toys that make noises, sorting and stacking toys and he loves his nightlight that we call Green Man.

Favorite Books: SO MANY!!! To name a few Dr Seuss’s ABC, Go Dogs Go, Marvin K Mooney Will You Please Go Now, also he likes any book with trains, Mr Brown Can Moo Can You?, Old Hat New Hat and lots, lots more.

What makes him happy: Sad to say TV brings a huge smile to this boy’s face - well really only certain shows and movies. Right now he is obsessed with this short Disney cartoon of Pluto and Chip N’ Dale as well as the Disney Christmas Carol. He is very specific – Elmo’s World and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Playing outside, Mommy and sometimes Daddy (he is a big time momma’s boy). He loves being tickled and wrestling around – well wrestling appropriate for his age. He loves when you chase him or he chases you.

What makes him sad: Well as a toddler lots of things make him frustrated. Certain people who try to play or read a book with him that apparently haven’t made his short-list of people, sometimes when you offer him food and it’s not cool with him he freaks out. When I dance – I have no idea it’s just me and it’s pretty funny. Also he gets very frustrated because he can’t communicate very much.

We tag: Evan, Blake and Tatum’s little girls

Here is Brody with Green Man, his nightlight (its great because it can charge on the cord between nap time and when he goes to bed and then he can have it and not mess with the outlet or anything)!

Thanksgiving

Jake and I are blessed enough to live in the same place where we both grew up so we are surrounded by family. One of the drawbacks is we sort of have to manage spending time with each family. Last year we ate with Jake's family so this year we decided to eat with my family. My family's Thanksgiving meal is usually joined by my Mom's family so there are a lot of extended family - Aunts, Uncles and lots of cousins. With Jake's family the guests include really just his Mom and siblings and their significant others and a few kids. Before we left for my family's gathering I snapped some pictures of the get-together at our house then to follow are the pictures of the hoopla at the Hatch family gathering!

Jake had to sample the sweet potatoes before we left!

The meal was at my parent's ward building so we took advantage of kids playing in the nursery

Brody found a slide that he just LOVED!

Update on life with us

Here are just some of the going-on with the Miller family as of late....

I had my six month appointment with my OB last week and the baby has a strong heart beat and is growing nicely. Also some kicking has started in just the past month. Even though this is only my second pregnancy I really enjoy the movement from the baby. As with Brody, it makes it feel real, makes me feel bonded to the baby, getting to know the personality of the baby to come and it is just really great and makes me smile. Here is a pregnancy picture. As with many photos I don't love the way I look but I am trying to be more comfortable with how I look plus I want to look back and see what I looked liked when I was pregnant.

Jake has been working a lot. Well no more than what other managers work at Mattress Firm but more than a normal 40 hour work week. But he has also done a few extra things that his bosses have asked him and between that and in general I think he has earned a lot of respect. So recently he got a promotion. Jake was a Manager On Duty and now he is a permanent Manager of the Mattress Firm on Octillo and Arizona Ave. No increase in salary but a great opportunity. I am so proud of him and thankful for his hard work. Even though he isn't doing what he wanted to do after graduating from ASU he is thriving where he is at and in the current state of economy we are blessed that he has a job!


Since Becky moved out there has been some extra room in the house so there were some room changes. Donna moved into where Becky was so now she has her own bathroom and Brody is in the room where Donna was. Its a pretty big room but he will be sharing it with his brother at some point. So to save money we decided there was room enough in the house to empty our storage unit. A couple weeks ago Jake spent his days off after the room change and brought everything here. One of my major responsibilities was situating Brody's room and going through old baby clothes. There were 11 boxes (some were small but still) and 3 garbage bags full of Brody's old clothes. Needless to say we see the blessing in having another boy cause we have plenty of clothes!!! I wanted things separated and organized for when the baby gets here. I bought some tubs and sorted through everything and now that Brody's new room has two closets there is room to store it all. Here is just some of the mess all the stuff made until it was sorted through:

Also there was some baby stuff that was in storage that apparently, even at Brody's age, still are fun to play with.

We found that Brody discovered this in the living room and immediately got in on his own and started playing with it

Unfortunately Brody got pink eye last week. I think he might have gotten it when we went to the park on Thursday. So far none of Brody's cousins who come to our house daily have gotten it which is a relief since it is SO contagious. Other than how bad it looked Brody was happy during the whole thing. But Brody actually responded to the antibiotic really fast and though he is still taking the medicine he doesn't look like he has pink eye!

As I said in the last post Brody has been a handful lately but also extremely adorable and cute and a few days before the yucky pink eye hit I got some great pictures of him.

Eating popcorn in the backyard with cousins (yes he is in just a shirt and a diaper)

This is one of my favorite pictures

Another fav

Of course with his smile this is a big fav as well!

Brody's favorite place to play in the backyard is by the citrus trees

Now onto Thanksgiving and Christmas. Happy Thanksgiving to all who visit this blog

Food, family and thanks!