CHRISTmas eve... pre-gift exchange...

so... since we were snowed in and our church cancelled their CHRISTmas eve service... we decided to do one here at the house...BEFORE presents...

so my brother tim, his wife jen and their kids evan and lila read an advent reading that they were going to read on sunday at their church... but it was cancelled also...


then my dad spoke briefly about the importance of focusing our gifts/resources/ and energies on others... very cool...

then abby played away in the manger on the piano for us all...

then noah played angels we have heard on high... they both played extremely well and helped us all get into the spirit of CHRISTmas even more...


after that, ethan read the christmas passage from luke 2: 4-15ish... very cool... everyone loved this...

then my sisters boy, justin played the theme song from star wars? a little random but cole thought it was very cool...

after that lila danced the sugar plum fairy dance from the nutcracker... included her holding the nutcracker and all...

another great opportunity for a family photo... holly, tim, my dad, my mom, dan and me...

i wanted a good photo of me and my mom... and this is how it turned out... no surprise with 'naughty' evan around... (wonder if he got coal in the stocking on CHRISTmas morning) (just kidden)

mia and gwen pose for a snapshot of the happy evening...

me and my love...

the cookie spread... always a treat...

more photos to come....

feeble attempt at decorating...

i am going to need to clarify... we have been spoiled over the years with greg, gwens brother... coming out to help us decorate the cookies and spending the holidays with us... this year he will be spending CHRISTmas with gwens folks in north dakota... so they will be getting the master decorator to help with their sugar cookies...

abby did great at filling in the HUGE gap left by greg not being here...

last year greg brought us some tools to help us in times like these... frosting needles... for fine precision...

i even tried to decorate a few... these are some of mine...

at least they taste good...

holiday memories...

gwen and i attended the costco company Christmas party on sunday night... the food was good and my wife looked HOT!!! i love spending time with her...

during the time we were there my mom and dad babysat the kiddos and took them to the nutcracker... all four really enjoyed it and it has added to their holiday experience... my brothers family was also there and that gave abby a chance to sit with and hang out with lila, her cousin...

all in all it was a great weekend...

Happy 5th Birthday Cole Henry!

After already celebrating his birthday last week with his good buddy Matt at his house, and then with our family at Red Robin, and then with his other good buddy Zach at his house, and then with our whole family on Thanksgiving ... TODAY was actually, really, finally Cole's actual birthday! Our "shirtless wonder" as we lovingly call him (the kid hates to have a shirt on unless he absolutely has to!) turned five years old today! I can hardly believe it! Those of who who have known Cole since his beginning, know that his first year was a rough one. There were many days that I honestly didn't know if I would make it ... and now I look at this precious boy and my heart is filled with such an amazing amount of love and an unbelievable amount of thankfulness to our Lord for blessing us with this incredible boy!

Mama's homemade caramel roll, one more candle to blow out, and a couple of more gifts ...


What is it?


Oooh! Daddy found some more Cars cars that he doesn't have ... (I really don't know how that is even possible)...

And the Clone Wars movie ... the brothers were pretty pumped about this gift, too!

Then off to church, lunch with Zach and family at the Mayan, and then the Olympia Christmas parade and dinner with Matt and family. What a fun day!

We love you, Colio! You are a joy to our family. Your infectious smile and "puppy eyes" warm our hearts, your love for learning is already amazing, and we are so proud of the boy you are growing to be!

thanksgiving traditions 2...

thanksgiving day 2008... papa miller started us out by sharing 2007 past lists of things we were thankful for... it was alot of fun to hear these lists and see how are ideas had changed... the kids especially...

grandpa then prayed and thanked God for the blessings He has provided us this last year... these prayers are always alot of fun and very meaningful...

justin, lila, evan, uncle d, tyler, cole, noah, ethan and abby...
















mom and dad with daniel...



















my sister holly, her husband james, and tyler (16) and justin (14)...















my brother tim, evan (14), lila (7) and jen...

















cole (5), me and dan all celebrate our birthdays on thanksgiving... it always makes for a sweet time: cherry chip cake, yellow cake with homemade chocolate icing, gingerbread cupcakes, cinnamon apple cake and pumpkin pie... dessert overload...

cole showing off his new gameboy ds... everybody went in on this gift and made one little 5 year old very happy... happy birthday buddy...

thanksgiving traditions...

i love the holidays... we at the miller house have many traditions that we look forward to all year long... many of which revolve around food...

gwen has brought a couple of those 'food traditions' into our family... one of which is lefse... we enjoy this scandinavian treat only twice a year... thanksgiving and Christmas...( im working on her for a third holiday, maybe fourth of july?)(lol).... i know that by having it only twice a year keeps it special...but, i dont think i could ever get sick of it... she uses her lefse grill to make it... the grill was a wedding gift and has been used every year since...

she also has a caramel roll recipe that dates back to her grandma ness(at least)... these little fellas are out of this world...

once again... i only get these twice a year so i have to savor every one... but... if you stop by on thanksgiving day (or Christmas) i will share... they are incredible...

and to round off breakfast at the millers on thanksgiving my moms nut pie... yes i said pie and we couldnt wait to have a slice... the homemade whipped cream topping is the perfect compliment to the nutty-sugary goodness baked inside... if you know carol(my mom) maybe you could have her make you one sometime... if she likes ya... i got mine for my birthday...(a couple of days late, but worth the wait)

tell us about your traditions... we would love to hear about them...