Christmas day gifts...

CHRISTmas morning was full of many special memories and lots of fun...

abby had a special cocoa and stir spoon for mom and i... we absolutely loved it...

noah had special gifts for all... a reindeer for mom... and webkinz for his brothers and sister...

cole loved his tennis racket and tennis balls... he wants to be a tennis star...

ethan and abby both got what they wanted... neither expected it so they were very surprised...

noah got a cell phone...(not sure what we were thinkin there)

and cole is now a jedi knight...

abby's grandma made a traditional scandinavian outfit for abby to match her american girl doll... very special to her... she loves them both (the outfits) very much...

good times had by all...

sunday surprise...

as i was eating breakfast this morning i received a special phone call... my good friend kalani(carlos) is in town from maui...(tough place to live)... to visit family and friends...

he called this morning to see if we could go to church together and then lunch... i accepted... so he and his folks met us for church and then lunch at the mayan...

this was a very special time to catch up with a life-long friend(we went to school together, kindergarten through 12th grade)... alot of stories and catching up together happened and i feel very blessed to call kalani my friend...

CHRISTmas eve gift exchange...(miller family)

tradition at our house CHRISTmas eve is for papa to hand out presents from under the tree from family to family... all the kids gravitate to him and offer their 'help'... its quite fun to watch...

ethan shows tyler and noah his new webkinz goldfish from auntie holly... he loves it...

noah poses in his new star wars beanie... auntie jen really came through on this gift...

ethan loved his beanie from auntie jen also... they both have been wearing it from the time they got it...

auntie holly gave abby and lila american girl size dolls that came with their own pets and beautiful clothes... abby was very excited about this gift....

ethan loves legos... auntie holly knows her nephew pretty well... legos + starwars = one happy boy...

tyler gave uncle d a duff (simpsons beverage) it was an energy drink... on the show its homers favorite beer... they both had a good laugh...

grandma and grandpa from here gave noah monopoly here and now... he has been asking for this one all year long... he was pretty pumped... this kid loves monopoly...

coles number 1 gift he wanted was a snow globe... papa and grandma from here made his day with this cute boy with snowman snow globe... very cool...

lila gave abby littlest pet shop goods... made her very happy... the undersea play set lit up bright... like abby's face...

auntie holly gave uncle d a bunch of kitty stuff for his cat mr kitty... (a waste of money if you ask me but... nobody asked me)...

gwen got some perfume from grandma and grandpa which made her happy... cant you tell.... her favorite scent...(mine too)

Christmas eve was alot of fun... thanks everyone...

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....

happy CHRISTmas...

from all of us... to all of you...

we wish you the happiest CHRISTmas and the merriest new year...

from the millers...

we truly are blessed...

i wanted to post this picture of the house that i took a couple of hours ago... so beautiful... so peaceful...

i know the next couple of days will be so hectic... full of fun... lots of food and lots of laughing... family and friends... and some time spent in reflection on our saviour's birth... the real reason for this season... i didnt want to miss this opportunity to tell you all...

gwen and i know we are so blessed to have family and friends like we do... we know that God has brought each one of you into our lives for a specific reason... and we feel so grateful for that... thank you for being part of our lives... we love each one of you...

CHRISTmas cookie cookoff...

i love my job... i know many of you might think im crazy for this, but... i do... 1 of the big reasons i love my job is my love for my co-workers... some of my best friends in the whole world work along side me at the tacoma costco...

so... gwen helped me(ok... she did it all) bake some goodies for them... i plated them... and will deliver them in the a.m....

happy CHRISTmas...

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...

games giggles and goodies...

today we got a package in the mail from some dear friends of ours and like all other years we have a tough time waiting... i think these friends have confessed doing the same... so we tore it open and found 'apples to apples' it has been so fun playing and laughing with the kids...

we also have been enjoying some delish baked goods from some other friends...(all gone now) so now we are having to do some baking for ourselves...

so far great day... and yes, it is still snowing...

walking in a winter wonderland...

we got some snow today... our kids love the snow...

ethan throws snowballs at me...

noah and cole sled down the steep hill...

so do abby and cole...

noah hides and throws snowballs at me... and others... but mostly me...

our friends brent and brandon came out to play with us... alot of fun on a beautiful day...