best sister ever

this evening we celebrated jen's birthday. she's 18 years younger than i am but boy howdy did i ever luck out to have her as a sister. she is kind, creative, energetic, thoughtful, generous and always fun to be around. in one word she's
'sunshine'. 

 

sadness

yep...this is a sad picture. tonya packing up to leave in the morning. it's been so fun having jared and family here and also tonya's sister Melissa's family too. they all leave tomorrow and i will miss the house being full. i will need to catch up on some sleep...but that can always happen. these late night discussion are priceless!

amazing day

we started today with kyle's baptism...it was wonderful to see him dressed in white and he just beamed. bekah and grandpa kyle gave talks, the cousins sang a baptism song, chris and a friend played "i need thee every hour" on the piano and cello and i gave the closing prayer. when he was confirmed he was blessed that he would open his heart to the spirit. what a great promise. 

i'm so proud of him.

then we attended tonya's sister kristina's wedding reception and finished the day by going to the women's general conference which was for girl's 8 and older and women. it was such an amazing conference. my heart feels so full of gratitude for the leaders of our church. they truly are inspire to include these young girls so that they can feel the spirit at such a young age and understand the power there is in such a large group of righteous women.

i felt blessed and grateful to be with these good women tonight. their spirit strengthens mine.  

friday night

i

i spent the evening hanging out with these 2 guys...and it was good company. we had a nice philosophical discussion while geoff ironed and i made banana bars. (i'm a big fan of men doing domestic tasks) although they are now watching gladiator...i guess they needed to connect with their testosterone to prove they're still men. (jared wanted to make sure i mentioned it was the edited version.)

priorities

when all the family gets together i think this is the one principle we need to remember....which is hard because miller's have a high need to be right!

life is so good

wishing it was summer

so it was beach day at school...in hopes that summer will soon be here. we did a rotation with the four classes and then ended up at the activity room for a read-a-thon.

so good to be together

 

we had a great family home evening and played airplane hide and seek afterwards....that was sam's idea. it's like hide and see, but the person who's 'it' is an airplane and has to try to crash into the other people to tag them.

 

these cousins love playing together but taking a picture is 

a challenge! 

birthday boys

mc turns 3

kyle turns 8

this weekend we spent time all together celebrating these 2 cute birthday boys. lots of food, talking and very very little sleep!

talking the night away

talked until 4:30 one night....and 2:00 the next....i'm getting too old for this. or maybe talking late into the night is making me old!

 

bff's

my friend jo lynn sent me this quote the other day which i love. and tonight jared, tonya and kids will arrive around midnight....i'm looking forward to helping this happen.

some good memories are about to be made!

my brain

i thought i'd put my planner cover and inside picture on this blog so that i'd remember it. i can't live without this little book. it holds appointments, lists, phone numbers, goals. it keeps my life orderly and let's my mind have room for other 'stuff' since it can only hold so much!

thank goodness for rob

yep, tonight it's tax night. i don't know what i'd do without rob...i can never even remember how to get started let alone do it by myself. i have never been a person who cared to keep track of money. i never really looked at my paycheck and when asked how much i make i honestly don't know. i know that sounds pathetic, but it's just not that important to me. after a fire and several floods i have come to learn that stuff is just that...stuff.

but with rob's help i'm getting enough to pay for my 2 trips soooo wa-hoo! 

now memory making....that's important to me. and i'm going to make some incredible memories this year!

poem

i love this....good thought for the day.

being green

 

today's st. patrick's day and so i did my annual 'drinking of the magic punch' and therefore turned my feet green. the kids loved it and i get such a kick out of seeing their faces  look absolutely stunned as i take my socks off to see if the magic worked. 

childhood lasts for such a short time... we should fill it with all the discovery and wonder we can

we'll all be better for it. 

my sacred time

yesterday at the rs stake meeting we had a fabulous talk by brother carver on 'what it takes to be saved.' it came to these 5 things: 
1. faith in Jesus Christ
2. repentance
3. baptism
4. having the Gift of the Holy Ghost
5. endure to the end
sometimes we like to think the list is much longer, but in actuality it isn't. 

we often feel we have to do it all ourselves. that Christ is there, but we sometimes see him as our coach to help us, direct us, motivate us. but he's not... he's our savior. he will make up the difference in what we can't do. he's already paid the price. 

satan, who's name means 'liar' is there to persuade us differently. he wants to discourage us, make us feel that it's hopeless, so why even try.

and then there's the sacrament. sacrament means covenant. today i thought of it, not as going to sacrament meeting but as covenant meeting. a meeting to be edified by the talks, lifted by the music, but sanctified by the sacrament. it was a sacred time to review, remember and renew the covenants i have already made. it filled me and i felt close to the spirit. 

i am so eternally grateful for my savior Jesus Christ. for his willingness to sacrifice for me, providing me with an atonement that heals my wounds, cleanses me from my thoughtless and many sins, lifts me from selfish worldly thoughts and purifies me. i know this to be true, and the tears i shed today were purily out of gratitude and love.

the sacrament was truly sacred time for me today.                             

fertilizer

ok, fertilizer? a lesson? a thought of any kind? i know this seems like i'm stretching, but actually today while i was fertilizing my lawn i was thinking of the word pre-emergent (which is what i was applying.) it's for taking care of the 'bad stuff' before it comes up...before it really starts to form. i also bought the 5 step program to apply at different times of the summer to help my lawn look and stay nice.

so to get my lawn nice takes more than 'just planting the seeds.' alma talks about faith and planting the seed and then nourishing it. there's a little more to it. nourishing faith may also be a 5 step program. i need to read my scriptures to prevent the bad stuff from growing or taking root in my mind. prayer daily helps strengthens my resolve to keep the commandments and the Son gives light. church attendance gives me weekly ingredients to make me strong and the sacrament is that cleansing dose that makes it possible to renew. they all take effort, they all are needed but the results are well worth it. 

what you sow you reap.  

my garage

i finally got home early enough to do somethings at home. i put up this saying in the garage...i know...odd place to put it, but that way i'll get to see it everyday. shelley and i saw this saying in a little gazebo at BYU-idaho while we were education week. each time we saw it we would pause a moment and smile. just a reminder that life is good and i should relish each daily gift.

but i kind of think i do. 

which makes me happy even more.

making a difference

last night i was reading in the book of Jude and this touched me:

"and of some have compassion making a difference."

earlier in the passage it was talking about the ungodly who "are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words"

whoa...i have to admit that passage sounded more like me than the first. yep...wake up call right there. i have done my share of murmuring and complaining and it's not something i would feel comfortable standing before the Lord and confessing. i feel a great need to repent and once again pray earnestly to change my course of behavior...change my heart. 

because i love the idea that compassion...the compassion i could give could make a difference. that it could lift, and build someone. just the opposite of what the murmuring and complaining words do.

then the end of the chapter says this wonderful thought:

"now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever." 

his compassion makes a difference. because of him I can be kept from falling, i can come before my Heavenly Father faultless...and for this i will endlessly thank him, and praise him.

light

while waiting  for a friend to take these flowers to a sick friend i got to sit in my nice warm car and just feel the sunshine. light is healing ... warmth is healing. i was so happy to just have time to sit in the sunshine waiting.

with daylight savings time just starting i realize how we all love the light and seek the light.

we are made to need the light. We are told to seek His light. why wouldn't we if we really thought about it. 

all things good happen in the light.

taking time

the other day i was reading about noah and it mentioned that he spent 120 years building the ark...120 years... with no rain, to speak of. 

it has made me think.     

a lot. 

i know you can say, well noah lived to be over 900 years old. but he didn't know he'd live that long. he probably never realized ahead of time that he would be the 'second adam'. 

what dedication, what commitment. what faith. what unwavering diligence.

i'm in awe of working on something that long without any...validation that what i'm doing has meaning. i tend to want some kind of feedback fairly soon. (in two weeks at least.) maybe noah got it, but it seems to me he basically heard from a lot of disgruntled and even angry neighbors. the lord's time frame is different. He really doesn't care how long something takes, He cares that we listen and follow. He's in it for the long haul. i sometimes start thinking it's a race. i need to get things done fast, rather than focus on what's important

what's lasting. 

family, testimony, my relationship with Him. good lesson for me. 

i better take time to learn it. 

the gift

the other day val was wearing this pretty coralish pinkish scarf...just the color i had been looking for. i happened to mention i really liked her scarf. her immediate response was, "i'll give it to you," at which i them immediately responded, "no you can't do that or i can never tell you i like something." 

but that is her heart. pure, completely charitable and giving. she's one of those people who doesn't need to preach...her life says it all. 

and because her heart was so open, i wanted mine to be more so too. good lessons do that. 

so it's no surprise that after they left i later walked into my bedroom and saw the scarf draped over my bed. 

blessed am i to know such a Christ like woman. i can only pray i can follow her example.

thanks val, for a gift far greater than the scarf.  

end of a busy week

Josh and fam left yesterday so the house is quiet again...kind of bitter sweet. I love my space but I are have loved having a full house. The good news is jares and tonya will be here in three weeks.

Tonight I spent dinner with Jeff, Jana, Jen and Dave and family. I realized being around good righteous people is so good for my spirit and I was definitely well fed today.

it always goes too fast

despite having my house trashed and at least 2 kids throwing up each night and being exhausted each morning i hate to see josh and val and family go home! it's been so fun to have them and chris and rob and kids sleep over. 

last night we all sat up talking about the dynamics of our family and how each reverts to their childhood family role. we've all grown and changed and the guys felt they don't know each other well in some ways but the girls felt just the opposite. our girl's trips really help us stay connected and that's important to all of us. 

first thing this morning i took eli to walmart to pick out his birthday present. he chose a remote control car and then we got 2 dvd's at the red box. he walked out just floating and exclaiming, 'this is a super awesome day! i got a new toy and 2 movies. this is so awesome!' 

once again eli got it right....this week's been awesome.

pool time cool time

The kids loved the  bountiful rec center....the big kids liked the slide, the little kids liked the shallow water and play toy, and the parent (when they got a minute) liked the hot tub. something for everyone!

i sure love this cute little family. they go back to st. louis tomorrow and as tired as i am from staying up late this past week i sure will miss them. tonight jon and celeste also came up and we watched funny youtubes and then just talked. we talked about our crazy family and how we are different from other families. 

eli's birthday

this wonderful little guy is turning 6 and i love him more and more each year! i'm so glad he was here so we could all celebrate!

it was good to all get together at jon and celeste's club house. pizza, pop, and birthday cake

only a parent would know what it took to take this picture! and yeah....this was the best one we could get!

1

worth taking off

i took half a day off today to spend time with my grandkids and went to the ogden tree house museum.

then we went to the temple and had such a wonderful session. we got to see the new film and josh and val felt like they got their answer about where they should live. i felt the prompting that it would be ok. they may not be in utah but they'll be close enough to get together more often. but oh, it's so fun to have them here now.

my 4 granddaughters

out of 12 grandkids only four are girls...these precious little ones are spunky, strong willed and yet compassionate. just what i would want for my granddaughters. 

tonight as bekah and emma sang the song 'let it go' from the movie frozen for me i could only pray that they would be a power for good where ever they are. i'm so grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ which shows them a clear path to be all that they have been created to be and will help them realize that most important of all...

they are His.

songs of the heart

 

since josh and val had to fly up to washington for a job interview chris is watching their kids which makes 8 kids with the oldest 9years old....bless her heart. i went over to help after school and bathed 6 kids in 15 minutes while chris got dinner. 

afterwards these 2 little munchkins loved playing the piano together. abi and haley are 2 months apart and are around 18 months old. they love being together and seem to love mimicking each other. the other night when i was reading them a story abi got on her tummy to listen and then haley would get on hers with me in the middle. 

lucky me. 

being a grandma is awesome....as eli would say. he's so right.

like a child

this morning when eli was saying the prayer he thanked Heavenly Father that it was emma's  birthday. he prayed, "i'm thankful for emma, i love her, emma is awesome."   it made me ponder...when did i ever tell the Lord someone i loved was awesome. another lesson from my grandkids.

  

our birthday bash tonight was for emma who turns 4 tomorrow and rob who had his birthday last week. i loved having a full table.

as the adults talked upstairs the kids do what kids do...play! 

emma loved the booklet noah made for her about princesses. 

cupcakes for the kids and cream puffs for the adults (well of course the kids too.)













i loved having all the wonderful full
sounds in my home again

someone playing the piano
someone laughing, someone crying,
someone cooking, and lots of talking. 
             my favorite music