Merry Christmas

I realize that the quality of these pictures is horendous, I think it may be time for Brett and I to invest in a camera that takes descent pictures indoors or maybe I should take a picture taking class and learn how to use the cameras we do have. :)

On Christmas Eve eve we visited my grandparents in Logan. My grandma has recently had a couple of back surgeries so it was good to see them. Brooklyn loved playing with their little Shih tzo Cricket.

We celebrated Christmas Eve at Brett's parents. It was a pretty quiet night since both Brett's sister's family stayed in California and his brother was in Bear Lake with his wife's family. But, we had a fabulous dinner with his parent's and grandma and opened presents.

On Christmas morning we met my granddad in the valley and went to my parents sacrament then went to their house for a yummy breakfast, presents and indoor snowball fight.

I am so grateful for my family and friends and especially my Heavenly Father and Brother Jesus this holiday season. I got so spoiled and sometimes I don't think I deserve everything I got or have, but because I have so much I feel that I have a greater obligation to be better wife, a better neighbor, a better mom, a better friend, a better daughter and daughter in law, a better sister and sister in law, aunt cousin, sunbeam teacher...and the list goes on. I am so grateful to those who have lifted me up when I've been down, gave me motivation to keep pressing forward when I thought I couldn't go anymore, welcomed me and made me feel loved, made me laugh when I felt like crying, and reminded me that every moment of everyday is special and that I should cherish each stage in my life whether its hard, sad, happy, or fun.

To everyone I know, Thanks for being a part of my life!

And...We're Back!!

I am not one to read long blog posts, but usually on the occasion that I do I am really glad that I took the time because they turn out being a funny or sad or touching story. And after I read them I always think to myself, "Wow they're a really good writer." Well, I'm am NOT a good writer and this is a long post w/o pictures (which makes it even more boring), but read on if you so desire. :)

I had quite the September. Let's just say it was NOT my month for good luck. It seems so long ago now, but I do remember getting a bad cold and thinking "who the heck gets a cold in September?" I never remember being sick, except for in the winter months, but now it seems like people get the cold (and flu) in all months, it doesn't matter if it's June or January. Anyways...it was not fun! Then, on the night of the BYU vs Utah football game we had Brett's brother and his wife over. The guys were watching the game while us girls were being good wives and preparing a weekly menu. We were sitting at the table getting recipes online with glasses of water by us and what do ya know, of course I spill my water on my computer...aaah! It shut off almost the moment that it happened, so I put it on the counter to dry, thinking that as soon as it was all dry it would be ok. In the meantime Melissa and I were on our way out the door to get our groceries. She asked if I wanted her to drive becaue their car was parked partially behind mine, but I said "No, I'll be able to back around it." We got in my car and being the girls that we are we started talking as soon as we got in, I started backing out and totally forgot that I needed to back around her car and ran right into it...are you kidding me!! Melissa was laughing and I just felt horrible!! I didn't even want to get out and look at the damage I just wanted to go crawl in my bed before I ruined anything else. Luckily, her's only had a few scrapes but the paint had exploded off of mine, which was weird. I'm just glad it wasn't dented. Long story short my computer never would turn back on so I took it to the Mac place and they looked at it and found water damage on the mother board and said that it would be $900 + dollars to replace and that I should just get a new computer. As much as my sweet husband loves me he wouldn't give me another $1000 to get a new MacBook, so I had my good friend and her husband put it on ebay for me to see what I could get for it...here comes the crazy part - they live in Casper Wy, a guy said that he would buy it, for what I thought was a decent price, so I mailed it to them so that they could take out the hard drive for me before mailing it to the guy who was buying it. The whole time that I had it it would not turn on. When they got it they decied to check one last time if it would turn on and it DID!!! I told them to keep it a few days longer to see if it would keep working and it has worked perfectly ever since. The other miraculous part was that the guy who wanted to buy it lived in Canada and didn't want to pay the extra shipping cost so he changed his mind. Boy do I have a testimony of paying my tithing, because if this wasn't a miracle then I don't know what is.

I am excited to get the pictures that we've taken downloaded so that I can post some, but for now I hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Labor Day Weekend

Brett bought me a golf/stay package at the Zermatt Resort in Midway for Mother's Day, so we decied to use it over Labor Day weekend. One Friday my mom and dad came over to stay with Brooklyn and we headed to the resort. When we got there we both felt tired so we took a nap then went to Swiss Days. Lots and lots of fun crafty booths. We didn't stay long because I didn't want to bore Brett to death and figured I could go down next year with some girls. When we got back to the Zermatt we ate dinner at the Schneitters restaurant and got some yummy pastries to take back to the room. Their chocolate eclaire was scrumptious!! Then on Saturday we golfed 9 holes at the Homestead Golf Course. It was a very pretty coarse and we didn't do too bad for not golfing much/at all this year. After golfing we headed to Park City where we got lunch at Flippin Burgers and headed home. It was a nice little getaway and Brooklyn had fun spending time with her grandma and grandpa.

We didn't get very many pictures, but here are some...

When we got home on Saturday we decided last minute to join Brett's parents at the cabin in Palisades, so we hurried and packed, luckily Brooklyn was taking a nap, then loaded her and everything else in the truck and got to the cabin at about 9:30. We got settled in and had fun playing with Brooklyn, who was being such a ham :) Sunday, Mark made us breakfast then we headed to Teton National Park where we hiked to Jenny Lake, had a pic nic, drove to Jackson Hole, then back to the cabin for some relaxation and dinner. Monday, we got packed up and sat outside on the deck while Brooklyn took a long nap (she didn't sleep good most of the trip because she was teething and was super congested) then we went for a walk and headed back to Utah. We met my mom and dad in Logan at Chases apartment and went to dinner at Cafe Sabor with them, my grandparents, and one of Chase's room mates. Then went home, put the little miss in the tub then to bed, where she slept like an angel. (must of missed the comfort of her own crib ;)

Bear Lake

Every year Brett's family goes to Bear Lake and stays at his grandma's brother's cabin. We always have a ton of fun! This year was a short trip, because of work and a lot of family didn't come, but we still had a blast.

Grandma Miller

We played us some red neck horse shoes.

Wes came with us this year cause my parents were out of town and there wasn't much he could do in football with his broken arm, so I thought I'd get him out of the house for some fun before school started.

Swinging with Grandpa Mark

Having fun with Daddy

10 Months

About Brooklyn at 10 months

• She loves loves loves to walk with help
• She is a screamer wheather it's in excitement or frustration
• She has 2 teeth
• She wants so bad to crawl, but can't quite figure it out yet
• She loves finger food
• She's really good at turning herself around while sitting on the floor with her hand

Love you baby girl!!

bOaTiN

Brooklyn and I went boating with my mom and dad up at Pinview for her first time. We wish Brett could have come, but he didn't get off of work in time and he was DONE being in the sun, since he was in it all day!

I have been dying to go wakeboarding since I couldn't go last year (cause I was pregnant) and all the other times this year that my family took the boat out never seemed to work for us, but FINALLY I got to go and I reminded myself why I love wakeboarding and skiing so much!!

Here is what Brooklyn thought about it :)

Family Pictures

A few weeks ago we got our family pictures done by the talented Camille Garrison. I absolutely love them...here are a few of my favorites.

As you can see Brooklyn started to get a little cranky...actually for some reason it was so hard to get a smile out of her the during the whole photo session.

Check out her website here!!

Lillies

Dear previous owners of our home,

I feel so bad that you had to leave behind this beautiful lilly plant that you planted, I hope you got to enjoy if for a while when you were here, but I just want to tell you thanks for leaving it for us to enjoy!

Sincerely,

The Millers

Lillies are my FAVORITE flower and I think this one is so BEAUTIFUL! It took forever for the blossoms to open up, but now I walk by and just look at it everyday.

and...of course I had to through in a picture of the pumpkin and her sweet friend Payton. They had fun swimming at the pool.

9 Month Stats

Yesterday we went to the doctor for Brooklyn's 9 month check up. After getting her head circumfrence, height, and weight, she had to get some blood drawn from her thumb. She did awesome only cried for a second and would turn around to make sure I was still holding her. They bandaged it up with a cottonball and a band aid. She was so funny with it on, she kept trying to chew on the cotton.

In this picture she is showing you her stats (and you can barely see her thumb).

Ht: 27.5 inch 50%

Wt: 15.6 lbs 5%

HC: 43.5 cm 40%

Here she is chewing on it :)

Things about Brooklyn at 9 months:

She loves to stand and dance, she can't quite stand on her own but we're wondering if she's going to skip crawling and just walk haha. Every time I lay her down in her crib she'll roll on to her tummy to sleep. She's officially done spitting up...yeah! She loves straps: Car seat straps, stroller straps, high chair straps, etc (and tags). And she's graduated from her whale tub to the big tub.

We are so sad to see her grow so fast, but love that she is so fun!

Waterfall Canyon

Saturday morning we thought it would be fun to get out and hike Waterfall Canyon.

Brooklyn stays up for maybe an hour in the morning before going down for a nap so our poor baby cried most of the way up cause she was tired...

...as you can see from this picture she was one unhappy camper. (she held that granola bar the whole time)

Here's the granola bar again.

Then...she fell asleep :)

Does't she look so comfy...not! Good thing babies have loose neck muscles or else she would have had a pretty sore neck the next morning.

We had a lot of fun though and can't wait to tell her this story when she gets older.

God Bless America

We went to Idaho Falls to visit Brett's grandparents for the 4th. This is our first year going over the holiday, but every year they invite tons of friends and family over for a delicious dinner and to watch the amaizing firework show 2nd best in the nation! Their house is in the PERFECT spot to watch the fireworks, just off of the river right in front of where they light the fireworks. There are thousands of people that come to watch it every year, so we are very lucky we got to sit back on some lounge chairs and watch them away from the crowd. It was a fun getaway and great for Brooklyn to meet her great Grandma and Grandpa Jones and lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins for the first time I'm so sad I didn't get a picture of her with them...next time.

Taking a walk around the falls.

Rehydrating :)

Having fun with Grandpa Mark