Christmas in Canada 2011

Well we had a great time up in Canada for Christmas. We went up to Nana and Granddad's for Christmas. Jeni and her family came up as well. The kids had a great time getting to know each other better. It had been 2yrs since the last time they had seen each other. We did lots of fun things up there. Lynne took all the girls to see Beauty and the Beast the play. Caty and Lizzy loved it. It was their first play they had ever been to. We went on a sleigh ride one day. It was very cold but we had a great time. It was beautiful and everything was covered in snow. The kids had a blast and the cold did not bother them at all. We also had a surprise visit from santa. He came by to see the kids and ask them what they wanted for Christmas. They were so surprised and enjoyed there visit with Santa. Carleigh loved it, she was the first to sit on his lap and tell him what she wanted. We went out to Granddad's farm and roasted smores and hot dogs. The kids loved it. Brian also took Bri snowboarding. This was the first for both of them. Bri loved it and Brian liked it better then skiing but that is not saying much. Christmas morning was fun. We woke up to Carleigh throwing up. I felt so bad for her, this was her first Christmas were she got it. She was so looking forward to the gifts Santa brought her. She felt so bad she did not even care about looking at her stuff until she had been up for a few hours. Luckily it only lasted 2 days. The kids all had a great Christmas. They all got what they wanted as usual. Unfortunately I had to stay home with Carleigh on Christmas so I was unable to go to church. Everyone said it was wonderful and really enjoyed the Christmas program. We then spent the rest of the day at home with family and then had a wonderful dinner. Lynne out did herself as usual. The trip ended on a bang. I got sick in the middle of the night before we left. Luckily I was able to fly without having to go to the bathroom. We made it home and the kids started back to school the next day. I can't believe it is a new year. We have had a great year. We put our house up for sale right before we left to go up to Calgary. We have decided to build, it will be in the same neighborhood. One of our neighbors is a builder and he owns the last lot for sale in the neighborhood so we are going to buy it and have him build a home for us. We are now just hoping our home will sell. Well to start the new year we celebrated Brian and Carleigh's birthday. I will post pictures and write about that later. I am now just trying to finish up the year so I can get our blog book printed.

Thanksgiving 2011

This was the first annual Thanksgiving fun run for the Miller and extended family. 1.5 miles of gruelling path running (straight and flat). The kids finished in around 15 minutes, some just faster and some a bit slower. No crying, minimal whining and Biscuits for all at the finish line! Papa Burl came to visit and walked with Cathy for a mile or so. Beautiful morning, Beautiful Day!

Halloween 2011

This year for Halloween we went to Ooma's and Papa's for dinner and went trick or treating in their neighborhood. This year is the first year Carleigh understood what was going on and she had a blast. Caty-lynne hates costumes so we always have to find something we can add to her everyday clothes. This year she was a devil, we got her a pitchfork, cape and horns to wear. She was comfy which makes it pleasant for the rest of us. Bri was an army soldier, again taking common toys around the house and making a very practical costume. Carleigh was a fairy and loved it and Lizzy was a cat and pulled it off very well. Robin as usual had no desire to dress up. I had the best costume of all - THE PUMPKIN HEAD. Yes it was heavy and at the end of the night I had a very sore neck.

Soccer Liz

Lizzy is the champ - she has scored as many as 5 goals in a game. She has her days where she is not in the game, but when she is, WATCH OUT! She loves to chase it down and kick it hard - aim will come with time. Forget passing to other players - that is 1-2 years away.

The Kid's Running Run In In

These are the pictures from the school run's for Brian and Caty-Lynne. Bri finished his in 9:00 and Caty-Lynne finished in 10:01. They had lots of fun except when dad was encouraging them to run faster - When Caty-Lynne runs with me at home it is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth until we finish - somehow she made it through the whole run with hardly any complaining. The power of having friends there.

Bri pushed hard, walked a couple of times but pushed hard and sprinted it out at the end to almost break the 9 minute barrier.

I guess it helped to have dad offer frosty's as incentives!

Note how Bri skillfully dodges the high 5 from the girl in his class, playing hard to get I see.

Lizzy's Birthday

Lizzy turned 6 this year and wanted a party at Chuck-e-cheese. She had a blast. She got to go in the ticket blaster and was shoving tickets into her shirt. I think she ended up with like 1000 tickets at the end. She invited some girls from school and church. She wanted me to make her cake and decorate it for her. She wanted a heart shaped cake which I can handle but the decorating is another story. I decorated it while she was in school and it did not look so hot so I was worried she would be a little upset once she saw it. She came home from school saw it and looked at me and said mom that is the prettiest cake I have ever seen! I guess from a kids eyes it was great. At the party all of her friends where all saying the same thing to her when they saw the cake. She was so proud!! We had a great time and the next day was even better because Nana flew in to spend a few days with us. The kids all love when Nana comes and are very sad to see her leave.
Lizzy got some roller skates for her birthday and loves them. If she is outside you can count on her having them on. She has gotten pretty good at them to. She also received a yummy and pretty cookie bouquet from nana and granddad. All the kids love birthdays for this reason, they know that when it is one of their birthdays we always receive one with tons of cookies to share with everyone.

Lizzy is such a happy go lucky girl, she is so much fun to have around. She makes us laugh and you never know what is going to come out her mouth. What a sweet little girl we have and we feel so bless to have her as our daughter.

Hanging Rock

This is the day that Carleigh and I went on a daddy daughter date to Hanging Rock. Much to Robin's dismay, we went all the way to the edge and took some pictures. the funniest part of the trip was that Carleigh didn't have to use the bathroom until we reached the top of the mountain. She got naked from the waist down and peed in the forest at the top of the mountain. For the rest of the week and still today, she talks about peein in the forest on the mountain!

Abby was worn out by the end of the trip, as was I

Summer Triathlons

Here are some pictures from the YMCA triathlon in Charlotte NC.

It was a good year for me, I did 6 races and finished all of them. I only had to walk during one and we won't talk about that any more. Robin was kind enough to come to this one and take some pictures.

The kids came over the transition area while I was changing to the run to give some encouragement

The sweatband - don't leave home without it.