Snow Day!

This is all the snow it takes in Washington to close down all the schools for a day. We got to take Monday off as a snow day and enjoy an abundant amount of snow to play in (did you detect the sarcasm?). Amber and her kiddos meet us on the sidewalk and she got some really cute pictures. Enjoy!

Emma's first love note

So Justin came in one morning last week after dropping the girls off at school. He came up the stairs where I was vacuuming and held out a little piece of paper to me that he had taken from his coat pocket. I took it and looked at it, cute, then I opened it up and saw what it said. I said "ah, how cute" thinking she had made this for her daddy. He said, in a very annoyed tone " Her first love letter" I again said " ahhh" still not getting it. Then he said "from a boy!"

OH BOY - excuse the pun!

This was from Braden, the one we had all the kissing problems with, the one she always says she's gonna marry. He left it for her in her box. Cute but still a little scary for mommy and daddy, she's only 4!

Mediocrity

I am a mediocre person. There is nothing really special or extraordinary about me. Nothing that makes me stand out in a crowd. Nothing that draws people to me. Nothing that really sets me apart as different or as unique or that defines me as a person. Some people are amazing singers, some play an instrument, some dance, others are particularly good at a sport. I do none of those. I can't sing, play any instrument, dance, and I've never played a sport. I have never done anything really exciting, never traveled anywhere exotic, meet important people, done things the average person doesn't do. I'm not a good teacher, not the best speaker, not a natural leader. I'm not unnaturally beautiful, tall, or thin. I am not knowledgeable about anything specific nor am I super intelligent. I don't have enough money to mask the fact that I am ordinary by purchasing extravagant things, clothes, makeup, and jewelry. I'm not a forward thinker nor do I think outside the box. I'm not inventive or original, even my art is usually copied from something I've seen before. I'm not the best at anything. I sometimes envy other people with these talents or traits. I covet what they have or the natural God given talents and abilities they have been given. I wonder why God didn't give me a beautiful voice or a models body. Why are my talents not more evident or extravagant? I long to stand out or be special. I try sometimes to be the best "fill in the blank" but my efforts are never enough. Why do I have this desire to be especially good at something or special in some way? Why do I feel defeated when I don't measure up? Why do I feel inferior when I am with people who are 'special'? What would be different in my life if I were not mediocre? Why do I need and seek for this fulfillment? I think if I am truly honest with myself it is because I see that self worth, definition, and purpose are tied to these things. I find my worth in being good at something, definition in being known for something or how well I do something, and purpose in doing these things to gain worth and definition. Isn't Christ where I am supposed to find this fulfillment? Aren't I supposed to find my worth in Him, He should define who I am, and my purpose in this life should be to live for Him?
I know this, but then why can't I make myself believe this and live it every day? I suppose I find it more satisfying to be 'special' in the eyes of man for what I can do in this world that I do in just being 'special' for who I am to God. I don't have to be anyone special or do anything special for God to love me. This should satisfy my desires and needs but for some reason I don't allow it to all the time. I am not finding my joy in being His. I am searching for my joy in who others see me as. I think everyone at some point in their lives comes to ask themselves, 'what do I have to offer this world?" and when you go through the list and find you really have nothing to offer, that is when hopelessness, loneliness, and despair set in. As a follower of Christ I should not come up empty handed when I ask myself this question. I have Him, therefore He is what I have to offer to the world. And that should be enough. That should be an honor. But I still find myself inadequate to even do that at times. I guess what makes me different from someone who does not have Christ in their lives is that I have hope; that someday soon I will know the feeling of contentment with who I am and the place in life I have been given by God. I know that He can change my heart. If I didn't have that hope, I am pretty sure I would want to end my time in this world. What would I have to live for? What would I have to offer? NOTHING. So once again He is my Savior; and I am reminded of my great need for one.

Breath in the moment

Have you ever been with your child; listening to them tell you a story, telling you about their day, seeing them succeed at something, cuddling with them, and just get an overwhelming feeling of joy, pride, and contentment come over you and the need to just take a deep breath in to savor that moment? I experience those moments every so often and I just had one tonight and had to put it in writing. Thank you God, for making me a mommy!

Cheap Date

Okay, so most of you know Justin is in the Mortgage industry and if you watch the news you know it's not the best job field to be in right now. We will make it through these times but we definitely need to change some of our habits with money in order to do that. One of those ways is dates and family activities. It is so hard to find something to do that doesn't cost at least a small amount of money, especially in the winter when it's cold outside, it is just expensive to live in this world. So I am trying to compile a list of free family activities and date ideas and I would love your help with that. I will list all the things I can think of but if you can come up with any thing else please leave a comment or make a list on your own blog and let me know!

Family Activities:

* Take a walk

* Go on a bug hunt or an animal hunt (squirrels or something of that sort)

* Go to a free local public park and play on the playground

* Ride bikes in your neighborhood

* Make a fort at home for the day and play in it with your kids

* Put on a movie you have, turn out most of the lights, pop some popcorn and have a movie time on the floor with blankets.

* Have the kids help you re arrange a room (I recently re arranged my living room and was shocked at how into it the girls were, they would have totally designed their own room if I let them!) You can always put it back different later.

* Go to Multnohma Falls (here in Portland) for a day of sight seeing. It is a great free place to go with kids who can walk. There are also many great hiking trails along the scenic highway that you can stop at, and Crown Point, and parks to have a picnic lunch in too.

* Take your kids to the local fish hatchery, free and very interesting. Cascade Locks has a great one!

* See if there are any working farms or ranches in your area and visit one to show your kids how a working ranch operates.

*In the summer time, if you have good self restraint, go to a local farmers market just to look at all the neat vendors, plants, and fresh foods (and other people there!).

* Go to a dog park, if you have a dog, or not, no one would probably notice if you didn't have a dog with you but if you have animal lovers it's a great way for them to get up close and personal, if you aren't afraid.

* Get out your old photo albums or albums from when your kids were little and go through the pictures and tell the stories behind the pictures, we do that with our storybooks. You can also watch old home movies.

* Do a craft - use supplies you already have so you don't have to spend money at the craft store, get creative!

* Have a cooking or baking day - I have all girls so maybe more likely for me.

* Go visit a family member or friend at their house.

* Go for a drive down a part of town you haven't ever been before - or out in the country.

* Sit down and write letters and draw pictures for out of state family members and friends (or those possibly imprisoned?) and send them the same day.

* Visit any historic buildings or landmarks in your home town or close to it.

* Turn on some music and dance, dance, dance!!

* And our personal favorite, pull out the Ultimate Fighter moves on daddy!

That's all I can think of for now. I guess some of those would work for dates with your spouse too but if you can think of any more please let me know!

Katrina turns 6!

Kat turned 6 on Sunday and here are some pictures of her party. She invited all girls, they decorated picture frames, had a tea party, opened presents, played dress up, danced ballet, and ate cake. A very girly night. Luckily Brian came to keep Justin company on the Wii and Chris showed up later for cake. It was fun and I know Katrina had a blast. Thanks to all her friends who came!

So you think you can dance?

The other Miller family favorite thing to do at home after dinner (besides ultimate fighting).

Snow pictures

Here are some more pictures from Christmas day and the day after. Awesome snow!

The Tornado from Justin's account

As you may have heard we had an actual tornado touch down here in Vancouver very close to home. It caused some very real damage to homes and property. Luckily so far no reports of injuries have been made. I happened to be shopping with all the kids at the time, safely in Target. Justin on the other hand, actually was very close and witnessed it. He was eating lunch with some friends right where all the action happened. He said that all the sudden they heard this loud crack hit the building, so loud it made you jump out of your seat. They all were looking out the windows wondering what was going on. Then the rain and hail came, then they saw debris flying in the air (shingles off homes) and shopping carts flying across parking lots. They lost power for a few minutes and I guess as quickly as it came it was gone again. The tornado touched down right in the Hazel Dell area. We live in the Walnut Grove area which is the next neighborhood SE from Hazel Dell. It is our stomping grounds and it's really just chance that I wasn't in that area shopping. I usually do my shopping over there but I had to come to Portland today so I went to the one closer to the freeway for me and thankfully missed all the action. I am sure the girls, and I for them, would have been very scared if we had been caught driving in it, which we probably would have been based on our travel times today. It has been all over the news today and tonight and you can look it up on the Internet if you want to read more about it. Pretty amazing really to have one here in the NW.

Tornado in Vancouver

Tornado touches down in Vancouver area
07:07 PM PST on Thursday, January 10, 2008

A tornado touched down in North Vancouver just after noon Thursday and then began moving to the northeast, ripping trees out of the ground, toppling power lines and tearing roofs off homes.
KGW viewer captures tornado on camera
No injuries were immediately reported but dozens of homes and businesses damaged. The boathosue at Vancouver Lake was completely demolished and many rowing shells badly damaged. A semi was also overturned several hundred trees toppled.
The tornado, classifed initially as an EF1 Tornado, hit at about 12:20 p.m. and was followed by several funnel clouds, which are twisters that remain above ground. An EF1 Tornado packs wind speeds between 86 and 100 mile per hour.
The tornado cut a path about a quarter-mile wide and touched down for at least two miles. Leah Edwards Clark County fire District said it appeared that the tornado first touched down in the Vancouver Lake area and then moved east down 78th Street, along Highway 99 and then onto Andresen Road. She said the damage covered an area stretching about four-miles in length.
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Viewers called KGW with reports of other extreme weather conditions including four-inch hail falling sideways, high winds and dark, luminous clouds. Funnel clouds flared up across the region, including in Gresham and Troutdale as late as 2:30 p.m. About the same time, the KGW phones lit up with calls, police scanner traffic swarmed with reports of damage including trees down on homes, car crashes and terrified residents just trying to figure out what to do.
Go to www.kgw.com to see more details.

Ski Day

We were able to take the girls skiing last week. My mom kept Addy all day while Justin and I and the girls, and one of our highschoolers, Whittannie, headed up to Mt. Hood for a day of skiing. None of us really knew what to expect with the kids. It was a new experience for all of us. We were happily surprised with how well the girls did though and it ended up being a really fun day for everyone. Not to say there weren't any moments of frustration and tears. We spent the first half of the day on the beginner chair (Yup, they had to ride a chair). Then took them on a long beginner run that was the longest run of my life! It was probably the hardest work I have ever done while skiing and I know Justin felt the same. Thank God he is such a patient and good teacher because if it weren't for him it would have been a disaster! I am a horrible teacher but once he got them started in the right direction I could handle them from there so we really did make a good team. Emma was ready to go home at the end but Katrina did not want to stop. Emma was really a natural at it and has the form and confidence for it. Katrina did well but was a little less grounded and controlled. I am sure they will some day both be better skiers than me!

Visit from Mark and Candace

..Justin, ready to punch Mark out for leaving Portland...

Cute couple!
The old married couples...

Candace really is addicted to reading!

The kids attempting to keep Mark from leaving..



Addison's reaction when they said they had to go back to Arizona :(

Meghan and Christiane happy that the kids didn't dog pile them...

We had the pleasure of spending time with our beloved old youth pastor Mark and his wife Candace and their adorable children Ivana and Zane. We had a good time hearing about their lives in their new home and their ministry there and watching the kids play. We miss them so it was a great time. Christiane and Meghan (Jon's sister and Jon's girlfriend) joined us which was great because it has been so long since we have seen both of them as well! I probably give Mark and Candace more of a hard time about leaving than I should but I hope they know it is all in fun and that we know God has them just where he wants them.

New Years Eve

Our New Years Eve this year was very quiet and relaxing. It was really nice for a change. We made no real plans. Our good friends and neighbors, Chris and Amber and their two little girls came over for pizza dinner and hung out until after the turn of the new year. It was a lot of fun playing games and just laughing together. The kids put on a little concert for us and then went to bed. We got some use out of our new Wii system and played the game apples to apples. I know it sounds boring but when you spend time with good friends just about anything you do can be fun!

Restaurant Review

So Justin and I are going on 10 years of marriage this year. It may sound weird but some of my favorite memories of our time together involve eating out at restaurants. Good food, good company, and good conversation. We had the opportunity the other night while the girls stayed with Nana and Papa to try a new restaurant here in Vancouver. While we were there enjoying our time together we were talking about how much we love trying new restaurants and having that time together. We decided we were going to try out at least one new restaurant every month and post our experiences here. This month we went to the Heathman Lodge's restaurant called Hudson's bar and grill. We had both been in the Heathman for different things and Justin has eaten lunch there but the dinner vibe and menu is very different. You walk into a huge log cabin with a big warm fire going, live piano music, and the feel of a mountain lodge. People are dressed casual to dressy and the crowd is very mixed, I saw a family with a young girl, maybe 11, and a couple at least in their 60's and everything in between. We were seated in a very large comfy corner booth looking right at the bar. Our waiter was great. Right on top of things, very knowledgeable, polite, and attentive. The food was spectacular. Maybe our opinions were a little skewed since we had been skiing with the kids all day and were pretty tired and hungry but I don't think so. We started out with an appetizer of a variety of mushrooms sauteed in a butter sauce and they were probably my favorite of the night. Mouth watering so I highly recommend them if you ever go there. Justin had a corn and chicken chowder while I tried the beet salad, which surprisingly was really good. Our entrees were also delicious. I had lobster ravioli and Justin had a peppered NY steak. Everything had something just a little special about it and it was all cooked perfectly. It is definitely top on my list of favorite restaurants in Vancouver now but only go there if you are prepared to spend a lot because they are pricey. Look forward to seeing what we try next month! I hope it's as good, but cheaper than Hudson's!

SCARY DREAM

Last night as I was falling asleep I heard the shuffling of little feet on the carpet into my bedroom, I opened one eye to see who was coming to my side of the bed. It was Katrina.
She said, "mommy, I had a dream I didn't like".
I felt bad for her as usual when she has a scary dream, but unlike most times I actually asked her what it was about. This was what she told me.
"We were skiing and I had an ice cream and it started to melt and (either me or Emma, I couldn't tell) ____ took a really big bite and it crumbled all over and there was only a little tiny piece left".
I said after a second of thought and wonder. "so you are upset that someone ate all your ice cream in your dream."
"Yeah."
I let her cuddle with me for about 5 minutes so she could feel better after having such a horrific dream!

Ultimate Fighting in the Miller household

Okay, I'm not sure Justin would want me posting this but I can't help it. I also wish I had a picture of this to share but unfortunately there were no cameras handy.
Almost at least once or twice a week after dinner time the girls seem to get really wound up and want to wrestle with daddy. Most of the time he welcomes the attacks with a good sense of humor and the 'crying' chair close by. They know if they want to wrestle with daddy he is gonna be rough and if they want to cry that is okay, but they have to go to the crying chair until they are ready to pummel him again. It is a lot of fun for all involved and spectators too (usually me and Addy). I really am shocked at how mean and rough the girls can get, they run and jump on him anywhere they can land, pinch, hit, punch, gouge, scratch, pull hair (and if you know Justin it isn't on the head). Almost anything but biting goes when it's wrestle time. Usually daddy comes out on top and everyone walks away pretty much unhurt and happy. The other night the tables were turned on daddy though. The girls were doing their usual and daddy was getting pretty rough, I felt I needed to jump in and defend my cubs. Not long after jumping in did Justin have me pinned behind him while still fighting of the kids. Somehow during this time though, I managed to get my leg up over his head, grab his arm between my legs and twist it and put him into an arm bar, while I yelled 'ARM BAR!' (I was in auto defense I guess). I had him good too, he just started laughing like I have never heard him laugh before. I couldn't tell if he was hurt or just laughing. With the girls cheering me on and them basically getting in freebies, I held him there until I knew he wasn't going to hurt me. I wish I had that on video! It was so funny. Little did my husband know that by watching Ultimate Fighter, and unconsciously subjecting me to it, I would subconsciously pick up some of their moves! I must say, it was a pretty proud moment for me and I think I will hold that over his head for a long, long time. And I will add that the poor guy is going to be in a LOT of trouble when he has three strong teenage girls wanting to wrestle with him! I can't wait!

Kiss and tell

A few weeks ago I put a post out about how Emma thought a boy in her class was cute and how dad was not so impressed with that. Well, the story gets even "better"! Apparently, Emma has 'traded up' (her teachers words). Now Emma's 'best friend' in school is a little boy named Braden. One day after school Emma was talking about Braden and how he kissed her... on the lips! After talking to her teachers it is quite possible that Emma was the kisser and Braden was the kissee. No surprise there I guess. And according to Emma her and Braden are going to get married. This kissing issue has been on going, and Dad has had a few heart to hearts with Emma about how those are his kisses and not to be giving them away and to tell those boys not to kiss her. I think the issue has been resolved for now but I see Justin cringe every time the subject comes up. Poor guy - 3 girls...

Our Christmas

Our first night

stockings before Santa came

(first dusting of snow-I will post the good pics when I get them)

We had a new experience for Christmas this year. My mom and dad own a little property with a trailer in this place up at a lake in Washington. They just remodeled it this year by adding a huge covered deck, new living room area, and loft, it is so nice and cozy now so we decided it would be so much fun to spend Christmas up there this year. It started with me, my mom, and the girls leaving around 2pm on Friday with a truck full and a van full of stuff (you would have thought we were gonna be there for a month!). We stopped on the way up there to pick up our Christmas tree from this little private nursery that served us warm apple cider and let us pick our tree, dug it up for us, potted it, and loaded it in my moms truck so we could continue our short trip up to the lake. We picked a very cute Colorado blue spruce that my parents can plant on their property in the spring. We finally got there after dark and got what we needed for that night unloaded from the vehicles and left the rest for the next day. We got our fire started right away, ate some pizza for dinner, and went to bed. That night was sooo hot! My mom had that fire roaring all night long and we were sleeping on the hid-a-bed right next to it. The girls were sleeping up in the loft and must have woke up 3 or 4 times that night to come down and go potty, which meant one of us had to get up and help them down the ladder. Then Addy had a very restless night too, she woke up several times and spent about an hour rolling around in the bed with us. Needless to say it was not the best nights sleep I've ever had. The rest of our nights was much better, we got the fire figured out so it wasn't dreadfully hot and the kids seemed to do better sleeping the more comfortable they got. We spent one day cleaning up the place from being worked on and one day decorating the place and the tree for Christmas before Justin and my dad got there on Sunday. We had a lot of fun just us girls hangin out! We spent a lot of time playing games like Yahtzee, eating, talking, playing with the kids, and just enjoying the peacefulness of the woods. It was very relaxing and restful. Christmas morning the girls woke up to a humongous pile of gifts and full stockings. Justin's mom and dad came up and my little brother had stayed the night before. We all had breakfast together, Papa Steve read The Christmas Story (the real one), and then we opened gifts. It seemed like right after we were done opening our gifts God gave us a little gift of his own, SNOW! It started snowing pretty light at first but then just kept getting heavier and heavier. It was so neat, I don't remember a Christmas in Portland or Washington that it has snowed. The girls were so excited, they had been hoping for snow on Christmas day! As the snow kept coming down though my brother decided he had better leave before he got snowed in (My dad had just told us a story about the previous owner of their trailer getting snowed in for two weeks after coming up just to check on something!) So he packed up and got in his little Mazda and headed out with my dad and husband following him to make sure he got out okay. It is a lot of steep uphill switch backs to get to the top of the hill to get out of the property. Well he got up about 3 hills when he couldn't go any further, had to leave his car on the road, come back and take my moms Toyota Rav4 out so he could get to work the next day. This made Justin's parents decide they had better get going too because there was no indication the conditions were going to get any better. They chained up and made it out okay. We ended up having our ham dinner together and then going up a little higher and building a really big snowman in the foot of snow that had accumulated already! It was so beautiful and fun and the kids had such a great time! We stayed one more night and packed up, cleaned up, and headed out the next afternoon. The snow was still there and it was a very surrealistic drive home (until we hit amboy and all the snow was melting). We had a great Christmas enjoying family and time away from the city and work and the things that keep us so 'busy' most of the time. It was very refreshing and I was wishing we could stay longer! The kids go back to school next week so we will all be back to routine very soon. It's been a nice vacation but I think it will also be good to get back to routine. We are hoping to get a day of skiing in tomorrow and take Katrina with us to get her started! I'm keeping my fingers crossed, I'll post it on the blog if we do! Merry Christmas to anyone we didn't get to see or talk to, we love you and cherish you!