I'm dreaming of a white Christmas . . .

Luke's parents accompanied us to Idaho for a cold, white, wonderful, noisy Christmas . . .

I'm not posting the pictures of Miles crying while on Santa's (my brother Richard's) lap because they are too sad :( He was so scared that this is the closest we could get him so he wouldn't cry. Ho, ho, ho!

I let my 10 year old twin brothers Hansan and Dallan have some fun taking pictures :) The top picture is me with my niece Noel on my lap and Dallan giving me bunny ears.

Miles loved getting into my mom's very large pantry and closing the door behind him. We'd find him in there stacking cans or banging pots and pans. One night I went in the pantry after Miles had gone to bed and found this . . .

If you can't tell, it's a half empty bottle of cream soda with dog food floating on top! The lid had even been screwed back on nice and tight! What a sneaky little boy :)

Miles asleep next to his Nana (Luke's mom). Gorgeous - the both of them!

This is Christmas morning as we're waiting for everyone to wake up so we can open gifts. Love the striped pjs! (Notice the snow out the window!?!)
I was so mad at myself b/c I forgot to bring our stockings, so Miles had to make do with the Santa bag. Of course he didn't care.

This is my brother Tommy and his little boy Brickman. Miles and Brickman get along great. They take turns giving each other all the cars and balls they can find.

These are my brothers Richard and Timothy - so excited to be up early on Christmas morning! :) Richard is engaged to be married the 2nd week in January, so we'll get to see the snow again soon.


Miles really bonded with his cousins Noel and Brickman. They were all smiles on the sled until it started moving :) Noel loved it but the boys wanted off. As soon as Brickman was off he went running straight for the car.



Miles didn't quite know what to do with the snow. He cried and cried when I went to put his gloves on. So I let him go outside without them. Of course the first step he took he fell in the snow . . . I didn't have any problems getting him to wear the gloves after that.
I thought I'd be brave and take a ride down the steep hill with Miles . . . We went flying thru the air at the bottom and I held tight to him. He had the cushy landing of my stomach while I landed on the pavement. It was great fun though I'm still bruised.





Miles and Noel enjoyed buckling themselves in and out of the carseats. Very cute!

My mom decided to hide the singing Santa because Miles was driving everyone in the house crazy as he continued to play it over, and over, and over. Luke and I loved the show he put on! Miles still goes around the house humming this tune :) Love it!

NEIGH!

I've titled this "neigh" because Miles "neighed" at every animal he saw at the zoo. He'd see an elephant and "neigh" or a monkey and "neigh" or a flamingo and "neigh." He knows all the real animal sounds, but I guess he just really was hoping to see a horse - it was very cute :) My friend Tammy and her son Caleb spent the morning with us at the zoo. Caleb enjoyed climbing the fences while Miles was content to chase birds and pretend to drive the tractor - vroom! He was also very excited just to have the freedom to run up the trails without me pestering him to stay nearby. He was so quick he climbed into the drivers seat of one of the trains and I just barely reached him in time to pull him away from the puttons and pedals!

Here's a story

So, I thought I should mention why I was without a vehicle last week . . . The night that Luke had his jaw surgery, yes, way back the end of October, my car was in an accident - whah! My mom was watching Miles - bless her - while I was at the waiting room in the surgical center. Well, Mom used my car to run some errands and some creep backed into my car and then took off. I know! It makes me so mad that people can be so dishonest. I am so glad that neither Miles or Mom were hurt, but you can see he did some damage. I needed a new hood, grill, and even the bumper had to be replaced. I finally got around to taking the car into the shop last week. It was rough to be without a car for 4 days, but somehow Miles and I managed thanks to some friends that let us hitch a ride :) I am very happy to have my wheels back and the car looking great again.

Sunday Sunday

Miles in his Sunday best.

I've been called to be a Sunbeam teacher, so I've got to be in Primary and class. Well, Miles has been having a rough time adjusting to nursery which means Luke has to take over helping him for those 2 hours. I don't think Luke minds though because it gets him out of Priesthood :) The last two weeks Luke has needed to stay in nursery the whole time. The ladies in the class are always happy to have another helping hand. We need to work on getting this boy a little more independent though. . .

Jackets On!

I was really upset with myself on Saturday morning when we went to run errands, and I was wearing a short sleeve blouse. It was chilly out, and I missed one additional day that I should have been wearing a cute sweater . . . I’m not complaining because I was cold, but because I hardly get to wear my warm clothes outfits:) So, when we got home, we grabbed our jackets for our nightly walk to get the mail. Of course the occasion had to be documented! We love this cool weather! I can’t wait to head to Idaho for Christmas and play in the snow – for a few days anyway ;) We also had more rain, so Miles got a kick out of throwing rocks into the river of water that filled the greenbelts around our neighborhood. That also meant that he was freezing cold and wet by the time we got him home. He could not have been happier!

I've finally captured on video Miles running - Grandma calls him little twinkle toes. From the beginning he's always walked on his toes, but he's more flat footed now until he takes off running :)

DING DONG!

Miles loves helping me around the house. After about 10 attempts, he was able to hold on to all 3 bells and bring them to me. He is especially helpful when I bring out the mop or the glass cleaner. He must have his own broom to push beside me or his own rag to help swipe. He'll ask for "more, more" glass cleaner as soon as he's swiped off what I spray. I love this age!

Do you his need for cleanliness will last?

Conversation with Miles

Miles has been talking and talking away the past couple of weeks. He's figured out his tongue helps him make even more crazy sounds. OH, to know what he's really saying! I thought I'd try to catch it on video, but he gets a little quiet :)

(I realized after this was posted, that there isn't ANY sound on the clip! I'm so upset! Sorry everyone . . . I'll figure it out for next time.)

Thanksgiving!

Ok, so I'm a little slow posting about Thanksgiving, but it's been a crazy week.
We spent the day at my brother Nathan's house, and his wife Cindy prepared most of the dishes. Luke still can't chew anything and Miles wasn't feeling well, so I had to eat enough for the 3 of us :) Thanks Cindy - it was beautiful!
I have to make note on how Miles interacted with his newborn cousin, Jillian - it was the cutest thing! Usually he doesn't show much interest in the wiggly bundle, but this day, while he's sick, I could not hold him back! He wanted to love on her, and kiss her, and hug her, and nearly suck her cheek off :) If only I wasn't afraid he would contaminate her. He gets so cuddly when he's sick if only he'd let me love on him when he's feeling well :)
The other pictures were taken in Nathan's backyard with Ashlynn and Ellyce. No, I don't ever roll Miles's pant legs up like that, but it was really wet back there and I didn't want him tracking it all back inside. Please forgive the fashion no-no.

Parade

Miles and I watching the parade go by. The festivities had everything he could want: horses, marching bands, fire trucks, army trucks, Ford trucks . . .

Miles likes the view from the safety of Dad's legs.

Luke is still a little swollen and his jaw is still wired shut from his surgery

. . . only one more week though - yeah!

Ok, this isn't the parade, but I wanted to show off our GREEN grass.

Way to go Luke! It took a lot of work, but now it looks fantastic.

Honk, honk

Miles checking out his new car. He's crazy about trying to move the thing while watching the wheels roll. He hasn't quite gotten the knack for it b/c he'll hop on and off trying to get it to keep moving.

Happy Halloween

Yes, that's Miles underneath the kangaroo. Whenever he saw that costume in his closet he'd start hopping - but, of course on the big day, he got shy and wouldn't hop for us. It's ok - I didn't even think he'd wear the thing!








The cuddly koala is Miles' friend Lillian. They make a great match :)







Luke had jaw surgery on the 30th so he didn't get to participate in our festivities. I'm not posting a picture of him b/c he's asked me not to, but our neighbors were sure he was in costume with all the bandages around his head - poor guy. He's got his jaw wired shut for the next 4-6 weeks! It will all be worth it!

Every little boy has to have his own stash of teeth rotting treats. Miles didn't have to carry around a bag to fill b/c it all fit in his pouch :)

Baby Jillian

Miles persuaded his cousin Ellyce to do the boy thing for a day and join him in playing with trucks and dirt. She is 6 weeks older than him.

Me with my new little niece, Jillian. Jillian was born on October 13th - one day before my birthday and on the anniversary of my father's death. It's almost like she just left her granddad's side to give us something to celebrate on that day. She's gorgeous! Way to go Nathan and Cindy on your 3rd girl :)

Luke and Miles having a good look at his new little cousin.

Jillian snoozing on the couch.

Peak A Boo

Miles discovered a great hiding place in the guest bedroom. I guess I should mention that the reason for him not wearing any shorts in a lot of his photos is because he's potty training. It's much quicker to get to the potty if you have less clothes on. So we've let him run around in his underwear for the last couple of weeks :)

Play Date

Miles and is buddy Caleb doing their boy thing.