Happy 5th Birthday, Haylie!

I'm not sure who was more excited about the birthday cake, Haylie or Mikaela. I hadn't had the cake box open for one minute before Mikaela was swiping at the frosting! Silly kids. Haylie was pretty pleased with it herself.

Haylie goofing off!
I cannot believe I have a five-year-old! I honestly don't know where the time has gone. Eric and I are so thankful for this little girl. We have been extremely blessed with our children and Haylie is a constant reminder of that blessing. She is so smart and quick-witted. We are always amazed at how much she knows and how quickly she learns. She is a spirited, beautiful little girl with a head-strong attitude that Eric and I hope will serve her well when hardships come her way. She has lots of sunshine in her little soul and she makes our lives brighter because of it. The past five years have been the happiest of our lives and there is not a day that goes by when we haven't been grateful for our little Haylie. Happy Birthday, Sweet Pea! We love you to the moon and back and beyond!

Ding, Dong the Ducks are GONE!

January means the end of duck hunting for yet another season. I, for one, am extremely glad. While I know my hubby enjoys it-to the extreme sometimes-it's nice to see him on a Saturday once in a while before the sprinkler season starts up. He does seem to get his fair share of ducks and geese though. I hope he doesn't plan on me fixing them for dinner any time soon. I do my hunting in the grocery store!

Sleddin' With The Girls

Dallin gives a "thumbs up" for the sledding!

Darby and Mikaela get ready to "rip it".

Mikaela loves sledding!

Darby, Dallin, Erin, Haylie, Mikaela and I all took to the park up by my parent's house for an afternoon of sledding during the Christmas weekend. It was cold, but there was plenty of snow and perfect hills for the girls first time. They weren't exactly into it at first, especially considering the fact that mine and Haylie's first run down the hill ended up with us wiping out and me rolling on top of her, thus resulting in a snowy face plant. Poor kid! She wasn't exactly jumping up and down to try it again after that. Erin and the twins convinced her to go again with them and the results were much better after that. Mikaela absolutely loved it! She got to sled down the hill and then get pulled up again since it was easier than carrying her up the hill. Thanks, sisters! As always, it was good times!

Haylie making a snow angel

Darby and Haylie playing in the snow

Winter Wonderland

Our version of "Randy" and "Ralphie"


No winter is complete without the annual "sleigh" ride in the sled attached to the back of Daddy's fourwheeler. The girls love it when it snows enough to pack the roads so Dad can pull them up and down the street. All I can hear from the house is their little laughs and Mikaela's constant "Hi, Mom!" every time she passes by. They're so freakin' cute!

Fat Cats Fun!

The day after Christmas Eric and I loaded up the girls and decided to explore downtown Ogden. We ended up at Fat Cats for an afternoon of bowling, arcades and pizza. It's actually a pretty fun place and keep the kids entertained. The pizza was good too. We got to watch some people try out the i-Fly wind tunnel and then headed downstairs to the FloRider. I think Eric and I will definitely have to try that sometime-that looked awesome!

Once There Was A Snowman...

I haven't posted for a little while and from the looks of my photos I've got a lot of catching up to do. Haylie, Mikaela and Eric decided to do family of snow people while I was at work. This is their masterpiece. Haylie had to explain to me that one was "Dad", one was "Mom", one was "Big Sister" and one was "Little Sister". I thought they did an excellent job. As an afterthought, I asked Eric what they used for the eyes and mouths, he told me they couldn't find any rocks so they used Oreo cookies. Pretty yummy snowmen!

Sleepin' In The Living Room!

The girls got princess sleeping bags from Nana Ginger for Christmas. On Christmas night, this is what I found out in the living room after I finished putting things away. They slept in the living room all weekend long. I guess the sleeping bags were a hit!

Reindeer Games

Eric and Mikaela watching Haylie sing.

The week before Christmas Haylie and her preschool classmates got the opportunity to perform some Christmas songs for a small group of elderly people at an assisted living home in Roy. They did such a great job and Haylie was loving every minute of it. She's a born performer. She loves to sing so she was totally in her element. We had a great time watching her and she knew all the songs. Yay for Haylie!

Christmas 2008! Great, Great, Great!

Haylie concluded that our tree was a "girl" because it was covered in pinks and purples. I just went along with it.

Mikaela's baby changing station-that thing weighs at least 50 pounds! Ugh!

The rest of Mikaela's haul from Santa Claus.

Haylie's new vanity!

Haylie's haul. If you look close you'll see a Red Ryder BB gun in the bottom of the picture. Bet you can't guess who wanted to get her that. Actually, my husband, er uh Santa, wanted to get her a .22 just because Haylie saw it at Sportsman's Warehouse one day and thought it was cute because it was pink. My husband was seriously going to buy it for her. Someone has to be the voice of reason in this family, so I calmly convinced him that arming a 5-year-old with live ammunition is probably not the best idea. He settled for the BB gun. Gee, I feel so much better. Haylie seems to like it though and Eric covered it in flower stickers so it looks a little more "girlie". Oy!

It was a good Christmas and we were all more than a little spoiled. We were able to keep breakfast from burning this year so that meant no "Cajun Christmas". Woo hoo. To me, that's the best part of whole day and worth waiting for all year. It was good to have Dallin back this year too-we missed her while she was serving her mission and last year just wasn't the same without her.

We hope everyone had a happy holiday season. Merry Christmas!

Miller Family Christmas Party

Eric's parents had their annual Christmas Eve party at their house again this year. It was lots of fun. We're growing in numbers so it's a good thing they have a large house to accomodate all of us. We enjoy spending Christmas Eve with his family eating, playing games, eating, opening gifts, eating, singing songs, listening to the kids screech and play and...did I mention eating? Momma Miller always puts together a great dinner and lots of it.

Mikaela showing off her new "princess shoes". Sheesh, she looks drugged!

Haylie and Cousin Madison showing off their "princess shoes".

Nana Ginger's second attempt to read the story of the Savior's birth. It went relatively better this year-she actually got through the whole book. Not an easy task with this crew, especially my little midgets. Go Nana!

Papa Ernie observing the chaos of Christmas.