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.

Batteries, People! Remember The Batteries!

Edward Herrmann

Today I attended the Utah Film Commission Luncheon. It's an annual luncheon by invitation only where members are treated to a nice lunch and annual updates on the film industry in Utah for the coming year. This year it was held at the Little America ballroom. I brought my sister Erin along for the fun.

Edward Herrmann was the guest speaker and he was awesome. In case you can't quite figure out where you've seen him, he was Grant Staton III in Overboard (Goldie Hawn's snobby husband). I loved the speech he gave and he was very gracious and quite a gentleman. Needless to say, I was impressed.

After the luncheon was over, I was able to meet him and talk with him for a few minutes. What a warm and kind man, he even took the time to call me by name and ask me about myself.

Now for craptastic part: I had my camera in my purse and he agreed to pose for a photo with me. Sadly, the batteries were dead and the person taking the picture couldn't get it to work. Guess who took the picture? None other than "Don" from Napoleon Dynamite ("Summer's" boyfriend in the flick). His real name is Trevor Snarr and he's quite the nice guy himself. So, here I was standing with a screen and theater legend and well, "Don" and I don't have anything to show for myself. Oh for the love of all that is holy! I was so ticked. Opportunity missed.

As soon as I got home, I marched straight to the freezer and pulled out two new batteries for my stupid camera. I've learned my lesson: Batteries-don't leave home with 'em.

A Fun Old Fashioned Family Christmas!

Mikaela and Santa. I'm not sure what she's pointing at.

Haylie is all smiles on Santa's lap.

Saturday was the annual Cowles Family Christmas party. It starts at the bowling alley (Eric and I opted to play pool with my mom and dad this year and let the aunts do the bowling with the girls) and ends at the church gymnasium for food, family, singing (it's not pretty) and Santa. The girls love Santa and so they were more than excited to sit on his lap and receive a small present-and hopefully a reminder to be good-from the jolly old elf.

Mikaela was so busy trying to tease her Grandpa Jim into chasing her around the gym that she almost missed it when Santa called her name. But, in true Mikaela form, as soon as she did hear him, she about knocked him over from running to him so fast.

Haylie must be feeling the crunch on the economy this year because her only wish was for Mariposa Barbie. She has since asked me to tell Santa she also wants the Mariposa movie, the Diamond Barbie, the Diamond Barbie movie, and all three High School Musical movies. I guess she got over small little wish list. Dang it.

The girls with their cute Great-grandma Grace

Eric and Erin clowning around

My cute Papa Jim

My family-the girls were too busy with their presents to pose for a photo

Baby Bratz

This is my darling toddler, Mikaela. Isn't she cute? This is how she decided to greet me when I picked her up from daycare at "Teesa's house" as Mikaela likes to say it (her daycare provider's actual name is Teresa). Apparently, my little two-year-old has latched on to a show called "Baby Bratz". Now, I'll be the first one to admit that I really don't know much about the Bratz dolls. Haylie has asked me to buy her one on almost every trip to "Little Tijuana" (most of you know it as Walmart) to which my response is always the same, "I'm not buying you a hooker cleverly disguised as a doll." She gives me the standard evil puke eye for several seconds and then quickly recovers so that she can beg for the next item wrapped in pink packaging.
Anyway, when I picked them up tonight, Mikaela refused to budge from the sofa, completely entranced by the Baby Bratz movie. When I told her to get a move on and physically removed her from said sofa she threw the big one. It was ugly, people. There was wailing and gnashing of teeth and death threats; don't even get me started on Mikaela. The fun continued as soon as we got home. When she wouldn't calm down, I told her to go to her room. Between broken sobs and pounding her feet on the floor all I could hear was "I want Baby Bratz" over and over. I finally went in and tried to calmly explain to my pint-sized nemesis that she didn't need to watch the movie when she was acting just like a "baby bratz" herself. Probably not the wisest move in my parenting career so far, but...whatcha gonna do?

To make matters worse, Special has lost every last binky she owned. While I don't necessarily see this as a bad thing, I do have a few reservations about the timing. Any other night I would've welcomed the challenge, but seeing as how the night wasn't exactly off to a great start and considering how upset she is with me, I'm almost afraid she might go all Lizzie Borden on me and Eric. To say that Mikaela has a wee bit of a temper is like saying that elephants run a wee bit on the large size. Both gross understatements.
I think it's going to be a long night.

Thirteen Years Today!

Who would've thought that a chance meeting on a blind date (not with each other, keep in mind) would lead us here? It's been thirteen years, tons of dead ducks (among other animals) three homes, three dogs, two amazing little girls, too many cars to keep track of anymore and one fantastic life. There has been lots of laughter, lots of tears, lots of great memories, and lots of wonderful friends along the way.
It hasn't always been the smoothest ride, but it's sure been worth all the bumps.

Happy Birthday, Dad M.!

Okay, so most of you know that December is crazy busy for us, but for those of you new to my blog let me give ya'll a quick recap of why December is nuts:
2nd-my Papa Jim's b-day
3rd-Eric's sister Jodi's b-day
4th-Eric's Papa Ernie's b-day
8th-mine and Eric's wedding anniversary (13, if you're counting. And can I just say, "Holy crow how did that happen?)
Moving on...
12th-Nephew Carter's b-day
16th-Niece Maddie's b-day
AAAAUUUUUGGGHHHH! Serenity now!
Although it's total chaos, it's also a good way to end the year! And in honor of my wonderful, super funny father-in-law, I would just like to say that as far as fathers-in-law go I think I won the jackpot. Before I was married I was under the general assumption that in-laws were to be endured not endearing. Luckily, I have the two most loving, supportive, fantastic in-laws a girl could ask for. Dad welcomed me into the family with open arms and a great sense of humor. Like my own father, he knew that-for me-laughter is definitely the best medicine. It's because of this that I think we get along so well.

So Dad, thanks for being my father-in-law and for being such a good example to Eric. You're a terrific father and grandpa. We hope you have a very happy birthday! We love you!