The Miller Family

Michelle's Baby Shower and More!

2012-01-24T13:50:00.000-08:00

A couple weekends ago was Jason's sister Michelle's baby shower. She flew down from Seattle to be there. It was a fun and delicious brunch. She got so many cute things for baby girl. I can't wait for her to get here.

Everyone getting ready for her to open presents.

The guest of honor. She is so cute pregnant.

Michelle and Jan

The Miller girls

The Miller girls, plus me.

Me with my mom and sister.

We were wanting to try some of the clothes on a baby and Max was the closest thing we could find. I admit it was a little mean, but I just thought he looked so cute! He was NOT happy.

Chrissy and her kids spend the night fairly often and when we went to check on them before we went to bed we found this. I thought it was sweet. Ollie is going to miss his cousins when they move back to NC.

Last week at preschool they had someone come and bring all kinds of different animals/reptiles. Ollie thought it was pretty cool.

He got to pet a frog.

Max and I were allowed to come too!

Petting this crazy lizard/iguana.

Petting a snake.

Friday night Jason and I were able to have a little date night. We met our friends Stacie and Drew, and my parents at the temple that evening. Afterwards, the four of us went to dinner at this delicious Thai place. Since BJ's was in the same shopping center we headed over there after dinner for pizookies. It was Jason's first and I think he is sold. It was such a fun night.

Sunday Jason and I spoke in church, so I tried to make my life easier by setting the boys clothes out early. We even had enough time for some pictures. My mom use to match my sister and I all the time and now I see the appeal. I love putting my boys in matching clothes.

Ollie was in a great mood, Max, not so much.

All my boys. What a lucky girl I am.

Our Weekend

2012-01-11T11:52:00.000-08:00

Friday night Chrissy, Jason and I headed to the Ace of Spades in downtown Sacramento to see our friend Gina's band play. When we first got there we could hear music from outside and it was, let say, very hard rock. I don't know exactly what the kind of music is called but it was LOUD and there was a lot of head banging. It was actually kind of fun to watch. The next band was a little more mellow (but not much). Gina's band, Some Fear None, was by far the best. Their lead singer sounds a lot like Eddie Vedder (from Pearl Jam). We had such a fun time. I'm so glad we went.

Me and Jason waiting for the next band.

Gina rocking out. She was the only girl in any of the bands.

Me and Chrissy, I don't know why I wasn't looking at the camera. We also ran into a couple we know, the Narkers, while there. They were there to see Gina too. It was fun to catch up with them.

Saturday morning Janet, a hygienist I worked with in Los Gatos, came by for a visit. She was in Auburn visiting a cousin. I am so glad she made some time to come see me. I miss everyone from work and it was great to catch up.

Janet and me.

Saturday afternoon we headed to Rocklin bowl for my cousins daughters birthday party. It was Ollie's first time bowling. He bowled one frame and was done. I think we will have to go as a family when there aren't so many people.

Getting ready.

Watching his ball. I'm pretty sure he got a strike :)

Chrissy is turning into Letty, always wanting a pic of herself. I can't blame her she is quite a beauty.

Ashley, Jack and Owen.

McIntosh ladies.

I loved having Jason home for 3 weeks. It was sad to see him leave this week.

Ollie was trying to hide from me.

Ollie has been pretty sick lately. On Friday he threw up (in the TJ Maxx parking lot) and was really out of it the rest of the day. He just laid on the couch and watched movies. I hate seeing him like that. Saturday he seemed better for most of the day but by that evening he was pretty lethargic again. Sunday brought another day of laying around and finally Monday he was mostly better. He keeps having some digestive issues (I'll let you figure out what I'm talking about), but overall seems much better.

Sunday Papa came over and hung out with the poor sick kid. You know Ollie is sick when he willingly takes a nap.

On Monday night our friend Chelsea had a Bachelor watching party. I took my kids to my parents and they watched them while Chrissy, Ashley and I went over. It was so fun to watch my guilty pleasure with such fun girls.

On our way over.

All the ladies. I know Chelsea's husband Matt really wanted to come out and watch with us (I'm not kidding), but he refrained. We all wrote down who we think will be the final 3. I can't wait to see who wins!

Our Sweet Little Oliver

2012-01-05T21:18:00.000-08:00

Today was Ollie's first day of pre-school. It has been a highly anticipated (mostly by me) for months now. I wanted to start him in Sept but knew we would be moving so I decided to wait until we were settled in Auburn. I just can't believe how grown up he is looking more and more each day. He says the cutest things and has the cutest expressions. My sister took a bunch of pictures of him the other day and I think they show off his goofy personality perfectly.

Ollie is in afternoon preschool so we pack a lunch for him. He was pretty excited about his lunch. He wanted his picture taken with it.

The free printable I found calls pre-school nursery school, so we will go with that.

I had to let him do a silly pic before he would do a smiling pic.

We got it.

Proud parents. This is how Jason dresses when he is working from home :)

When I picked Ollie up today and asked him how it went he said it was really fun. He said his teacher is "really, really nice". His teacher told me that he was really good and just went with the flow (most of the kids have been going since Sept). I guess he really latched on to a little girl and was holding her hand and helping her with everything. His teacher said he was quite the gentleman. We love our Ollie so, so much. He brings so much joy into our lives every single day.

Christmas in Idaho

2012-01-05T09:52:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned before, we headed to Idaho early, early Monday morning. The drive went much smoother than we expected. Jason and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to Steve Jobs biography, it made the drive so much more bearable. We got into Idaho around 4pm Monday. Most of the family was already in Island Park, but we decided to spend the night in Blackfoot and head up the next day. Jason had a Miller Honey meeting and so I drove the boys up Tuesday morning and Jason, his dad and grandparents headed up a few hours later. Jen rented an awesome cabin with lots of room for us all to spread out.

Max, Ollie, Grandma and Ez having a snack.

Wednesday Ollie and I headed to West Yellowstone with Jason's aunt and cousins. We watched a cool IMAX movie about caves. Ollie really liked it, especially the popcorn we got.

Heading home after the movie. It was snowing pretty good, and I was really glad Michelle was driving, not me. I hate driving in the snow.

There was a pool table downstairs. Jason and I played one game that we never even finished because it was taking us so long...haha, we are really good.

Sweet little Ezra.

The reason we all got together was to celebrate Jason's grandpas birthday. Wednesday night we all got together for dinner and dessert. It was great for us because we got to see almost everyone on that side of the family. There were a lot of people and kids and they were all there because of these two. It was a lot of fun.

Jen is seriously awesome. She rented the cabin, planned Grandpas birthday bash and made a delicious tri tip dinner and dessert for the whole family. Good job Jen!

We also had who-can-eat-a-pudding-the-fastest contest. Jeff has some serious skill. It was pretty hilarious. I took video, I should put it on youtube :)

Ollie didn't participate, but he did enjoy a pudding.

Grandma, Grandpa and Gracie

Mike is seriously going to be the best dad. He is getting so much practice with his nephews (and soon his niece).

I think this picture is so sweet. Ezra and his great-grandpa.

Mike (my arch nemesis) giving me the stink eye while we play games. Mike beats me 90% of the time, but I still like playing games with him.

Playing games. Racehorse rummy is the family favorite right now.

Wednesday night it snowed and then Thursday morning was SO windy. Our poor Flex is not use to snow. He got stuck :(

Family picture before leaving the cabin.

On our way back to Blackfoot we stopped in Rexburg and ate lunch. That place has changed so much in the 10 years since I graduated. I wish I could have gone up when Letty was still there. We also stopped in Rigby to see one of my very favorite roommates, Min, and her family.

This picture didn't turn out too well. Mins daughter Kaylee is just a few months older than Ollie and Camden is a few months younger than Max. Our boys took no time getting comfortable and playing with every toys they own. It was so fun to catch up with Min and Justin. Min is in the process of getting her book out to many interested agents. I'm really excited for her, she seems so happy, and really good at what she is doing. She is going to be famous someday!!

The rest of the pictures are from the rest of our week in Blackfoot. Ollie got a much needed haircut. He is so good (and serious) while getting his haircut.

My little flower.

My boys were particularly active while we visited Jason's grammy and grandaddy. Ollie demonstrated his somersaulting abilities.

These two were too cute together. Max would put what he didn't want to eat on Ezra's tray and Ez would do the same to Max. It was pretty cute.

Isn't Michelle darling? She is bringing the first girl into the family in April and we are all SO excited.

Jen, Jan and Grandma Dallas.

Remember how I mentioned that Max is a mooch? Ez was nice enough to share his sucker every time Max would come to him with his mouth wide open.

Almost every night we were in Blackfoot it was crazy windy. Friday night the wind was mixed with snow and it was really cool. This picture doesn't do it justice. The snow was completely horizontal and it looked like confetti. It was really cool.

We visited Jason's uncle Jay and aunt Jeanna. Jay has cows and Jason helped feed them. He is so tough and farmerish :)

This is how my boys looked most of the time. Ollie just LOVES to be a "superhero" and his enthusiasm spread to Max and Ez.

Linda and Demery joined us for New Years Eve. Demery is so cute and sang for us a few times that night.

One last picture with the grandparents on our way out of town on Sunday. We wish we could get up to Idaho to visit more often. We always have such a great time and everyone takes such good care of us. It was a great way to end our year.

Christmas Eve/Christmas

2012-01-04T21:06:00.000-08:00

After our Christmas Eve brunch we cleaned up and prepared for dinner at my parents house. Normally we are just in town visiting so we spend the night (along with all my siblings), but since we are in our own place now we just went over for dinner, the Christmas story, presents, and dessert. Dinner was delicious, prime rib, stuffed mushrooms, mashed potatoes, green beans, and rolls. I made a toffee cake for dessert that was pretty good. My niece read the Christmas story from the scriptures and we opened presents since we wouldn't be there on Christmas morning. It was a lovely evening. I love my family so so much and it was nice being ALL together.

We always have to take a big group pic before dinner.

The kid table.

Have I mentioned how much I love this baby?!

Ollie being silly in a bumbo.

Max is a bottomless pit, and a mooch. He loves to just wander around getting bites from everyone. I think he ate 80% of my grandpa's dessert.

Another group shot.

I love how into this my mom is, using her hands and everything.

My tough dad sporting his new sunglasses.

I was pretty excited to celebrate Christmas morning as a family in our new house. There are traditions I look forward to starting but our kids are still a little too young. We did get cookies out for Santa though and Ollie was happy to see that he ate most of them (Max cleaned up his crumbs Christmas morning). I am also feeling really strongly about not spoiling my kids and setting ridiculous expectations for Christmas. While they are young I want to stress that Christmas is about Christ's birth and not about tons of presents. I think we did pretty well. Ollie was excited about Christmas but it wasn't just for presents, it was for the whole experience and time with family. I know it will become more and more difficult as they get older, but I really don't want my kids to be part of the generation who expects everything and is not grateful. Does that make sense?

Ollie got this cool Hexbug thing from my parents. He is a big fan.

After Christmas morning we just hung out around the house, went to church and I prepared cheesy potatoes for our extended family get together that afternoon. We missed the Jansirkersorns, those lucky guys were in Hawaii for Christmas, but it was still lots of fun. We do a white elephant gift exchange that is always a hoot.

Ollie had a lot of fun running around.

Getting ready for the gift exchange.

More waiting.

Me anxiously awaiting my turn, Maggie striking a pose :)

Jason's whole family was in Idaho for Christmas so we didn't get to see them on the actual holiday, but after leaving my aunts house we came home and finished packing, went to bed about 10 and woke up at 3 to start the 11 hour drive to Idaho. More to come on that. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year!!

5th Annual Christmas Eve Brunch

2012-01-02T18:11:00.000-08:00

Before I get to the brunch, I have some catching up to do. A few weeks before Christmas my best friends and I got together for our Christmas calendar gift exchange. This year we made it a dinner and ugly Christmas sweater party. It was a lot of fun. I grew up with these ladies and love them SO much, they are the best. We missed our dear friend Megan who no longer lives in CA, but I know she was there in spirit :)

Brendi even made herself dangly bell earrings. She doesn't do anything half way.

One of our favorite families, the Evers, were in town for Christmas this year. They were nice enough to come visit us and see our new house. We took them for a walk around the neighborhood and that evening we left the kids and went to dinner. We seriously love the Evers and have so much fun together. We just have to convince them that this is where they need to end up!

On our walk.

Me and Kelly in front of our house, holding each others babies.

We tried an Italian restaurant in Roseville. It was about a 3 star experience ;)

Christmas eve morning we had our annual breakfast where we get together with friends who are in town for the holidays. Since we are in our own place now, we were able to host the brunch this year. Jason's mom usually does waffles, but she was out of town, so this year we had crêpes, an egg bake, muffins, orange juice, and apple cider. A lot of Jason's friend were on "off" years, but a lot of my friends were around. It is seriously so fun to catch up with everyone, I love it.

We are lucky enough to get to see the Hardmans every once in a while since they also live in Auburn.

Max and the newest little one, Scott.

Stacie and Drew.

My freaking adorable nephew Owen.

Crêpe maker extraordinaire.

Jill and Letty.

Katie, Kinlee and Brendi.

Max getting thrown around by uncle Jack.

I love those dimples.

Me, Stacie and Brendi.

My sister was finally reunited with her husband after not seeing each other for 7 months (he has been in Iraq). When they showed up we welcomed him with a round of applause. I was so happy for them, I thought I might cry.

The 2011 gang, more kids each year.

Provo friends. Spring, Kelly and me.

Dave and Nathan, so cute.

Brendi, Chrissy, and Me.

My goofy friends Spring and Kelly.

Thanks to everyone who came this year. We look forward to this every year. And for those who couldn't make it this year, we look forward to seeing you next year.

O Christmas Tree

2011-12-10T20:02:00.001-08:00

A couple weeks ago we headed out to get our Christmas tree. We saw signs for a tree farm close to our house and decided to check it out. When we first drove up the long driveway we thought we were in the wrong place since there were only a handful of trees in the field, but then we realized most of the trees were grown on the backside of the hill. We found a nice tall tree and the boys and I had fun watching Jason cut it down. This place really made the whole experience really fun. They had Christmas music blaring everywhere, hot apple cider, Christmas coloring books for the kids, and they even sent us home with a Christmas ornament. They also had a picture of Auburn from 2 years ago when it snowed (and actually stuck). I decided that while I am NOT a fan of living in the snow, a light dusting around Christmas time might be kind of fun, fingers crossed.

The lumberjack and his boys.

Action shot.

Luckily this place was only a few miles from our house, because I'm pretty sure this wasn't a DOT approved method of tree transport :)

We were so excited this weekend to have one of Jason's (ex) co-workers, Heidi and her husband Lance come visit us. Everyone says they will visit, and we love when people actually do. They are preparing for a trip of a lifetime. They are both quitting their jobs and traveling the world for the next year. I am so excited (and slightly jealous) for them. We were glad they took some time to visit us before they leave. They came Friday evening, and we had dinner at home and just chatted. Jason roused us up on Saturday morning for a little walk/hike near our house. I almost don't want to mention what happened next, especially because I already blogged about Jason roping our friend Paul into doing home projects with him when they visited, and I fear people won't visit because they are afraid we will put them to work. We purchased a large dining room table on Craigslist that we had to pickup on Saturday, so Jason and Lance headed to Roseville to load it up and bring it back. While they were out Heidi and I took the kids to Jason's parents house and we picked mandarins. After that we met back up with the guys and headed to breakfast (by that point it was more like lunch) at a Edelweiss, "Home of the super omelet." It is quite the place.

This was my hot chocolate, it was seriously good. And also doesn't my hand/arm look really big and weird in this picture? And last but not least, see that guy in 1900s garb in picture behind me? He is an actual regular customer at this place, who comes in so often they put his picture up. And guess what, he was there in person and dressed just like that. It was a treat to see :)

There were lots of pictures of wolves. It reminded me of something my friend Jen pointed out on her blog.

Since grandma requested a little more time with the kids, we headed to Old Town Auburn to walk around a little. I really love all the little shops.

We had to get a picture with the miner man in his Christmas hat.

When we went to pick up the boys we found them on the four wheeler in the mandarin orchard (and I wonder why they never want to leave grandmas). It was a beautiful day. Doesn't the persimmon tree look kind of cool?

Fun with Grandma and Papa Miller.

I just love my little Max, such a happy boy, most of the time.

Later that evening we headed to our church Christmas dinner. Thanks so much to Heidi and Lance for visiting us even when they had tons to do to prepare for their big trip.

I also wanted to add, for our old Provo friends out there that we got together with Brian and Callie Hill last night. I intended on taking a picture but of course forgot. It was really fun catching up with them and meeting their two cute little girls.

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-02T13:08:00.001-08:00

Blogging is a lot harder this time of year since there is so much going on. I feel like I have to be really on top of things, which I am not the best at. So here it is, picture overload, as I wrap up Thanksgiving so we can begin the Christmas festivities. One thing I love about blogging is that even though most of us post the same things (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas), it is fun to see everyones traditions, food, etc. I love it.

As I mentioned before, Jason's family was all in town for Thanksgiving, so we had our main meal over there.

Michelle and Eric now live in Seattle so these rain boots are a must. Max just had to try them on. They were almost as tall as he is.

Here he is hamming it up for Michelle. Seriously this kid is TOO CUTE!

Jan's beautiful Thanksgiving table. Jason's dad grew everything on the table centerpiece.

Ez enjoyed an after dinner, pre-dessert snack of whipped cream. Yum.

Ollie misses Shelley and Eric. Michelle and Ollie re-bonded over Shrek.

After dinner at the Millers, we headed to my aunt Cheryl's house and caught up with my family for dessert (and a few bites of their thanksgiving feast).

Me, Kim, and Maggie watching everyone play a dance game on the kinect.

Family pic. Max was spent by this time. He is going to be bed between 6-7 pm every night and sleeping a solid 12-13 hours. He is a good little sleeper.

That night some of the family came over and played games. Matt was a good sport hanging out with the ladies. That is what you get when you marry into a family of 6 girls and 1 boy.

It isn't a family get together without and ugly face picture. Letty is seriously setting the bar in the ugly face arena.

On Friday morning some of Jason's family and some of my family met at our house for a nice walk. We live right by some really nice running/hiking trails. Originally, I wanted to hike down to the American river which is just about a mile down from our house, but it's pretty steep. Instead, Jason went on a run that morning and found a nice little walk with just the right amount of uphill/downhill.

Heading out.

Ollie holding onto Mike for dear life. Ollie isn't really a fan of riding on shoulders (he is kind of a wuss).

My seriously beautiful little niece and her lambs ear.

Friday evening we headed to my parents to help decorate their Christmas tree. It is kind of a tradition for us all to get together and do it. It gets a little more chaotic every year.

The grandkids were a lot of, wait for it, "help"...haha.

Jack and Chrissy reminiscing.

Me, Jason, and Owen.

Ollie and Nathan playing games on our phone. I'm a lot more wary to let my kids play with my phone since Max dropped mine at IKEA and shattered the screen. I was very sad.

Being silly.

Saturday morning my family headed to the Nimbus Fish Hatchery. I remember going there as a kid. It is fun to watch the salmon and trout jump up the ladders. We also watched an interesting video about how they are helping to save the fish. Normally we feed the fish but this time we were out there as the fish were being fed so we just watched.

Mom and Ollie.

Me and Jason.

Ollie doing his stinky face.

Jeff had been sick most of the week, we were glad he was feeling better Saturday so he and Ez could come with us.

Chrissy and her kids.

Max is such a little love bug. Here he is cuddling with Papa.

I was slightly embarrassed when I saw Max's socks, but seriously getting out of the house is always a mad rush and I didn't have time to change them. He doesn't seem to mind.

Jen got the boys matching jammies. They were so cute. Here is our attempt to get a pic of the three grandkids on Jason's side.

Max was upset and that upset Ezra, he is such a sensitive little soul.

I won't tell you how many pictures we took, and this is the best I have. Three adorable boys. We can't wait for Michelle to add the first girl to this bunch!!

Me and Jen, I wish Michelle had still been there.

Whew, I'm done! It was such a fun week. I am very grateful to Apple for giving their employees the whole week of Thanksgiving off, it was really nice to have Jason around. Now we are looking forward to Christmas!

Miller Family Breakfast

2011-11-27T11:21:00.001-08:00

All of Jason's family has been in town for Thanksgiving, which has been so nice. On Wednesday morning we invited everyone over for a crepe breakfast (if you haven't noticed crepes are my current culinary obsession). We really miss Jason's family. It was so fun when we all lived in Utah and would get together for family dinners and what not. I miss that alot . It was fun to have everyone over to our house since it was the first time most of them had seen it.

Happily making crepes. I try new crepe recipes a lot and I think I found my new favorite.

Everyone enjoying their breakfast, except Michelle :)

Jenny and Jeff.

And their adorable offspring Ezra. He loved playing with the tools.

Party Time

2011-11-26T23:07:00.001-08:00

Last weekend I turned 29, as in one year away from 30. I'm actually fine with aging (Jason says that will change when I hit the big 3-0 but we'll see). For my birthday I went to dinner and shopping with my sisters (except Letty). On my actual birthday our families came over and we had an ice cream party. It is always fun to get together with the family. Jason spoiled me this year and I am now blogging from my new Macbook Air. Jason is the best gift giver!

Since all the kids were in their jammies, we took the opportunity to get a picture of them.

Blowing out my candle.

Ice cream with all the fixings.

The day after my birthday was me and Jason's 8th wedding anniversary. My parents and sister were so awesome and kept the kids over night for us. We dropped them off in the afternoon and then went furniture shopping (boring I know). We ate at a really good Turkish restaurant. We were going to go to a movie but didn't want to spend $11 each so we hit up Lowe's and got a red box. It was so nice. I love Jason so much, he is such a good match for me. I seriously lucked out.

The only picture we took on our anniversary. Don't worry Jason got a haircut the very next day.

Our First Visitors

2011-11-20T09:44:00.001-08:00

Last weekend some of our favorite friends came to visit us, and it was SO MUCH FUN! I didn't want them to leave. Paul, Amy and Clara drove up late Friday night, we gave them a quick tour of the house, chatted for awhile and then headed to bed.

Saturday we took them for a walk around our neighborhood and showed them the surrounding views. We also checked out an open house and discussed what house they should buy to live right by us :-) After that we headed to Downtown Newcastle and ate at the Cheese Shop (the Rat Trap sandwich is a favorite of ours). After that we headed home to give the kids naps, while Jason and Paul headed to Home Depot and worked on a few house projects (hopefully Paul will want to visit again after Jason put him to work). That evening we walked around Old Town Auburn and ate in Downtown Auburn.

We were able to fit all 7 of us in the Flex. Max and Clara were alone in the back, it was so sweet.

Paul and Amy are lawyers so they both really liked the Auburn courthouse.

Group picture in front of the mining man.

I love this picture of Clara. It sums her up perfectly, ridiculously cute, dainty, and just an all around happy, sweet baby.

I hadn't walked around Old Town in a long time so it was really fun for me. There are the cutest little shops, and quite a few restaurants we want to try.

Keeping warm by the fire pit in Downtown Auburn. We ate at Sums Mongolian which everyone must try at some point. Delish.

My handsome boy at church. I'm sad to say I cut Max's hair, and I didn't do a very good job. Luckily it seems to grow pretty fast.

Thanks for visiting us Nash family, we had tons of fun and can't wait for your January visit :)

2011-11-16T13:13:00.001-08:00

I think this might be the longest I have gone without blogging. Honestly, I just haven't felt like doing it. There has been a lot going on so I am doing one big jumbalya of a post and calling it good, then I can move on. We love our new house, we love our neighborhood, we love Auburn, and we love being so close to family. On the day we moved I drove our car up with Max, Jason and Ollie drove the moving truck. All along the 2 1/2 drive from Campbell to Auburn, I was super emotional. I just felt really sad to leave the bay area. We LOVED it there. Then I got about 20 mins from our new house and I saw the Subway I worked at when I was home from college, I saw the community college I took classes from in high school, I saw a sign for the Griffith Rock Quarry where Jason took me on a picnic when we were first dating and I got really excited. We were coming home. We feel very blessed. Anyway, here are some pictures from the last few weeks.

My very first friend in Campbell. Carlie came to visit me when we had just moved to the area and I was hugely pregnant and just waiting (not so patiently) for Ollie to come. She wasn't going to be able to make it to our farewell party and I happened to be in her neighborhood so I stopped by for a visit.

Evie was one of Ollie's best friends too since Carlie watched him since he was a baby.

The boys "helping" me pack. I realize I use air quotes around the word helping a lot around here.

Moving Day. Jason backed the truck right up to the front door.

He then proceeded to boss everyone around :) He is so authoritative.

When I pulled up to the house lots of my family members where there waiting to help us. It was so nice of everyone to help us out, and it went really quickly.

My cousin Stephanie and Matt came and helped

Chrissy and her friend Jamie. My cute Grandpa (in the back) even came to help.

I felt pretty useless. I just bossed everyone around.

Max and Owen, I think they are going to have a lot of fun together.

Jan brought food for everyone which was SO nice and delicious. Max was pretty happy about it.

Ashley and Alicia enjoying the smorgasbord.

Ok, the move is over and now onto our life lately.

While unloading the kitchen I found Max playing with the pans, he is SO busy these days.

Ollie getting ready for trick or treating. I realized that day that I didn't have a cute halloween bag for him to use, so Jason's bike to work bag it was. I have remedied the situation for next year.

Batman and Robin. We left pretty early because we wanted to meet some of our new neighbors in the daytime. Also we had been warned that we get 250-300 kids trick or treating and we wanted to get back to hand out candy.
At this point in my kids life I feel like trick or treating is something we do just to get some cute pictures. I really don't want my kids getting a lifetime supply of candy, so we kept it pretty short and only visited 10-15 houses (we did get two whole candy bars, those were always the best houses to find as a kid).

Our neighborhood gets pretty into halloween, it was fun to see all the decorations.

The boys with Ollie's loot. Ollie dumped a thing of nerds on the ground and Max was in heaven.

Ollie enjoyed spending the rest of the evening handing out candy, it was really cute.

Ollie channeling his Superman even while sleeping.

I think Ollie is pretty close to being done with naps. He doesn't take one unless we are driving around, or in this case he fell asleep while watching a movie.

Max is finally walking (starting at about 13 1/2 months). This day he brought his shoes over to me to put on him. It was so cute.

Ollie will actually pose and smile for pictures nowadays which is fun.

Here I go with the air quotes again. Max "helping" Dad with a plumbing leak. He is into EVERYTHING these days.

Well that is it. Now I can focus on the now :) We had our first visitors last weekend and it was a blast. I will steal the pictures from my friend and update soon.

Farewell

2011-10-26T21:37:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we had a little pizza party with friends so we could say goodbye (the funny thing is we saw most of these friends again after the party, oh well). We ordered WAY TOO MUCH pizza from Jason's favorite place in Palo Alto. It was fun to get together with our friends who we are going to miss sooo much.

Of course we had to send everyone home with Miller's honey.

Thanks for coming everyone!

I only had to work a half day on Monday so we were able to meet friends at a little pumpkin patch with bounce houses and what not. It was a lot of fun even though Ollie was being weird and wouldn't bounce in a bounce house unless he was the only person in it.

Max loved crawling (yes crawling because the little stinker STILL isn't walking) around the pumpkins.

Ollie and his vacant bounce house.

All the kids.

I was surprised that Ollie could pull his friends around in this wagon.

Impossible to get a pic of these two both looking at the camera.

He is looking so grown up to me lately, it is a little sad.

Well our house is totally packed and we are ready to go. I know I said this last time but I really think this will be my last blog post from our little house in Campbell...sad.

Halloween 2011

2011-10-25T22:19:00.000-07:00

Although we plan on taking the kids trick-or-treating next week, I don't know when I will have a chance to blog about it, so I will blog halloween now. We are moving this weekend and things are CRAZY, but we did manage to have some fun this past weekend. Our friends Paul and Amy threw their second annual Halloween/Birthday party. It was so fun and their decorations and food were AWESOME! They did such a great job. Paul got some pictures of our families costumes. Ollie is Batman and Max is Robin. They were so cute. A cape makes everything so much cuter.

Batman, looking so courageous.

Preparing for take off.

Flying.

Nailed the landing.

Jason and I were cat burglars. Here we are with our super heroes. Max was scared because Paul was dressed as the big bad wolf.

I can not get enough of that face.

He stayed quite entertained with the beverage bucket.

Robin's not nearly as manly with a pink binky (seriously why do they sell two packs with one pink and one blue??? How often do you need one of each gender color?)

Batman kept climbing this pole and getting his foot stuck, it was so funny.

It takes batman a few times of getting stuck to figure out not to do that.

We will definitely have to make a trip down next year for the party again. We are really going to miss the Nashes :( This will probably be my last post from Campbell. We leave in 3 days. I can't believe it. We are really going to miss this area and all our wonderful friends, but look forward to our new adventure...

Roaring Camp Railroad

2011-10-19T21:06:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we took the boys to Roaring Camp Railroad. This has been on our "bay area bucket list" for sometime, so I am glad we finally did it. There are two train rides to choose from, the redwood forest steam train (1 hour 15 mins) or the Santa Cruz beach ride (3 hours), obviously we did the redwood train :) We met up with our friends the Nolls. A cool morning turned into a beautiful afternoon, which was nice since the train carts are open. The scenery was beautiful and we had a lot of fun learning about the train and the area.

Family pic in front of the steam engine.

The whole group.

On the train. Jason was having a horrendous hair day.

Brotherly love.

Max max and his old man face.

The train used something like 600 gallons of water on our trip. Here is the steam being released.

And getting filled back up for the next ride.

Another family pic.

Afterward we walked around the little railroad town and fed the ducks. It was a really fun little outing.

Fleet week 2011

2011-10-16T11:42:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Jason's coworker and his partner were kind enough to invite Jason's work team to watch fleet week on their boat. It was probably one of the coolest things we have done since living in the bay area. Their boat is docked at Pier 39 so we were able to drive the boat out on the bay and enjoy the airshow out on the water. The weather was beautiful so we hung out, barbecued, enjoyed the beautiful scenery, and just had a great time.

The 'boat', he insists it isn't a yacht but you could have fooled me.

Sergey was the official photographer of the group (you can see by that lens that he is not messing around) . Most of these pictures are from him. This is what he looked like most of the time :)

I think this picture of the coast guard boat against Alcatraz is so cool.

Our hosts Casey and JD.

On the front of the boat there was nothing to obstruct the view, it was amazing, and windy.

Jason and I with the city behind us.

A little out of order, me and Jason in front of the boat.

I haven't got the pictures Sergey took yet, and this one doesn't compare but here is a pic I took of the blue angels.

Just driving the boat :)

Another lame pic I took. It doesn't even do it justice.

I love this picture of Jason, he looks so rugged and sexy.

Coming back to the pier with lots of boats behind us.

Everybody: Sergey, Gigi, Jason, JD, Me, Casey and Chelsey.

Some of our favorite planes.

The Oracle stunt plane was so cool.

The B2 stealth bomber was my favorite of the day. It was totally silent until it went past you and it was SO thin. Very UFOish.

The Blue Angels never disappoint. It is amazing how close they fly in formation.

This was super cool. The Osprey it is a huge helicopter/airplane, with propellers that tilt so it can take off like a helicopter and then fly like a plane. It was really cool to watch.

Family Pictures

2011-10-10T20:46:00.000-07:00

It feels like we have our family pictures taken like four times a year, but when my cousin Chelsea was in town from Georgia, I had to take advantage. She is an excellent photographer and I am so grateful to her for snapping a few shots of us, I love them.

These are all of my grandparents grandchildren, except Letty :(

And these are their great-grandchildren.

Moving - The Details

2011-09-23T10:19:00.000-07:00

Well our house officially closed yesterday Sept 22. Now that everything is official I feel like I can share details. For the past year, or so, we have been contemplating a pretty big life change. As many of you know, Jason's dad is a 4th generation beekeeper (you can read about him in this newly published book). I think beekeeping had always been a thought/option/idea in the back of Jason's mind, but we hadn't really considered it until Jason's dad began thinking about retiring in the next few years. We thought hard and prayed about it, then decided it would be a good fit for our family. Jason worked in the bees growing up and has very fond memories of his childhood.
So now it is official. Jason will be leaving Apple at the end of January and working with his dad learning the business. We are moving next month, so Jason will be working at Apple Mon-Wed then he will work from home Thur-Friday.
When I tell people down here about our move I get responses ranging from confusion about why we would leave a place like this, and a company like Apple, for a life of farming (the bee variety), to others who think it is the absolute coolest thing they've ever heard. We are pretty excited. The next year or so with be a year of big change and learning. We will be spending our summers in North Dakota (where the honey is harvested) and the rest of the year in CA. Soooo if anyone has ever wanted to visit ND (I know you've all been debating between Cancun or ND for your next getaway), now you know someone there!! We also would love visitors in CA, we have a guest bedroom with clouds on the ceiling to lure you in:) Please, please come visit!!
Now to the house. In a (small) effort to keep my blog somewhat private, I don't want to post the pictures and address of our new house on our public blog, so they are at the following password protected link: Our New House
If you are interested in seeing the pictures, please call me, email me, or leave me your email address as a comment, and I will send you the password. Even if your a distant acquaintance don't be shy, I probably blog stalk you too!

Us in ND last summer.

Max Turns One Year Old!

2011-09-18T10:10:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my baby is one. Where does the time go? We just love our little Max Max, he is such a sweet little guy. The weekend before Max's birthday we headed to Auburn to do some more house stuff. While we were there we went to the Gold Country Fair in Auburn and celebrated Max with the families.

Ollie really enjoyed seeing the animals. He even got to go inside and pet this pig.

Look at that cute smile.

Max was an angel that evening, just so pleasant sitting in his stroller.

They had a little puppet show that Ollie actually sat and watched for quite a while.

Sunday our families got together to celebrate Max and Ashley's birthdays. Max had his own little cupcake and throughly enjoyed it.

I love making a mess.

Proud parents.

Jason's mom also made a farewell dinner for Michelle and Eric, they moved to Seattle yesterday :(

Jack, Ashley, Owen and mom.

I have kind of been obsessed with making chocolate cakes lately. Mmmm I want one now.

On Max's actual birthday we signed the papers for our house. We will always remember the day.

Here we are with our mobile notary, it was nice to do the signing at our house. And it was really nice of Michelle to play with the kids so we could do it uninterrupted.

Daddy and the birthday boy.

Final picture with Michelle and Eric before they moved (this picture was really hard to get). I don't think Ollie totally grasps what them moving really means, otherwise he would be really sad.

Now we are just waiting final underwriting approval and the house will be ours. We are having a room and a hallway painted, the whole house deep cleaned and the carpets cleaned. Jason is also sealing the garage floor before we move in. We will be moving up the last weekend in Oct. We are sad to leave the bay area, but are looking forward the changes that are coming. I will be posting pictures soon!

We're Moving!

2011-08-30T20:56:00.000-07:00

I know I have vaguely mentioned before that we are moving. Well the move is becoming a reality, FAST. I'm not going to go into too much detail yet, but basically we are in the process of buying a home (a beautiful one might I add) in Auburn, CA. We are suppose to close Sept 19th. When that happens I will post pictures of the house and details about why we are moving and what not. Anyway, when we got word that our offer was accepted, we put the wheels in motion to try to hit the closing date the bank gave us. That meant an impromptu trip to Auburn for the home inspection. We managed to pack the weekend full of family and friends.

Friday evening I got together with my favorite girls (minus Megan) for a little dinner and chatting. I love these girls so much and cannot wait to live closer so we can hang out ALL THE TIME! :)

Saturday morning was the home inspection, which went very well, YAY! That afternoon we took the boys to a park and met up with our friends Scott and Amanda and their two cute boys, who are almost the exact ages as Ollie and Max. We had a great time enjoying lunch, checking out the house they are hoping to buy and seeing Scott's parents new home. We are excited to live closer to them and for our boys to be playmates.

The next three pictures are courtesy of Ollie. I'm actually glad I let him play with the camera!

My boys love to swing!

All Saturday Jason kept noticing flyers advertising a Spaghetti dinner and street dance in Newcastle. We gathered up both our families and enjoyed the beautiful (and hot) evening.

Even my cousins Alicia and Maggie joined us.

My parents on the left, Jason's on the right.

Mom and my cutie patootie nephew Owen.

Ollie playing with Max.

Can't get enough of these two (actually I can, they were driving me a little crazy last week).

Jason and Ashley

Ashley and Chrissy

Sunday my mother-in-law was kind enough to have my whole family over. We also were able to visit with my cousin Katelyn who was visiting from PA. We jump at any chance we get to see our PA family, we love and miss them all so much. It was pretty crazy with everyone, but as always, a good time.

The fam

Ugly faces!!

As I mentioned before, stay tuned for more details on the move and pictures of our new house!!

Jason's Birthday Weekend

2011-08-23T10:50:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday was Jason's 31st birthday. A few months ago, he planned a fun weekend so we could celebrate as a family. We rented a camping trailer (one similar to the kind we want to buy in the future) on Friday morning, and headed down to Watsonville and stayed at Pinto Lake Park. Everyone probably knows what we did all weekend because I checked in everywhere on Facebook. Is that annoying? Cause I just assume everyone wants to know where we are at all times :)

We got there Friday afternoon and the boys loved playing in the trailer while we got things all set up.

Max was SO happy and kept rolling around and laughing, it was the cutest thing ever.

Ollie is at an age where it is really fun to talk things up to him. We had talked this up a lot and he was pretty excited.

Friday afternoon we went to the Martinelli's factory. We weren't sure if we could take a tour or what but it turned out to just be a tiny little shop where you could buy their stuff (in bulk). We ended up spending $40 on various kinds of apple juice, haha. After that we walked around a little farmers market in town. It was pretty awesome since Watsonville is pretty much all farmland. That night we headed to Ocean Speedway to watch the sprint car races. It was fun, but we didn't stay long because we wanted to get the kids to bed fairly on time.

In the stands watching the cars warm up.

How cute is that face? He wanted the earplugs in. He doesn't like loud things very much.

Max had a tough time going to sleep Friday night. He was so overly tired that it took him a long time to calm down. Saturday we made sure he got plenty of naps, and he did MUCH better Saturday night. The next day we hung out at our "campground". It had a pond with ducks and a play structure.

Here we are in front of Pinto Lake.

Had to get a picture in front of the trailer.

Saturday, after a run to the store for a few things we forgot, we headed over to Gizdich Ranch, where we played in the hay, picked our own strawberries and got a delicious pie.

They really loved this hay. It was cute.

Picking strawberries. We don't know if it was in our head or what but these were seriously the best tasting strawberries.

Ollie with his berries.

We came back and napped/relaxed/played with the ducks, then headed to Elkhorn Slough where we went on a hike.

I'm pretty sure the ducks weren't huge fans of Ollie since he liked to chase them. He also liked to just watch them.

On our hike there was this cool old barn, here we are in it. Ollie refused to be in this picture.

Ollie loves to find sticks. Apparently (according to a lady we passed on the hike) this is poison hemlock, needless to say, we didn't pick up anymore sticks and we thoroughly washed his hands.

After our hike we headed back to our campground and Jason prepared a delicious pasta dinner. I'm not going to lie, while I have always claimed to love tent camping (and I really do) I am a big fan of the camping trailer. It was so nice to have a stove, oven, microwave, and especially a bathroom/shower.

He accidentally burned some of the garlic bread.

Ollie LOVES to swing. And I love to push him non-stop :)

The Flex did great! We were definitely riding low and gas mileage suffered.

While we were gone my sister and cousin and some friends stayed at our house. When we got back Sunday we all went to church together, ate dinner, and then went on a walk. It was fun to see and hang out with them, even if it was only for half a day.

Zach broke his foot and required assistance on the walk. Let me just say I don't know if I would trust Letty to push me in a wheelchair :) There were a few close calls.

The whole group on the walk.

Making the most of summer

2011-08-12T11:50:00.000-07:00

I feel like I say this all the time, but I love summer. I especially love the summers here because the temperatures are so mild. Where we grew up in Sacramento it is SO hot, and that is just how summer is. It is downright miserable up there sometimes, but here, perfection every day. I think that is a big reason why so many people live here. Anyway, we have been getting out a lot this summer, enjoying our last summer in the bay area. I still need to talk about our move, and I will, I just want to wait until we know a little more. A couple weeks ago my friend Brittany (who also happens to watch my kids on the days I work) was kind enough to take us to Gilroy Gardens with her friends and family pass. It was a beautiful day and the park wasn't too busy. I loved all the green trees and plants, it is definitely called Gilroy GARDENS for a reason.

Brittany and her boys on the train.

Ollie and Levi holding hands, it was so cute.

Ollie loving the train.

Me and my boys.

On this ride holding babies on your lap was not allowed, Max didn't mind. He is such a big boy now!

We ended the day with an ice cream cone, and naps for all the kids (except Max, little stinker) on the way home . It was a great day!

We love our friends the Burtons and ever since we moved here we have been talking about them coming and visiting (Jason and Jared grew up together). A couple weeks ago they were in CA visiting Jared's family and took a day to come visit us. That morning Jason and Jared went on a bike ride. I know Jason really wishes Jared lived closer so they could ride together more often. When they got back we all headed to Santa Cruz. We ate at the Surf Riders Cafe (where I ate with my mom and aunts a couple of months ago). Then we headed to Steamers Lane to check out the surf museum and watch the surfers that were out. After that we headed to Natural Bridges beach and let the kids play and play. It was so fun and Ollie and Jamison really took a liking to each other, especially at the end of the day. We were all sad to see them go and hope we will see them again soon (and meet the sweet baby girl).

All of us (minus a sleeping Max) at Steamers Lane.

Ollie with one of the surfers in the background.

The Burton family.

Me and my goofball Ollie.

The boys playing at the beach.

How cute is Jamison? Such a cute kid.

Family pic at Natural Bridges.

We discovered that the boys had matching PJ bottoms. They were having tons of fun on our spare bed. I can't believe we caught them both smiling.

Yay!! We love jumping!

Mid air.

Relaxing a little.

Almost every night we take a walk (or two) around the block so Ollie can ride his bike. Max enjoys the walks too. This is what I see when I look down from pushing the stroller. Cute little legs just relaxing.

Last Saturday we finally hiked the Stanford dish. It is a big satellite dish built in the 60's to search for extra terrestrial life. There is a nice, steep, paved path up to it. We went with our friends Liesl and Ryan and their girls, who just moved to Palo Alto. It was a good walk, we had a lot of fun and we are so excited to hang out with the Probascos more!!

We made it! All of us and the dish.

Vineman 2011

2011-08-04T09:37:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was one of the weekends I look forward to all year. Jason participated in the Vineman triathlon again this year and we rented the same house we rented last year. This year Jason and his dad did a relay. Jason swam the 2.4 miles, and biked the 112 miles, then his dad ran the marathon. It was kind of sucky because we left Thursday and Jason was sick with a cold. Like SO sick, poor guy. Friday he felt better, still not 100% but better. That morning we all went and got breakfast and wouldn't you know it a few hours later and into the night Jason got food poisoning and was really sick. He hardly ate anything Thursday and Friday, except for the omelet that gave him food poisoning. I really encouraged him to just bow out of the race. Normally you are eating a lot to prepare for the race, not only had he not eaten anything, but he was throwing up most of Friday. He got up Saturday morning, was sick that morning, but decided to try the swim since it is the easiest part for him and then see how he felt. Well he finished the swim in an hour and nine minutes (a PR for him) and finished the bike as well. His dad was worried about the run since his calf had been bothering him during training, but he finished feeling great (as great as you can feel after running 26.2 miles). They did great!

The rest of us had a great time. Thursday before we headed to the house we spend some time at Spring Lake Regional Park. The kids and I had fun walking around with my parents, enjoying the nice weather and picking blackberries. That night we just hung out and watched a movie (The Social Network, which I really liked). Friday we went and got breakfast, and walked around downtown Windsor. We spent the rest of the day in the pool. It was nice to just relax. That evening we cooked the lasagna we had prepared and brought with us, and had Ollie's 3rd birthday party. We had told Ollie that Friday was his birthday (it was really Sunday), so all day he was the birthday boy. I can't believe my baby is 3. We love him more everyday, he is such a crack up.

Saturday some of us headed out to watch Jason finish the swim and transition to the bike. And the rest of the day was spent swimming and taking occasional breaks to run down the driveway and cheer on Jason and John. It was a great weekend with almost all of both mine and Jason's families. I really appreciate that our families can hang out together. I can't wait for next year!

The typical pool scene.

Chrissy, Nathan, Letty and Jen.

My dad, Jason, and Max relaxing.

Lys and Letty jumping.

Jan, Ezra and Jen enjoying the hot tub.

Me, floating with my boys.

Chrissy and her kids. I wish Dave could have been there with us :(

Max and his papa he is named after (Glen is my dad and Max's middle name).

What? This is typical of Max. He LOVES to eat and rub food in his hair, nbd.

These pics are stuck together for some reason. Mom and dad. Our moms were so helpful on this trip. I felt like I was constantly feeding, bathing, napping, changing etc my children the whole time so they really stepped up and prepared and cleaned up dinner each night, and I really appreciated it.

Ollie LOVES his papa John, he was so excited to see him.

Aunt Shelley pushing Ollie on the swing set.

Ezra is such a happy, smily kid.

Ollie wanted a "Tangled" birthday cake, so we ordered one and asked them to use more green and blue and less pink and purple. And he loves the horse from Tangled (he calls him "that funny horse") so I spent a lot of time searching for a white horse I could put on the cake and finally found one at Michaels. He was pretty happy.

Jason and I with our sweet birthday boy.

The party scene.

Jason finishing the swim.

Starting the bike.

Some of us heading down the driveway of our place to watch John.

Sisters.

Paul, Amy and Clara came up on Saturday to hang out and support Jason. It was so nice of them and we loved having them around.

The bike finish and the run finish were at the high school which is about a mile from our house, so we walked there to see Jason finish the bike and John start the run.

Jason ran the last mile in with John. Here they are coming down the homestretch.

Father and son. Way to go guys!!

Cousin in Town

2011-08-01T09:14:00.000-07:00

My mom is from Pennsylvania, and almost every summer we would go back there and visit our family. We LOVED it. Seriously, our most fond childhood memories are at my Grandma Bea's house in PA with our cousins. A couple weekends ago my cousin Leah (who is closest in age to both me and my sister) came to CA with her boyfriend Eric and they were nice enough to stop by and spend a day with us. My sister and her kids came down and Jason's sister Jenny and our cute nephew Ezra were in town from Utah, so we had a nice big group. Saturday morning Chrissy and I made brunch (crepes, blueberry scones, fruit salad). We ate outside and let the kids play in the sprinkler. We just hung out and looked at pictures while kids napped. In the afternoon we headed to downtown Campbell, got ice cream and walked around. There is a park close by so we took the kids and let them play. That evening we got a babysitter and Chrissy, Leah, Eric, Jason and I went to Santana Row for dinner at Straits. It was delicious and so fun to hang out with Leah and Eric without the kids. You have no idea how many wonderful memories we have with Leah. We love her so much and now we love Eric too! We are so glad they came to visit and hope they will come back soon.

The kids enjoying ice cream, the adults enjoying watching them.

Me and my sweet boy.

Cousins! I should find an old picture of us to put up with this, haha.

Of course, we must do an ugly face.

Lys and Leah LOVE Justin Bieber.

Ollie hanging out at the park.

The kids hanging out. I have this same picture of them all in the bathtub, but it was not suitable for the blog :)

Dinner at Straits, so good.

July Camping

2011-07-18T22:24:00.000-07:00

Over the weekend we headed up to the Santa Cruz mountains for a little camping trip with Paul, Amy and Clara, plus Michelle and Eric. We tried a new county park (Sanborn) and it was really nice. It is only about 20 minutes from our house so that was nice too. We spent two nights because I think camping is WAY too much work for just one night. We kept it simple by bringing up take out on Friday and then when Michelle and Eric came up on Saturday they brought pizza, so we didn't have to cook dinner, it was so nice and convenient. The whole weekend was just so fun.

Paul and Ollie sitting on a rock having a drink (Ollie doing his stinky face). "Mommy you like my happy face. My like my stinky face."

After the kids went to bed (which was kind of a challenge with Max) we got to hang out. I pretty much hate this picture but taking it was so funny I decided to post it anyway.

Saturday morning Paul and Amy made a delicious pancake breakfast, with sausage and eggs and tons of fruit, it was so good.

Ollie loved his pancakes, look at that full mouth.

Look at this cute little family. Clara even turned to the camera.

We had all these rocks around our campsite and Ollie had a lot of fun crawling all over them. Another goofy face for the camera.

Oh Max. This kid just loves dirt. And rocks. I feel like I spent all weekend fishing rocks, twigs, and dirt out of his mouth.

Pretty much anytime someone picked up Max it was like this, holding him far from their body because he was always SO dirty.

Even his biggest fan Michelle kept him at a distance :)

Isn't Jason the cutest dad with his boys?? Seriously! On Saturday we went on a hike in the morning and a nature walk in the afternoon. (Btw Max was asleep).

I tried to direct Max to sticks instead of rocks (less of a choking hazard).

I just love this little baby.

Jason packing up the tent on Sunday.

Our campground was a little way up the road from where we parked so they provided carts to bring our stuff from our cars to the campsite. Here is Michelle and Eric posing with our kids. I think I have mentioned it before, but I will say it again, Ollie LOVES his uncle Eric! He is a totally different kid around him because he is always SO excited. Eric is so great with him. It is really sweet.

The whole group before we headed home on Sunday. We had such a great time. We can't wait to explore a few more campgrounds in the area before we move. Did I just say that? More on that to come...

4th of July Weekend

2011-07-05T09:53:00.000-07:00

We had a really great 4th of July weekend with friends and family. I love the 4th of July and I felt more grateful than ever this year since my brother-in-law is overseas serving in Iraq. I have always been appreciative of the sacrifices made by those who serve our country, and this year it is so close to home. I see what my brother-in-law, sister, and their kids sacrifice, and sometimes it is really heartbreaking. So thank you to all who have served and continue to serve so that we can enjoy this free country.

We started our weekend Thursday night. I drove up to Newcastle with my sister-in-law Michelle and the kids. The drive was great except poor Max cried the last 1/2 hour or so. When we got there we realized he had a poopy diaper and he was FREEZING. I had the AC on and it was blowing right on the poor little guy. Yeah, I felt horrible. Not one of my finest mommy moments. On Friday we met up with some of our very best friends, the Evers at Lake of the Pines. It was so fun to see them, I just wish Jason had been able to be there. The weather was perfect and we had so much fun swimming.

Me, Jeff, and Kelly

The ladies. Ashley, Chrissy, me, Kelly and my lovely mother.

My beautiful friend Kelly.

Grandma has the magic touch and got Max to take a little nap.

Jason and our brother-in-law Eric drove up late Friday night to avoid traffic. Saturday we just hung out and relaxed. And in the afternoon we went swimming at the Hancocks. Jason has many, many good memories with the Hancocks and it was so nice of them to let us come swim.

Michelle and Nemo.

Ollie had tons of fun jumping in the water and being thrown around.

Jason and Max.

Me and Michelle.

Ollie LOVES Eric. Later that night he told us "Grandma loves Shelley, and Ollie loves Eric". It is pretty cute.

"Let me out of here!"

Later that evening Jason, the kids, and I went to my cousin Mary's little boy Jake's birthday party.

Lys and Ollie.

Me, Chrissy and Max.

Max is eating everything these days, including celery. It was keeping him hydrated :)

After the birthday party, we took the kids back to Jason's parents, put Max to bed, then Jason and I went out to dinner. We are so grateful to have family willing to let us leave our kids for a bit to spend some time together.

We tried a restaurant in Auburn called Latitudes that we have always wanted to try. They have a normal menu that is always available, and then every month they have a menu with dishes from different countries available. This month was South East Asia. We both ordered from the SE Asia menu and really enjoyed it. It was so nice to spend alone time together.

Sunday we went to church with my parents then had dinner with my whole family (minus Letty), Jason's family, and the Boatmans. It was so delicious and fun to all hang out.

The whole gang.

Papa reading books to Nathan and Ollie.

Also Sunday night Jeff and Kelly, and their adorable kids came to Jason's parents house so they could see Jason, which was SO nice of them. We love them so much and miss them a ton. We hope to someday end up living close to each other.

Monday morning was the annual City of Lincoln 4th of July parade. We were really excited because my mom was able to get Ollie and Alyssa a spot on a vintage firetruck in the parade. We thought Ollie would love it but he actually HATED it. They were in front of all the big firetruck who had their sirens on and horns blowing. It was way too loud for Ollie. Jason was with him and said it left his ears ringing. So Jason texted me and when they got close to us I ran and got Ollie off. Next year we will just watch from the sides :)

While there we caught up with my bestest friends in the whole world (we missed you Megan). I seriously love these girls.

Stacie loves being a creeper in our pictures.

Nathan, Owen and Max watching the parade.

My parents at the parade.

I really love this picture of Jack and Ashley, so cute.

I had to get one picture of them on the firetruck before I rescued Ollie.

Poor guy was pretty upset.

He was much happier to sit on the truck while it wasn't going. I can't remember this gentlemen's name but he is the one who drove the firetruck.

After the parade we stopped by the Lions Club fireworks booth where my parents were working and got a few little fireworks. We live in Santa Clara County and they don't sell fireworks here, lame. We left to come home right after that and were home by 1:15pm. We then had a few friends over for a BBQ and fireworks. It was a perfect evening.

Paul and Amy with sweet little Clara. She really is the most adorable baby ever.

Claire with her cute boys. They are both looking at the camera!!

Me, Amy and Claire.

Watching our little fireworks.

The boys were way more into the poppers than any of the actual fireworks. We will have to remember that next year.

My parents just got back from Isreal. They got Ollie this hat (while they were in Boston) and he was wearing it around last night calling it his pirate hat. And this is a huge breakthrough because when I asked him to smile for the camera, he actually did it!!

We hope you all had a fun and safe 4th of July!!

Summer Fun

2011-07-04T22:54:00.000-07:00

We have been very busy having lots of fun lately. Summer is in full swing here in the bay area. Lots of hot days filled with parks, walks, bike rides, beach days etc. I love summer.

Ollie has been really into making faces lately. He will look at you and say "this is my naughty face", we tell him we don't like his naughty face, we like his happy face so he will transform and give us a happy face. It is pretty funny.

Here is his naughty face.

Happy face.

Jason and Ollie have been anxiously anticipating the movie Cars 2. Jason wanted to have a father/son afternoon so he started planning and talking it up weeks in advance. They rode Jason's bike to the theater, met up with friends, got popcorn, and saw the movie. Ollie was so excited. When he got home I asked him if he liked it and he said it was "too scary and too loud".

Ollie has been seeming entirely too grown up for me lately. I can't believe he is almost 3. He is now riding his bike really well. His favorite thing to do is go on family walks around the neighborhood. His bike doesn't have pedals so it helps him learn to balance. He has really impressed us with his cycling skills. It sure makes Jason proud :)

Ollie got a Buzz Lightyear sprinkler for his birthday last year and he really liked it last year, but he LOVES it this year. It is also a big hit with his friends. Lots of good opportunities to learn about sharing. You can see it behind Ollie's left shoulder.

This little bug is as cute as ever. Here he is patiently waiting for brother to finish swimming lessons.

Someone forgot to take the garbage out (don't worry these were brand new garbage bags).

Last week we headed to a beach in Aptos (10 mins south of Santa Cruz). It is fun exploring new beaches and we really liked this one. The weather was really nice and we had a great time. Max dumped out a bag of Cheetos.

Ollie and Jason (his friend, not his dad) had tons of fun throwing sticks into the water and then retrieving them.

Seriously!?!? How is that much cuteness possible? Jason thinks he looks like Mr. Fredrickson from the movie UP.

Max and one of his many girlfriends, Adalyn. They are just a couple months apart.

Miller Family Happenings

2011-06-22T11:19:00.000-07:00

This post is just a random assortment of what we have been up to. I figure if I wait and try to organize it all, it won't get posted so...

When Ollie uses the bathroom a lot of times he takes his underwear and pants completely off. He has a hard time getting them on the right way :)

Beautiful roses from the rose bush in our front yard.

Max with a cheerio stuck to his chin at church. He often has food stuck to his chin that he is unaware of .

It has really warmed up here. The boys have been enjoying their Buzz Lightyear sprinkler and baby pool.

On June 16 I left the kids and drove up to Sacramento to go to the Britney Spears concert with Chrissy and Ashley. We had SO much fun. Britney actually sang and danced really well, way better than I expected.

Full house (thanks to Groupon).

We had to get matching shirts.

Thanks for the fun night girlies!

Our friends Paul and Amy just adopted their little girl Clara, so I threw a baby shower for them a couple weeks ago. We asked everyone to bring their favorite childrens book for Clara's library. I found a cute book theme on marthastewart.com. I'm not crafty, but I had a good time giving it my best attempt.

The food spread.

My "Enchanted Garland".

Sweet little Clara slept through the whole shower.

I got them a cute little shirt/dress while we were in Mexico, I think Amy was excited about it.

There are lots of other exciting things coming up for our family. I'll try to stay up to date on the blog.

Cabo San Lucas Mexico

2011-06-12T11:17:00.000-07:00

We just got back from spending a wonderful week in Mexico. We went with Jason's parents and brother, which was so nice because we had help with the kids. Traveling internationally with kids is not the easiest thing to do (learned last minute that even 8 month old babies need a passport and plane ticket) but with their help things went very smoothly. We had lots of fun swimming, and eating and generally just having a good time. The day we left to come home, Ollie told me he wanted to "stay in Mexico for a long, long time".

Ollie hasn't flown in a while so we really talked up the airplane thing. He is at such a fun age because everything is so exciting. Here are the boys watching the planes before we left.

Uncle Mike made delicious smoothies that Ollie and Jason enjoyed together.

We spent 75% of our time in the pools at our resort. Ollie has never been that into water and swimming, but that all changed on this trip. He LOVED it. I'm very happy he became more comfortable swimming because he starts swim lessons this week.

Daddy and Uncle Mike (and me a few time but I wasn't very good) would throw him up and he just loved it. Here is an action shot.

Me and Jason were able to sneak away a couple of nights after the kids went to bed and get dinner in town. This was a pretty nice "authentic" Mexican restaurant Jason found in Cabo. If you look behind me you can see the one little Mexican woman cooking all the food in the tiny kitchen.

We didn't take our nice camera so most of our pictures are from my iPhone.

We went snorkeling at Chileno Beach. Here is Max participating in his favorite past time, chewing on his toes.

What handsome boys. It looks like we combed Max's hair over. When we got there we went to Costco and Walmart and Jason misread the diaper package. It said "3 free" and he just saw the 3 and thought it was the size, but really there were size 5, so Max wore HUGE diapers all week. He also cut a top tooth so he had some tough days, poor guy.

Ollie is still practicing Yoga these days.

Mike, John and I went fishing one day. Jason and his mom stayed back with the kids because they both get motion sick on boats. This was the sun rising the morning we went. So beautiful.

We caught like 15 tunas in two hours. Here I am straining to hold these two, they were so heavy. I'm pretty sure I was the one who caught the biggest fish that day ;)

We came home with 50lbs of tuna. It was such a fun fishing trip because we caught so much.

This was Ollie's favorite turtle pool, just for little kids. Most the time he had it totally to himself.

This pool (right next to the turtle pool) is where we spent most of our time. If you swim under that bridge behind Jason there is a beautiful infinity edge pool. It went right up to the ocean, it was gorgeous. I have some pictures of us, but they are on another camera, when I get them I will post them.

Jason and I went to one of the nicer restaurants at the resort for a delicious seafood dinner. It was very romantic. The dark area behind us is the ocean.

Another night we all went into town to eat and this man serenaded us. Max was REALLY into it.

So was Mike :)

One of the few pictures of the whole group.

Family picture.

Another family picture in front of the sign where we stayed.

Overall it was a wonderful trip. I wish more of Jason's family could have come. Maybe next time.

Max the Lovebug

2011-05-18T09:01:00.000-07:00

My sweet little baby is 8 months old. I cannot believe it. Time goes by WAY too fast. Max is such a sweet baby, we love him so much. Here are some things about Max at 8 months.

I weighed him on my home scale yesterday with clothes and diaper and he is 18lbs. Skinny little runt.

He loves to give open mouth, slobbery kisses (and I love to receive them).

He is a pretty good night sleeper, going to bed around 7pm and sleeping until 6:30-7am, too bad it took him until about 6 months to do it.

If we are home he naps well but if we are out and about he is too interested in whatever is going on to nap, but he manages to stay happy so I try not to stress about it.

He is a good eater, there hasn't been anything he won't eat.

He is a crawling machine. He started when he was 6 months and has just mastered it. Now he is standing up to things :/

He has had ear infections twice (Ollie hasn't ever had one). In fact right now he has a double ear infection, but you would never know it. I finally took him in to the Dr. cause he had been sick (runny nose, cough) for 2 weeks and wasn't getting better, that was why.

He has had 3 haircuts already.

He loves his big brother and just laughs and laughs at him.

I already notice personality differences between my boys. Max is so much more smiley and giggly than Ollie was. He is also pretty fearless so far, where Ollie has always been a cautious kid.

What a handsome little devil.

Happy boy.

Those big, brown eyes just kill me.

I love sleeping babies.

He tends to get himself into some funny predicaments these days.

Macaroni hanging out of the mouth.

What you don't know is that 30 seconds earlier that net was on his head, courtesy of big brother.

Stop growing up so fast Max!!

Ironman St. George

2011-05-10T23:27:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Jason and I headed to St. George so Jason could participate in the St. George Ironman. I drove up to Lincoln with the boys Tuesday evening (so our parents could watch them while we were gone), went and looked at houses Wednesday morning, and then flew out of Sacramento that afternoon. It was a busy couple of days. Jason flew out of San Jose Wednesday and we met each other in Las Vegas. By the time we got our rental car and checked into our hotel I was starving. We heard that the Bellagio has an awesome buffet but the line was like 45 minutes long so we opted for the next highest rated buffet The Wicked Spoon at The Cosmopolitan. It was pretty delicious and we loved being able to sample lots of different foods. I had high hopes of catching a show as well but it just didn't work out that night.

So hungry and ready to eat.

Some of the yummy food. Isn't that individual sized pot so cute?!?

We really love to eat out and try different food but it is so hard to do with the kids, so needless to say we really enjoyed ourselves.

Dessert was SO good.

I don't even like marshmallows but I couldn't resist trying one of these.

We aren't gamblers, but we had to put a little money in 25c slot machines.

We watched the fountain show at the Bellagio.

Had to get a picture with the Las Vegas sign on our way out of town.

We got up Thursday morning and drove the two hours to St. George. We stayed with Jason's grandparents, and it was so great to spend time with them. Jason's sister Jen and brother Mike also made the trek down from Lehi/Provo which was so nice, and we were so happy they came (especially me since we hung out during the race). Thursday and Friday were spent checking into the race, dropping off all Jason's bags of stuff, a trial swim, etc. It was nice though because we took our time and if we wanted to do something we just did it. Thursday night they had a dinner/info session for the participants so I went and saw Water for Elephants (is it weird that I love going to the movies by myself?).

Tom, Jason and Austin in front of Sand Hollow reservoir where the swim took place.

We toured the St. George tabernacle. It is such a beautiful building. We learned that every prophet of the LDS church except Joseph Smith has spoken from this pulpit.

Saturday was the big day. If you are friends with me or Jason on facebook you know that the race did not turn out as Jason had hoped. Long story short the heat, and improper nutrition made it so Jason suffered dehydration and consequently a heat stroke (the temp was 93 degrees that day) causing him to drop out of the race at mile 92 of the 112 bike ride (if you are interested in the long story, you can read it here, and in case you are wondering DNF stands for "did not finish"). Jason was pretty disappointed since he trains so hard for these races and was excited to do this race with friends. I am just happy he is ok, things could have been much worse if he had waited any longer to stop. Here are some pics from earlier that day.

Jason's support team (Jared, Shannon and Jamison Burton, me, Jenny and Mike)

Jason after the swim about to get on his bike. He had a great 2.4 mile swim, with a PR time of 1:12.

Cute little Jamison ringing his cowbell. He was such a good sport that day.

After we saw Jason transition to the bike leg, Jenny, Mike and I went and had breakfast. I felt kind of bad enjoying a delicious breakfast in an air conditioned restaurant while Jason was out in the brutal heat, but he is the one that signs up for these crazy races.

After breakfast we went out to try to see Jason along the bike course. We waited, and waited, and waited. I always worry if Jason doesn't come right around the time I expect him to and normally my worries are unfounded, but on Saturday just when I was starting to feel a little pit in my stomach I get a text from a number I didn't recognize saying, "Your husband is ok. He has suffered a heat stroke, he is ok. He has dropped out of the race and will be back shortly." I'm pretty sure Jason, even though he was kind of out of it, made sure the girl emphasized that he was OK, because he knows how much I worry. It took him a long time to get back because they were picking up so many people who had also dropped out. Jason was pretty bummed when I did finally meet up with him, but I was just happy he was ok.

Here we are with Jason's grandparents and siblings.

Sunday we went to church, ran a few race errands, and stopped for a walk around the St. George temple. It was a wonderfully relaxing day.

While some aspects of the weekend were kind of a bummer, overall we had a great time. I loved spending time with just me and Jason. It felt like we had so much free time. We missed our boys though and are happy to be back with them. By the way, the boys had such a great time. We were just leaving to drive home and I asked Ollie if he wanted to go home, or back to grandma's, he said he wanted to go back to grandma's. Don't worry, it didn't hurt my feelings, I'm just glad he had as much fun as we did. I may even convince Jason to attempt Ironman St. George again next year so we can go back, on second thought, I'm fine with him being done with Ironman distance triathlons for a while...

Easter Weekend 2011

2011-04-24T21:39:00.000-07:00

We had a really fun Easter weekend with family. Jason's parents came down Friday afternoon and Michelle and Eric live here so we got to spend all weekend together. Ollie loved Easter this year, and I loved planning stuff for him. Holidays are so much better with kids! Here are some pictures from our weekend.

Saturday we went on a walk to our favorite little farm and had a picnic.

Jason and Ollie. For going on a walk Ollie didn't actually do too much walking. He had 6 adults to hold him, well 5 I guess because I refused to do it, he is too big, when he is with me it is either walk yourself or sit in the stroller. I know I am such a jerk.

Max and Grandma.

Eric, Michelle, and Jason. Eric loved the double BOB and wants one now :)

Max with Aunt Shelley. She has 3 nephews that she loves so much. She is such a good auntie, we love her!

I sure do love this guy.

Ollie checking out the pigs. This is the look he gave me when I asked if he wanted to eat a part of that pig for dinner the next day :)

Max, Max, Max. I am pretty much totally obsessed with this baby. The one thing he has been doing that I don't think it cool is growing up WAY too fast. He is crawling everywhere, and he is quick. I have caught him multiple times standing up against things like the open dishwasher, or the couch, or this step, not cool Max, not cool at all. It is so much more work having him this mobile.

Ollie loved jumping off this stage onto a pile of hay he made. It is a good thing Saturday is bath day!

Saturday evening we dyed Easter eggs. I kind of thought it would be like craft day, where Ollie is into it for about 30 seconds and then moves on, but I was wrong. He loved it. He just kept dunking those eggs over and over. I think each egg got dunked in each color about 5 times. I loved watching his excitement.

I love his profile, so sweet. And that dimple...seriously I die!!

Very pleased with his egg.

It is a special day when I can get Ollie to smile at the camera, this kid on the other hand is so smiley. You just glance his way and he shoots you the biggest smile, I love it.

This is what Ollie looked like by the time we were done coloring eggs, I should have started him out this way. We called him Shrek the rest of the evening because his hands were dyed green.

Some of them actually turned out pretty good. He dunked them so many times they were almost tie dyed.

Sunday Ollie woke up to a basket from the Easter bunny (I didn't make Max one because he is only 7 months old and honestly he just doesn't care yet). We try not to feed Ollie too much sugar so his basket had things like freeze dried peaches and 'organic' fruit snacks (because if they are organic they are obviously way healthier, I mean the first ingredient is organic cane syrup instead of sugar...way healthier ;-) He also got the movie Tangled (because he wanted it, not his mother, how dare you question my motives), and a much needed piggy bank. He has been really into money lately and has been carrying a bunch of change around in a baggy, haha. Now he has a giant plastic pig to put it in. Later that morning we had a big egg hunt, just for Ollie. Basically it went like this, six adults followed Ollie around while he repeated "I found one"excitedly every time he found an egg.

A little weary of the camera.

Pure happiness! His eggs were filled with either jelly beans or money (pennies, nickels, and dimes), he loved it.

As I have said before dressing my kids in matching clothes is my FAVORITE thing to do. They looked so adorable in their matching Easter outfits.

This is what I see in my face about 90% of the day. He is always grabbing at something, usually my hair.

Sunday evening after church we ate a delicious dinner outside, went on a walk, and just hung out. It was a wonderful Easter. Having kids has made me focus more on the reason for the holidays we celebrate. I want them to know that their Savior loves them, atoned for them, and the miracle of his resurrection. I just hope we can adequately teach them, what a huge responsibility!!

Wursten Family Pictures

2011-04-23T07:50:00.000-07:00

We went home last weekend to spend time with my family. My brother in law Dave was there on leave before he deploys to Iraq, my mom's sisters were in town from PA and Letty was getting ready to head up to BYU-Idaho. These conditions made it the perfect time for a family picture since we won't be all together for a while. My wonderfully talented friend Brendi took the pictures. It was a little chaotic with five little kids but they turned out so great, we love them. We took pictures with Jason's family a few weeks ago too, so hopefully I will have those to post soon as well.

Mom with her sisters.

My sisters, we are always laughing and having fun and totally not posing.

Siblings.

The original family.

With spouses, minus kids.

How cute are my boys?

Got to have a jumping picture.

Isn't my little sister Letty so beautiful?

It seems like my parents are too young to have this many grandkids.

This was a difficult picture to take, but this one turned out cute.

Ollie looks so grown up to me here.

Everyone.

What we looked like when we weren't posing.

Another one with everyone.

Grandkids in the grass.

iPhone Pics

2011-04-09T20:49:00.000-07:00

So many of the pictures I take these days are on my phone so I thought I should unload some of them. Excuse the randomness of these pictures, but I thought most of them were too cute to not share.

I love this little baby so much! He puts everything in his mouth these days.

Self portrait by Ollie. I love that cute smile.

For gourmet dinner club a couple of weeks ago my friend Jen taught us how to make sushi. It was so fun and SO delicious. Here I am with my custom roll.

My roll had tuna, cucumber, avocado, and crab, it was delish!

Karen, Breanna and Jen.

Mallory, the tempura queen.

Yum!

Max representing Jason's favorite local bike shop in Auburn.

This is how we do nap time on a warm, sunny day.

Beach day! We love having Santa Cruz so close. Ollie has always been a little apprehensive about the beach, and he doesn't really like to get too sandy. Max was the opposite, he couldn't get enough. Maybe he will be my beach baby.

All tuckered out after a fun day at the beach. I swear Ollie wears clothes, most days :)