Summer Favorites

We had an exciting summer.  In all the craziness I fell way behind on things I wanted to blog about so here is a quick recap of some of my favorite pictures:

My Spencer loves fishing just like his Dad.

Owen just enjoys the great outdoors like his Mom.

Family BBQ Miller style...my in-laws are crazy Ü 

We spent many summer days at the pool and my boys turned into little fish.

Reunited and it feels so good!

 Owen and Becca

Way to go Grandpa!

A great adventure or negligent pregnant mother...you decide.

Mirror Lake with some cousins

Then this little lady joined the fam!

 First day of first grade.  I can't believe I missed it (being in the hospital and all) but Dad did a great job and it's official Spencer is growing up too fast. 

Anna Kate

We had a little surprise on Sunday, August 19th.  Our sweet Anna Kate decided to join our family three weeks earlier than expected.  At my doctors appointment earlier that week my suspicions were confirmed that she was still breech.  My doctor said we would wait another week or two and see if she turned that then talk about the other options.  Well, we never got the chance because early Sunday morning my water broke which meant that Miller baby #3 was going to join us via C-section. Everything went very smoothly and before we knew it we heard the beautiful sound of our baby girls first cries.  We are totally in love.

I may be biased but I think she is one of the most beautiful babies I have ever seen.

Because we love her so much we will excuse the fact that she totally messed up our plans by coming early.  We were still two weeks away from moving to our new home and hadn't done much by way of preparing for  her to be here but we worked it out.  We feel so blessed to have this sweet little baby in our family.

"I blame you!"

I'm sure I provided the neighbors some great entertainment as I ran up and down the sidewalk 8 months pregnant, hunched over trying to help this kid figure out the art of riding a bike.  At first he wanted to give up but after a little pep talk and a few days of trying a little each day  he got it!  My favorite memory from teaching my first born this valuable life skill was when he was trying to master starting on his own.  He went up the street aways and then stopped to turn around.  He told me he wanted to start himself but after watching him struggle and get more and more frustrated I started to walk up the street to help.  When I got about 20 feet away he looks up at me and shouts, "I blame you!"  Apparently it was my fault because I was coming to help so I turned around and left the boy to figure it out on his own.  Moments later he came riding by as happy as could be.  Now at his request we spend about an hour a day outside as he rides up and down the street savoring his new found independence.

 Not to be out done by his brother Owen has learned to use his pedals and is very proud of himself but I must say there is something mischievousness about a little boy on a big wheel riding at full speed.  He is smiling for the camera here but he usually looks like he is on his way into battle.

We're not in Kansas anymore

This post has been a long time in coming because it's a little overwhelming to share all the feeling that I have felt over the past few months.  We have been blessed in so many ways but still change is hard for me and we've had a lot going on.  

When Scott found out that he got the job in Utah and needed to start in two weeks we decided that it would be easier for him to go out alone and we would stay in Kansas and take our time packing up and let Spencer finish Kindergarten and then meet him there.  It was a perfect plan but we greatly underestimated how hard it would be to be apart for 9 weeks.  It was hard and we will never do anything like that again but we made the best of it.  One of the hard parts was that Scott was going to miss my sonogram and finding out if our baby is a boy or girl.  Spencer was given the title of "Man of the house" while dad was away, which he took very seriously, and one of his duties was to accompany me to the appointment.  He was so cute about being there for me.  The nurse wrote the gender of the baby in an envelope so we could open on video chat with Scott and share the moment as a family.  Terrible picture but the only one we got.  We couldn't be more excited about the news that we are having a baby GIRL!!!

What better way to wrap up our time in Kansas than a good tornado scare.  It was a Sunday night when the sky got eerily dark and we decided we better turn on the news.  Sure enough a tornado touched down about 5 miles west of us and was heading our way.  I had just finished making french toast for dinner when the sirens started so we grabbed out dinner and headed to our safe place to eat.  Spencer was so brave but Owen was really nervous about it all so we tried to make it feel like a party in the pantry.  I thought I better call and let Scott know what was going on and unfortunately he was right in the middle of family dinner with his whole side of the family.  I think we gave them all a pretty good scare but we were safe and no tornado hit our house.

We made sure to fit in as many of our Kansas favorites before leaving.  The Deanna Rose Farm was one of those.  Owens first time being old enough to ride the pony's.  Of coarse he got the biggest one and I was worried that he would freak out but he loved it.

Feeding the goats 

Lunch break

Another one of our favorites were all the great river trails.  We spent a lot of time running, biking and taking long walks on these beautiful trails that are all around Overland Park.  This is a relaxing Sunday stroll after church.

It seems so silly but I am really going t miss running these trails.  It was so pretty and shady and I could go for miles without dealing with crossing roads or traffic.  

I was really good about bring my camera with me everywhere we went in those last few weeks.  Unfortunately I kept forgetting the battery was dead so many of our outings were not photographed.  We loved every minute of time with our Kansas friends.  

I was so spoiled by my friends in the Red Bridge Ward.  They threw me a baby shower where we ate great laughed together and talked as we made hair bows of every variety for our little girl.

I was lucky enough to have a friend watch the boys for me one morning so I could go do a session at the new Kansas City Temple and what a great experience that was.    

We went with our dear friends to the coolest dinosaur restaurant ever.  Almost too cool because Owen was terrified of the huge T-Rex in the entrance and took some major coaxing to get him in the restaurant.  He warmed up too it all and we had a great time. 

We spent one last afternoon poolside with our favorite pool buddies.  

I left Kansas overwhelmed by how much I had grown to love it there.  We made great friends and we miss them already but are grateful for the time we had with them and are glad that many of them have family they visit in Utah so hopefully we will still get the chance to get together.  We had some great neighbors who we loved getting to know and who took great care of me and the boys while Scott was away.  I thought I was making the ultimate sacrifice to move to Kansas of all places for Scott's job.  I did not expect that two and half years later it would be hard to leave.  We will always cherrish the memories and friends made.

So Sweet!

A few days before Mothers Day Spencer asked me if on the night before Mothers Day I would get out the toaster for him.  I said sure and asked Scott later if he had told Spencer to ask that.  To my surprise he had not and Spencer had come up with my Mothers Day toast in bed plan all by himself.  So, on Mothers Day Eve I set out the toaster along with some butter and cinnamon and sugar and went off to bed.

Owen decided that Mothers Day was a good day to wake up at 6:30 and come play with mom so we got an early start to the day but I knew I was supposed to stay in bed.  At one point Owen was begging me to get up but I told him I couldn't until Spencer was awake. 

Quick side story...when Spencer was about three he got n the habit of waking up way too early so we put a clock in his room and taught him that he needed to stay in bed until seven zero zero.  The habit was broken because that kid sticks to the rules like glue and ever since then he must have a clock in his room and will not come out until after 7:00.  No, complaints here.

Owen went in and told Spencer to get up and I could hear some whispering and then sure enough right at 7 they come out and head downstairs.  The sounds that came from my kitchen that morning were the best gift I could have asked for.  My boys working together on a special treat for me.  Spencer talking to Owen just like I do when I am giving him instructions.  Owen talking way too loudly and being hushed even louder by his brother as he is telling him not to ruin the surprise.  About 7:40...Ü...here they come.

With this

The picture doesn't do it justice.  It was all I could do not to laugh out loud as they stood by my bed and made sure I ate every bite.  Whenever they turned around I would scrape off as much butter as I could and luckily they remembered a glass a milk to help wash it down.  Owen contributed the candy that I had accidentally left out from the day before.  In more than one way it was the sweetest breakfast I have ever had.  This had the potential to be a very hard Mothers Day but my boys took good care of me and made my day very special and the best part is they learned it all from watching their dad.

One CRAZY Spring Break

When we found out that Spencer had over a week off from school for spring break we decided it was the perfect time to head to Utah for a visit. It was an action packed week of family, friends fun and more...

Most of it isn't photographed but we will start with the parts that were. After Scott spent Saturday morning helping his brother Nate and family move into their new home we decided it was time to hit the movies with the Duncans.

The Boys at The Lorax

Spencer went home with the Duncans and we brought Parson with us. I couldn't get enough of the little chatter boxes in the back seat.

Cool Cousins
On our 8th wedding anniversary we packed a lunch and took the boys on trax downtown. The boys loved the childrens section of the church history museum.

Headed to the promised land

Doing some building Mayan style
and harvesting some crops.
It was fun to be at the Salt Lake Temple grounds exactly 8 years later and talk to the boys about the day we were married there. It has been a wonderful 8 years and it hasn't been exactly how I pictured my life would go...with all the changes and challenges it has been better. Love you Scott.


Great Grandpa Miller took us on an awesome tour of Hill Air Force Base. He worked there for many years and then spent many more years volunteering. He hasn't been up there since he stopped being able to drive and it was fun to be there with him and see him in his element.
This picture is in front of the exact type of plane my Grandpa Scott flew in during World War 2.

"To infinity and beyond."
Rae put together a great little St. Patrick's Day party for the Miller cousins and I love how everyone helps out to make it a success. Fun was had by all.
Do they come any cuter?


It was seriously a week jam packed full of fun. We were able to:

Go to a friends 30th, 80's themed, birthday party and surprise him (play some awesome dodge ball).

Hang out with old friends and do some catching up.

Hit up the much improved Classic Fun Center with cousins.

ANNOUNCE THAT WE ARE EXPECTING BABY NUMBER THREE IN SEPTEMBER

and....

GET AN AMAZING JOB IN UTAH!!!

To expound a little on the last two I will share some details.

We found out in January that we were pregnant and decided it would be fun to keep it secret until our visit in March. It seems like no big deal but we both kind of stink at keeping those things secret. We hadn't quite decided how we were going to announce but within the first hour of us being at the Miller's Owen mumbled..."My mommy has a baby in her tummy." Grandma was the only one to catch it and asked him to repeat it and that took care of that. Our secret is out! We are so excited.

Last but not least of this incredibly lengthy post is the story behind getting a job that will move us back to Utah. About 6 months ago Scott connected with a guy who does GIS work (what Scott does) for a company in Utah. His brother Willie gets all credit for that one. When they first talked he told Scott that his company wasn't hiring but he would let Scott know if heard of any other jobs. Well, time went by Scott was making some progress with his job here in Kansas and we decided that we would try to buy a house here and just stay and see what happens with his current job. On Valentines Day we put an offer on a cute little house that we both loved. We wanted it SOOOO bad. Turns out someone else put an offer in the same day and out bid us. We were devastated. I was hormonal and ticked thus ensuing an emotional melt down based on how nothing ever works out for us. Scott and I talked and prayed and decided there was something we were supposed to be doing. He emailed the guy previously mentioned and turns out they had a position that just opened up. He sent his resume over and two hours later had a phone interview set up. The phone interview went well and we packed up to head to Utah for spring break (bringing his suit just in case). On the drive out there while we were somewhere in Iowa they called and set up an interview for while we were in town. Can you say perfect timing? He interviewed and felt it went really well and sure enough the next day as we were sitting in Arctic Circle having shakes we got the call that changed out lives. Great job, better pay and close to family. We feel so blessed and I have since repented for my previous pity party. Scott started two weeks later and he is in Utah while I am here in Kansas wrapping things up and Spencer is finishing the school year. Come Memorial Day we will be Utahns again!

Owen is THREE

I know it looks like he is holding up two fingers but I promise all three are up Ü. I love this silly little guy so much. He has this little sense of humor that entertains all of us. His facial expressions leave little room for wondering if his is happy or mad. When he is happy he grins form ear to ear but when he is not he will scowl a pretty fierce scowl. We decided on a cars theme for his birthday because he almost always has a car in his hand and it worked out nicely that Cars 2 stuff was on clearance at Target! He loved his cake which turned out good and tasted great but apparently I shouldn't do cakes late at night. Happy Birthay Owen!

It doesn't take much to make this kid happy. When He got a card from his Great Grandma Scott in the mail he ran around waving it in the air yelling, "It's for my birthday!" and wouldn't put it down.