Tag: Miller

Categories
life

Not Pregnant Anymore

To finish a story that Laura started earlier today – when we bought Angel last night (Savannah’s new pet mouse) we knew we were in for an adventure since she was pregnant. The woman at the store guessed that Angel would have her babies in about a week. I figured that was enough time for Angel to get adjusted before we would have to stop handling her while the babies were in their infancy. (We were told that handling the mother after the babies were born might make the mother become aggressive toward the babies.)

Angel had her babies today (probably very close to the time Laura published her post). They are two cute pink squirmy things right now, but we expect to enjoy watching them grow until we have do decide whether to keep them or to sell them.

Categories
life

New Christmas Tradition

Living in a wonderfully snowy and hilly location, Laura and I volunteered our house as Laura’s family began planning a sledding excursion for the day after Christmas. While we were still in the planning stages I suggested to Laura that this might be something we could do every year.

Everyone decided to take us up on the offer and so our house was overflowing for most of the day. We had a great time hosting a relatively large event for the first time since we moved. Based on the reactions of everyone who came it was an enjoyable experience for all. Our house was close enough to the sledding hills for the group to have the flexibility necessary for our children of various ages and the hills were perfectly suited to the different needs of our varied age groups. We had a great meal before hand and plenty of time to socialize and drink hot chocolate after the sledding. It was perfect. Laura and I have decided that we are definitely going to do this every year. Now that we have had the experience once we will probably expand our invitation in future years to include more family and friends to share in the fun.

Categories
life

“Light of the World”

I’m not sure how long it has been there, but website for the Mormon church’s children’s magazine, The Friend, has a place where kids can Color Online. Savannah was playing there this morning during my scripture study and she called out to me that she was going to put a background of light on the picture of Jesus in the picture she was coloring “because it’s one of His names, ‘the light of the world.'” I thought that was very insightful – I wonder if any artists thought of it that way back when it was standard practice to place a halo of light around the face of Christ.

Categories
life

Primary Songs by Mariah

Mariah sat down at the piano today and started playing and singing for Issac and me. The primary children’s songbook was opened to I Am a Child of God. Here is what Mariah sang to us:

I am a child of God and He has sent me toooo . . . go get the brass plates.

Isaac asked for her to sing the temple song so she turned to a page in the songbook with a picture of Jesus and started singing Isacc’s favorite “temple song.” Here were her lyrics:

I love to see the temple, I’m going there someday, to get the brass plates.

I wonder if anyone can guess what story has recently made an impression on Mariah.

Categories
life

Universal Holiday Spirit

If you do a little searching here my position on Halloween could hardly be described as positive. This year as we partook of the festivities of the day I underwent a marked change in perspective. We spent a couple of hours walking around our new neighborhood with the kids. The older two would run from house to house gathering more goodies than is good for them and the younger two would generally try to keep up, but they would stay back with Laura and I as we enjoyed conversations with many of our neighbors. We would then hurry three or four houses forward to catch up with the older girls (who would have gathered candy from the intervening houses not only for themselves, but for the younger two as well) and talk to another neighbor.

After this year, I sitll don’t care about Halloween as a “dress up and gather/distribute candy” activity, but I sure enjoyed it as a “get out and talk to friends and neighbors” activity. Unlike the last couple of years we were also blessed with perfect weather this year – this is the kind of Halloween that I can enjoy, and I hope to bring this attitude into future years.

Categories
life

Meet Zach

Yesterday we got a dog. We’ve been talking about it for a long time and Laura and I had decided by June to get one after the move. Two weeks ago (or even a week ago) we were expecting to get a dog for Christmas, but on Friday we decided to go look at a beagle that was available at the Humane Society. Since we were looking at dogs, which the kids loved, we visited the Pet Super Adoption that was taking place in Salt Lake City – that’s where we met Zach (he was named Brom there). He’s a Heeler/Terrier mix. He just fit right in with the rest of the family. Since the event was closing for the night and we didn’t know much about heelers (we had focused our research on beagles) we decided to learn what we could about his breed overnight and then adopt him in the morning (assuming we didn’t learn anything too alarming about heelers).

It was interesting yesterday while we were out running errands to see how Zach was so attached to everyone in the family. At one point I got out of the car to run a quick errand and he went from content to nearly frantic (according to Laura – I wasn’t there) until I came back. Later Laura left for a short time and he had the same reaction.

After only 24 hours we have had our first escape (this morning before church) and our first home alone time (church). We also know that Zach can jump the fence so we’re happy to see that he tends to come back. We are already looking forward to the time when we all get used to the new rhythms of pet ownership when we and Zach all know what to expect of each other.

Categories
life

Taking Posession

After a long weekend with no internet access I was not at all surprised at the long list of emails that I had to deal with. It was a very good weekend to be disconnected since I had plenty to do as we moved into our new house. After a good three day weekend we are pretty well established with most of the boxes unpacked (besides those that are sitting in the garage – which is mostly food storage) and the furniture arranged. I fixed a couple of doorknobs with dysfunctional locks but not before Savannah accidentally locked herself inside the upstairs bathroom (the lock was easy to lock, but unlocking it from inside the bathroom was too difficult for women and children). I also mounted a flag bracket so I can fly the flag here.

It’s been a very fun few days as we have been awed and surprised to watch all the birds and squirrels, to feel the mountain breezes, to see so many stars at night now that we are above the main part of the city, and to look out the window before a storm and realize that we are literally living in the clouds at times. After today I should have internet access again so I won’t have to wait out the weekend before sharing when fun new things happen in our new home.

Categories
life

Done Deal

It’s been more than a week since we received word that there were no more obstacles in the home sale and purchase that we have been working on. (As with selling my house, we completed our home purchase without enlisting the help of a real estate agent.) Despite all the assurances, I never feel fully comfortable until the money has changed hands and the sales have been recorded. Today was that day. It’s nice that no change of status can derail either of those contracts anymore. Now we just have to move the stuff.

Categories
culture life

Feeling Welcome

Laura and I are very excited about the house we are buying in Bountiful – even before our visit there today. We were visiting the house as part of an inspection and while we were there we were given an invitation to a neighborhood party that the neighbors are throwing for us and the couple that is moving out of the house. The party is set for one week before we close and the whole purpose of it is for us and the neighbors to get to know each other even before we move in.

Can we say “inviting?”

Categories
life

Family Vacation

I’m trying to decide if my expectations are delusional, or simply higher than necessary.

This week I am taking an extended family vacation for the first time since I got married. There have been a few gathering similar to this which we have been unable to attend, but mostly our extended family events are holiday gatherings that stop short of vacations for us (since they are often close to where we live). In planning for this vacation I anticipated that I would not do a lot of blogging, but since blogging really is invigorating for me I did expect to keep it up a little bit over the week.

Now I come to the end of Wednesday and I have not even glanced at the news or thought of something that I could write about. I had things to write on Sunday, but I was too busy getting ready. Since then, the only reason I have even been able to check my email daily is that I am trying to secure a lovely house that we saw on Saturday.

Were my expectations to high, or will other trips allow me to do some blogging during the vacation?