Cassie and Chris's Wedding--December 26, 2010

Congratulations to my sister-in-law, Cassie, who got married the day after Christmas! The wedding was beautiful and so much fun. Jackson was the ring bearer and had a blast with his cousins, Sophie and Mya (who were the flowergirls). He wouldn't practice at the rehearsal, so we were a little worried about his performance, but the night of the wedding, he did an amazing job! He walked with the two flower girls and was so well behaved the entire time. There was, however, a little mishap (but every wedding has to have a funny story, right?). Poor little Jackson did his job, walked down the aisle so appropriately, then, when the ceremony was about to begin, he was supposed to walk up the steps and sit in the middle of the top step, with a flower girl on either side of him. When he went to sit down, he somehow missed, and went crashing from the top step to the wood floor below. The sound was horrifying, and of course, he was scared and hurt and started screaming. So I ran up there, scooped him up, and rushed him out to the foyer to calm him down. He calmed down very quickly and told me he just wanted to go sit back on the steps. So brave and so precious! He just wanted to do his little job! The rest of the ceremony he sat on the steps and looked so handsome and sweet! Here are some pics of the gorgeous day!

Daddy helping Jackson suit up

Isaak, Rick, Christy, and Sophia hanging out before the wedding

Sophia and Isaak

Lilly with Maga

Happy Girl!

Here he is, our handsome little ring bearer!


Bridesmaids


Sophie, Jackson, and Mya


The happy couple, Cassie and Chris


My sister-in-law sang and did a beautiful job!

Beautiful girls...

Cassie and my father-in-law


Jake and his mom, Karen

Daddy's girl...

Great job planning a wedding from several thousand miles away Cassie! It was beautiful!

Christmas Day--2010

Well, Christmas Day this year did not entirely follow our traditions, but we had a great celebration of Jesus' birthday anyway. :-) Jake had to spend the night out at Daybreak Christmas Eve and didn't get to come home until Christmas Day around noon, so Santa delivered the stocking gifts and a card for Jackson explaining that all the rest of the gifts would be delivered to Nana and Papa's for Christmas Dinner so Daddy wouldn't miss out.

The card from Santa

Jackson's stocking stuffers (he is obsessed with all the little matchbox cars, so his stocking was full of them!)

Jackson helping Lilly with her stocking (she looks really interested, doesn't she)

Lilly, so thrilled with her first Christmas ;-)

So once stockings were done and Jake got home, we headed straight to my mom and dad's for Christmas dinner. Jackson and Lilly got their Santa gifts and got to open their gifts from us there.

Afterwards, we all enjoyed a wonderful dinner hosted by my parents. Most of my dad's family was able to celebrate with us (Uncle Rex and Aunt Kathy, Grandma Jones, Uncle Carl, Aunt Carol, and Derek, us, and my parents) as well as Rex's mom, Ila and her husband, Bill, Jake's cousin, Devin, and our good friend Janelle. Following dinner, we played some games and had a great time with everyone.

This coat from Nana is the cutest thing ever, and so is Lilly's expression!

Papa, Lilly, and Nana

my sweet Grandma Jones and me


most adorable little girl and sweater EVER!

trying out the new "Buzz" sleeping bag

I hope everyone's Christmas was as awesome as our's!!!!

Christmas Eve 2010

So this year Jake had to work up at Daybreak on Christmas Eve, so the kids and I went ahead and spent Christmas Eve with the Webbs. It was definitely a houseful of people! Jake's sister, Cassie, was getting married the day after Christmas, so a ton of family and friends were down from Alaska for her wedding. Christy (Jake's oldest sister) and her family were also up from Phoenix. We so missed having Jake there, but it was way busy and way fun. Rick and Donnelly (Jake's parents) hosted. So we had Rick and Donnelly, Jake's grandma, Jake's mom, Karen (down from Alaska) and her husband, Dan, Cassie and Chris (the new addition to the fam--well almost, they would be married 2 days later), Christy, Brent, Sophie, and Issak (all up from Arizona), Hannah (Jake's youngest sister), Devin (Jake's cousin), Bernadette and her daughter, Mya (Bernadette is Dan's daughter, also from Alaska), and Melina (Cassie's best friend, also down from Alaska). I think I listed everyone. Yikes!!! So we all had a fantastic time and, once again, our children were totally and completely SPOILED!

Sophia, Jackson, Mya, Devin, Grandma and Hannah eating

Cassie and Rick (Jake's sister and Dad)

Isaak, Hannah, and Sophia

Cassie, Melina, Christy, Karen, and Bernadette

Cassie and Chris

Karen (Jake's Mom) and Cassie

The total chaos of gift-opening!

Hannah-coolness

Hannah and Jackson

Isaak, Hannah, Cassie, and Chris in their Russian hats

Christmas Part #2--December 19

Traditionally Christmas Eve is spent bouncing between Jake's family's celebration and the Miller family celebration. This year my mom and my grandpa decided it would be nice to do the Miller Christmas celebration early, so we had a delicious prime rib dinner and some fun company with each other. We decided to simplify Christmas by not buying gifts for everyone, so Uncle Jerry and Aunt Patti decided people should just buy gifts for the little kids (which meant Jackson and Lilly). We missed having Lacy there (she stayed in Colorado), but otherwise had a great time!

A Colts football! (A Miller obsession)

Daddy helping Lilly open a gift

Shooting with the Buzz Lightyear gun (apparently Megan and Patti were experimenting with it before wrapping it for Jackson--I think they were having way too much fun!)

Buzz Lightyear!

Jackson scaring Uncle Jerry with his Rex flashlight

Way cute pic of my Mom and Grandpa Miller

Papa and Jackson playing with all the new Toy Story stuff

Christmas Party #1

So this year we celebrated Christmas quite a few times. My brother-in-law, Brady and sister-in-law, Kylie had to do Christmas with this side of the family early since they would be in Seattle for the holidays. They cooked dinner for us and we opened some gifts--this would only be the beginning of the Serious Haul (and yes, it warrants capitalization) that Jackson would make this Christmas. It was a fun night.

Jackson, Lilly, and I (Lilly's wearing her new tutu from Aunt Kylie!)

Papa and Lilly (Papa is Donnelly's dad)

Maga and Lilly (Maga is Donnelly's mom--aka the Baby Hog)

Uncle Brady and Lilly

Jackson munching on a goodie

Aunt Kylie showing Jackson how to use his new pirate gun

Thanks for the delicious dinner Kylie and Brady and thanks for hosting Maga and Papa!