Christmas

This year we celebrated Christmas a little early. We opened our gifts on Christmas Eve morning, so that we could head down to Jake's parents to celebrate with the rest of the Miller family.

Miller Christmas 2010

Hayden with his new favorite toy...a drill from Great Grandma Shirley and Gr. Grandpa Fred

Motorcycle man.....Hayden loves his four wheeler, but doesn't understand how to steer, so he just drives around the house crashing into things and cracking up!

Hayden and Derek

Attack of the babies!

Sledding on the creek...Hayden had a ball walking around in his cowboy boots. He kept falling down and laughing his head off.

Uncle Kirk teaching Hayden how to play video games.

It wouldn't be Christmas without Texas Hold 'em.

Christmas was a lot of fun this year. We also went to Massanutten indoor waterpark, but I didn't get any pictures of that. We had a wonderful year in 2010 and we are looking forward to an even better year in 2011!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

O Christmas Tree

Last Friday we went to the official lighting of the town Christmas tree. It was a VERY cold, but we had a lot of fun.

Poolesville Town Christmas Tree

There was a guy there carving ice sculptures with a chain saw!

We decided to introduce Hayden to Santa just to see his reaction. He would not let go of Bailee, so she went up with him. Hayden took one look at Santa and freaked out. It was hilarious!


Saturday morning we went to a local tree farm to pick out our Christmas tree. This was a lot more fun than picking it out in a parking lot!

Hayden was climbing all over Jake, trying to help with the tree.

Hayden cutting the tree down.

The boys feeding the tree.

The final product. Note the placement of the ornaments? They are just out of Hayden's reach. We had to put the tree on a box to raise it up high enough that he couldn't reach it. Not the most glamorous tree, but at least the ornaments are safe!

Thirteen

Happy 13th Birthday Bailee!!

Bailee turned 13 on Thanksgiving. I cannot believe we have a teenager now. Here are a few pictures from her birthday celebration.

New earbuds for her Ipod

Fashion Diva with her new scarf

The traditional professionally decorated cake :)

Straight A's

Bailee got straight A's for the first quarter! Her school had a special ceremony to celebrate the kids that made the honor roll and made special notice of the ones that did it with a 4.0. They did this on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.

Bailee receiving her certificate from the school counselor Mrs. Arnold

Bailee and a few other straight A kids

Bailee with her friends Anelia and Megan....they decorated her locker for her birthday

We are so proud of Bailee. It is no small feat to get straight A's. She has four advanced classes and usually has 2-3 hours of homework each night. She definitely earned her 4.0.

Great Job Bailee!! Keep up the good work!

Bostyn

This is Bostyn's 5th grade school picture. Absolutely beautiful if you ask me.

Graduation

Kyle graduated from AIT (Advanced Individual Training) on Tuesday morning. I took the kids down and we were able to spend almost the entire day with him. It was a really neat experience. I am really sad to not have him so close anymore, but I am really excited to see where his future will take him. He is an amazing man and he will go far in life. Congratulations and good luck Kyle! We love you!

Best Friends

PFC Nyland receiving his diploma from SFC Cochran

Hayden kept asking Kyle for kisses

Kyle with two of his biggest fans

This is where Kyle attended classes....Ordnance School

His barracks

Lapid, Young, Simmons, Kolpin and Nyland


HOOAH!!

Our nation's capital

Sunday we headed in to D.C. for a family day. We went to the Museum of Crime and Punishment first, then went down to the mall. All of the monuments were even more beautiful, with the fall leaves on the trees.

Washington Monument

Jefferson Memorial

Hayden found a few squirrels and had a blast chasing them around the steps. He got irritated when they would jump off the steps into the bushes.

Washington Monument at sunset

I love living so close to DC. There is so much to see and do. It is great to be a tourist in your own backyard.

Happy Veteran's Day

Happy Veteran's Day to the millions of servicemen and women around the world. There are a few people that I would like to personally thank.

Kyle Nyland - Army

Fred Smith - Army

Laurie Smith - Army

Brent Smith - Navy


Dave & Patti Johansen - Air Force
Charles Miller - Air Force

Charles Miller - Air Force

Luke & Jennifer Miller - Air Force

I feel very honored to have all of these brave and wonderful people in my family. Thank you all for the sacrifices you have made to keep our country safe.

Show Off

I would like to show off a little bit. I have been working on this project for over a year. I have finally finished it and I am so excited! Now I just have to fork over the dough to get it framed. It's almost 4 feet long! Yikes!

12 months with leaf border cross stitch on linen

Looking forward to my next project!

All good things must come to an end

This weekend was our last visit with Kyle. Next Tuesday he will graduate from AIT and be moving to his base in Oklahoma. I made a cake to honor and celebrate him. It wasn't perfect, but my heart was in the right place.

U.S. Army cake...with raspberry filling...yum!

We decided Sunday morning to go down to Fredericksburg and take the Old Town trolley tour. I'd wanted to do that when we lived in Virginia, but we never got the chance.

Kenmore Manor - George Washington's Sister's House - built in 1775

Kenmore Manor - see the black dot? It's a cannonball from the Revolutionary War!

More cannonballs in the Presbyterian Church