First time at Cabella's

Lila and Papa at the mountain with all of the stuffed game. Lila didn't quite know what to make of it.
Make sure R2-D2 is in the picture.
Evan kissing a catfish...ew.
Tim-Parking patrol at Edison elementary. Evan-Sniper. Lila-crikey, mates!
Evan taking down the wild boars...not really a fan. (Mom, that is.)

Funky fabric

So, we got a new couch a while ago and I wanted to keep the ottoman although it needed to be reupholstered to coordinate. It took me a while to find a fabric with neutral colors, but was still fun. This is the final product. Of course a matching pillow to tie things together. I'm not diggin' the brightness of the orange pillows so we are working on that. I love this piece of furniture my Uncle made me a couple years ago. Lila calls it the magic box, (Sponge Bob episode).
Now, the most exciting "new" piece of furniture. I found this really cool, retro chair from the 1940's and it matched Tim's record player perfectly. I'd been looking for a chair for that area for some time and have been very picky about it. I had bought extra fabric for "just in case" and good deal I did. The chair turned out so cute, thanks to my mom. She is the one behind it all. So talented, and willing to help with my ongoing requests for change. Why can't I sew??? Maybe I should start!
PS-Happy 100th blog entry to us :o)

Hawk Pride!

Saturday we went to Olympia for our nephew's, Noah & Ethan's, first football game of the season. Lila thought it was so fun to be able to yell, "GO HAWKS!", and no one telling her to use her inside voice.

Here we are with Papa cheering for the winning team.Sweaty boys after a great game. They played hard and their hard work paid off with a win!
Evan & Noah...what's this? Go, go Power Rangers???
After the game my heart stopped. Lila was GONE...or was she. Little monkey, curled up in a tractor tire. She thought she was so funny. Stinker!

First Grade!

The weekend couldn't have been over quick enough for Lila. Back to school tomorrow. With 3 days under her belt, she's an old pro now. She did great on her smooth-blending & bumpy-blending test on Friday, she told us. See...we, (us old people), use to call it, sounding out words. No more! It's blending and Lila will correct you quite quickly. She's so stinkin' C-U-T-E!!!

A party ain't a party till it gets shut down

Tim's B-day was on the 29th and Uncle Dan's was on the 30th. We had a dinner party at our house and Uncle Dan's +1 was Riley his puppy!



No photos, please! I'm 39 and fine!

Riley wanted to help blow out the candles. Ruff! Ruff!

Evan and his great-uncle Pat...keep on rockin' in the real world! (That's a song). Hey is that how they do it in Hawaii Uncle Pat? Aloha wau ia 'oe! XOXO



Aunt Annie-she's got the beat!

Hole in one, two, seven???

For the last hoorah before school starts, (tomorrow), Tim took the kiddos to play putt-putt golf while I stayed home and made chocolate chip banana bread for Lila's teachers and principal, so they would have a special breakfast for the first day of school! Lila and I went to her school today and visited. We are very excited, Lila will have a teacher Evan had when he was in the 2nd grade. This is her 1st year teaching first grade. And when Evan had her it was her very first year teaching. She is a doll, young and spunky and adores the kids. I can't wait to pick up Lila after school tomorrow and hear about all her adventures!

Us, Great Grandma and 6 kids...

So, Gigi turned 75 on July 23rd and we wanted to do something special for her. She lives in Steilacoom. I should really say she lives at the beach. She LOVES the beach. So we decided to take her to Anderson Island, (Tim's family has a "get away" house there), with all 6 of the great- grandkids. Here we are in line for the ferry. Gigi had Evan, Lucas, Trevor and Chloe in her car.

Tim and I scored...we had Lila and Kayla in our car. You wouldn't know it by our self picture. Goof balls!

Up on the ferry it was snack time. Perfect photo op for Grandma and her babies.

I love back pictures. This turned out really cute. Besides my kids, this was the first ferry ride for the others. They had a blast and were ALL so well behaved. That was a blessing.

The whole trip was great. Enjoy the next few entries after this one. It's a little peek into the fun we had celebrating Grandma's birthday.

Pizza and fun!

The moment we step in the door...we want lunch! Pizza it is. Nothing but smiles. The gangsters, yo! Yeah, right.
The opposite of gangsters...aren't they so cute?! Little blondies.
I'll play you a song...
Always have to bring the bubbles.
This was so cute. Lucas couldn't reach the top of the handle and push so he improvised. It took him an hour with Uncle Timmy's supervision to cut the grass. He was determined and did a great job. Papa will be proud!

Ye Ol' Swimming Hole

This was the most fun part of the trip. We spent the afternoon at the lake and we were the only ones there! That sure was a treat. Thank you Auntie Holly for keeping the garage well stocked with inflateables. And for sharing!


I tried, but was too slow...Gigi was actually on the shark. It was good times.
Can't be at the beach with out building something in the sand. Never really found out what it was??? Chloe, comment on this post and tell me what you were building. Thanks!

Time for cake!

Gigi makes the best homemade chocolate cake! She had each kid put their candle in so we could celebrate everyone's birthday. Even though it was her birthday we were celebrating. Then we sang Happy Birthday 9 times! We tried to sing faster and faster towards the end and the kids thought it was hysterical.







Kayla trying to blow out just her candle.


After dessert the kiddos all climbed in the big bed and giggled about every little thing. 3 ended up on the floor and the 2 littlest slept next to Evan. Trevor apparently flails his arms while he sleeps so Evan was miserable. Boo hoo...



So, he ended up sleeping alot later than everyone else. The other kids couldn't take it any more and insisted on waking him up.

He was NOT amused...we all were.

When you go to Anderson Island you can't waste your time sleeping!

The end to a great time

Brother and sister, Lucas and Chloe, out for a walk on the final day so Auntie could vacuum and mop without little feet about. This is a very sweet scene, since the 2 don't live together. They really bonded at the island.

Apple ball

Pictures taken in the dark... Evan does not like picking up apples that fall from the mammoth apple tree.
So, he created apple ball. You put out a bucket and try to make the shot. He acts really excited about it, gets all his friends interested, then he slowly sneaks away while everyone else "plays". Okay, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn.
In the end Evan, Jessie (seen here) and her sister, Nickie, all played H-O-R-S-E...in the dark. Jessie had the moves and won. Jessie was in a very good mood. She is 16 and just got a car. Exciting!

The final dip

Last night I had to get another blanket out for the bed...this morning the air was crisp with that, school is about to start, smell. Autumn is definitely fast approaching. This has to be one of the quickest summers for the Miller fam. We didn't even take a big trip! We just stayed busy with lots of fun things to do.

This little pool is the one we put between the fence and the house so Lila Grace can talk to her friends. The big one just doesn't work. It was a bit chilly when she was in it, but she enjoyed and soaked in the moment of knowing that back to the toy outbuilding the little pool was going...going ...gone. Just like summer.

Tacoma Public Library Reading Celebration

Why this is sideways I do not know???

Lila finished the T.P.L summer reading club and was rewarded with a trip to the zoo for a concert by the Recess Monkey Band. It was so cute. The songs were great and Lila danced the entire hour.

Then, we were off to the lemurs and meercats. This is a new exhibit for the zoo. It's called Animal Avenue. (You might have seen the billboards or ads on the sides of the buses?) It really adds to the kids zone. Good job L.G. keep up the great reading!

Happy Birthday Gigantor!

Birthday cake? Nope, cherry cheesecake was the request.
Mc Lovin' the pillow Aunt Marie made him. Lila slept on it the 1st night since Evan went right to camp.
Flash back to the 80's. Remember the break dancers carrying their boom boxes by the Villa Plaza?
Sweet Cousin Abby away from the madness.
Fun day, fun party for a 14 year old boy. He really had a good time, we all did. Now we are trying to master the drums on Rock Band...so hard.

Thank you to everyone who shared in Evan's special day!

A wrench in our daily routine

Oh, happy day! I came home from work today to a beautiful new dishwasher snugly in it's home. You don't realize how much you depend on certain things until they quit on you...the week before a big get together...totally filled to the brim. Oh well, that's when you count your blessings. It may sound silly, but every dish I washed by hand I took the time to reflect and thank the Lord for the running, hot water that we have, the fact that I have 2 hands to be able to wash the dishes, that is a lot more than some of our wounded soldiers are able to say. I've been thinking about the soldiers a lot lately. Trying to be a faithful prayer warrior. Wishing things could come to a successful end sooner than later. Will there be a successful end? We are praying a resoundful YES! Take the time today to write a letter to someone serving overseas. Tell them you appreciate them, tell them job well done and you support them. It will make their day. http://www.anysoldier.com/

Isn't it funny how God can reach right down and send you on a different path than the one you started on? His path-the right path-every time.

Off he goes

6 days, Evan free...Wait! Who's going to wash the dishes at night and take out the garbage and recycle for me? Who's going to close the top window in the kitchen I can't reach? No, Evan don't go! I need you...you're such a huge help for me. You are so appreciated for everything you do everyday around our crazy house. You've really stepped up since Dad has been in school all year. I bet you can't wait to go to camp and be FREE!!! We can't wait to hear all the stories of the great time you had. Really soak it in. You truly grew last year and this year will be no different. You are blessed and so dearly loved. Have an awesome time...with no dishes to wash! WooHoo!!!

Rats! (As L.G. likes to say)

Well Guitar Hero play-offs are over and Big E. wasn't the grand champion. The guy that beat him told him he felt bad because Evan's part was much harder than his and it didn't seem very fair. Yea, that's right it was rigged I tell ya! It was kind of silly that they didn't have them play the exact same part. Oh well...C'est la vie!