Fall Party 2009

The question inevitably comes up..."Wow-Haven came early! Were you ready? What were you doing before she came?" (our actual due date was Nov. 12th with Haven arriving on Nov. 1st) ...well, we actually had hosted about 40 ISU students at our house for a Fall Party-pumpkin carving, apple bobbing, singing...it was great fun! Who knew a mere 3.5 hours after the last person left, my water would break & life as we know it would be drastically changed-for the good mind you, but changed nonetheless! Enjoy some pictures...

Some came in costumes...i.e. Tori & Brittany

...or as in the Richard Simmons ladies from "Sweatin to the Oldies"

With 40 people in our small condo, we made use of every inch of our place, including the garage where the apple bobbing took place.

Shane forming a game plan

but the real winner of apple bobbing was actually Aaron (flannel shirt) who also coincidentally walked into our front door :) Aaron snagged 9 apples in 30 seconds!

pumpkin carving was slow in starting but we got some incredible pumpkins!

the winner is on the far right and was drawn free hand-no template!
Great job Abby & Kimmy!

the ISU kids surprised us by giving little Haven a set of her crib sheets, a darling dress outfit, and the book "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus"...which if you've not read it, go buy it...it's pretty hilarious...since I'm a teacher, they then made me read it :)

last but certainly not least, 2 members of our "fan club" decided to put on a skit depicting Katie & Arlan - they were quite the entertainers & I must say observed our mannerisms quite well!
(Sarah M. is on the left & Polly H. is on the right)

more pictures

Getting her buckled in for her ride home from the hospital

Haven in her swing...Arlan loves this picture!

Grandma & Haven after Haven's first sponge bath :)

The proud grandparents!

Haven getting her first glimpse of Aunt Emmy.

introducing Haven Miller

Haven Noel Miller
born 11-1-09
6 lbs. 6 oz
18 1/2 in. long

More pictures to come....

Gridley hog roast...er, beef BBQ

Every church, whether AC or not, kind of has their yearly "gathering"...for some it's a choir event, a sunrise service, charity auction-you name it, there's one. For us in Gridz, it's our annual hog roast-only this year, due to the occupation of the hosts, it became the annual beef BBQ. Historians of Gridley record this as the 9th annual. My dear husband took over 100 pictures but I'll bestow upon you just a few. Such great people, food, and hosts! Thanks Alan & Theresa-it was a great time!

I love this final picture as I empathize with little Lincoln Ringger...it is extremely difficult & confusing to narrow your choices down at the dessert table!

family wiener roast

After baby shower #2, we headed off to the annual October Miller wiener roast. What used to be an event in honor of my sis-in-law Cathy's birthday, has now been a combined celebration of her birthday, my nephew Elijah's birthday, and his Dad, Sean's birthday. Here are just a few pictures of the event...chilly, but event-filled nonetheless!

our darling nephew Will...even if we are biased, we do think he is quite handsome for only being 8 weeks.

the crazy kiddos...they received free t-shirts courtesy of Mr. & Mrs. Miller from PCHS :)

cousin Jeremy with his little cutie, Levi...who is soon to have a sister in February!

baby shower #2

After surviving a week of Homecoming activities at PCHS (the theme this year was "Treasure Island"-trust me, "dress like a pirate" day made for an interesting, pregnant Mrs. Miller pirate!), we were fortunate to have another baby shower given to us and our little girl. Aunt Twyla was the gracious host along with two other "moms" of mine in Gridley, Dixie & Marge. It was a fun shower & we received such lovely gifts...thanks all for attending!

our hosts

do we look like parents in about 1 month?!

our yummy treats

the two grandmas...one of the best parts of the weekend was being able to share the shower with my mom, who traveled all the way from NW Iowa, knowing she will be soon be coming again for little Miller! Thanks Mom for making the trip!

... and my dear mother even brought my favorite gift of the day...a basket of treasures! My mom had organized herself & layered in this lovely basket several of my baby items including a crocheted baby bib from my Great-Grandma Wulf, MY (not my sister's hand-me-down) blanket that was used just for church, my 1st church dress, and my 6 mo. old and 12 mo. old dresses....each of these items had an attached picture along with it!
It was so special & brought a few tears to my eyes!

Meggie Jo was able to also attend our "shower" & received the gift for participating in the game "parenting advice & favorite name"...Jo-Jo's advice was to "give the baby a bottle when it cries" and her name was Mara...Dixie Lee came in a close 2nd but due to ballot box fraud, we went with Meg's name!


Ms. Amelia