Thanksgiving Highlights

We sent Thanksgiving in Northern California with the Johnsons this year and had a great time. We missed Becky and her family but we will see them soon when they come visit us in Vegas.

Highlights of our trip included:

Getting a rare visit with Grandma Ray - she flew in from Kansas to see us and she was her fun, fiesty self. She read to the girls, and Miles was always checking on Grandma and playing in her room. She always has a cup of crushed ice with her, so I think Miles was after that as well.




Makeovers with Aunt Megan - even Miles got some makeup, but photos were not allowed.


City kids getting face to face with nature - goats, donkeys, cows, horses, dogs, squirrels, etc.




Hanging out with Uncle Kenny - the Baby Whisperer title lives on!


Uncle Matty home from BYU-Idaho - I have no idea what this baby carrier is called, but Miles seemed to like it. I think the babies in Malaysia are a little smaller. Miles was scrunched up inside.


Discovering a new love - the rocking horse! Miles sat on this rocking horse, one that we played on as kids, all the time. I guess while Matt and I went to see Harry Potter (awesome!!!) the kids watched Toy Story 3 with my parents. Miles sat on this horse for the entire movie!


Fun times!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thankful Thursday - Thanksgiving Edition! This week, I am grateful:

1. That Claire still lets me hold her for more than 10 seconds every now and then. She is such a high-energy little girl, always running and playing. If I insist that she walk instead of run, say at church, she almost looks like it pains her to have to move that slowly.


2. That we have a little boy at our house to balance out all the girly stuff - I think I tell Miles maybe a bit too often - "you are such a boy!" But it is true - he just does things that Claire never even tried or cared to get into. He also likes to be naked :)


3. For an eternal perspective on my life - little things do set me back, or make me sad sometimes, but when you are looking at this life as a test of our faith and of our actions, it makes sense that challenges would come our way.

4. For sisters - what if I didn't have a sister?! It is nice to have a friend, who is a girl, who is stuck with you no matter what. :) I realized I need more photos of my sister when I went looking for a current one for this post. Here are a few quotes that I thought best described sisters:

"Children of the same family, the same blood, with the same first associations and habits, have some means of enjoyment in their power, which no subsequent connections can supply..." ~Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, 1814

"A sister is a little bit of childhood that can never be lost." ~Marion C. Garretty

"Sisters is probably the most competitive relationship within the family, but once the sisters are grown, it becomes the strongest relationship." ~Margaret Mead

5. My job as the marketing director for an accounting firm - I get to work at a reputable, stable company in this kind of scary economy, plus I have a great schedule - three days a week in the office. I am slowly but surely carving out more time to be home and with my kids - we will get there someday. In the meantime, I am blessed with work and a paycheck. We have had times over the past year without paychecks, which gives you a new perspective on getting to go to work.

6. And because it is Thanksgiving - one more thing to be grateful for, my husband. He can still make me laugh, he is a dad who pitches in and helps with the kids instead of coaching from the sidelines, and he is a lovely 6' 4" to match my need for high heeled boots. We are a good team in a lot of ways.



Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Hiller Family Photo

Everyone present and accounted for - the whole Hiller family.

Thankful Thursdays

I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week! This time of year just flies by. It seems like Thanksgiving gets overlooked sometimes (I agree Emily!) - when I went to look for Halloween decorations at one department store in the middle of October, they already had Christmas decorations up. I asked if they had any Halloween stuff still (after all, Halloween was still 2 weeks away), and they said they had never really put out any Halloween or Thanksgiving decorations this year (thanks Sears). I love Christmas decor as much as the next person, and Claire and I have been learning new Christmas songs for the past month, but come on!

So, to continue in the spirit of Thanksgiving, here are five things I am grateful for this week:

1. Being the oldest of five siblings - I grew up being taught about responsibility, being an example, and making good decisions since my sister and brothers would copy me (according to my dad, also an oldest child). Of course as we got older that wasn't always the case, but I think that mentality has helped me along the way.

2. Having a mortgage that we can afford - sometimes I get house envy and I wish we could move to a bigger place, but at least we have a home and it's one we can pay for each month.

3. Finally! Some cooler temps! I love Fall weather, and the few weeks a year in Vegas where it is cool without a ton of wind are the best!

4. Old friends. Having good friends kept me in Vegas for much longer than I had anticipated staying after moving here in 2000, and that led to other developments in my life, namely meeting Matt, marriage and a family. I am also grateful to have friends that have known me for 25+ years. Man, 25 years?! That's a lot of history.

5. My love of reading - I am always reading two or three books at a time, and I am just so grateful to have access to wonderful stories, histories and helpful books, plus to carve out the time to read them. There are few things I'd rather do than read a book.

Princess Hair

Claire is getting to the age where she cares how I do her hair - she chooses braids, ponytail, pigtails or headband (hair down). I really don't like to have her hair down very often so I usually say - two braids or one ponytail? so she doesn't have the option. Sometimes it works.

Today I had more time than usual to do her hair, so while she zoned into Micky Mouse Clubhouse I told her I'd do a princess hair-do. It would be easier if her hair was a bit longer than shoulder length, but if you want to recreate this look you start at the top and do a french braid, but only take hair from the outside as you add to the braid, if that makes sense. Then just keep going around and pin the end. I added the headband since the end of her braid was right in the middle of her forehead. I predict this will last all of one hour before the braid starts coming out a bit but for now she has Princess Hair! I showed her these pictures to show her what it looked like, and she just gave me a really big smile!



I'm not sure if I will really do this or not, but a few people have asked me to teach them how to french braid and do other cute braids and hair styles for little girls. If you want to join us, let me know and I will plan something.

Preview

We got holiday photos taken recently and I am so impatient waiting to see them all. I just got one preview pic today. I have a feeling I am going to love them all!

Holy Bangs!

My friend Stephanie took me down memory lane today - to a time when crimped hair and huge bangs were in. And by the looks of it we were the poster children for the 80s, even in our soccer pictures! Go Shooting Stars!