little miss miller's, and playing catch-up

i'm playing catch-up. i have a whoooooole lot of photos to post to my blog. these are from the last visit of my sister and her girls. tomorrow i leave with jack to go visit them!:P what a goof. anyway, we had a blast when they came -- going to the beach, paul bunyanland, lighting fireworks, and hanging out. can't wait to go see them tomorrow!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! i'm sure the 8 hr. drive (stretched to 9 by the usual food and potty breaks) will just fly by.:)

my little bitty nieces

angie, her husband, and the kids stayed for a few days after grandpa's memorial. the kids all played together and had an awesome time. i love to watch them play together. they played on the swings, on the bikes, ate pop-a-sicles, watched "spongebob squarepants", and hugged each other. LOVE IT!

trying to move on after papa's gone...

i know i haven't posted a lot since gramps's accident. i am sure whoever is reading this will understand. i just didn't have the heart for it. i think that i can pick up the pieces now and move along, thanks in large part to the support of allllllll my family. it was just wonderful that all the family could make it to the memorial. gram, all three of the daughters, all 9 of the grandchildren, all 21 of the great/step-great grandchildren. and, of course, tons of the extended family. we all loved grandpa so much. my sister and her family were here a lot. here is a photo of my sis, angie, and i at rafferty's pizza the day after the memorial. mom just did not feel like eating the ham she made for lunch! and i don't blame her! this was a much better idea.:)

Christmas '09 at angie's, or...i can't fit in my pants anymore

dad, mom, jack and i took a little roadtrip to be with angie and family for their first Christmas in Minot, North Dakota. it was such a blessing to be able to have the time available to do it! 5 days of fun fun fun!:)

the road trip could have been more fun. did not see a single culver's, starbucks, or caribou coffee from baxter to minot (we didn't go through bemidji, mn. there may have been signs of civilization there!). i was dying for a coffee on the way out and did find a very nice mom-n-pop joint in devils lake, no dak. on the way back it was sunday and it was closed. well, Praise the Lord and boo hoo!:) oh, and did i mention jack's blow out diaper? and the burger king that didn't have a changing table? not fun.

Christmas at angie's was fun. we had to open gifts the first night because the kids were wound up out of their minds and we were going out of ours.:) jack was as excited as predicted about his "d-tar" from auntie angie and uncle matt. jack loves to play his guitar and make up songs. the girls seemed very pleased with the headbands, and doll hats and scarves i knit them.

the Christmas food was our usual feast of naughtiness: swedish tea rings galore, huge taco dip, egg bake, homemade pancakes, french dip sandwiches...where's the veggies?! who cares?!:) ha ha! i think there were a few eaten in the five days. and some fruit. oh, and i am sure there were some diced veggies in the food the night we went out for chinese. i am sure that counted. anyway... Merry Christmas it was!

potter family... 80's style

i found this family photo over at my gram's house. i am taking precious family photos that i discovered were in a 4-drawer dresser next to the TOILET in my gramp's bathroom, and putting them in an album. this photo was taken in front of our tiny little first home. i am on the left. my sis and i are wearing "member's only" jackets, i think. you probably can't tell, but there are pin stripes on my jeans, and i am wearing kilty tasseled loafers!!! ha ha! but they do not have taps. (pcc inside joke)

new name for miller girl #4!

not eleanor! angie and matt decided to call their fourth daughter, elles. like ellis island. elles angela miller. lissy for short. i visted her on saturday with jack and my dad. elles is sweet. can't wait to see her again. angie is doing ok. she is still in pain from her c-section. she is still in the hospital. hope she can get the help she needs to take care of the 4 girls in the next weeks. pray for them. thank you.

baby girl miller #4

my sister, angie, had her baby today sometime around noon. it was her 4th c-section. the baby girl was 7 lbs. 14 oz. and 20 1/2 inches. she has thick, dark, wavy hair. angie says that explains the heartburn. the tentative name is eleanor angela. jack, my dad and i are going down to see the miller's tomorrow. i can't wait! this is my 5th neice. think of the great slumber parties i can have some day! will post photos as soon as possible.

we talk about dying

my husband and i contemplate dying. we both know where we are bound, so it doesn't bother us much. i have it really good, too. if i go first... well dan will be fine because he has a good job, money in the bank, and i think i am a very expensive pet sometimes.:) now, if dan goes first i will be alright because there is money in the bank... and i can sell off all of dan's toys. ha ha! i would be very curious to know what other couples think about death. do they have wills? we really need to do one, but haven't. well, i have one on the computer that doles out my costume jewelry and star wars glasses collection, but not a legal will.

last night i told dan that i was going to put some phrase on his tombstone. it wasn't that clever. i don't even recall what i said. then i asked dan what he would put on my stone. he said, in a terrific imitation of my sister's freaky voice, "molly-ween". and that is why i fell in love with him. he is too funny sometimes.

first entry of new year

happy '08! here are the breaking news stories in molly-ville.

jack said his second word 2 days ago. his first word was "mama". his second word was "dada"! what a sweetie. i swear he repeated the word "dirty" after me the other day, but that might have been a fluke. jack has a very deep voice. sort of like my niece enolea.

wednesday my sister called me on her birthday to inform me that she is going to have a fourth child. she is due sept. 8th. and she's trying to go v-back, ladies. that's going to be something. yeah for angie!

my friend from pcc days, marian, got engaged! her ring is very sweet and unique.

my Christian friend at work was told wed. that her position was eliminated. so sad. i am totally bummed. now i am really all alone... the only Christian. the only one working at night. it will be ok. God is in control. my heart goes out to kelly.