Recent Pictures

My blog has been down for a while so I am a little behind. Fun things have happened in the last few months:

-We went to California for Thanksgiving and New Years.

-Evan's brother Luke got married here in the Seattle temple.

-We had a nice cozy Christmas here in Redmond and even played in the snow over break.

-To top it off, we have grown more and more excited to be expecting baby #3. I am finally through the tough part and feel like a new woman. We will find out what we are having in just a few weeks.

We are thankful for another new year, another chance to try harder and do better. My motto for 2011... "Keep Calm and Carry On," the old British saying.

Brynn playing in the snow.

Mommy and Kenzie hanging out.

The family photo shoot that was supposed to result in a nice Christmas card. Unfortunately it didn't happen.

Luke and Lisa walking out of the temple..."just married!" (photo taken from Kali Leenstra http://kalileenstraphoto.com/blog/?p=3368)

4 of the 5 Millar brothers (Ray is on his mission).

Our family outside of the Seattle temple.

Words to remember:

Kinder Photo

I could stare at this all day. McKenzie, we love you to pieces. Yay for Kindergarten!

Happy Birthday Evan

People often ask me, "does Evan ever get mad or upset?" My answer is honest: "no." Because of him, our home is full of peace, love, and lots of humor. He stays the course, he holds the line, he keeps it all together. His calm, faithful, funny self keeps our family happy and thriving. He works hard and believes in playing hard. He is an amazing husband and father. Evan is nothing short of my everything.

Texas Family Comes to Seattle

Dad, Lori, and Spencer came for a visit! We were happy to have our Texas family in our home. We had beautiful weather and a lot of quality time together. It was a great reunion!

General Conference

McKenzie drew a picture of President Monson on the stand. The black lines, in case you were wondering, are "ya know, the lines on old people's faces." I'm grateful for conference. It was a fabulous weekend.

The Last 6 Months

I am not sure if I have any readers left (Hi mom). It's been a while, I know. I don't exactly know where my motivation went. At first, I was overwhelmed with the new move, making new friends, comforting my kids, and trying to get back into the groove

of a routine. But it's been over 6 months now. I seem to do just fine posting pictures on FB, but I miss blogging. So here goes.

I am also struggling a bit with my new age. When I turned 30 I started going through a lot mentally- trying to figure out if I was old or young. Trying to figure out where the time went. Trying to prove to myself I'm still young, I've still got it. But I am not sure I do. My running has slowed down. I'd rather stay in and enjoy a nice movie on the couch with my husband than hit the town for a night. I get excited about a new pot of flowers for my front porch. And for Pete's sake, I have to blend all my vegetables and fruit in a blender in order to get the amount of healthy nutrition I actually need. But all joking aside, 30 is young, I know. I am trying to realize that life actually keeps getting better. Besides, my 2 and 5 year old still think I am cool.

Here is a lengthy assortment of pictures to bore you with/demonstrate our last few months.

In May, we flew down to Disneyland for the Millar Family Disney trip! We of course, had a wonderful time. I am already anxious to return. I love the magic of that place.

In June, Brynn turned two. Now we have a solid excuse for her behavior. "Oh she is just in a terrible two's stage." Somehow, it makes me feel better. This kid is teaching me patience like NEVER before. She is really tough, but really CUTE too.

We took a trip to California for the 4th of July. It was fun to visit both of our families.

We were lucky to head back down to California for the annual beach house trip. This vacation always makes summer feel like summer. Thanks Greg and Debbie!

We enjoyed our first summer here in Washington. There is something so wonderful about being surrounded by so much water.

We had our fair share of ice cream!
And ran through the sprinklers quite a few times. Here are some neighborhood pals!
McKenzie and her closest friend, Sophia. They are two peas in a pod.

And of course, the first day of school. She loves kindergarten and hates that it is so short.

On labor day weekend we took a little day trip to Snoqualmie Falls. We live about 10 miles from this majestic place.

We have enjoyed a few visits from Grandma Liz this summer, and we love it.

McKenzie's two favorite things are writing "books" and playing soccer. We always knew she would be good at soccer, but she has already cried when she missed a shot on goal. (We're working on toning down that competitive flare she has.)

And lastly, we recently painted our living room. Makes us want to paint the whole house. Here's a shot of part of the wall (and Caillou).

Lummi Island

We just returned from a great little trip to one of the San Juan Islands, where we shared a nice beach home with 2 other families. Lummi Island is a quaint little place with beautiful scenery and beaches. We could not have asked for better weather. We are excited to return sometime soon.

Our vacation home for the weekend:

McKenzie enjoyed climbing the rocks and hanging out with the girls.

Brynn ate a ton of marshmallows. She could live on those things.

Here is Evan finally getting to eat his own smore after helping kids make some. Can you believe this picture was taken at 8:30pm? It stays light so late now!

The gang.

Kat and I thinking we should do this every weekend.

Brynn enjoyed her smore.

Karen and I had just finished a run around the island.

Looking West

Brynn and McKenzie spent a lot of time throwing rocks into the water. Oh, to be a kid.

All the kids watching a movie before bed.