Thanksgiving 2008

Hope everyone had an excellent Thanksgiving. We sure did. This was our first Thanksgiving in Heber and the first time we haven't traveled. It was nice and relaxing. All of the McEuen clan was there except for the Winslows. Ann and her helpers did wonders with the food and Tony Romo once again led my fantasy team to a big win. What a great day!
Before the meal Jack was curious about the toy that kept Lily so entertained. Lily was interested in the celery in Jack's hand.
Lily and the boys. Nick, Seth, Porter, Kru, Jack.
Without the babies to hold there was spontaneous hugging.
Come evening we all had to change into our stretchy pants. By the end of the night Jack had to go without pants. We'll spare you the details. Kru and Lily also got the celery they had been coveting.
Aren't these two just the cutest?

California Trip

Here are a few photos from Beth and the kids' recent trip to California. The week was filled with swimming, playing, and eating (of course!)

I was there

Along with the the standard answers of wedding, birth of children, first time you conquered Mario Bros., etc., this probably makes it into the top 10 moments of my life. Sad I know but it was just so wild. Three seconds left, down by four, at your rival's house, touchdown, sheer pandemonium. I fear I may be walking into the fire tomorrow but I'm doing it anyways. There's always that chance something like this could happen again and I can't pass it up.

Enter to learn, go fourth and 18.

Lily Potter

Speaking of sleeping habits . . .

Please address Lily's mail in the future to "The Cupboard Under the Stairs". She has been doing her best Harry Potter impression for a few weeks, hopefully it won't be as traumatic an experience for her. She graduated from our bedroom and I wasn't ready to give up the office. We thought about putting her in Jack's room so that he could teach her the beauty of sleeping until 8:30 a.m. However, the risk of her teaching him to wake up any time from 4:00 to 7:00 was too great. So it was off to the cupboard for Lily, a role once filled to some acclaim by the lovable Labrador, Cheyenne.

A Boy and his Blanket

It's official, Beth has finally left me. For the week. She packed up the kids and along with her sisters and mother are in California for a week. I miss them like crazy but it's even crazier how productive I've been without them. I've been able to get ahead in work and school, start and finish Spring cleaning, organize closets, wash cars, and even see a couple movies. Tonight it's Quantum of Solace stay tuned for my review. Maybe I'll just preemptively give it now, it was awesome!

Maybe the thing I'm most excited about is the newly cleaned and organized refrigerator. While detailing the fridge I came across a teriyaki marinade. The "Best By" date was November 7th, that's not bad, wait for it, wait for it, 2004! The most disturbing part is we have only lived here since 2006 meaning we moved with this marinade. That is highly unlikely since I am quite literally terrified of any food even near the sell or best by date. So the only logical conclusion is that somebody planted it there to freak me out when I was home alone. Come forward Mr. put old teriyaki in someone else's fridge and explain yourself!

Back to what I was originally going to post about. The pain of missing family is strongest whenever I walk in the front door. Usually one of two things happen, I am greeted with chants of "dada, dada" with hands in the air or if that doesn't happen it means I can go and peek in on the sleepers. Peeking in on the kids sleeping is one of my absolute favorite things in life and I do it several times before going to bed myself. Often Jack is out like a light with his blanket shoved halfway into his mouth. Jack has always had a weird habit of sucking on his blankets. We never could get him to take a binky but shove some soft cotton into his mouth and it calms him right down. We mostly limit the blanket experience to bed and the car in an effort to keep them close to clean. The worst is when he finds a blanket in the wash after or around a meal and pops it into his mouth. Oreo drool blankets are my least favorite. It's a crack up to watch him feel around a for a dry spot to put in his mouth. Apparently sucking on a wet spot would just be gross. Gotta love him!
May 2007
November 2007
February 2008

May 2008
July 2008



On a related note Lily is now at that stage where everything gets put into her mouth but even before that we caught her sucking on her blanket.

Aspen and 30th Birthday

Last week we spent an extended weekend in Aspen. We used my birthday as the excuse to get out of town. Why should I be depressed at home when I can be depressed elsewhere? It was great timing with a slow couple days at work and the off season in Snowmass allowing us to stay at the Grandpa Miller condo for cheap. Brian and Jackie joined us as well for a couple days. It was a nice low key weekend and just what I had in mind for my 30th. It's a number I didn't want to publicize but since my mom and grandpa and very aware of my age I feel safe putting it on my blog.

A few highlights included eating at some of our favorite restaurants (minus the Weinerstube which was closed for remodeling), church meetings only a small branch can deliver, shopping, playing, and relaxing. On the actual birthday we took a drive up to Maroon Bells, then lunch at Beth's favorite pizza joint, swimming at the Snowmass rec center, naps, birthday shopping, MNF at The Hickory House, back to the Condo to finish Breaking Dawn. While birthday shopping I got a new t-shirt and something else, oh yeah a new diaper bag.

One selfish thought that was in the back of my head while planning a trip was I knew there was a chance Elder Michael would be transfered from Lakewood on the West side of Denver. Aspen happens to be in his mission and I thought maybe we could bump into him. He did get transfered but to the other side of Denver but when he found out we were going to be in Aspen he said that one of the cities he could have been sent to because of an opening was Rifle, which is in the same zone as Aspen. While stopping for gas in Rifle ($2.19/gallon!) on the way home I kept thinking how crazy it would have been to run into Michael. Next thing you know we were heading out of town when we past the Elders walking down the street. We stopped to say hi to Elders Cooper and Tefault and tell them to give Michael a high five from us. Maybe that's why his Mission President didn't send him there, there was a chance his brother would stalk him down and not leave him alone. Or maybe it was to keep my parents from overwhelming jealousy.

Brian showing Jack how it's done.
Maroon Lake in the shadow of the Maroon Bells. I'm going to try and tell Jack to NOT look at the camera next time.
When in Rome climb on the Romes. Or something like that.
"Even reading is better in Aspen." -Beth
Everyone loves swimming in water as warm as the tub.

Halloween

Any guesses what Lily was for Halloween? Besides adorable. I didn't hear anyone guess correctly on the first try. Jack was a pain-in-the-butt. Sure he looks happy with the fireman's hat but that was the only thing he would try. The intended Tigger costume made him break out into tears (and sweat in the warm weather). We tried to trick him into wearing "pajamas" and at first he agreed but when he saw the Spiderman shirt and pants he wasn't buying. Beth and her sisters threw an excellent party for the kids and they had fun trick or treating. I even got some satisfactory reactions from the kids when I put on my rubber mask. Jack kept getting distracted by the candy already in his bucket and it was a constant battle to keep him walking. "Dad, explain to me again why are we not stopping to eat all this candy the nice people gave me?"

No Duh

Thank you online quiz for confirming what I've known for like 30 years.