Christmas Eve

 We are usually home on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning.  It is a priority that I have set for our Christmas tradition with our family since our children were born.  That was not different this year.  We arrived home from Great Wolf Lodge on December 22 with enough time to prepare for a wonderful Christmas at home.

That said, several things were different this year for our first Christmas Eve at our new home.

First of all, we did not go to church on Christmas Eve (which really bothered me) but we were SICK.  Some of us came down with illness while we were at Great Wolf Lodge, some of us were sick on the way home, some of us were sick once we arrived home.  We had a nasty 2-week fever/cough virus that STILL is not fully out of our system.  So, we stayed home on Christmas Eve both for our own health but for the health of others that we would see at a Christmas Eve service.

Also, this was the first year since the twins were born that we were not packing up to leave right after Christmas.  While our tradition is to spend Christmas at home, for the past 6 years, we have ALWAYS packed the car and hit the road December 26 or 27 depending on the weather.

This year, because I didn't have to pack up the family, and (honestly) because we were not going to church, we RELAXED as a family ALL DAY!

The kids wrapped a few presents to each other (I had all the presents wrapped and hidden away).  I turned on a Christmas movie shortly after breakfast and we had Christmas movies playing pretty much all day, and I actually sat and watched a few (that ALMOST NEVER HAPPENS in the Christmas season).  Also, our kids were all under-the-weather either a lot or a little, so rest was exactly what they needed and they were happy to lay and cuddle.

I found this picture on my phone that one of the kids took while we were watching Home Alone -- the first family movie of the day.

Another new thing was I made French Onion Soup for Christmas Eve dinner, which is a long-standing Sanden Family Tradition, but I have never made it because I couldn't figure out the logistics of making the soup, serving dinner, getting to church on time, getting to bed at a relatively decent hour (for the kids), and getting the nice broiler-safe bowls clean and put away before we had to get out of town 36 hours later.

As much as I always wanted and craved French Onion Soup on Christmas Eve... it just has never made the cut of things I could get done on Christmas Eve.

This year, knowing we were staying home for the evening, and knowing we were staying home the day after Christmas, it just seemed do-able.

We did not have the correct bread, and we did not have the fancy cheese that the recipe calls for, so I fondly called it "Poor Man's French Onion Soup" but the kids really liked it, and it was not as hard as I had worked it up to be in my mind.  When I called the kids to the table and told them to wash up for "Christmas Eve Dinner", the three girls saw the special bowls I was getting out and took the cue from the title "Christmas Eve Dinner" to run upstairs and put on fancy dresses.  You will notice from the picture, they still have pajama pants on, but honored the special meal with a beautiful dress.

After a year of tremendous life changes, tremendous joy, but loads of stressors and transition, we truly had a merry little Christmas, which began with a relaxing, enjoyable, and delicious Christmas Eve. 

Christmas Card 2022

 I usually post this closer to Christmas, but I just wasn't posting anything this year around Christmas, so here is our 2022 Christmas Card to wish you a Happy New Year!

Text:

Merry Christmas 2022 

Love, The Mountain Millers

Chris, Brooke, Tracey (8.5), Howard (6.5), Caroline (6.5), Lee Lee (5), Hunter (3), & Brady (1.5)

Pictures (Left to Right):

1. The Mountain Millers in front of Rangely Jr/Sr High School where Chris is now Principal

2. Tracey catching the biggest fish off Grammie and Papa’s dock in Michigan this fall

3. Hunter, loving life as an active toddler, climbing fences at our new house in Rangely

4. The Mountain Miller crew in the mountains this fall

5. Howard’s arm raised after (another) wrestling victory this spring

5. Lee Lee dressed to perform in her first dance recital

6. Chris and Brooke smooching on a kayaking trip this summer while on a four-night getaway to Las Vegas to celebrate their 11th wedding anniversary

7. Brady, keeping us joyful through his many giggles, smiles, and toddling around

8. Caroline became a cheerleader this summer and has a new favorite activity

9. Tracey, Caroline, and Lee Lee posing for a picture just down the street from our new home

Happy Girls

 These are two very happy girls with their happy Pepaw.  We sold Caroline and Lee Lee's dollhouse back in Rifle, and they understood the reason why.  We discussed it with them and we told them it was very possible they could get a new dollhouse when we moved to Rangely.

Fastforward 7 months and 2 moves later, Lee Lee got a dollhouse for Christmas, and Caroline got dolls for Christmas, and Pepaw and Daddy spent several hours last night putting the house together.

These girls are incredibly excited about the new house and the new dolls to go with it -- and it gets to be in their bedroom!

MIA

 I really did not intend to be MIA this week, so rest assured, everything is well here.

We had a wonderful family vacation at Great Wolf Lodge in Arizona where temperatures were 70* warmer than they were at home in Rangely.

I got sick our first day there and the illness has snaked its way through every member of the family and we STILL are not well yet, but we are fine.

Despite some sickness, we had a ton of fun at Great Wolf Lodge, we came home and prepared for Christmas, we had a relaxing Christmas Eve with movies and French Onion Soup (no church this year because we were still sick), and then a joyful, family-filled Christmas Day.

Hubby's parents will arrive tonight and, again, we still are not well (I am not well yet, and it is ROUGH) but we are taking advantage of the vacation days to rest more, play games, take it easy, and prepare for our twins' birthdays coming up on January 1st.

Magic-Makers

 A good thing to remember heading into a fun-filled family vacation right before Christmas:

1000 Words

 1000 Words

And Just Like That...

 And just like that... our first semester in Rangely is complete.

We've moved twice.  We've completed our work.  We've hosted a Christmas party... we just want to breathe a minute and enjoy the season with our family.  (Just one last grad assignment, which is almost done and I'm officially done with work).

What a wonderful semester we've had!

A lot to Accomplish

 There's a lot to accomplish this week before Christmas vacation.

Christmasfest 2022

 We had such a great time participating in Christmasfest 2022 in Rangely.  

Friday night was sleigh rides and hot cocoa just down the street from us.

Saturday was breakfast, and gingerbread houses and meeting Santa at the Rec center.  Then the Snowflake Baby contest where each of Brady, Hunter, and Lee Lee participated as contestants -- Hunter won his age group.  Then Caroline attended a birthday party, and the rest of us prepared for the big kids to be Santa's Elves in the Town of Rangely light parade.  Following the parade was more hot cocoa and the tree lighting.

Sunday we took a breath... and kept unpacking.

We're to the point in setting in this new house that if its still in a box, I think the whole box should just be thrown away.  Clearly is nothing we've needed in the past 4 weeks, so we should toss it.

We're preparing for a Christmas party later this week so we're flooring the accelerator to try to settle in this home, which is good because sometimes its easy to put off some unpacking.  At some point it will be nice to actually enjoy this lovely home that we are making... soon, I think.

The Game of Life

 Saturday night I played The Game of Life with Tracey and Howard.  Tracey had been asking me to teach her for awhile, so finally, we sat down and played.

It was so fun to watch my kids make comments about the luck of the draw in LIFE the same way I did when I was their age.  Tracey was bummed that she didn't get a baby boy.  She only had a girl, and she was hoping for two.  Howard didn't want to get married, and due to low rolls and losing a turn, he was the last to get married.  Then, he was escstatic to have a baby boy... then another baby boy... then he got twins -- both boys.  I felt like I might be getting a little glimpse into the future.  

One time I played the game of LIFE and I hit every square that gives you a baby -- my car was overflowing by the time I got the end, and I loved it.  I felt like I had reached my LIFE goal with that particular game.

That said, last night, through luck (or unluck) of the draw, I did not get any children.  I bought a boat, had a trip to Europe, did lots of philanthropy work, and had the most money at the end of the game... but no children.  It was a very real reminder of how entirely blessed I am.  I cannot imagine Hubby and my life without our children - it just never would have worked.  I would be so unfulfilled.

God placed the desire for children so deep inside my soul and I am incredibly humbled and grateful at his abundance of blessings.

Oh What Fun!

 Our town has a big Christmas festival this weekend and last night some of our neighbors about .5 miles from our house held a big event in their yard -- horse-drawn wagon rides, chili dinner, hot chocolate, roasting s'mores and community fun.

The kids and I walked down to their house, and when we road in the horse-drawn wagon, one of the other dad's on the ride encouraged us to sing Christmas carols, which we did for the whole ride.  It was loads of fun!

I Feel Ya

 I Feel Ya, Dolly.

Away In A Manager

Tracey had a music concert last night at school involving the 2nd and 3rd graders.  She was the ONLY student to sing a solo and she absolutely rocked it! 

She told me after that she specifically asked to sing a solo because she wanted to get over her fear of singing in front of people.  We are so proud of her.