The Happy Holidays - Part 2

"It is amazing how much crisper the general experience of life becomes when your body is given a chance to develop a little strength." ~Frank Duff

The second half of our winter holidays was spent in Wellsville with my family. It was very nice to spend time with them all. Even Teya, Justin, and Bryleigh came out to visit from Florida! We love seeing them when ever we get the chance. As nice as it was to be with the family though...a dark cloud known as the Stomach Flu hung over the Miner house for about a week. All but four of the family got it (Mom, Justin, Jeff, and Whitney) and a few of us even went to an insta-care clinic. In addition to the stomach flu, Duane and I got some sort of throat infection. On top of all that, I got such a bad ear infection that even the doctor said, "Whoa! Your ear is a bloody mess!" You know something is really bad when even the doctor is shocked.

Anyway...We all got to empathize with dad. He was the first to enjoy the sick sensation on Christmas morning! After breakfast we all posed for the traditional Christmas Lineup picture (minus dad-who was sick; Chris and Jenny who were out of town). It was so fun to watch Evan open his presents. Of course mommy and daddy had to help him. For those of you who know Evan, he can be rather mellow about most things. I guess that Christmas morning was one of those things. He got lots of good stuff

like books, some toys, and a blanket that Grandma Miner made for him! Playing with the presents was more fun than opening them though.




Here are some pictures of Evan wearing and enjoying Christmas presents...

Evan got Three new footie pajamas. So Cute!! He also got a toy that he can push and that changes into a riding toy.


As is the tradition, we all got some pajamas from mom and dad. The guys were coerced into wearing them for this picture. Looks like mom will probably be getting them only for the girls from now on! Just so you know mom....I appreciate the PJ's!!! It's a fun tradition in my opinion!!

Evan enjoyed look at the cats! They were probably freezing outside since it snowed pretty good on Christmas Eve. Bryleigh even joined in on looking at them sometimes.



After playing with presents for a while... we were all pretty tired. I'm so glad Evan takes good naps in the afternoon!!

Other than the Flu Epidemic that hit us... We had a really good vacation with the family. Isn't there a saying somewhere like, "The family that pukes together, stays together." Something like that!

We got to celebrate Bryleigh's 1st birthday! We made a cute piggy cake for her! Due to illness, it was a joint effort. Grandma/Mom baked the cake and Teya helped me decorate it! Duane even added a curly pink tail to it! I won't say much about the taste... just make sure you're careful about which Wilton Buttercream Icing recipe you use. The one on the Meringue powder can comes out a little salty! Oh Well!! It looked so cute though!

I love all of my family so very much!! I am so grateful to have each of them in my life. That includes my adopted family, like Whitney and Jeff. You all teach me so much! I got to see everyone pull together and help each other through the rough moments, laugh together in the funny moments, and relax together in the right moments. I'm so glad that Duane, Evan and I got to spend so much time with you all over the holidays!

Here are some other random pictures from our Wellsville visit...


The Miner/Burton girls. L to R: Rochelle, Me(Maren), Mom(Karen), Jenny, Teya, and Melody.





The studly hubbies! L to R: Duane, Chris, and Justin.




Chris is often grabbing whatever little niece or nephew crosses his path. He caught them both this time!! He obviously hates being an uncle!





Whitney and Jeff Merrill came to visit just after Christmas. We love them!!






Evan showing off his cheesy grin! By the way... We just had his follow-up appointment with his plastic surgeon and he's doing great! The doctor said he won't need to check his lip again for several years!



Mommy(me) was having more fun with Evan's hair and it ended in a wave pattern. As you can see, he was thrilled!






Evan has started teaching his daddy some bad habits! It's cute though, what can I say.


Thanks for checking out our Blog!! Check back again! We try to do at least one posting to our blog a month!

The Simple Things

On the days that I come home for lunch, it is such a treasure to see Evan come running with his arms stretched out, just to have me pick him up! Cue the music... I'm so glad when daddy comes home, glad as I can be.... One day recently, after I had picked him up we made our way into the kitchen. He pointed at the fridge and I moved him a little closer.... and well the video explains the rest. It was round two and he laughed twice as hard the first time!

The Happy Holidays - Part 1

"Humor is the great thing, the saving thing. The minute it crops up, all our irritations and resentments slip away and a sunny spirit takes their place." ~Mark Twain

I decided to start this post with a quote that I really like and that means something to me at the present time. For those of you out there that are full-time homemakers or parents, this quote may mean something similar to you as it does to me. Being a parent is truly a learning experience. I think that being able to find humor in even the most trying situations and moments is a saving factor. It helps me to enjoy every day and most of it comes from my sweet little Evan.

We enjoyed spending the holiday season with our families. We laughed, played, ate, and even puked together... Ah, memories.

Well, we started off the holidays by taking Evan on his very first plane ride to Omaha, NB. He did really well... only crying a little bit during the process of landing. During the flight he kept us entertained by his enthusiastic interest with the window shade.

The Tucker clan met there at Joel and Kaira's house to celebrate Christmas. We had fun playing games together...Duane and I decided to buy the "Mexican Train' game because we had so much fun playing it with Mama Tucker, Janeen, and Joseph. Evan also enjoyed the game "Mexican Train"...well at least he enjoyed chewing on and playing with the dominoes!! It was fun to watch all the kids play together. Sometimes it was a survival of the biggest though...especially when they all wanted to play with the same toy at once.

Here's a video of Evan and Bella enjoyed taking turns playing with a doorstop... it's so cute.

Hey, at least they were taking turns!

Here are some other photos from the Tucker family in Omaha...

We took turns preparing meals. Yummy food from all!!



Evan and Bella helped unload (or at least played with) the groceries.

Evan loved hanging out with Grand-daddy Tucker! (Grandma Tucker too...but unfortunately we somehow didn't get any pictures of Evan with her)


Evan was frequently found on either Aunt Janeen's or Aunt Eleesha's laps! Eleesha often would pile a couple of the kids on her lap at once! It's pretty obvious that she LOVES being an aunt!


On Sunday, we took family photos...lots of them! This is one of the best ones of Duane, Evan, and me.

Having married into the Tucker family, it was fun for me to see how Duane and his brothers and sisters interact. Yep...they're definitely brothers and sisters!! I am very blessed to be a part of this family! Here's a picture of the Tucker siblings. From left to right are... Caleb, Janeen, Joel, Eleesha, and Duane.


We acted out the Nativity as a family. Since he was the only baby boy, Evan got to play baby Jesus while Janeen and Joseph played Mary and Joseph. Caleb was a Sheppard. He was surrounded by the cutest little angels: Addie, Charlie, and Bella! Eleesha, Nici, and I played the three Wise-(wo)men. Kaira played the most biggest part of all...she was an awesome star of Bethlehem!!

We opened family Christmas presents after the nativity. Poor Evan had come down with his first-ever fever that afternoon and so his enthusiasm was a bit limited. ( I was very glad to have Kaira, Nici, and mom there because they knew what to do. I probably would have panicked more otherwise) Just so you know... thank you to grandma and grand-daddy for the ball popper. Evan loves it and plays with it all the time!

We got to fly back to Utah with Caleb, Nici, and Bella sitting right behind us on the plane! That was nice! Being on the same delayed flight meant that we got to all hangout and play "Farkel" together in the airport. Our luggage formed a pretty good playe area for Evan and Bella.

The next part of our holidays was spent with the Miner family in Welsville, UT. The Happy Holidays - Part 2 will be coming soon!!

Thanksgiving and More

Here are some pictures and videos of November and the beginning of December.













Evan discovers the fun of a dishwasher. This kind of matches a picture of me when I was little.


Jenny and I made some yummy pies. Then we all sat down at the Miner family table to celebrate and eat a super-yummy Thanksgiving dinner.


My mom can definitely cook a great meal! Especially her mashed potatoes... they are SO GOOD!!!!(11/27)





Evan has a really good grip. Duane likes to show off how strong Evan is by lifting him like this.(11/28)





So, we still can't decide what color Evan's eyes are. They seem to fluctuate between gray, brown and hazel. There is also a blueish tint to them at times. What color do you think they might be?(11/28)





Evan got to visit Duane at work. (11/18).






Evan finally fits into the suit that my mom bought for him when he was born! Isn't he so handsome!!!! His mom and dad think so!(12/1)



We have so many precious moments with our sweet little Evan. This is just one of the many that we were able to catch on film. He's all Tucker'd out... hee hee.(12/7)



This is Evan's "You-da-Man" thing that he does. I think that Duane taught him this one. It's so funny!!(12/17)


And finally... Here is the video of Evan really walking for the first time!!!!(12/11)