Miley Family Christmas

OK... this is Tony trying to remember how to update our blog. It's been a long time!

Last week/weekend we went to Brewton for the Miley family Christmas. We had to do it really early this year because Jason now lives in Chicago and this was the only time they could come down.

We had a lot of fun. Nana & Papa did a great job orchestrating a memorable weekend. Nana did a ton of delicious cooking! Everything was decorated really well. We did Kubota rides, hay rides, bon fires, gifts, playgrounds, street rod rides, games, and more! The cousins really bonded and were very sad to be separated when it was time to go. Thanks Nana & Papa for a great time!

Thankful for...

...a new hard drive! We haven't posted in a while for many reasons, but I'm sticking with this one: we ran out of storage on our laptop where we save all of our pictures for editing and uploading to the blog. Tony just bought an extra hard drive, and now I've finally organized all of our pictures from July - November. Phew! It's much better to keep up with it as we go. New Year's resolution, maybe?

Need to find a way to "catch up" from the last few months (since this is basically the only way we record memories for our family), but for now, it's baby steps. Thanksgiving weekend....

We took a trip with my side of the family to Blue Ridge. We've done this in the past, and every year it's a little different. This year's cabin was a little more rustic than the last, but we all agreed it was a great space for our fam. We rented 2 cabins but one served as the "main" cabin where all the meals were served, games played, etc.

This trip makes me so thankful for the big family of grands, aunts, and uncles that God has given to my kids. Even though cousins Skyla and Hazel couldn't make it from California, Raegan and Hudson had plenty of playmates to keep them busy. They are blessed to have so many adults investing in their lives. We hadn't seen Aunt Jennifer since she moved to Nashville in Sept, so we were excited to have her back to entertain us with her silliness. The holiday season has officially begun, and we will be celebrating the Miley Christmas in just a few short days!

Huong's wedding pics

Click here to view these pictures larger

Phew!

It has been a busy month! We've had a lot going on, but our laptop is out of disk space so it's been a challenge to organize our photos. Still having trouble, but had to get a few things posted. Here are our Top 9 for the end of May and June (in order):

1. Huong’s wedding events - I was a bridesmaid and we had lots of fun events leading up to the wedding
2. Raegan’s dance recital - her first ever - at JCCC (preschool)
3. Jennifer’s bday party - had lots of fun in spite of a colossal rain storm
4. Three trips to the lake - one trip included Tony's Granny which was a treat for everyone! Another was while I was in Vegas and they were joined by Jason and his 3 kids.
5. Tony’s hernia surgery - he was a very good patient and is recovering well. Dr. found a 2nd hernia during surgery, but all is repaired. He's now getting back into triathlon training!
6. Huong’s wedding - sooo beautiful! Didn't get any pics of the beautiful bride, but hope to get some from others.
7. Raegan’s swim lessons - a very rough week for both of us but we made it and I'm so proud of her!
8. Cousin Ava’s 5th bday - fun party at a park
9. Carrie’s baby shower - we hosted at my house


In the midst of all of this, Raegan and Hudson have been doing lots of growing up - way too fast! Raegan grew 2 inches in the last 2 months! Hudson's new favorite phrase is "not nice" and he uses it with all of us when things don't go his way. The rest of our summer is almost as eventful as the first month, so hopefully we'll have more updates soon. If you're still checking our blog, thanks for being so loyal! :)

Disney Dream Come True!

You may wonder why we would pay money to board a ship full of hundreds (maybe thousands?) of kids and Disney Characters for 5 days. Well take a look at our pictures, and you just might be ready to sign your family up! We set our expectations pretty low, and we were pleasantly surprised. The kids stayed up until 10-11pm each night and took long naps in the afternoon. We didn't do any cooking, cleaning, etc. the whole time and there was always something fun to do. Our favorite day was the stop at Castaway Cay (disney's private island). We went with our good friends (and neighbors) and had joining rooms, so the kids were constantly entertained by each other. It was exhausting, but probably our favorite vacation with the kids!



Raegan's first personal encounter with a Disney Princess (Sleeping Beauty) on the way to Mickey Camp, or Minnie Camp according to Raegan:



The kids got very silly at night, and this is just one example. No clue where these dance moves came from:



This one is just a good example of the mood on the island. We had a blast!

Happy Easter!

Tony and I had a date night with some friends Friday night. It was so fun to go on a double date, and we started the night with the Good Friday service at our church. I realized it's been a long time since I'd actually watched/listened to the story of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. I was reminded of what a huge sacrifice He made for us, and how much we have to celebrate here because of what Jesus did for us.

We had a fun Easter day, beginning with Tony and I volunteering at Waumba Land (our church's nursery) that morning. We had over 900 kids and 400 volunteers! We had to get there at 8am (dressed in our Easter best, of course) so it was a very long day. After church, we went to my parents for a yummy Easter lunch, egg hunt, and some corn hole. What a beautiful day and wonderful way to celebrate!

Check out the amazing outfits that Nana made for Raegan and Hudson. I sent her the fabric, and she did even better than what I was picturing! I would love to have that talent.

We are 2 and 4!

Since our last post, we celebrated Hudson's 2nd birthday and Raegan's 4th. Many other things happened in between, so I've got three different slideshows for those who are interested or just wondering if we're still alive. Tony's work has been busy pretty much since January, and he's also training for a few triathlons this year. I've been playing a little tennis, planning parties, showers, trips, doctor appts, etc. We're ready for a slow-down but not sure if we'll get one for another few months!

For Hudson's birthday, we celebrated with cupcakes at the playground w/neighborhood friends and then had cake and ice cream with Jason, Mina, and cousins on his actual day. The next weekend when my parents got back from their vacation, we celebrated again with my side of the family. Hudson is not a fan of crowds, so I think this was right up his alley. He probably thinks birthdays mean 10 cupcakes and 2 weeks of celebrating. I guess they do.



Raegan had an ice cream party at our house. About a week before her party, my friend Courtney did a very similar party for her 2 year old. She is a super-creative marketing person, and had all kinds of cool things for us to borrow for our party, like a play ice cream shoppe complete with aprons and cash register. Thanks Courtney! Rae's party was on the same day as the neighborhood Spring Fling, which worked out as a great distraction while I finished up party prep. Raegan was so excited all day long (all month long, really), and she was quite the hostess at her party. She did a great job playing with all of her friends, passing out cupcakes, and being well behaved. I was so proud of her! She has really come out of her shell over the last year. Poor Hudson has been struggling with his asthma and the medicine we're using to treat it. He wanted to be held the entire day only by Tony, which meant our photographer was a little distracted. Hopefully we'll get more pictures from family/friends who were there (hint hint)!


Here are some highlights of other goings on in our family over the last few weeks.

Raegan is patriotic

The other day while riding in the car, Raegan asked me, "Mom, what does felicity and justice for all mean?" I quickly guessed she must have been talking about liberty and justice for all, and responded with, "do you mean like in the Pledge of Allegiance?" To which Raegan responded by reciting the entire thing, and finished it off with a song. I didn't even know she'd been learning this! I asked her to repeat it and caught it on video (yes, I was driving, but I promise I was watching the road). I uploaded this from my phone and can't get it rotated. I'm sure Tony will find a way before my next post.

January in Summary

So here's a quick synopsis of what happened in January:

Of course, there was Snowpocalypse 2011. The first picture sums up Hudson's sentiment on the snow. He also had bronchitis and some other random ailments, so we're thankful to finally have him healthy again.

Raegan enjoyed it and even went sledding with Daddy after I gave her guilt trip about how Daddy just needs someone to play with.


Raegan and Hudson went for their 2nd visit to the dentist, and I remembered to take pictures. They both did really well and will need braces before they are 7. Add that to the budget!

We had a fun visit from Nana and Papa for the weekend, and Jason, Mina, and cousins came over for lunch.

Hudson had his first haircut by someone other than his mom. Didn't like the airplane chair, but was perfectly happy with the train set as soon as the trim was over. He looks like a big boy now (sniff sniff).

Tony and Raegan went to a "Daddy-Daughter Date Night" at Chick-fil-A.


I'm still doing my boot camp in the mornings and Tony is working really hard to prepare for the annual CFA seminar. And now if you'd like even more details, or if you're dying to know how we entertained ourselves during the prison of our home surrounded by snow, see the slideshow:

Good-Bye, 2010!

Well, before we can say good-bye, we need to wrap up Christmas. We are lucky enough to have two Christmases every year - one with the Miley's mid-December and another with the Lewis' on Christmas day. On Christmas Eve, we went to the service at our church, came home for a quick dinner, and then did our ride around town in our PJs with egg nog. I'm reminded of this little tradition last year (watch the video), which did not go as smoothly, and thankful for a peaceful night this year!

We spent Christmas morning at our house opening gifts and then headed to my parents' for brunch and more gifts...LOTS more gifts! We drove home (in the SNOW) and the kids were exhausted and ready for bed.



We started our New Year's celebration at the Smyrna Market Village for a Happy "Noon" Year's event for the kids, and then spent the evening at the Cohen's. The kids went to sleep there at the usual time, and the adults hung out until 1am. Then we just scooped them up and walked across the street to our house and put them in bed. Why haven't we tried this before?! All the kids slept great. 2011 is off to a good start!