Alaska Days

Last year Brynn had planned on going to Alaska to visit some friends. That didn't end up happening, so she had a huge airline credit that she needed to use up. Ken was going to go with her but knew that he wouldn't be able to keep up with her since he needs to have his knee replaced. (YUCK!)

So, to celebrate her master's degree, we went on a cruise to Alaska.



WE went zip-lining - Brynn loved it!


One morning we woke up to balloons around the door and a sign on the door congratulating her on her graduation. One night at dinner they brought her a big chocolate cake and a group of waiters singing "Happy Graduation to You" to he.


We loved our cruise ship - yummy food - we were up on the Lido deck and the hamburger grill was right close to our room. I think Brynn only caved for the fries once (that I knew of).

Easter Egg Hunt 2010

I think that the Easter Bunny must have work up on Ground Hog Day instead of Easter! Holy cow was it cold. Amber and Ella came to the Easter Egg hunt at the park, but we were bundled up like we were going snowmobiling...



Easter Sunday Brunch
Everyone came for breakfast so they would have the afternoon with the next set of parents. Ella was excited to see all the Easter baskets and wasn't so happy when she had to wait to go outside and find her's in the grass.




After breakfast the kids took their post-meal nap. We broke out the old Fisher Price toys that I have saved for the last 20 years and Ella had a great time playing with them while the boys napped.

NCAA Road to the Final Four

Chase's girlfriend gave Chase tickets to all three second round games of the Men's NCAA Basketball Finals last weekend. I was lucky enough to get to go with him on Saturday afternoon to see the Butler - Kansas State final eight game. I was so excited to get to go, and most of all, how many 20-something's are going to take their mom to a basketball game? Jess, what were you thinking? It was SO FUN!
After watching the games on Thursday night, both Chase and I were rooting for Butler - him because they were the underdog, and me, because they were a midwestern team - about 100 miles from home.
The game was pretty exciting and got even more so in the last five minutes when Kansas State actually made a game of it.

Messing around during half-time.





There were two sections of K-State fans, and the rest of the 17k fans were screaming for Butler. Gotta' love it when the underdog wins. What a fun afternoon!


As we were getting out of the game, the parking lots were besieged by mini-vans and a gazillion young women in dresses all headed for the General Young Women's conference. Probably quite a site for all the out-of-staters who would have no clue what just hit downtown!

After a quick diner at Chili's (so we could watch the Kentucky game), Chase put me on the train so I could head home and pick up Ella for her overnighter.

THANKS CHASE!!!

Ella and London

Several weeks ago, Drew and Amber and Seth and Velvet went out to dinner and left Ella and London with Brynn and I. London and Ella are only a couple of weeks apart in age and have been babysat together for quite a while. They had so much fun together.

Ella hadn't had dinner, but London had. You can tell from the picture that Ella wasn't too concerned about dinner, but London wasn't about to let that cereal bowl of Brynn's get too far away!



I hope these girls are friends forever!

Easter Weekend

On Saturday, Amber and Ella came down to the city park for the annual Easter Egg Hunt. She was not thrilled to see Mr. and Mrs. Easter Bunny among the 0-3 year olds, but we stayed a on the other side, strategically placing Ella where there were very few other kids. The wind was wicked but it didn't stop all those kids from cleaning up all the candy in about 5 minutes. I had to laugh at all the bubble gum on the ground in the baby area - what baby can chew gum?







BRRRRR!



On Sunday, everyone made it for breakfast, except Justin who was at work, and Carson who had just been called to North Dakota to take care of the state's latest electricity emergency.

Ella zeroed in on the Easter baskets as soon as she walked into the room. It was a little insulting to her to be given a basket with just a jacket in it when there were 9 other baskets full of candy that she could see. After breakfast, we went outside so she could have her own personal Easter egg hunt - which was ruined by the dogs next door scaring her. We finally got her to pick up her goodies and she was a happy camper with her basket of fruit snacks.





Once everyone was settled in for their post breakfast nap, Brooke and I cleaned up a couple of our old Fisher Price toys. The look on the kids' faces was priceless as they recalled all the times they played with those very toys.

Ella's Sleepover

Last weekend we were able to convince Drew and Amber to leave Ella with us overnight. Little did we know the weekend would be a little crazy with Brooke and Justin trying to move into their house they just bought (and Ken spending the weekend trying to replace their water pipes, water heater, etc, etc, etc...) But, we eventually got to settle down and play.



We read lots and lots of books, played with the Little Tykes kitchen, heavily stocked with Fisher Price food (vintage 1990's), played with the animals outside and met Brynn's new dog Dottie. Feeding horses, corraling 3 dogs and holding a two-year old that it still a little afraid of all the dogs at once is a little crazy!



Self-taken picture of one cute Ella and grandma (currently known as Edna from the Incredibles, minus the glasses!)



Getting ready for bed - brushing my teeth.

First words out of her mouth at 7:00 am when she woke up with a huge smile? Horseys, Doggies and POPPA!!!!



I love pancakes and current jelly.



Hanging out with grandpa before it's time to go home. Hope we get to do this all over again soon.

Roller Coaster Heaven

Ken had to go back to Florida again in January so I went with him on one of his three or four trips. (I lost count, he just kept going back and forth across the country.) We decided to try Busch Gardens this time and what a great choice that was. Not only was the weather iffy, so the park was pretty empty, it was unseasonably cool so the animals were in fine form.



We were unaware of the conservation programs going on in the park and spent a lot of hours in the animal education area. There is a train that goes right through the middle of the animal park and there were times that the train had to slow down and wait for animals to get off the train tracks. On a jeep ride, we were about 30 feet from a male white rhinocerous - how cool is that?




New baby white rhino - she was only about 2 months old - weighed 120 at birth and gains 5 lbs a day. She moved pretty quickly and mom was having a hard time keeping up with her as she was running through the preserve. I couldn't get a good picture because she was running away from the train.





Busch Gardens has some fabulous roller coasters and I rode all of them - some of them three or four times! By Sunday morning when it was time to leave Tampa Bay, I was one pretty sore girl. Their newest coaster climbs 200 feet right out of the gate, turns a corner, drops you over the edge, but comes to a complete stop for 10 or 15 seconds (maybe only 5 but it seems like an eternity) before letting you go and sending you on your way.

Miller Family Christmas Party

Ken, Brynn, Carson, Ella and I braved the snow and the hill up to Rick and Mindy's house for the annual Christmas party. We got in a little trouble because we kept Ella out past her curfew! But, she had a blast with all the Miller cousins!



Kim and Ella enjoying their dinner. I think Ella ate almost a cup of barbeque beef!




Ella and Keeley. They may be 4 months apart, but pretty close in most statistics.



Time for presents!



What's in mine?



Ella got a cute toy dog that can have her clothes changed and hair/tail brushed. She brushed a few people's hair in addition to the dog's. Thanks for playing Todd!

And Just a LIttle More Christmas Frivolity

Drew had to stay close to work on Christmas morning so we all headed to his house for breakfast and presents. Amber did a great job with the sticky buns - her first try, and we brought over the strata and Mountain Man breakfast. That's a lot of hungry people to squeeze in around the tree and just presents in general.

Here's a few pictures of the morning.



Ella on her new interactive horse.



Drew trying out Ella's new skirt



Drew and Jason having a good laugh (probably over something dumb I said)



Brooke and Justin checking out the cow with the missing leg. Brooke had fallen in love with this cow costume at our Trunk or Treat, so I was able to find one and was planning on waiting until they had a baby to give it to her. Since they were getting 1/4 beef for Christmas from us, I took the costume, tied one of the legs up inside it, and attached a picture of a cow minus a leg to it for their present. It took a minute to figure out what the costume was all about, but it was pretty funny once they did.



Chase and Jessica. It wouldn't be Christmas morning without Chase's Mickey Mouse santa hat.



Jason, Brynn, Jess and Chase