Happy Birthday Megan!

Megan was number 9 of the 10 Miller kids.  Naming the children was always exciting with all of us giving input.  We always figured Mom had the final say, but when this baby came we learned the truth.  Mom had always loved the name Megan, but I believe the story goes that her mom questioned it when she mentioned it as a possibility for her first born.  Maybe it was fate, maybe it was confidence but this last little daughter was to be named Megan.  The next task was to decide a middle name.  We all thought Angela went great with Megan.  I remember my dad always in the background telling his little name jokes.  "I want to name a child Justin Casey, Just in casey comes, Just in casey falls, etc."  "And wouldn't it be fun to have Nutmeg and vanilla?"  har, har, har.  So, along we went, everyone feeling settled that Megan Angela it was.  And then the day came.  My Dad named the baby Megan Vanilla Angela Miller.  I was shocked.  My mom was strangely okay with it, and Megan likes her name, so I guess all's well that ends well.  And of course my Dad just loves his little Meggie Vannie Angie.

How cute is that little girl?

Megan and Carrie as rockin' hot teenagers in the 80's

Megan is a people girl.  She was always at a friend's house growing up.  I was a lot older than her so didn't really take the time to find out why so many people wanted her to be with them.  Then when I was married with children and she was a young adult I had a long drive and needed a friend.  I asked her to come with me.  It was then I discovered what she is.  She is the Balm of Gilead. She has an easy laugh, love and acceptance, and a way of letting you know that everything's all good.

Megan has a darling sense of humor, she's a bit on the silly side (She's a Miller after all) and just so you know, she's run the Boston Marathon.

Travis, Megan, Tommy, Susie, Ivy, Miller, Eliza,
Grandma and Grandpa Liston, and Grandma and Grandpa Miller

Happy Anniversary

Thirty-three years I've been married to Paul Stoker.  I just want to thank him for giving me all he has.  My dearest possessions have come to me through him.  Not only has he supported me financially, allowing me my heart's desire to be a stay at home mom, but if it wasn't for him I wouldn't have 9 of the greatest kids on the planet to stay at home with.

In our marriage it has worked for us to have a division of labor.  Paul is in charge of paying the bills, I'm in charge of running up the bills.  Well, he does help me with my job, but I never help him with his. I make the Dr.'s appointments and take the kids in.  He makes sure we always have Medical insurance and calls the insurance company when what we think they should pay and what they think they should pay are not the same amount.  Thank you for doing that hard and icky job.

Paul is in charge of maintaining the cars, I'm in charge of driving around in the cars.  Last month I actually had to go over into his territory and get a new battery.  As I walked into Advanced Auto, I realized I had never been in an auto parts store before and for good reason.  It's wicked boring in there.  Okay, I did take a second glance at the road runner key chain.  Otherwise...yawn.   When they asked me what year my car was I was perplexed, "Well, it's gray.  Does that help?"  Thank you sweetheart for protecting me from auto parts exposure all these years.

I make dinner Mon-Fri, and Saturday.  Paul makes dinner on Sunday and we go out on Friday.  My parents went out every Friday so it was an expectation for me.  Paul learned about it after we were married.  He wasn't opposed to it and was totally won over when he realized that Friday meals at home were hot dogs and macaroni and cheese.  Eating out it is.  Our Sunday meal is a dependable roast, mashed potatoes and his home made rolls.  If we have company I make sure it's on Sunday because my cooking can be iffy, but Paul's rolls are to die for, and we can always count on a roast cooked in the crock pot.

I get things done fast.  Paul gets things done well.  Choose your poison.  If you want things clean, I'm your girl.  If you want things built, Paul is the better choice.  Paul is fun to go shopping with.  It was a few years before I realized I had developed a coping strategy in the shopping department.  If I wanted something but felt guilty about spending the money, I would show it to Paul and he would say, "Buy it.  It's only money,"   unless it was a decoration.  Then he would say, "I'm pretty sure we have enough of those."  Fair enough.

I like to think I'm independent, and I really don't like people telling me what to do.  There's a word for that (prideful) but anyway, I have to admit there have been times that my husband has absolutely saved me.  More than once he has gone through the garbage to rescue a valuable item that I have thrown away.  I lost my keys at an event and he had new keys made and went back to retrieve the car.  I won't mention the times I have wrecked the car and he made everything right.  It happened, it's just painful.

One of my most tender memories I have of his rescue was when I was in my fifth pregnancy.  I was 4 months along and there had been complications.  Through an ultrasound we had discovered that the fetus wasn't viable so we were awaiting the inevitable miscarriage.  I had been at a friend's house that morning and had a lot of cramping.  I went home and put the kids down for a nap.  Soon I began having labor level pain and contractions.  I remember crying in my room because I was scared and alone.  I went into the bathroom because I was uncertain as to how things would play out and what I should do.  I heard the front door open which was weird at 2:00 pm on a weekday.  In walked my sweet husband.  He greeted me with, "I just had a feeling I should come home.  Are you okay?"  I had never been so happy to see a person in all my life.  Thank you, sweetheart, for always coming to my rescue.

Paul and I are two very strong personalities and there has been friction a plenty, but we have built a beautiful life together.  God has blessed us in our efforts and smiled down on our home and family with bounteous blessings.  Life is good.  Happy Anniversary.

Happy Birthday Heidi!

Heidi Jo MIller was born on Dec. 23, Joseph Smith's birthday, so naturally her middle name would be Jo.  She was a little cutie with a warm, warm smile.  She grew into a beautiful woman with a warm, warm smile.  She and Mom came home from the hospital on Christmas Eve.  We put her in her infant seat in front of the tree and everyone agreed she was the best Christmas present ever.  My mom let me sleep in the trundle bed in the extra room next to Heidi's bassinette.  My job was to change her and bring her to Mom in the night when she was hungry.  It was a magical time for me.

As an older baby, Heidi was the best at playing the wrinkle up your nose and sniff in and out game.  You know the one.  We would all roll with laughter when she did it.  We copied her to encourage an encore.  It just didn't get old.

As she grew she developed her many gifts.

 We were all so proud when her story "Halfa Cup of Nuts."  was published in the New Era.  She plays the piano, flute and guitar.  She has a beautiful voice and is a beautiful dancer.

 She is one of the people on earth who can really make me laugh, long and hard.  That's a great gift.

  She's a wonderful teacher and speaker. My kids loved it when she came to visit.  Life started looking up when she walked in the door.  Unfortunately for her,  they did not have sleeping on their schedule.

 She was a dedicated missionary for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. If I were going assign her an attribute it would be beauty.

  She has a beautiful face, but she gives the world more than that.  Her surroundings are always beautiful.  Even in the toughest of circumstances there is still beauty. Her music is beautiful and her heart is beautiful.

Thanks for your sharing, Heidi.  I love you.

Heidi's sweet boys, Brandon and Bridger

Weddings! I love weddings!

                                   

And it's a good thing I love weddings because I have 2 happening within the next 3 weeks.  I am blessed beyond measure as my children have chosen some fantastic people to love forever.  And understand that when I say I'm feeling a bit, umm, short of breath, it's not that I don't recognize these events as wonderful, it's just that I'm a bit of a freaker outer.  I definitely should not be the main whiner here because I am the mother of the grooms and have really done nothing, and  the mother of the brides have done everything. I just like to worry.  I like to play the what ifs through my mind until they interrupt my sleep with "The ties are too short!, I'm lost and it's past time to be there and I keep driving around and around and around, the caterer is not in Provo, UT, they're in Provo, NM!" nightmares.

This state of high alert has prompted me to share as I talk myself down and remind myself of what's real and what's important. No worries!  There are details that will be forgotten, because it's me and my relatives and that's how we roll.  We smile a lot, but details leak out of our brain like water.  But the important things will happen beautifully, because it's about love and family and eternity, and angels always attend this combination.

The planning makes weddings beautiful, but the forgetting makes them fun to tell about, eventually.  Like how I forgot to bring white shoes to my own wedding.  What's not adorable about my brown leather sandals peeking out under my wedding dress on my special day?

And look at Brandon's sweet little bare ankles on his getaway. Clearly his mother's son.

When Eliza got married, Rebecca needed some hose to protect her from the winter chill.  There was a wedding day morning Wal-Mart run, but the only size available was queensize.  She's a queen, but not queensize so she had to spend the day hosily challenged, but she did it with a smile.

Here is a list I've made for myself that has evolved through experience.  Don't ask questions.  Just trust me.

1.  Spend a lot of time thinking about shoes and socks.  They aren't going to bring themselves.

2.  Turn off your cell phone.

3.   Know where your purse is at all times.  Do not leave it 2 hrs. away at the last event.

4.  Ask yourself, "Do I have everyone's pants?"  If the answer is "no" plan enough time for a JCPenney run.

5.  Think ahead like my daughter-in-law Erica.  She had an emergency kit with Tylenol, needle and thread, granola bar, band-aid, safety pins, duct tape, (I added that in) just in case.

6.  Don't miss the beauty of the day by stressing and obsessing.  My hair stylist observed that at all the weddings she's been to have had that stressed-out mother/mother-in-law running around in perfectionist mode making sure no one has thread on their clothes, etc.  That's totally me.  But maybe this time it won't be.  Maybe this time I'll just notice how beautiful everyone is and how happy I am to be with so many people I love, and think about how I'm the most blessed mother on earth to have such wonderful children and in-laws, because that's what I always think about when it's over.  I just need to start a little earlier.

Daniel and Erica

A swing and children on a farm in IA.  That's perfection.

The magical carriage rides.

You may not know this, but this Burlington, IA
not San Francisco.  Tradition holds that the wedding
party drives down this Nobb Hill knockoff.

The shoe game.  Very fun.  You should play it.

                                       

So many people I love.

Brandon and Mallory

Sister hug.

The petal toss game

Nathan and Ariane

photo wars

Annabelle didn't want to get her fingers sticky,
but she did want some cake.

Eliza and Joseph

It means so much when friends travel
far to celebrate with us.

I love how Joseph's Grandparents are holding hands
coming out of the temple.

Life long friends 

Joseph's family

Eliza doing a little wedding day worm.

This little girl taking a cue from the bride.

I can't wait to see what kind of wonderful these next weddings bring, if I can remember my shoes.