Just the TWO of us

What a day we had up at Crystal Mountain. Andrew and I had so much fun going down the bunny hill. This was Andrew's first time getting on a chair lift and skiing down a real ski slope. Ski lessons last year were fun, but this year the real stuff begins. He did great getting on and off the chair lift and didn't fall. The first run we spent holding hands down the slope. Then the rest of the day was spent skiing side by side while we worked on slowing down and turning...and of course I was taking lots of pictures and video. Check Andrew out:



Falling with style and a happy face!



By the end of the day Andrew could ski all by himself, slow down, turn left and right, and get up after falling down. YEAH...SUCCESS!

Christmas DAY

Christmas morning started out so fun...no one was up too early. In fact, I peeked in the boys room at 7:30 to see if they were awake. As soon as they saw me they shot out of bed and ran to the stairs. The gate was up, of course, to keep sneaky little kids from going down the stairs too early. They sat at the top of the stairs surprisingly well while we waited for Dad. Here is a video of our excited kids on Christmas morning:

After eating candy from our stockings and enjoying presents from Santa, we sat down and ate some yummy cinnamon rolls...a tradition we enjoy on Christmas morning. Then after everyone quickly stuffs those down, we head for the Christmas tree to unwrap every gift under the tree. The boys were quick to grab the presents and hand them to their rightful owner. However, they were sometimes too quick and we had to search for the right wrapping paper to see who it was from. Emma resorted to biting the paper off if she couldn't rip it off...it was pretty funny to watch. Here are some more pictures of our fun-filled morning.

Christmas EVE

On Christmas Eve, in between cooking things for our Christmas Dinner, we get to make our sugar cookies. The kids get to roll out, cut, frost, and sprinkle their own cookies. They each pick one to put on Santa's plate and then they eat the rest. They all made some great creations this year. Emma was so enamored by the sprinkles. If they fell off the cookie, she just had to eat those too. Even the ones on the floor were found being picked up by this little one. After dinner, we read from the scriptures and then the kids got to open one gift - the traditional Christmas pajamas. This year we started the Tradition of opening up a special Christmas book for the year. This year's winner was Frosty the Snowman. After the story, we watched the Polar Express and then headed to bed. Well the kids did anyway!

Baby F O U R takes the stage

We are so excited to announce the great news of another baby coming to our family in the early summer. July 3rd is the official due date, but of course I am hoping for an end of June baby. Andrew and Emma both arrived early so I consider my odds pretty good! So what is life going to be like with FOUR adorable, but very active children? Other than the days of little sleep heading our way, I truly think it will be nothing but fabulous to have another sweet spirit enter our home. We are so grateful for the wonderful children we have and pray this baby will be just as healthy!

First S N O W

We heard it was going to snow but we weren't sure we believed it until we saw the biggest snow flakes we had ever seen. Since it doesn't snow very much here, you never know how long it is going to last or if it will even stick. So, we quickly got on our warm jackets, hats, and gloves and played in whatever came down. The kids were mesmerized by it all and I know that they wished it had snowed harder so we could have enough snow to build a snowman....maybe later in the season we will be so lucky. Andrew just kept telling us to stay off the grass because he didn't want the snow to go away. Oh yeah, and the bikes did come out even in the snow. I guess it's been too long since we've played outside with all the rain we've been having! Today was a great way to start out this December and the Christmas season!

Andrew's First Race

With the Track Club at school being a popular venue to find Andrew during recess, we soon discovered his love of running. Oh, mommy is so proud to have at least one runner so far. Although still a little young to be racing, we are happy to encourage him in the things he loves. The Seattle Kids Marathon was the perfect opportunity for Andrew to feel what it is like to run in a race and to accomplish a long awaited goal. Those who signed up for the race were encouraged to run 25 miles in small increments before the race (Andrew just made it into the 50 mile group at school). The last 1.2 miles would be run the day of the race making it a KIDS marathon. With over 3000 kids who signed up for the race, you can imagine this was quite a big race. Mike and Andrew had so much fun running together--maybe we will have to make a tradition of this every year.



ON YOUR MARK, GET SET...GO!



All Finished! We are so proud of you Andrew!

T H A N K S G I V I N G

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving and were so happy to share this special day with Grandma Anne, Grandpa Franz, and Uncle Greg. I think we must have gained at least five pounds with all the great food we ate. The day was spent watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, a little football, and playing the every so popular Mario Galaxy on the Wii. The things we were the most grateful for on this day were FAMILY and GOOD HEALTH!







A little whipping cream, Andrew??

Grandpa's Property near Squim

Ok Grandpa, don't sell this beautiful piece of land! We had so much fun spending the morning walking around Grandpa's piece of land near Squim. The boys had so much fun being silly with grandpa and Emma just loved being under the umbrella with Lorene. We were lucky that it stopped raining so we could eat lunch outside. We literally drove 10 seconds down the road to the bay and ate our sandwiches on an old log while enjoying throwing many rocks in the water. What a fun morning we had!

Hurricane Ridge

So after eating lunch by the bay, we took Grandpa and Lorene to Hurricane Ridge. Oh yes, it was super cold...34 F and windy. Luckily we brought all of our winter gear and got dressed for our short little hike. The view was spectacular. Everyone had fun, but we were a little frozen when we got back to the car.







Andrew was a little excited about the little snow on the ground. He was so determined to make a snowball to throw at Grandpa and Dad. He soon realized that the little snow he had was making his gloves wet and his hands cold.

To see some more pictures, click HERE.

Making it PRIVATE

A good friend of mine has decided to make her blog private and I think this is a rather good idea considering all the crazy people who are reading our personal blogs. Although our blog was initially intended for family and close friends, it really can be read by anyone. I figure that although it will be a pain to sign in to view the blog, those who really want to view it won't mind. I keep thinking that one can never be too careful. So, starting next week I will be making it private. For family and close friends, I have most of your email addresses already. However, it would be nice if you could let me know if you want to continue viewing my blog so I can start with those email addresses first. You can either comment on this post or email me at my gmail address: wilhelmsara@gmail.com with your email address if you think I don't have it. Sorry for the inconvienence!

Growing up too fast

Everyone has been telling me how much Emma has grown up. I guess sometimes I still think of her as my little baby girl. The other day after church I just thought she looked so cute so I kept her in her church clothes to take pictures of her just playing. Her latest joy is turning the light switch in her room on and off. How does she reach it---she stands on the arm of her little couch chair and she is just tall enough to reach it. Other than her new temper tantrums and her ability to say three and four word sentences, I have been in denial that she is growing up. The other night when we were singing songs before bed, she sang most of the words to "I Am a Child of God" and "The Temple Song" with me. I was so touched that she could actually sing with me and that she had been listening to those songs as I would sing them to her before bed everynight. Now as I say, "Goodnight Emma," she says, "Goodnight mommy." Then before I walk out of her room I say, "I love you Emma," and she says, "I love you mommy." Why do they have to grow up so fast? I sure am lucky to have this little girl!

A L O H A

This picture says it all....beautiful, warm, relaxing, serene...just perfect. Our trip to Oahu was as relaxing as we hoped (except for the cranky baby on the flight home). We stayed in Waikiki for the first couple of nights and enjoyed the pools and beach at the Hale Koa. Our favorite part, however, was the quiet southwest side of the island at the Ko-Olina. Fun pools and sandy lagoons made for fun mornings, afternoons, and nights in the water. The kids lived in their swim suits and spent every minute they could playing in the water. Why do vacations have to be so short?







Here are some more pictures of our family on our vacation:

Polynesian Culture Center


Beach Fun


Photo shoots on the beach


Hawaii Temple

H a l l o w e e n

The Adorable Kitty Cat



The Serious Anakin Skywalker



The Happy Astronaut


Halloween was a blast this year. We were finally able to go as a family to pick out our pumpkins this year. Everyone got to pick their own pumpkin....yes, we had five pumpkins this year. We only carved one though. The boys decided to paint their little pumpkins, which was just fine by us. My favorite part of Halloween this year was seeing how happy the kids were to be exactly what they wanted. There was no persuasion to be something. The night before Halloween we carved our pumpkin. While the boys hated the smell of the inside of the pumpkin, Emma was so fascinated by it all. She even helped me clean up all the seeds so we could cook them. As for me, I love the smell of pumpkin. YUM YUM! On Halloween we had a fun Halloween dinner and then we were off to go trick or treating. Emma had so much fun saying "Trick or Treat" and then running to the next house. Who would have thought that an almost 2 year old would love it and not be afraid. I could tell her nose and fingers were cold and asked her if she wanted to go home. Her response was, "No, Emma hold bag." All she wanted to do was hold her bag and go to the next house, cold and all. So, we were successful with just enough candy to make us happy but not enough to be overwhelming. When we got home, our bowl that we set out for our trick or treaters was empty. We got a few more visitors and the boys were happy to give our guests some candy from their bowl. They had just as much fun giving candy away as they did in getting candy. I love that about my boys. Successfull Halloween--I would say so! Check it out:

The Museum of Flight

"Look mom, this plane has real missiles!!!" This was the first thing Andrew and Peter said when we got out of our car and walked across the street to view this huge fighter jet just outside the Museum of Flight. We finally made it to the coolest museum ever.



The kids were amazed to be able to see and touch the big planes. Andrew and Peter were actually able to sit in and steer a little blue plane and tilt it from side to side. Emma was a little jealous. There were other planes that the kids could sit in and touch the buttons.



The funniest thing that happened while we were there was when Peter was in one of the little planes. All of a sudden the plane started making noise as if it were going to take off. Mike looked at Peter and said, "Pete, you are about to take off." With BIG eyes Peter replied, "Dad, I don't know how to stop it." Poor kid actually thought it was taking off.



Of course, one of the main attractions was the Space Exhibit. What kid doesn't find astronauts and space just amazing? Peter has told us that now he wants to be an astronaut when he grows up and insists that he is going to be an astronaut for Halloween. Wish me luck with the costume!

A Favorite Spot

For the past two years we have enjoyed swinging on a tire swing hidden in a grove of oak trees near our house. On Sundays, rain or shine, we will go for a walk as a family. More often than not, we end up passing by the swing. Underneath it is a well worn patch of earth from the countless feet getting ready for a ride. Our favorite time to swing is now, when the wind is easing through the trees and leaves fall lazily through the air around you. It's just the right temperature for a sweater but not cold enough that your nose gets red. You can smile, lean back and glide through the brisk air. Then, of course, you have to let the kids have a turn.

A Beautiful Fall Day

In an effort to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather on a day with no rain, we decided to venture over to Steilacoom and take a walk around the lake near Ft. Steilacoom park. There were many people out there enjoying the beautiful F A L L day. After throwing some rocks in the lake and enjoying the ducks, we headed back. On the way back the sun was setting a bit and the kids enjoyed running in the tall wheat grass. These are the moments we live for. Ralph Waldo Emerson said it best--"We find a delight in the beauty and happiness of children, that makes the heart too big for the body."

Making Jam Together

Our tradition of making homemade raspberry jam started with great grandpa Papa Miller. Papa grew so many things in his garden in Spokane, WA. Ever since the boys were little, Papa made special trips all the way to Maryland and Virginia to bring us many gallons of his famous raspberries. Since living in Washington, we have been able to make a couple of trips to Spokane and eventually got an extra freezer to store all of those delicious raspberries. We sure do miss Papa Miller, not only for his raspberries, but for his sweat nature and generosity. One of the ways we keep the memories of Papa alive is to keep on making our favorite raspberry jam. And when we finally run out of his wonderful raspberries, we will just have to start growing our own. We love you Papa!