Merry Christmas!

This morning we didn't open presents until 8:30am. This is a personal "late" record for our family. Usually we MAKE the kids wait until at least 7:00am. Now that they are older they value their sleep a little more. Ryan was the last one up, and Ron, Kelsey and I ate our traditional "monkey bread" breakfast without him. Sorry Ryan, it smelled too good-but we did save you some! We had a very mellow and relaxing Christmas Day. Lucy (who is continuing to feel much better) and Dory even joined us for a while.

Crazy Cat Lady Gift

My friend Alice made me this WONDERFUL cat Santa decoration! I LOVE it, and would love to leave it out all year. I am considering doing just that! I must be developing quite a reputation because this is the second "cat" gift I have received this season. A close friend brought a cat calendar over earlier this month. It's nice to have friends who listen to me talk about my cat trauma-Lucy getting hepatic lipidosis and needing a stomach tube, and Fluffy, who had to be put to sleep 2 weeks ago due to a liver problem.

Our Tree and Stockings!

Just a picture of our tree and Christmas stockings!

Paula's Book Club Christmas Party

Here we are with little Saint Nic

Sarah set a beautiful table, with beautiful party favors.

My favorite Christmas party every year is my bookclub party. We have a plan we follow every year. Everyone brings an appetizer to share, and certain people have favorites that they MUST bring! Like HOME MADE MARSHMELLOWS. After eating (more than we should!) we play an ornament game. Everyone brings an ornament every year. As soon as we get to Sarah's, we put our ornament in a gift bag. All the bags are the same, so we can't originally tell who brought the ornament. We draw numbers, and person #1 chooses the bag they want. #2 gets to choose a new bag or steal from #1, and so on. #1 gets the final say, and each ornament can be touched only 3 times. The 3rd person gets to keep it. After the ornament game, we exchange gifts, and finish off with chocolate fondue. YUM! This year we learned interesting things about office supplies.

Michelle's Wedding

We just returned from my youngest sister Michelle's wedding. She was married Saturday the 6th in the Seattle Washington Temple. It was a quick, fast, busy trip, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Michelle was absolutely beautiful and so happy to finally marry Neal. I was deeply hurt that she didn't ask me to be her flower girl-she was my flower girl. HA HA. I was able to be one of Michelle's escorts in the bride room (along with my sister Sue) and help her get dressed in her wedding dress. It was a very special and amazing experience, and totally unexpected. The reception was gorgeous and a lot of fun. Kelsey and I helped with food, and Ron and Ryan were general labor and manned the gift table. It was fun to see family and friends and celebrate Michelle's special day.








Ryan and Kelsey with their Great-Grandparents and Great-Great-Grammy Miller.

Our family at the Seattle Temple.

My brother Andy, dressed up and out in public!!

I always said I would never

spend a lot of money on a sick pet. Well I was REALLY wrong. A week before Thanksgiving this year Ron and I noticed that our FAVORITE cat Lucy was not doing things she normally did like jumping into the laundryroom sink for drinks, was lethargic and had lost a lot of weight. I took her to the vet, and she had lost 4 pounds. She was diagnosed with hepatic lipidosis (yellow cat) and the only way to help her was to have the vet insert a stomach tube and tube feed Lucy. It was a pretty pricey procedure, coupled with a weekend stay at a veterinary hospital, but I couldn't have her put to sleep. She is young and the favorite family pet. So, Lucy underwent surgery, is fed every 4 hours via the feeding tube, and is now down to 1 medication/day versus the 3 she had to begin with. Lucy had gained 12 ounces in a week at our last vet visit and is perking right up!! We are hoping she starts eating food on her own again so we can stop around-the-clock feedings!