Miller Family Reunion 2016

In our annual tradition it was Miller Family Reunion time! 

We meet at the BEST place for these events, complete with an in-ground trampoline, a huge water slide, a pool with a smaller slide, and lots of shade and fans (vital in Texas in June). 

The best part though? FAMILY!

For example, Auntie M & Uncle G and wee Jessie (Molly was MIA at this particular moment):

So much pool time!

Video: 

In-ground trampoline fun with Daddy:

I have SO many pictures of Clara sliding because she basically went down easily 45+ times by herself after the first 10 or so with Mommy. 

Emma loved it too! She always went with either Mommy or Daddy but didn't care one bit. She had so much fun!

Daddy & Emma:

Daddy & Emma again: weeeeeeee!

Clara & Mommy:

Clara went by herself on the mat, without the mat, sitting up, laying down, going face first, and even attempting to "twirl" (roll around). Crazy little nut! Nothing scared her and she loved it all!

Clara got some pretty sweet air from Daddy throwing her:

Taking a cashew break with Papa: 

I adore this fella: 

Me'n'Mom

Shaded & visiting

Emma discovered Puppy Chow. Deeeeelicious.

Even more jumping! 

There they go again!

This is Emma explaining why they need to go "one more time" :)

Does Clara look like a big girl or what?! 

Jessie Jane got triple the loving

Emma the cookie thief!

Thankful for fans and food and family

Clara had so much fun sliding and jumping she was not ok with calling it quits!

"I'm not all dooooonnnneeeee" 

Thankfully "orange cheerios" (aka Cheetos) helped ease the transition into less fun things like getting dressed.

Papa did too, of course :)

Family Photo!

Dude and Duder

I love these two crazy ladies! 

Annual cousin photo on the bench!!!

Not pictured in this post: Clara's face first run in with a door and consequent swelling and nose bleed. What a way to end a terrific day! (oops!)

Busy Weekend!

**Note before reading: I cannot get Blogger to cooperate with me! It's making somethings left justified and somethings center justified and no matter how many times I try to fix it, it just goes right back to this nonsense. If it bothers you too, I'm so sorry!**

Thankful for busy and fun weekends with friends and family!

This weekend involved a MOPS Date Night at the bowling alley, lots of play time indoors on a rainy Saturday with our children, going to the A&M vs. Auburn game at Kyle Field with our friends Michelle and Ben, church on Sunday morning and more playtime! We manage to pack a big punch in on these short mini vacations from weekday realities. 

First pig tails!!

Singing songs with sister about Circles:

Clara was wearing Emma's new boots on her hands and pretending to pray. She was super excited about Kid's Night Out at church! 

We had so much fun bowling! (and even more fun just visiting with our church friends)

I went to take a shower and came back to find Clara rocking Emma on her lap and reading her a story :) So sweet!!!

Clara has officially hit the age when she wants to build forts!! I knew it was coming, just didn't know when. The below picture was Clara insisting that Emma "go campin' wit me" :)

And then she added a blanket for more fun!

Then I took my little Elsa/Clara to Academy in the pouring rain for ponchos and a new Aggie jacket for both me and Bryan - and ended up getting one for each of the girls too. I probably wouldn't have, but tried the 2T on Clara and it fit really well, so I got her the 4T with hopes that it'll last her two more years after this one, and 2T for Emma hoping for the same thing. 

Clara also fell in love with this toddler Aggie hat ... I'm thinking I may have to go back to get it and make it into a stocking stuffer!

"Gig 'em, Aggies!"

Then our babysitter came over (and the girls had a great time with her!) 

And we drove to College Station with our two friends.

It was SO COLD. SO COLD, PEOPLE. It rained/drizzled/misted on us the entire time, the wind was blowing anywhere from 15-20 mph, and it started at 55 degrees before the rain and wind chill! BURRR. Our ponchos went on shortly after these pictures!

I tried to get a video of the swirling mist:

Then Sunday is church as usual. Emma wanted to go swimming instead, haha.

A brag on Clara: Today at church, even though it was her turn to get to use the Ariel dress up costume, she went into Emma's classroom instead to see if she could make Emma feel better and not cry anymore. When she realized that Emma was content as long as she was there she told her teacher that it was okay for another friend to take a turn with Ariel, she would just stay and play with Emma until Mommy and Daddy finished at church. Seriously, guys. My heart was in a puddle. I'm so proud of my girl for these moments of selflessness and the way she protects Emma. 

And of course, like every week, Emma loves the under water mural on the walls! haha

I don't have any other pictures from this weekend, but we took naps/rest time, went to the grocery store, played with our friends Mrs. Stephanie and Mr. Russell, and their sweet kids Zach and Victoria (how do I not have a single picture!?), and then we saw Lulu and Papa very briefly when they stopped by on the way home. 

Bonus: I went to sing Clara to sleep tonight, and within FOUR animals of Old MacDonald she was out cold. AMAZING. A Sunday win, man.

Have a great week!

(We have a big one coming up, so stay tuned.)

Reflection on Trials

The past few weeks have been rough. Work difficulties, health difficulties, food difficulties, but most challenging of all: PEOPLE difficulties.

Each of the past few Sunday mornings someone I love has ripped me up inside. Friends, family, colleagues. I've handled it well in some cases, and poorly in other cases. I'm actually a little terrified of next Sunday morning, and I may just turn my phone off on Saturday night, and not turn it back on until Monday morning. But I don't think that will actually work because I believe I'm in a season where God has decided not to just ask that I trust Him, but demanding that I do so.

Unfortunately, it's much easier for us to trust in our fellow humans than in the Lord. We lean on family and count on them to love us even when we mess up. We rely on friends to be there when we need them, and strive to do the same for them. We work incredibly hard and count on our colleagues and supervisors to have our backs when the job gets extra tough.

But people are fallible. Every single one of us.
People can't be our saviors, but He can.

Jeremiah 17:7 says, "Blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence."

Not those who trust in family. Not those who trust in their friends. Not those who trust their supervisors or colleagues.
Those who trust in the LORD are blessed.

Psalm 10:15 says, "Call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you will honor me."

Well, I'm calling on the Lord. I'd like to not cry through another sermon because of a Sunday morning conversation that slays me, but right now I need to be humbled, and this steady dose of humility is doing the trick.

Are you being tested?

"These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold" (1 Peter 1:7a, my own emphasis added).

I want to be gold. I want to be pure.

I want to become a better person and learn how to love others and God better.

I am so, so, so extremely thankful for the people that have allowed me to talk and cry on their shoulder the past few weeks during this new diet, double toddler tantrums and hurtful conversations, but more than anything I believe I'm learning to trust God to guide my tongue and actions, and He's probably thinking that it's about time, Katy.

Retirement Party(!!) & Swimming

We're getting caught up!!! Slowly but surely! On Monday Clara and I watched The Little Mermaid until Emma got up. 

girlfriend loves Ariel

Then we played outside for a little while and Emma paid verrrrryy close attention to Clara riding on her 4-wheeler. 

Then I dropped Clara off at school for a short day while Emma and I hung out for a little while. 

As always, we read lots of books. 

Shoes are so fun!

Then Lulu swung by to pick us up so we could go get Clara to go to Papa's Retirement Party!!!

Lulu's shades

 Clara was super excited to go to Daddy and Papa's work.

"Mommy! There are DEERS at the party!!"

Love this :)

 Daddy showing Clara all the cool fish and birds inside.

In the picture below, Clara just told me: "Hey look! It's Papa in theres!" hehe :)

Papa gave a speech and was honored. It was a tremendous party and I'm so pleased we were able to go! I'm so proud of my Dad and how much he is loved and cherished for his contributions to the field and to these people. 

Clara wasn't so much proud (sorry Papa) as she was super excited about the "ice cweam with sparklies and red juice" :) Priorities.

They were well behaved almost the entire time. No tantrums or tears, just a little sugar high.

Papa & Lulu

 The girls thought all of the water was way cool.

Ohhhhh

Blanket thief 

Clara was so happy she got to take home some of the balloons! 

 Thank GOODNESS Lulu drove and picked us up to go because my eye was miserable, and I couldn't see hardly anything. She took us over to their house and the girls put on their "baby suits" (love) and we went swimming! (I think water is going to be the theme of this summer.)

Too stinkin' cute

 Clara is LOVING the water and is doing super well. I got them signed up for lessons, which you'll hear more about in a later post. 

Here are some short videos of Clara flying through the air in slow motion:

Then we had pizza for dinner, which Emma chowed down on.

And I got to have a one on one chat with my Dad which meant the world to me. 

And Emma got some lovin's:

:)

 And Clara wanted MO' ICE CWEAM on the way home and decided to see if the ice cream cone they made at school would suffice. 

Ewwww

SO proud of you Dad!! Love you so much!