Playing Catch up!!!!

Have I seriously not blogged since August??? What is wrong with me? I guess I will just sum it all up then...

August- Rush Tri- I dont have pics because everyone I know was racing :) But here is how it went. Me, Daniel, Tammy, Torrie, Hidee, Heidi, Debbie, Tracy (tammy's husband), and Lyndi all raced. Lyndi (my SIL) raced as a team and did the swim portion (her first) while the rest of us did the whole thing. Great race. I took 3rd in my division. Had an awesome run on that difficult course. Hidee took 2nd in our division. Tammy took 1st in her division. Lyndi's team took 1st in their division also. It was a blast. Sorry I don't have any pictures.

August- Savannah's birthday- My baby girl turned 6!!! We had family over for a party for her and then had a friend party at Leo's place. She had so much fun! I can't believe my baby girl is getting so big! I'm trying my best to stop it. But in honor of her...

Savannah babe- You are my BFF. I love spending so much time with you. I love our girlie-ness. I love getting Mommy/daughter mani-pedis and shopping our little hearts out. I love doing our hair and accessorizing and watching you dance and flip around the house. You are amazing. You treat everyone else so kindly and are always taking care of someone. You are a light in the lives of everyone who knows you! I love you girl!!!!

September- Bear Lake Brawl- Awesome race! Once again we all raced and almost all of us placed in our divisions, which was amazing. Tammy took 2nd overall (Go CHICKA!). Hidee took 1st in our division, 5th overall. I took 2nd in our division, 6th overall. Daniel took 1st in Clydesdale. Lyndi took 3rd in Athena. Heidi took 1st in Athena. Probably our best standings as a group ever. Good times!

And..I've been crazy busy with my photography business. New blogs and pics up at http://annamariemillerphotography.blogspot.com/. Seriously check it out and leave me some love. No one reads it and comments and I'm feeling somewhat loser-ish ;) I am no longer teaching piano this year but as you can tell, I haven't slowed down. Mason is taking piano from my friend Erica and he is doing very well. I continue to teach Savannah. She is also doing amazing this year. Savannah is also busy with gymnastics and ballroom. She has has first ballroom competition next weekend.

That's the short of it. I'm gonna try to keep up better this month!!!

A few more family pics

So I was having serious uploading issues yesterday when I posted the first blog and couldn't get all the pics on there. And when I try to edit, half of what I have uploaded disappears. So rather than fix the original blog- over and over- I figured I would just add these babies to a new one.

Thanks to April Farnsworth of April F Photography who took these for us.

Family pics May 2009

This Week's Fave's- Kiddie Style

As I was cleaning my house, I was thinking about each of my kids and how seriously awesome they are. I decided to do a blog about my favorite thing this week about each of them.



Mason- This week I have noticed so much how Mason loves his little brother Jaxon and how good he is to him. Sometimes when I go to put Jax down for a nap, Mason will say, "Nooo! I want him to stay up!" It warms my heart that he loves spending time with Jaxon so much. He thinks Jaxon is the funniest person in our family (he's right).




Savannah- This week, Savannah has been the most incredible helper! She is volunteering to do all sorts of work, and doing such a great job! When someone else complains, "I dont want to...", I keep hearing her say, "I'll do it!" and jump right in. From wiping off counters to folding laundry to helping with the babies, she has been such a great help. She also told me this week that she loves organizing! She has been helping my organize my scrapbook room and has been going through her own drawers and closet and organizing them just right. Such a sweet little girl!




Jaxon- Jaxon has been learning all sorts of new words and phrases this week. His favorites right now are "couple times" and "few minutes" although he says, "Cupa tibes" and "Bew minutes". He puts those on the end of almost every other phrase. "I take out Murphy cupa tibes!", "I eat dinner bew minutes." It's so cute. He also yells out the names of letters as he watches Super Why. So cute! He is such a fun little boy!

Jayden- Jayden has learned several new tricks this week. He shakes his head, blows raspberries, and claps his hands. Clapping is his favorite and if you try to get him to do one of the others, he will usually clap instead :) If you say, "YAY!" he will start clapping and he is so proud of himself! I love watching all the things he is learning.

I feel so blessed to have my 4 amazing children. Every day I get to spend with them is wonderful. While I have many enjoyable things in my life, nothing compares to the joy of being a mommy!

January

Still my Baby Girl

Brrrr....

The Early Bird's Reward

Those who know me know that I am a mother of 4, with a new baby. He doesnt sleep through the night yet, and yet I get up early morning each day to do triathlon training, and I have been doing so since he was a few weeks old. I often get asked "Why do you do that? What keeps you so motivated?" I have tried explaining to people that it's not the same as getting up to work out. When you are outdoors, in nature, there is much more to it than that. I get to see the sun rise. I get to feel the cool breeze on my skin. I get to hear nothing but silence. I get to see miles of wide open spaces. I get to feel peace and beauty each and every morning.

I can't tell you how many times I have been riding my bike and wished I had my camera along for the ride. There are so many beautiful things to see and I've wished I could capture them.
A few days ago, I was supposed to be going for a 6am ride with several of my friends, but for some reason, no one showed up. They must have cancelled but the phone chain didn't make it as far as me ;) I was waiting outside for them when I looked to the east and caught a glimpse of the morning sky. I went inside and grabbed my camera to capture one of the many things that keeps me motivated to get up so early each morning.

I wouldn't miss it for the world.

A hobby, maybe someday a talent

I have always been a picture fanatic. I loooove to take pictures. Don't mistake that for me being any good :) Recently, I made an investment in my first DSLR camera, as opposed to just a point and shoot camera. It's a Nikon D40 and I love it! The camera is amazing, but unfortunately, quite a bit smarter than I am! So I have so much to learn just to be able to get the most out of it.

Lucky for me, I just so happened to meet another mom at Savannah's soccer practice who is also into photography. Her name is Brittany and we've gotten together a few times to take some pics (interestingly enough, my best friend Sandi is as well, we just haven't been able to get together and take any pics recently!). The goal has been to take Jayden's newborn pics but he will NOT cooperate! He screams and cries and we aren't having any luck! So we resorted to taking pics of him limbs and phalanges ;)

Here are a few pics that we took this week.