Christmas!

"Deck the halls with boughs of holly falalalala...la la la la...'tis the season to be jolly fa la la la la...la la la la..." This is one of the many songs we sang to Maia during the Christmas season along with the more deeper, meaningful songs that resound with the meaning of Christmas. We even sang our rendition of the Messiah, luckily she can't walk to leave the vicinity that we were singing in, but we hope she enjoyed it none-the-less.


Well other than caroling to Maia we began our Christmas by getting a tree. We found a farm that was about 7 miles out in the country and began our hunt for the "perfect" tree to put in our house. Once we found it, Michael did all the work.


He cut it down.Then he drug it to our car.....

He even attached it to the top of the car very securely without any help.

And then Maia and I posed in front of it. Yes we really did work hard. It is a lot of work to get the right pose for the "perfect picture". Oh wait, daddy was the one who worked the hardest and we are so grateful for him!!!!

After a few lights and ornaments...Wahlah....our Christmas tree!!!! We even had a few gifts to go under the tree!! Michael would not let us open any presents unless they were under the tree for a little bit.

On Christmas Eve we attended our church's Christmas Eve service. We all enjoyed the singing of many great Christmas songs-- it helped us focus on Jesus as we entered into Christmas Day. Later on that evening we enjoyed a time of fellowship with Jeff and Farrah's family and feasted on some delicious finger foods that Farrah prepared along with Jeffs delicious ribs!

That night we all three had a slumber party in our living room with the lights of the tree and our gas fireplace. The next morning I made us some cinnamon rolls and Michael made some bacon and we opened our stockings. In Maia's stocking she got a pair of striped stockings. She had to make sure they tasted all right before giving her stamp of approval.

Also from our friend Julie she got a Christmas Tree hat. Nothing says "Merry Christmas" like Maia in her Christmas tree hat!

Daddy and Maia posing in front of our tree! As happy as can be!

As we began to open our presents to one another, Maia decided that it was time for a nap. She just fell asleep. We tried to keep her awake to at least open her gift, but nope, it was not happening. So as she napped Michael and I enjoyed giving and receiving our gifts to each other.

However, Maia did decide to wake up and be a part of the excitement by opening up her gift of soft blocks.

Its a lot of work for a little girl to open up a gift. Especially when she needs to make sure everything tastes ok.

And now the taste test of the blocks!

Later that day we went over to some friends house from our church to have Christmas dinner with them. It was nice to be around a family and enjoy some time of conversations and games with people we enjoy. We did miss being around our family, but we felt blessed to have time as a family unit and the fellowship with others around the area.

Even though this a little late. Hope you had a Merry Christmas!!! We certainly did!! What a great day to celebrate the gift of Jesus!!!!!!!!

Long Beach and Disneyland

In November Michael had to go to Long Beach, CA for training for two and a half weeks. Maia and I were lucky to go with him for the whole time. We stayed at the hotel with him and hung out there while Michael went to training. It was great to have more time with Michael since he only worked 40 hours a week. He would leave at 6am and then return around 2pm, and then spend the rest of the day with us. We felt so blessed. We had a lot of fun being down there. We spent lots of time with Michael's friends from college, Derek and April and were even able to see other friends Michael knew from when he was down there for school. We also spent some time near the ocean and were able to introduce Maia to the beach. I think she liked it, but mostly she napped while we walked on the pier. However, we did get her to wake up a little so she could enjoy it as well.

The breeze was pretty chilly that day so I think she liked being all close and sheltered from the wind.

We went to a playground with Derek and April and swung next to them.

We also got to spend a morning with Chris and Lorina. It was good to see them and have Maia meet them as well!

Then there was Disneyland. Derek and April knew someone who worked there and he was able to sign us in so we could have some fun there. It was my (Jeanette) first time to be at any Disney park so I was pretty excited about this. I think you could say Maia was too. She definately was into all the stimulation that surrounded her.

Why the "L" you may be thinking. Well when we got to the park we were to meet the guy who works there by the "N", but there was no one there, so we second-guessed ourselves and thought maybe we had said the "L". We saw a couple sitting by the "L" and asked if they were the ones we were supposed to meet. Well they were not them, but they thought maybe we wanted a picture next to the "L". They were pretty insistent on this and we were late to meet our contact at the "N", so instead of fighting it we just posed for them. Thus, our Disneyland family picture is in front of the "L". We like to say its for the double "L's" in Miller or for the single "l" in Michael or Leah. Whatever the case, we have one Disneyland picture with all of us in it and we can chuckle that it is next to a random letter that really has no big significance to us. We did, however, meet the man next to "N".

Into the park we go!

The Castle!!!! Apparently it gets snowed on every night during Christmas. We were able to experience Disneyland snow while we were out there and told Maia that her first snow was in the Los Angeles basin. But then I don't know how much it counts if it was coming out of a snow machine.

We were getting ready to go to Never-never land.

Pinnochio, not quite our favorite, but it's a cute picture with Daddy.

Its a Small World was Maia's favorite. She had fun checking everything out. I thought it was a little over stimulating myself, but Maia was sure enjoying it

We ran into Goofy

Visited Mickey in his house.

With so much going on, Maia did not sleep until after the parade which ended at 7pm. However, once she fell asleep she was out for the rest of the evening. So Michael and I watched some shows, took her on more rides, and enjoyed the rest of our evening until the park closed at midnight.

We had a wonderful time in Southern California, but by the end, we were ready to be back in Portland to begin our Christmas preparations.

Day of Giving Thanks!

This is long over due, but I wanted to get caught up on the events of our lives since we have been doing quite a bit the past two months. We were able to go to Grass Valley to spend Thanksgiving. It was so nice to see family! We were able to stop by CEM to pay a visit and show Maia the place and meet some of the people that are very dear to us.


Later we headed up to Trace, Holly, Jack and Carolines place, where we were staying, to feast on some Thanksgiving deliciousness! Maia is posing in front of the turkey to show that it is her first Thanksgiving. Maybe next year we will be able to reuse this bib and have it say "My First Thanksgiving That I Can Eat the Food."

Holly made a delicious Cranberry sauce!!! Next to her is the prime rib that we feasted on.

And Becky made some wonderful Croissants.

Here is the Beautiful Turkey that Trace prepared along with prime rib and all the other fixings!

We had a great time eating with one another. We are so thankful that we were able to come to Grass Valley and spend that time with people we love!!!

Roley poley

I caught some footage on the little girl rolling over. It was hard to do because everytime I would pull out the camera she would not roll over - silly girl. Daddy has not even seen her doing it other than the footage I took. Rolling over, however, is not exactly Maia's latest trick. Lately she has been doing a little "talking" lots of oooohs to be exact. For now, enjoy these fun videos of Maia rolling around!

MEKO

I thought I would post about something different than our little ball of sunshine and write a little about our little ball of greyness. Yes our shy cat Meko. Ever since Maia came along she has been in the shadows. For being a skiddish kitty she has adjusted well to the many transitions she has had to face. First we moved her into a big house, then we added to more people to live in the house as well, well then Maia came, and the last was a new kitten as the newest addition. So for a skiddish kitty she has done well! She is attentive to Maia. When ever she cries Meko likes to come around to check things out usually at a distance. There are times when Maia is fussy or gassy and I walk her around the house, Meko often follows behind - like a parade. I think she is slowly getting used to the kitten although there are times where I think she gets a little fed up and lets that kitten know it. So I am happy to say that I am proud of Meko. She's a great cat and has put up with a lot in her three years of living with me.

A Good Day for a Book

It was a cool and cloudy day out, a great day to snuggle up somewhere with a good book. So I picked my book and Maia picked out her book. She decided she wanted to snuggle up on the recliner and read her book. What book did she pick out you ask?? Oh she decided to start with a book about John Calvin. I guess he was not interesting enough that it put her to sleep. Hey Maia how about a different book?

Plato? So you are ready to learn philosophy?

Pretty interesting huh?

Well I guess enough reading for today because its time to play!!!!!!

Maia's Squeaks

So Maia is starting to differentiate between people now, which is kinda fun. Well, unless you are the one differentiated against, that is. Jeanette and I were talking about it a couple days ago, how we really notice Maia reacting differently to different people. She may start crying when someone picks her up, simply because it is not her mom. Or I might be holding her, and she might be okay, but then start crying when she hears my voice and realizes I'm not mom. Usually we just wait these screams out and she either falls asleep exhausted, or becomes okay with daddy. Many times I am trying to wait it out, and finally I realize that her diaper is soaking wet. Oops. It'll be nice when she can talk and tell us these things. The screaming escalates during the diaper change, and then once it is over, she immediately gets to the point of nearly stopping her cries, and just whimpers a little. But she's been so worked up, and is breathing so heavily, that she can't quite calm down. It takes a mother's touch; taking her from my arms, putting her on her shoulder and soothing her with that familiar voice. Maia nestles in and calms the rest of the way. It really is amazing how much she is bonding with her mommy. When I mentioned this fact to Jeanette, how strong that bond is getting while caring for her and being with her all day long, Jeanette looked back at my with a glow in her face and wonder in her eyes, and said, "I've never had that before."

The following is to give you a little glimpse into that bond. It's something I enjoy watching and being a part of. It's also a chance to see how Maia is getting older, and beginning to interact in new and exciting ways. These two videos are a little long, and maybe only suitable for Grandma's who are dieing to see their grandkid in action. I suppose that means that if you're a grandma, go ahead and click play, and for the rest of you, well, click play but have a book handy to distract yourself with.

Maia was having such a fun time playing with mommy that I had to grab the camera. Then the camera distracted her a bit, and she didn't play quite so much, but the ensuing videos are still fun. Enjoy.


Oh yes, and a video set would not be complete without one of Maia's favorite pastime:

Fun day Sunday!

So last Sunday we all woke up early early in the morning to make a trip to the airport. This is not a normal occurrence for us, well at least not for Maia and I, but we ventured out anyways. It was a foggy morning with a light mist in the air - fairly normal for a Portland morning. We all got in the car and headed out. As we swung by the airport we saw none other than... Aunt Becky and her roommate Tracy! What a quinkydink! So we said get in the car and we will go out for breakfast. And so we did. We went to a little place called Cameo and there we had bacon, eggs, toast, hashbrowns, and waffles. It was delish!!!! After that we went for a morning walk around the neighborhood since we had time before Aunt Becky and Tracy had to venture off to Grass Valley.



Later on we were heading home from church, and Michael and I looked and noticed that the fog was lifting and it was going to be a beautiful day. So we said to each other "Lets go play outside somewhere." And that is what we did. We called up our friends the Huffmans to see if they wanted to join us and so Daphne and her kiddos came along.

We were off. Hiking along the Eagle Creek trail. At some points the trail was carved into the face of a cliff so we had to hang onto cables to be safe. Luckily it was only a small portion of the trek.

As we continued we came across none other than a waterfall! In the Columbian Gorge you say? Yes, as a matter of fact there are tons of waterfalls yet to be discovered by us!

After we enjoyed the waterfall we decided to turn back to head to our cars since it was daylight savings and would get dark sooner. We ventured back thinking we'll be back to discover all the other waterfalls (I hear there's 12) that are on this trail.

One of the excitements of our trip was seeing salmon spawning. We were in the parking lot and saw many people watching the creek and were thinking, "What could be so exciting down there?" When we went to look we saw large red Salmon swimming and trying to jump over the rapid to get up stream. It was pretty amazing and Michael with his amazing photography skills caught some in action.

This concludes our fun day Sunday. We eventually headed to our weekly time with our life group and then came home and went to bed. What a great time we had with friends and family!

Enjoy our wild and scenic film.

Our little Chicky

Don't be confused that is Maia in a chicky suit. I know she kinda looks like the real thing. We had a lot of fun dressing her up and showing off her cuteness to people around the Mosers neighborhood. Not only did we show her off, but I decided it was a great day for some fall photos of our 2 month old kiddo. I love the leaves we had in our yard. I also love the little grin she is giving because we are outside in her happy place.

Oh, there is that chicky again lying in the grass.

...and sitting in the bumbo.

Hope you had a fun Halloween!