The Meal of the Year...2009

The Thanksgiving holiday this year started off early as my Uncle Tommy and his girls, Kara and Jamie, joined us from Harrisburg PA. It was special to have them as well as Pap, who this year was diagnosed with Lung cancer. Although we hope it's not his last year with us, we are always glad for the time we have together.
Thanksgiving day was filled with laughter, love and games. Some of us worked in the kitchen and others of us rode four wheelers and jumped on the trampoline. There was a lot of work setting up to feed 20+ people, but it was worth it. We will always treasure this day spent with family.

Brianna & Drew

Addy & Lillie

Setting up the table(s)

Kiddie table too..

What's Thanksgiving without Football?

What better way to work off a meal than a game of Football. However, this game came before the meal.....The teams were evenly matched and the only obstacle on the field was the bunkers, the trees, and the small mine fields of dog crap. Other than that it was an open game. Team A; Tommy, Kara, Andy, & Carlie. Team B; Amy, Mark, Cody & Jamie. Fun was had by all. Team A took a pretty good lead but Team B came back to lose by a single touchdown.

Bowling Millward style

On Brianna's 11th birthday we decided to do something out of the ordinary for us and go bowling. For Mckay, Addy and Brianna this was a first. Everyone did well especially those with bumpers and we only had one ball go backwards...guess who? MCKAY! Brianna being her usually competitive self ended up in tears because she couldn't bowl well, until we added the bumper pads to her lane.... Happy Birthday Brianna!

Halloween 2009

I'm just a little behind on my posts (say 4 months). Sorry, but life gets a little chaotic. Halloween was a blast this year and the weather was great. I am always grateful for good weather at Halloween since I'm usually the one going Trick or Treating with the kids. This year was especially fun because John Ed and Brandy brought their kids out to Trick or Treat with us.

Cody, a gnome

Kallie, Supergirl

Ben, a Y fan

Zach, Firefighter

Levi, the Dark Knight

Addison, the cutest little witch

Brianna, always the Queen (Amidala)

Mckay adores Bumblebee from Transformers. I don't know why?

Did you notice the Travelocity gnome in the background. He recently joined the family because of the all the trips we have taken this year. J/K. Cody's great costume that he wore to a co-ed party. I'm having a hard time getting used to him being a teenager. We had 2 superheros, a witch, a fireman, a Transformer, Queen Amidala, and a Y fan. It was a great night. John, Brandy, and I took out the troops while Cody and David held down the fort at home. We tired out before the kids did of course.

BYU/Oklahoma Game

BYU/Oklahoma Game
On Labor Day weekend David, Cody and I flew down to Dallas to attend the BYU/Oklahoma game at the new Cowboy Stadium. It was a stressful start as I discovered I had forgotten to grab the game tickets from home when we were almost to the airport. Luckily, my mom drove to our house and met us half way or we wouldn't have made it. We arrived at the airport 1/2 hour before our flight was supposed to leave and they weren't going to let us on the plane. The attendant at the gate still had seats left so we managed, but it was not a good start to the day.
When we arrived in Dallas we went straight to our hotel which was a mile from the stadium. When we walked in the lobby, we were met by 50 OU fans all decked out in their Team shirts. We may have been the only BYU fans in that hotel. The Oklahoma fans were very gracious and even after their team lost, in what can only be described as the greatest game ever, they treated us with respect.
Cody had a great time, and David and I enjoyed spending time with him.

Six Flags

Six Flags

On Sunday after the fantastic BYU game we decided to go to Six Flags for our last day. Keep in mind I haven't been on a roller coaster since I was 17, so I was gung ho and excited to ride every roller coaster in the park. Cody couldn't wait to ride the biggest rides and he just went to Lagoon, so he knew he could take it. David knew he could do anything that didn't involve spinning so we decided to stick to the Roller Coasters. They had the biggest, most terrifying roller coasters I have ever seen, but the scariest part was the 1 1/2 hour long wait for each one. We spent 7 hours there and only rode 5 rides. Cody was very disappointed and I discovered that I do NOT have the stomach for them anymore.

San Diego

In July David, me and the girls spent a week in San Diego. It is one of my favorite places to go anyway, but this is the first time we have taken any of the kids. David was going there for the NEA convention and we tagged along for the ride.

It was Addison's 1st plane ride and she was so excited. She absolutely loved it.

Most days, we just hung out at the pool while David was in meetings, but the girls didn't seem to mind......































We took a boat ride out on the bay for 2 hours. It was beautiful.

David's birthday was on July 3rd. We were able to get great seats at the San Diego Padres game. They played the Dodgers and ended up losing 6-3. Great game, great friends and a whole lot of funny hats.