Warning--This Is Disgusting!!

I was thinking to myself last night, "We've been really lucky this year and haven't had any scorpions in the house." My immediate next thought was, "Oh no. I've totally jinxed myself." Well, I did indeed jinx myself in the worst way. (Those of you who don't live in Arizona now have two reasons to be really glad you get to miss out on our summers.)

Today my girls were playing on the floor when Grace said, "Mom, there's a scorpion." She showed me where (crawling on the carpet about three feet from where her head had been) and I went to the bedroom to get one of Devon's shoes. Upon my return I found the scorpion and went to kill it when I realized that it did not look like most scorpions I have seen. It's back was white and bumpy. When I took a closer look I realized that it's back was covered with babies! I freaked!! I knew I couldn't smash it now for fear that the babies would scatter and being that they were the same color as my carpet they would never be found again until they were big enough to come out and get us while we slept.

I called Devon to see how soon he would be home from work and he was going to be a while so I called my neighbor and business partner Amy whose husband happens to be my home teacher. She graciously volunteered her husband to come get it for me. He sucked it up into my bag-less vacuum, dumped it outside and made sure it was good and dead. We couldn't really account for all the babies but he smashed the stuff that came out of the vacuum really well and I vacuumed the carpet after he left. I am so grateful that he was willing to come do what should have been a really simple task but left me frozen and shaking. My skin has been crawling for an hour.

After it was all over I was really mad that I hadn't taken a picture of our lovely house guest. But lucky for you I found a picture that looks exactly like the friend I had in my house today. Enjoy!

Girls' Day Out

Yesterday my girls enjoyed what most females would call the perfect day. They got their hair done at the salon and then spent the afternoon shopping. My sister gave them really cute new cuts that they both love. I forgot to take before pictures but they both had hair to the middle of their backs so this is quite a change. What do you think?

In Loving Memory

My dear friends, Doug and Brittany Kunz, lost their sweet one-year-old Daxton on Monday. He was such a beautiful baby with rosy cheeks and blue eyes and will be greatly missed. While it is little comfort at the moment I'm grateful for the knowledge that they will be with him again someday. I have been amazed by their strength and faith in the Lord through this difficult time.

If you happen to know Doug and Brittany and would like to help a fund has been set up in Daxton's memory through Wells Fargo. You can call this number 1-800-869-3557 or go to a local branch and donate to the Daxton Douglas Kunz Memorial Fund. The account number is 9612719972.

Life

This weekend the girls and I went shopping. They both had money to spend and Daddy was golfing so we had a girlie excursion. Can I say that I love my kids?! Guess what we brought home: six books and a board game. The board game was purchased by Grace and was The Game of Life.
I'm hoping that each of you have the same fond memories of this game as I do. My brother and I played this game all the time and I was excited to rediscover it with my kids. But things didn't go so well for me. In case you've never played, you get a job and kids and other random grown-up things happen to you as you move around the board. Well, true to life, I got no kids plus I got schooled!

My brother was just saying the other day that he couldn't believe my dad never let us win when we played games with him as kids. I have to tell you that I'm too competitive to let anyone win either, even my kids. I know, sick and twisted. I figure I'm teaching them how to be good losers, right? Unfortunately, I did not let them win today--they beat me fair and square. I guess I'll have to try again another day but if I get no babies next time I'm done!

p.s. This really has nothing to do with the game but I had to record this for my own sake. Grace's spending money came from various people for her baptism. She wrote thank you notes to all of them this week. When I looked them over I noticed she started with "Thank you for coming to my baptism" and then "I (a picture of a heart) $." She was watching as I was reading these so of course I couldn't bust out laughing like I wanted to. It was really cute. I'm hoping that the recipients remember that she's only eight and eight-year-olds do silly things like stating that they love money.

You Have to Buy This

I have to tell you about my friend William Joseph. He and his wife Lisa lived in our ward for a little while--she's the one who taught us to play Settlers and started our crazy addiction--thanks Lisa! Her husband William is nothing short of a piano prodigy. While living in our ward he was signed with Warner Bros. Music and started his career. I saw him a few years ago when he opened for Josh Groban and was blown away. He just released his second CD titled "Beyond" and was featured on the Dr. Phil show. He and his wife are the nicest people and have three little kids. I'm so happy for them that he gets to live his dream as a musician. I can't imagine him doing anything else but not every musician is so lucky. Below is a clip about his new CD which you can can buy at Amazon or other such places. I promise you will love it!

Grace's Day

Saturday was a great day for our family. Grace was baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She was quite nervous but did just fine and had a huge smile on her face once it was over. We were so happy to be surrounded by our family and friends. Thank you to all who came--it made our day that much better. Grace is super lucky to have that many wonderful people to influence and guide her. She is such an amazing little soul and I consider myself greatly blessed to be her mother!


(Unfortunately Jenna is conspicuously absent from all our pictures of the day. She was a zombie with a very high fever but was a trooper and came to the baptism anyway.)

Happy Birthday Jenna!!

Yesterday was Jenna's fifth birthday. It's strange that my baby is already five. She had a Backyardigans birthday party on Saturday. I ventured out on my own this time and made the cake without Amy's help, although she gave me the idea. It looks like it was easy but it took me a long time even though it's not nearly as impressive as the microphone cake. It was perfect for the party though and Jenna loved it.


On her actual birthday Jenna got a pedicure from my sister and spent her very own money on a Strawberry Shortcake DDR (dance dance revolution) video game. She also got roller skates for her birthday so she spent half the day rolling through the house.

Like I did with Grace I think I will tell you some of the things I love about Jenna. Probably the best thing is that she is so happy. She is the most pleasant, easy-going child, which I'm quite sure she gets from her father. She's also hysterically funny but very tender-hearted and sensitive. And she's a complete cuddle bug, which I relish since I don't have a baby to snuggle. Her teacher tells me she's super smart and a joy to have at school. And two of her funny talents are that she can recite the alphabet backwards and she prefers to write things in mirror-image. In fact, she completely confused my 80-something grandma with her Mother's Day card that was written backwards. My grandma kept trying to turn it upside down until I showed her that the note read from right to left. Maybe she's Hebrew.

Life in the Miller family would be pretty dull without Jenna. She lights up any room she enters and has such a joy for life. We love you Jenna!