H town New Years

We went down to Houston for New Years this year and had a blast with our friends, the Butlers. We also went down for some more dental work for me. (all is well and on the right track, and as of now we do not have to pull my tooth phew!) Anyway, not only was Christmas fairly warm here in Dallas, but New Years in Houston was 80 degrees. I also decided that Houston is now a city I will ever live, it is just too humid and my hair looks horrible there. Brian even backed that up, so I know it was bad. I just cant live with bad hair every day.
OK... SO... look at this next picture, If you were thinking "who is that little girl with the ponytail? She looks so familiar yet not so..." think again, because you are seeing something that is a day that will go down in history. NATALIE'S FIRST PONYTAIL! It is a little trashy as only the top will all fit, but hey it is pretty impressive. I have been waiting for 4 1/2 years for this!
But the boys got lots of sleeping in, which always amazes me that the men always get the naps. You know what I am talking about, we are all tired but somehow the men can just sleep wherever. The women probably might could too but they are always worried about what the kids are getting into. so ya the men slept, and watched A LOT of football.

I know there were quite a few people who went to tropical places this holiday, but we didn't. You would have thought we did though, since we were able to go out swimming on New Years Eve day and be totally not cold. Dont mind that we didn't bring swim suits for our kids, so we improvised!

Brian and I have had a lot of "arguing" about traditions this year. What we want to make OUR own family traditions, and what we want to keep the overall Miller/Rawlins traditions, plus our very own ones. So we decided on our very own family tradition, which I think is the first one we want to make officially ours, going to Chucky-Cheese for new Years eve. The kids had so much fun, and so did we. They LOVED playing the games, even though they didn't get most of them, it was a riot for them to have their own coins and spend them on whatever they wanted to. At the end when they brought their tickets up to get a toy or whatever else they have, of course my kids always go for the one small section of candy. Natalie was really mad that her 84 tickets couldn't buy her a bag of cotton candy(200 tickets) so she settled for a tootsie roll and a blow pop. What a rip off! But really it was so fun! She calls it Chuck-eese, and she has been asking for it every day since.

So then later that night, we met back up with the gang. They had almost their entire family in town and so there were A ton of people. We all layed all 13 kids down for bed and then stayed up until 3 playing games, eating chocolate fountain yumminess, and having too much fun. We tried for a group shot, I need to work on that one.

5....4...3.... picture (again didn't time that right!)

REVERSE CHARADES. Holy Smokes this game is so much fun. I had never played, but I haven't laughed that hard in a long time!

And things got crazy when the head shake picture game was introduced!!

So the trip was very fun, we already miss you guys!! We got home to mend up the last of our sickly family. Everyone got sick on Christmas eve and Day with really nasty colds, and I thought they would have all gone away faster than they did. Unfortunately we were all sick in Houston and Courtney even got it. She has this horrible cough that scares me so bad. She is a sweety though, since she just smiles between coughs. Boots is a constant green goblin drip, and Natalie has an ear infection. Brian and I are keeping up with our homeopathic medication we found(thank you only store open) to keep our heads from exploding. But we are all on the up and feeling better.

Natalie got back into Dance class today since the break and still loves it. I thinking I need something to put boots in though, he is driving me wild. I SWEAR that he is getting crazier and busier by the minute. If you know him and have spent time with him, you probably think I am lying because a kid cant get much more lively than him, but I am not. He is nuts and today I almost pulled my hair out!

I also have been thinking about my New Years resolutions. Let me just say that 2010 was a wonderful year. Lots of growth happened in our family physically, spiritually, lovingly, and on and on. I feel so blessed to have had such a wonderful year. Brian's business is doing fabulous, we added a wonderful member of our family, we traveled to lots of fun and exciting places (Chicago, Calgary, Utah, BC, Hawaii x2, Houston, and I am sure there were more!), and just grew to love each other so much more. My testimony has grown immensely and my love for my Savior as well. This year has brought new light and new wisdom and I became a little more tender. I am grateful for all I have been given!

So with 2011 starting up, I would like to work even more on these same things. I want to be more spiritual, more fit (lose my baby weight, and some), kinder, more loving, more patient, a better wife and mother, and just be a better me. There is a lot to work on, and I know it will be a slow day to day thing. I am really not good at resolutions, so I will just take it a day at a time!

So for now... HAPPY NEW YEAR!