Sunday, November 20, 2011

November Birthdays

Our Sweet Sage turned eight this year and, by some happy coincidence with the stake calendar, was baptized on her eighth birthday. We had a great day with the park, errands and dinner out as a family to Macaroni Grill. But the highlight for all of us - especially Sage - was her baptism and confirmation.




She was very serious preparing for this big step in her life and really listened to us as we talked to her about baptism. Sage has always been a thoughtful and sensitive girl when it comes to things of the Spirit. We just love our dear firstborn. I know she felt her Heavenly Father's love and the love of the many friends and family who came to support her as she was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.




Sage is a natural learner, an avid reader and a very considerate sister. For Jane's birthday, she spent $7.00 of her own, hard-earned money to buy Jane a Polly Pocket.

Since eight is such a big birthday we started a few traditions. After Sage's baptism, we took our kids out to a fancy restaurant, all attired in our Sunday clothes. The girls had a delightful time and Bert and enjoyed watching their awe. We even got dessert in honor of the occasion.




We also decided that when our kids turn eight we'll take them on a little trip, just the three of us. We took Sage backpacking with her new pack; complete with all her junior ranger patches sewed on. We went in the Superstitions to Reavis Ranch in what turned out to be seven miles one way. Sage did great carrying her water, clothes and most of the food in her pack. We had a great time just chatting along the trail and being together. It was beautiful. I have a whole new perspective on the Sups now that I've been deep back where old man Reavis set up camp. We made up a story along the trail called "Superstition Beauty," a southwest spin on Sleeping Beauty. Sage was really interested in the publishing process and was ready to submit it publishers before we even got home. Right now she's still working on the text but I think it's got great potential. That book would sell like hot cakes at a Grand Canyon gift shop!Miss Jane is our other November birthday and she turned four this year. I sure do enjoy having this girl around during the day. She is delightful to talk to and a real helper. Jane has a wonderful imagination, a cute sense of humor and the best jazz singer's voice. We think she's the next Diana Krall.




For her fourth I let the big girls skip school and we all went to the zoo. We even rode the train. Then we took naps. And to finish the perfect day we had root beer cake and ice cream after dinner. I love little kid birthdays. It takes so little to have fun and make your child feel special. We doted on Jane all day and she soaked it all in.
Posted by at 5 comments:

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Halloween Extravaganza

Prepare yourself for lots of pictures. It seems like we celebrated Halloween for a week at our house. I don't even have the group shots from family or our 201o Babies Party.

Here's our entry for the MacArthur pumpkin decorating contest. Alas, Pippi was not a winner but we sure had fun. We even recruited Grandpa to come paint her face for us. I think my girls look so beautiful in this picture. I also think they all look way too grown-up. Here's the Halloween garb for school. They got a surprising amount of wear out of their Halloween shirts this year. Every time they'd come through the wash, it'd be worn immediately and then thrown into the next batch. Once again, aren't these the cutest girls on the block?



The whole crew on the spooky night. Note our lovely jack-o-lanterns. We thought they were a smashing success.

My cute Jacob-lantern. He's now the fourth Millett to wear the pumpkin costume. I think there's been a few other friends and family that have donned the pumpkin, too. This was the perfect costume for our big, round boy. And I think he actually liked wearing it.



Miss Jane as Belle the beautiful. She's the third Millett to wear this vintage costume. My mom originally made it from her leftover bridesmaid dress material for my sister Kasey to wear. So that makes this dress almost 20 years old (35 if you are considering the age of the fabric). It's really starting to show its age. I think it's time to pass it along to Aunt Kasey for Annie to wear in a couple years.


Jane felt lovely and beautiful and all grown-up. She wore her costume for about a month before the big day so she had a lot of practice acting like a princess.



Faith the Witch; another hand-me down. But we did add the orange boa to the hat to give it a little pizazz. I loved making this costume for Sage two years ago. It's lovely. As lovely as a witch costume can be, I guess.
Sage girl made a last minute switch from Jasmine (her costume last year) to Minnie Mouse. This is another old favorite. I wore this costume when I was about Sage's age. Like the gloves?

And here is Bert Mullett and his girlfriend. Or is that James Bond's girlfriend? I just wanted to wear this dress out of my Mom's high school dress collection. Isn't it beautiful? Can you tell how sentimental I am about costumes and clothing in general? I think its a family trait.



Bert and I laughed for days about his Mullett-man costume. "Business in the front - Party in the back!" It was surprising how naturally he took to the persona. If you haven't heard of Citrus Valley Playhouse, check it out at www.citrusvalley.org . We love their productions and our friend, Brian Nissan, is so funny and talented. Here's the clip that inspired Bert's costume. If you know ANYTHING about the recall election, you have to take the time to watch this. There's a few more clips on the website if you find you need more advice from Dwayne.



Posted by at 4 comments:
Subscribe to: Comments (Atom)