Birthday Boys

Barrie and Jackson both have early December birthdays (Dec. 4th and 6th respectively)! Happy Birthday my darlings!

The annual eclair. This year, Jackson blew out the candles!

Sledding with Daddy, Uncle Phil and Ronnie

A slobbery kiss from Jackson's pal Breezy.

Delivering Dictionaries

Each year, Barrie delivers dictionaries to all the third graders in town on behalf of the local Rotary club. This year, Anna is especially proud because she has been teaching these classes how to use the dictionary. She has learned a lesson, however: no kissing her husband at school! (otherwise, her first grade class will poke fun at her).

Giving Thanks

The Mills and Matthews families were together for Thanksgiving for the first time this year. So much to be thankful for ...

Master Chef Barrie directs Anna in the art of preparing the Thanksgiving feast.

MILLS

MATTHEWS

MILLS + MATTHEWS

Thank goodness for men who tackle the dreaded Christmas lights!

We are so thankful for baby JESUS! Jackson's job each year is placing Him in the nativity scene (He went in upside-down this year!).

Nana, Granddaddy, and Uncle Bret Are Here!

The Mills family braved the winter weather advisory to make the trip out to Montana for Thanksgiving!

Granddaddy and Nana LOVE Jackson

Jackson gave Granddaddy some junk food.

Racing cars with Uncle Bret!

Giving Nana a sweet kiss.

Crashing down towers. The remote-control cars are a big hit.

Fly Eagles Fly!

Jackson's 2nd Halloween ...

E-A-G-L-E-S ... EAGLES!


A rare shot with his helmet on.


Jackson


First house trick-or-treating!


Bubah, Zeider, First Draft Pick


Jackson LOVES Auntie Bev


What a pretty kitty Karlee was!


As usual, showing off the little ones ...


What a way to end the night! A sweet kiss from a new pal.

Amanda Gets Married

Our cousin Amanda's wedding was last weekend ... she is now Mrs. Taylor Dukes! What a wonderful excuse for us to visit the Shore. I (Anna) was thrilled to read at the wedding and we all loved seeing our sweet family.

Granddaddy's creamscicle kitten is not so little anymore!

My favorite people!

Matthews Trio at the Rehearsal Dinner

Getting to the church on time.

GREAT Nana and Granddaddy

Cousins

Fall at the Big Sky Smile Center

Don't worry they are sugar free:)

A Perfect Day for the Pumpkin Patch

Yesterday, Jackson and two of his sweet pals visited the pumpkin patch for the first time! The kiddos' parents tagged along for the grand photo opportunity.

Jackson spots "the one."

This was right before he threw it like a football.

Pumpkin heads.

Pingu!

Jackson LOVES Pingu, a very cute claymation penguin. We watch Pingu online practically every day ... over and over and over! Jackson just can't get enough.

E-A-G-L-E-S

It's that time of year again! Barrie and Jackson, ever the loyal Eagles fans, are excited about the football season. Here's Jackson in his game-day gear.

Q Tips

I've had to hide the Q-tips because a certain somebody thinks they should stick out of his ears. The other week he was walking around with one sticking out each ear. Yikes!

Back to School

In case you were wondering, Barrie took over the blog site while I was busy getting ready for school. Well, I've survived a whole week and am loving my job! It's definitely as busy (or even busier) than I expected it to be!

Here are some pictures of my library at the elementary school. It looks better in person. I have kites hanging everywhere.

Hey, I'm no longer a sub!


I have a great office space - it's enclosed, behind the library. It smells nice because I have a scentsy candle on my desk :)

A bulletin board and part of my counter space.

View from behind the circulation desk.

Come check out a book or two!

Story area. I'll read many, many books here!

Fair Weekend

It's fair weekend so that means summer is over:( For a teacher that means back to work and for a new teacher that means a lot of stress. Tonight is Sawyer Brown and with Zeider babysitting Jackson we should have a good time with good friends. As I like to say - Keep Smiling:)

Milestone Help Is Here:)

I know it's goofy but Anna is so busy with her new job I feel I need to help with the web page! Watch out for a puck:)

Wanted: Your PRAYERS!

I have not added much to our little blogspot lately because I have been gearing up for a Very Important job. I will be the librarian at TWO of the schools in our local school district this year. This is a new position: a consolidation of two full-time positions. I am thrilled to be a librarian and am very excited about this year (!), but it will also be a challenge. My school year starts in just one week (kids start on the 30th), so please send those prayers up ASAP. Thanks :)

Mr. President

Barrie, ever committed to serving his community, is now the president of the Miles City Rotary Club. This year, the third annual Rubber Ducky Round-Up (a Rotary-sponsored fundraiser) was planned to coincide with a trail ride marker dedication ceremony ... the weekend of August 6. Quite a few big cheeses in the world of Rotary came to our little town for the events. Barrie and his fellow Rotarians worked long and hard to make the weekend a very big success!

Little Duck, Big Duck, and Very Big Duck


With the International Rotary President


Barrie giving his very inspiring speech at Riverside Park.

'Babies'

Jackson, Mama, and Daddy are back in Montana! Jackson is settling right back into life in Miles City. He's rediscovering his toys and has loved seeing Bubah, Zeider, and Miss Patty.

Today he has been running around the house with his two 'babies,' Lamby and Bear. I have never called these stuffed animal friends 'babies' before, so I guess Jackson decided to name them himself!

In other news, Mom called today to say that Piper died. Piper was my cat in Philadelphia who never made it to Montana. She was adopted by my parents in Virginia and quickly fell in love with the dog, Maverick. I am glad Jackson got to see the "meow" this summer!