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Janna-Lee & Me
Happy Birthday!! You'd think that after living on separate continents for five years I would be used to not having you around... but I'm not! It feels wrong to celebrate without you, a birthday for one is lonely. I miss you lots xxx
Thursday, 21 May 2009
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Conversation With A Four Year Old
Noah: 'Mummy, I can see a yellow car!'Me: 'I can see a yellow car too!'
Noah: 'Are you thinking what I'm thinking then?'
Me: 'Er... yes!'
Noah: 'Fabulous!'
Friday, 15 May 2009
Do You Like Good Music?
Check out Gregory Alan Isakov's latest album, it's another beautiful one (especially 'That Moon Song'.)Thursday, 7 May 2009
What Do You Say To That?
Noah: 'Mummy, Ben peeled my scab off very carefully 'cause I wanted to see the red of my new skin!'Wednesday, 6 May 2009
Here We All Are!
I didn't have this photo of us at the London Temple in time for my last post, so here it is now:
Isn't it wonderful that we have this many youth in Newton Abbot? This isn't all of them either!
Isn't it wonderful that we have this many youth in Newton Abbot? This isn't all of them either!
Sunday, 3 May 2009
Fun Frolics
April has been rather quiet in the Miles household; we started off by exploring Dartmoor while the sun was out instead of watching General Conference. What? We caught up later!
James went to a Prodigy gig with his friend Rob, and then had a rare four day weekend off of work for Easter. He also took a couple of exams and scored in the high 90% end! The children had a two week break for Easter so we went for walks in forests, climbed trees, made shelters and generally stayed out of the house as the weather was so good! Enjoy some mug shots:
Amy, me, and Leah (with Rosie and Noah)
James went to a Prodigy gig with his friend Rob, and then had a rare four day weekend off of work for Easter. He also took a couple of exams and scored in the high 90% end! The children had a two week break for Easter so we went for walks in forests, climbed trees, made shelters and generally stayed out of the house as the weather was so good! Enjoy some mug shots:
During the Easter break we enjoyed some time with our relatives from Carlisle. My Uncle James and Aunt Rosalyn came down to stay nearby for a week, it was the first time they had met James and the children (I was 14 the last time I went to Carlisle!) so it was a lovely visit. James and the children concluded that they could only understand 60% of what Uncle James said…he has a very strong, fast Cumbrian accent! They also found it funny that my mum would slip into a broader accent when speaking with her brother and sister in law! We spent a day together at Cockington with my sisters Leah and Amy. (Jay, we missed you!)
Uncle James couldn't wait to have a go!
Amy, me, and Leah (with Rosie and Noah)I rounded off that week with a trip to the London Temple with the youth from our ward. It was a wonderful two days; we filled two mini buses with 26 youth and a few of us leaders!
Thursday, 30 April 2009
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
February and March Roundup:
February started off with most of the UK covered in snow. It stuck around for a couple of days; great big, fluffy snowflakes! We even had a day off from school as over half the teachers couldn’t make it in due to road closures. Here are some pictures in our back garden, the kids were so excited to have a snow storm! (Don’t laugh at the thin layer, it did get deeper!)
February also saw me being drastic and getting 8 inches cut from my hair. James saw me for an hour that evening after getting home late and didn’t notice the change until the next morning! I think this makes it official that James doesn’t function normally after 10pm!
The highlight of February was going to see Ray LaMontagne in Bristol, he was fabulous! He has the most beautiful, raw voice and I was enchanted all evening:
I also had a last minute trip to see Keane play in Pymouth when some friends of ours couldn’t go. (I will happily relieve anyone of their spare tickets!) There is nothing better in life than listening to music live:
I made so many pancakes for Shrove Tuesday, some for my kids and then later at mutual for all the youth…I am an expert at pancake tossing now! I have also been running the Young Women programme since then as our YW president broke her leg doing a pancake race at the school where she works!
James took a very difficult exam for the management course he is doing at college, and passed! He’s also done another one this month and got 97%...genius! James is also entering the Estimator of the Year competition again this year, he made the top 10 in the country last year and hopes to make it further this time. (He was robbed!)
March 9th saw us celebrating our 13th wedding anniversary! Don’t we look young?
Rosie also decided that long hair was not for her and she wanted me to cut it, no waiting for the hairdresser! I was quite impressed with the results, not as bad as it could have been! She looks so much older now (and really excited!):
Ben is approaching 11 and we found out he got into the secondary school we were hoping for, so from September he will be a high school student at Teign School. (Help me!) He is refusing to cut his hair short now and almost has an emo fringe (HELP ME!) But his is delightful and amusing, and I love that he is refining his sarcasm skills. He is his mother’s son!
Ethan joined the drama club again. When he wasn’t chosen for a major part he said if they didn’t want him in a speaking role, he wasn’t going to be one of those ‘in the choir’ people. I like that he has standards!
Noah is my sweetheart. He comes out with such loving and funny comments all the time, the latest was on Saturday. He was talking about how he would like to fly so I asked him ‘Like who?’ thinking of a superhero. He replies ‘Like Jesus of course!’ I tried to explain that Jesus didn’t fly exactly…but gave up!
March ended up with a temple trip for the sisters of the Plymouth Stake (it is a tradition every March to celebrate the organisation of Relief Society.) Three of my friends (one with a baby) and I thought we should go together in a car rather than on the coach as it would be quicker, more convenient and a more enjoyable journey. Ha! Halfway there the car bellowed out smoke and died…thank you head gasket! Fear not we thought, we have recovery cover, we will get to the temple. THREE hours after waiting beside the motorway we were rescued. We arrived at the temple in a large recovery truck (way to make an entrance!) just in time for Sara to run in the temple to be sealed to her mum and stepdad, and 40 minutes later we were all on the coach making our way home. I was sunburnt (who knew three hours of sun in March could be so lethal?) and had spent 13 hours on the road that day (three of them literally on the road getting high from fumes!) but it wasn’t a wasted day. Even though I didn’t have time to go in I still had that wonderful feeling you get from being at the temple, and I had the company of great women. I shall be going again in a couple of weeks, I have a youth trip I'm organising. We are taking 23 youth from our ward, and I’m praying the minibus doesn’t break down! Something tells me looking at this scene for 3 hours with that many youth might not be so friendly:
February also saw me being drastic and getting 8 inches cut from my hair. James saw me for an hour that evening after getting home late and didn’t notice the change until the next morning! I think this makes it official that James doesn’t function normally after 10pm!
The highlight of February was going to see Ray LaMontagne in Bristol, he was fabulous! He has the most beautiful, raw voice and I was enchanted all evening:
I also had a last minute trip to see Keane play in Pymouth when some friends of ours couldn’t go. (I will happily relieve anyone of their spare tickets!) There is nothing better in life than listening to music live:
James took a very difficult exam for the management course he is doing at college, and passed! He’s also done another one this month and got 97%...genius! James is also entering the Estimator of the Year competition again this year, he made the top 10 in the country last year and hopes to make it further this time. (He was robbed!)
March 9th saw us celebrating our 13th wedding anniversary! Don’t we look young?
Rosie also decided that long hair was not for her and she wanted me to cut it, no waiting for the hairdresser! I was quite impressed with the results, not as bad as it could have been! She looks so much older now (and really excited!):
Ben is approaching 11 and we found out he got into the secondary school we were hoping for, so from September he will be a high school student at Teign School. (Help me!) He is refusing to cut his hair short now and almost has an emo fringe (HELP ME!) But his is delightful and amusing, and I love that he is refining his sarcasm skills. He is his mother’s son!Ethan joined the drama club again. When he wasn’t chosen for a major part he said if they didn’t want him in a speaking role, he wasn’t going to be one of those ‘in the choir’ people. I like that he has standards!
Noah is my sweetheart. He comes out with such loving and funny comments all the time, the latest was on Saturday. He was talking about how he would like to fly so I asked him ‘Like who?’ thinking of a superhero. He replies ‘Like Jesus of course!’ I tried to explain that Jesus didn’t fly exactly…but gave up!
March ended up with a temple trip for the sisters of the Plymouth Stake (it is a tradition every March to celebrate the organisation of Relief Society.) Three of my friends (one with a baby) and I thought we should go together in a car rather than on the coach as it would be quicker, more convenient and a more enjoyable journey. Ha! Halfway there the car bellowed out smoke and died…thank you head gasket! Fear not we thought, we have recovery cover, we will get to the temple. THREE hours after waiting beside the motorway we were rescued. We arrived at the temple in a large recovery truck (way to make an entrance!) just in time for Sara to run in the temple to be sealed to her mum and stepdad, and 40 minutes later we were all on the coach making our way home. I was sunburnt (who knew three hours of sun in March could be so lethal?) and had spent 13 hours on the road that day (three of them literally on the road getting high from fumes!) but it wasn’t a wasted day. Even though I didn’t have time to go in I still had that wonderful feeling you get from being at the temple, and I had the company of great women. I shall be going again in a couple of weeks, I have a youth trip I'm organising. We are taking 23 youth from our ward, and I’m praying the minibus doesn’t break down! Something tells me looking at this scene for 3 hours with that many youth might not be so friendly:
In The Beginning...
One of my goals for the New Year was to write more often to my far off friends and family to keep them up to date with our lives and also to find out what was happening in theirs. I soon realised it would be just as easy to do a blog, so here it is. I shall share the things that give me smile lines!
Highlights of 2008:
Most studious Miles: James passed lots of exams relating to his work, one of which only has a 25% pass rate. He also started attending Exeter College a couple of evenings a week to do a management class.
Hardest Part: Noah, our last child to start Pre-School went after Easter break. (I held back from sending him in January!)
Best one-liner: After explaining why Ben couldn’t have his own bedroom and that when I grew up I didn’t either, he replies ‘Mum. In the words of Bob Dylan, the times they are a changin'!’
Best one-liner: After explaining why Ben couldn’t have his own bedroom and that when I grew up I didn’t either, he replies ‘Mum. In the words of Bob Dylan, the times they are a changin'!’
Best road trip: From Provo to Yellowstone Park. Stunning scenery and there were no kids getting bored!! Best of all, as I couldn’t walk farther than 10 metres without gasping for air, this road trip was perfect. Which leads on to…
Worst 30th birthday ever: After flying out to Utah with James to be with Jay for our 30th, I was ridiculously ill and spent the morning at instacare inhaling drugs and the afternoon/evening passed out in bed. No food either!
Most fun reunion: Our little England BBQ in Provo was so fun, and to be with all my ex-pat friends (and American comrades) for the afternoon was the best!
Most hilarious dancer: Ethan, performing to Christina Aguilera’s Genie in a Bottle for his school pantomime. The concentration and seriousness was enough to get me laughing for all the wrong reasons!
Best love: Noah: ‘Mummy, do you know something? I love you!’ followed by big hugs and kisses.
Most hilarious dancer: Ethan, performing to Christina Aguilera’s Genie in a Bottle for his school pantomime. The concentration and seriousness was enough to get me laughing for all the wrong reasons!
Best love: Noah: ‘Mummy, do you know something? I love you!’ followed by big hugs and kisses.
Passionate about music: I decided to spend time doing things I love, and seeing live music was one of them so I got to see Little Lost David:
Brandi Carlile:
Phil Campbell:
Brandi Carlile again:
Kim Richey:
Most talkative Miles: That would be Rosie hands down. She doesn’t stop. Ever. Even if it’s nonsense or in her sleep!
So, there are some little insights into the life of the Miles’ during 2008. I hope to keep you a little more updated during 2009, although it is now February and I have missed a whole month! This year has been eventful already…we had Ben being knocked off his bike by a car on the way to school (involving police, ambulance and nearly fire brigade!)...Noah discovered that his ears are attached to his head and face...Rosie actually tidied up her bedroom...I learned to play a whole song on my guitar...Ethan survived a fall from the top bunk onto the corner of Noah’s bed without breaking his back…and James willingly watched Enchanted twice!
So, there are some little insights into the life of the Miles’ during 2008. I hope to keep you a little more updated during 2009, although it is now February and I have missed a whole month! This year has been eventful already…we had Ben being knocked off his bike by a car on the way to school (involving police, ambulance and nearly fire brigade!)...Noah discovered that his ears are attached to his head and face...Rosie actually tidied up her bedroom...I learned to play a whole song on my guitar...Ethan survived a fall from the top bunk onto the corner of Noah’s bed without breaking his back…and James willingly watched Enchanted twice!
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