Christmas in August

We spent our weekend in Des Moines celebrating Christmas with my family. Since my grandma passed away a few months ago, we decided it would be nice to keep our tradional hotel gathering for the holidays, but move it to a more convenient time of year. It was great getting to see everyone and really nice that we didn't have to worry about bad weather, battling the cold, or cramming in visits around the holidays. Very relaxing, very fun yet very traditional.

Pool time was great...I especially loved this cannon ball from Grace!

Grace and Jason on the waterslides.

Mark and Emma just shy of winning the race. 

Grace loved "walking the plank"

The girls so excited to check out the hotel and their king sized bed!

After a fun day of swimming all the cousins gathered around to watch a little Charlie Brown Christmas.

Norah had a great time getting passed around and meeting all her family for the first time.

These two were attached at the hip...Oregon is too far away!

Mo and Em warming up after some fun on the pirate ship. 

You can never go hungry at a Miller gathering.

Ann and Norah...though Norah has a 5 week jump start, Ann can hold her own.

In typical fashion, goodbyes in the hallway!