Miller Family 2: May Rewind

May 1st was our 30th wedding anniversary. We had plans to go to Vegas this year and renew our vows....that got side-railed when we found out that Amie needed open heart surgery. We donated the wedding renewal to Amie's school auction, and got our money back for the hotel deposit.

Then an unexpected wonderful thing happened - our wonderful family bought a sybaris gift certificate and said they would babysit Amie when she got strong enough for us to go out! So...here it is the end of July & we are now booked for our Sybaris trip in a few weeks! Can't wait!! :)

Darwin bought some beautiful flowers for our anniversary.

Most of May is a blur - from May 3rd (day of surgery) & actually starting May 2nd (pre-op) for the next two weeks, we spent our days and nights first at the hospital and then at home watching an amazing little girl get stronger and stronger! God is good!

The night before surgery, we moved Amie's mattress down to underneath her castle bed. She is such a little angel.

A few days after we got home, we purchased an ipad. We had intended on doing it before she went to the hospital, but things got busy.

Well......the first app Darwin downloaded for Amie was a Justin Bieber app - Oh My!! She was super happy to see it!!

And within a day she discovered that she could take a picture of herself & have Justin kissing her!! Does that look like the look of utter bliss or what?!!

We decided to extend our kitchen remodel to the rest of the downstairs & replaced our couch. My is it comfortable! We are still working on the rest of the remodel - getting closer!

Two weeks and one day after surgery it was time for kindergarten graduation. Amie was doing fantastic & allowed to go to graduation!! She was very specific about her hair and what she wanted to wear!

She did so fantastic! She still had her little hunched shoulders, but did absolutely fantastic!

Time to bring the graduates up to sing a few songs & read some books!

Cap and gown time!

And there's that look!

Flip the tassel time!

Amie, let's get a nice picture with your grandma's.....of course that really means stick your tongue out!

Big Brother Tim!

Can you tell which she prefers? Smiling or sticking her tongue out?

Mommy and Daddy with Miss Amie!

During her third week home, we decided to go spend the money she had received. She was not supposed to be picked up under her arms yet, and was easily tired. So, I lifted her by her legs and back into a shopping cart - getting out was quite a task though!

She found a Justin Bieber doll!

And found out he wore "blue diapers" (according to her)!

She also got some make-up and tatoos.

So....I let her put make-up on me too! Aren't we gorgeous!!

Mother's Day - Tim made a cute little bag of hershey kisses with a super cute poem!

And these were made with Amie's hands and feet while she was still at the hospital.

By the end of the month - Miss Amie was doing fantastic! Here she is sporting a new chalk mustache!

And waiting for a pedicure with Kylee!

She loves that she is big enough to put her feet in the water now! (We had to come back the day after because of the waiting list).

The last weekend in May was a family gathering to celebrate Aunt Lois's 70th birthday. Amie was still not supposed to run and be wild, but she could play quietly & she did fantastic!

Interestingly, the picnic was on Arsenal Island, which is where Darwin's Dad is buried. Amie had been there when she was still in a baby carrying seat.

As we drove onto the base, Amie said. "My Grandpa died. My Grandpa buried here." There are times when she freaks me out with what she says.

So after the picnic, we visited Grandpa.