Merry Christmas in March

As always the holidays at the Millers consisted of food, friends, guns and competition (mainly who can catch a clay pigeon mid-air).







This was the first Christmas for Ben and I to spend on our own in our own place. Let me recap for you...
Christmas 2007 - with Miller Clan, 3 days before wedding
Christmas 2008 - Cabin with Taylor family
Christmas 2010 - North Carolina with Mayberrys

So with that being said this was extra special for us. We got a beautiful tree and decorated the house. Now while we were in Baltimore we bought a big, comfy couch that I knew we would have for a while. I remember sitting down and immediately falling in love. It was tall for Ben and wide for me. Haha. We could only afford the couch, however, but I swore I wanted to finish the set one day. We have been looking at ottomans but I was super particular on size and color. I wanted it to have the "aaaaahhhhh" feeling when you sit down and prop your feet.
Introducing....







Benjamin Ray Miller handmade this beautiful ottoman. The blue and brown match the couch PERFECTLY (picture does not do justice). Do you want to know why they match so perfectly? Because he took one of our pillows to Joanns to pick out the fabric. He made the buttons with parts of the brown fabric. He bought the same shaped legs as the couch to also match. I couldn't believe my eyes when we woke up that morning. I was brought to tears because of his thoughtfulness and hardwork. Oh just wait it doesn't stop here. Before Christmas I got called to be the Relief Society pianist in our ward. Don't you remember I stopped taking lessons in like 2nd grade? I half cried/half laughed when they asked me. I immediately started going over to my mom's to practice. I would even go early to church and practice. I was so nervous. The only thing I got going for me is that I can sight-read. The problem is making my hands do the work. Well Ben struck again...

He got this from a lady on craigslist. It was a half done project and she even gave him the rest of the paint to finish. He took it all apart, cleaned, dusted, painted and put it all back together. Might I add these two projects were going on in one of our spare bedrooms? Beyond the level of surprise, I was overwhelmed with gratitude for his attention to these things. It makes our house, a home.