Winter Wonderlandz Part II

After a long drive from Athens, we finally got to Kentucky for some relaxation and holiday festivities. Grandpa Little arrived back from Australia the ext day and Rosie was so happy to see him. We had a great time eating, going for walks, and enjoying the holidays with friends and family (Including Great-Grandparents Mary and Frank, Annette, the Simmons, the Thomases, the Krebs, the Turners...the list goes on and on).








Rosie also enjoyed getting to know her Uncle Tyler, and she was never disturbed during a nap thanks to his new digital drum set. Briant also enjoyed having uncle Tyler around as he was the only one who would play gamecube with him. Remarkably, Rosie had the most presents, much to Briant's dismay.


Pasha also had a wonderful time. Peanut stayed on the farm while Travis and Summer were in Cali, and she followed Pasha around everywhere. They played all the time (unless they were tired in which case they slept together too), whether it was swimming in the pond, tugging the platypus, or whatever, they were together. It was really fun to see P-Nut bring out Pasha's puppy spirit. They had a great time, and we had a great time watching.






Rosie was a little overwhelmed with all the travel (she despises her car seat), but she loved spending time with everyone. She especially loved all the dogs on the farm, and if she plays with Moose (the basset hound), it's a guaranteed laugh. Most of all, she enjoyed seeing the cougars and dawgs win their bowl games.

Winter Wonderlandz

After I finished finals, we flew the coupe to Marietta to chill with Mil and Fil. Also, there were 17 other people at my parent's house, including 9 other grandchildren. In this rare footage, all 10 grandchildren of G&G Mildenhall are found in one single room. Everyone survived, and some even had a good time. We seriously had 20 people in that house. After some quick math, I realized that is 10 people per bathroom. Youza. We did have a great time playing games, all sorts, and eating/making food, and doing some last minute Christmas shopping. It was great to see everyone, and Rosie was happy to meet all her cousins.



We did encounter so cooler weather. Precautions were taken.




After seeing everyone in Marietta, we came back to Athens for a doctor's appointment, and then left for Kentucky the next day. From Kentucky, we also went to Illinois for a few days. We were in the car a lot this winter break. Pasha did well as always, even though he was crowded by my clubs. Rosie, on the other hand, has a lot she could learn from her brother. We made numerous stops to dispose of various wastes, feed, and calm her down. She has made vast improvements, but not without a lot of practice and effort.

Fall Festivities

Apologies for not posting in such a long time. The delay is unpardonable, and we hope it doesn't happen again. School, family, and church have kept us busy the last while, a trend that is likely to repeat itself over the next decades. These pictures are from a post I didn't finish before Thanksgiving.

Rosie and Pasha keep us thoroughly entertained. We are happy to report that they get along very well (maybe because they don't have to share any toys?). In fact, if we are ever in a jam and need to cheer Rosie up, we play a game with Pasha that gets her giggling every time (yes, she giggles now). Here are the highlights from some of the more entertaining moments of the past few months.



Halloween was a blast. We had a lot of trick-or-treaters, and Rosie and Pasha were no exception. Pasha looks sad to be a pumpkin, but he was just jealous that Rosie looked so cute (thanks to Ben and Jill for the outfit).



















Rosie is stylin, and she won't get cataracts either. Weather here has been unseasonably warm, so we have enjoyed playing in the backyard and daily walks. Rosie comes along too, either in the stroller or baby carrier. We are still trying to figure out what she likes better.




















Rosie tries to help dad with school, but to no avail. Last semester was a challenge. Home was so much more fun than school. How could one resist such cuteness? Only one more semester though.































In short, life is a lot more fun with Rosie.

The World Through Rosie Colored Glasses

Rosemarie Mildenhall was born August 18 at 12:36 PM. Everything since then is a blur. It has been more than 2 weeks since that day, but so much has happened. To sum it all up, Rosie has two major skill areas: eating and sleeping, but she adds an element of excitement to these mundane tasks by doing them at the most unusual times.

For those of you who don't know, Katie had a C-section because Rosie was breached. It was weird because we got to schedule the time and date of the operation. We when came to the hospital we felt like we were checking into a hotel for a weekend vacation (especially since the rooms were so nice). The nurses got Katie ready and she went to the OR while I waited for the doctors to administer the anesthesia.

I waited for what seemed like an eternity until one of the nurses led me in to the OR. Katie was hooked up to tubes and monitors and lying on the operating table. I held her hand during the operation, and after Rosie was out, all Katie could ask was whether Rosie had a dimple. The nurses all commented on how big she was (7 pounds 12 ounces one week before her due date) and especially on how much hair she had.

It is hard to describe the emotions I felt those first few minutes, but next to the day Katie and I were married, I had more joy in my heart than ever. I felt so happy, and I was so proud of Katie. She did great during the operation, and took care of Rosie as soon as she could. We were in the hospital until Tuesday, and we had a good time learning how to feed and change diapers. Rosie was happy or sleepy most of the time, but she had a daily fussy period for a few hours too.

It has been a big adjustment having someone to take care of all of the time, but at the same time is is very rewarding. Rosie is so fun to look at and entertain. Grandma Little has been here to help out, and without her we would be in dire straits.

Rosie enjoys her bouncer, being outside, and going for walks (not to mention eating). She really likes to dance too. She especially enjoys dancing with daddy to Keane.




Katie is recovering well from her operation and is almost back to 100%. She does a great job of taking care of Rosie during the night (Katie was really worried that she would sleep through Rosie's cries). Dad sleeps during the night, but he tries to help out subconsciously. During the night, I will sleep walk and try to find Rosie in random places. I looked for her in the blinds one night, and last night I mistook Katie's leg for her. All in all, we are doing great. Even Pasha is adjusting well.

Summer daze

summer has flown by with many important events transpiring, but with no blogs to show for it. Katie and I moved from our duplex into a house for the last year of law school. We are excited to live here: the house is in a nice neighborhood, there is a large backyard for Pasha, and it will give us a little more space with our new arrival who is due to come August 25.

over the summer, we lived in Lexington, Kentucky. Katie worked in the farm office while I had an internship with a law firm. I really enjoyed working with the law firm and had a vast array of projects to work on over the summer. We loved being in Lexington and being close to Katie's family.


in the midst of moving within Athens and working in Kentucky for the summer, Katie also finished her undergraduate degree in Italian. It was somewhat miraculous, since her last requirement was to complete two math classes or test out of them. Katie taught herself calculus and other mathematical delights for a number of weeks, and passed the test with flying colors.




the best part of summer was visiting family. We had family reunions in Georgia and Illinois. Activities included canoeing, eating, soccer, volleyball, world cup watching (FORZA ITALIA!!!!!!), and making pretzels. It was a time for goodbyes on my side of the family as nick left on a mission for Germany and Robert and Brianna leave for the Caribbean.

that about sums it up. It is hard to believe that we will be parents in a few weeks. Surely more pictures will come in the near future.

that's a girl?

After our doctor's appointment last week, we are now 99% sure we are having a girl. I shouldn't say that we are 99% sure, but the doctor is. It was kind of hard to tell during the ultrasound what was what, but it was easier than deciphering horse ultra-sounds (on this note, Katie’s dad also had a hunch it was a girl because he found 4 fillies during his ultra-sounds the day before Katie’s).

All this comes to no surprise to me because I had an inkling it (we now call "it" "she") was a girl. We have told a few people and they said they were happy we were having a girl. I think they would have been happy if it was a boy too, but the point is that we are excited to know. For all the curious types out there, we have picked a name out: Rosemarie. ETA is August 25.

mildenhall melee

Tonight, we had what may be the last gathering of Mildenhalls in Athens, GA for a long time. Robert, Bree, Sadie, and Caden-Cong came over to enjoy panini. We had a grand time, but lamented the fact that Sunday dinners together would be no more.













Robert and family will be moving to Dominica (an island in the Caribbean) for med-school while we remain in the ATH for one final year. We will miss you guys, but we won’t miss Robert’s bad jokes.

thanks for a good night: "good night, and good luck"

One of the best movies I have seen in a while is "good night and good luck." I must be completely out of the loop because it was apparently nominated for a couple of Oscars. I remember hearing something about it on NPR, but that was it.

The movie follows the CBS crew of “See it Now” and Edward R. Murrow, a popular news show from the 50’s, during the red scare. I learned about the red scare in school, but I didn’t know the role that TV played in calling McCarthy out. In any case, it was fantastic and very relevant to our time too. They did a great job of presenting the story and conveying a few messages too. Highly recommended.

balancing act

After Rebekah’s sister poked Pasha in the buns a few times for his vaccinations, we decided that we should give him a special walk to make up for the 3 seconds of pain he had to endure. we went to a state park called hard labor creek, and we had nice weather and a great hike. It was the first time in a while that we took a special walk (aka puppy adventure) like this, and it was good to see Pasha frolic around in the mud and run through the woods. Pasha had a hard time balancing on this tree, and it made me think of the busy lives we are leading and trying to balance everything.








In school have been super busy this semester clerking for a judge, being a research assistant for two professors, translating Russian Supreme Court cases, finding a job, and participating in international law conferences at the law school. Katie has also been busy or otherwise incapacitated. This is her last semester of school, she is still knee deep in genealogy, and of course she has the burdens of being pregnant. She is past the morning sickness stage, so we have returned to a normal eating routine, but there are still days when she feels crummy. We won’t find out if it is a boy or a girl for another 3 weeks or so, but we are 50% sure it is a girl.

wonder of wonders, miracle, miracle...

the biggest news we've had in a long time is that katie is pregnant! we are very excited/scared/morning-sickesh/happy about it. her due date is august 25. for all you old timers, we think we will find out the gender when the time comes. as far as names go, we had some picked out, but katie is reconsidering since she realizes it will have the name for life. we think pasha will have a hard time adjusting. for example, we are trying to train him to stay off the bed, but we aren't having much luck since even dogs know a bed is softer than the floor.

hockey holiday

saturday night katie, nick, mom and i went to an Atlanta Thrashers
game. It was everyone's first NHL game ever with the exception of spoiled nicky blue eyes. we had a great time before the game eating the CNN, talking about nick and taylor's BYU experiences, and locking the keys in the car.

we saw a great game, and i must commend the NHL for trying to make the game more exciting (not to mention the thrasher head above the scoreboard that would blow flames of fire every goal). the Thrashers came from behind and scored to quick goals to win the game.


taylor insists it was his cheering the led the home team to victory, but the rest of us feel that his cheering led all of us to deafness. nick was quiet as usual, and my mom had a good time too. long story short, make it out to a hockey game for a holiday treat.

scott back in the A-T-H

my brother scott came to athens for the weekend. after years of separation and climbing mishaps, we finally had time just to hang out. thanks to technology, we were able to share all the music that we used to steal from eachother.

scott treated all the athens mildenhalls to dinner saturday night to make up for the time he locked me and robert in the closet with dirty diapers. now, katie and i have a new favorite restaurant in athens: the grit.

we also had a great time with robert and bree's family. sadie and caden entertained us with some cheerleading routines, and robert ate lots of food.

king for a day

after a fun day watching the bulldogs beat UK, i had some stomach pain in the evening that wouldn't go away. by 9 o'clock, i was in severe pain and did know what to do. katie and i decided to go to the emergency room.

when we got there, i wasn't a priority since there were some frat boys passed out and some other game-day related injuries that filled all the ER rooms. by the time i got a room, my pain was so severe i was going from hot sweats to cold sweats.

poor katie was up until 330 am (i was in la-la land) waiting for the diagnosis: appendicitis. i had the operation sunday, and lots of people came to see me: nurses, mom and dad, bree-bert and family, and nurses who poked me with needles. i felt famous.

although there were lots of pokes and tests, the nurses were so nice to me. i felt like i was king for a day. i ordered room service (hospitals are good at making chicken broth and jello, that's about it), slept, and watched TV.

recovery is going well, and i just finished my finals. everything turned out great. you too can enjoy everything i went through for only $14,789 (total bill from the hospital), a non-vital organ, and 6 hours of severe pain.

pumpkins are orange

this year for halloween, we decided to do pumpkin carving a little different from usual. we were under pressure to make it entertaining since our neighbor megan (left) came over to "carve her place" in the jack-o-lantern hall of fame.

the challenge we set before ourselves was to carve a pumpkin, and then do the best impression of the face we carved.

megan came in second place as she was phased by our home-court advantage.

katie's pumpkin was wither french or a thespian (notice the beret), so she hard a hard time doing an accurate impression.

as a side note, katie (lover of everything orange and eater of anything pumpkin) was not excited about making pumpkin seeds. maybe this prevented her from becoming one with the pumpkin.

after seeing this picture, there shouldn't be any doubt in your mind about who got the blue ribbon. although there were some accusations of foul play (i was both contestant and judge), i have avoided scooter libby-esque status.

after all this effort, i don't think we had any trick-or-treaters. maybe next year we will stick the candle in my mouth and try to get attention that way.

offspring of knives and fire

fall in ky

we spent last weekend in lexington for a number of reasons: interviews, family, and fall. the weather was perfect and the leaves were changing color. pasha enjoyed the cool weather and was extra frisky on his walks.

Humane happenings

things have been really busy for us the last few weeks. It seems like something is always going on.

a few weeks ago we had lots of rain, and that same day pasha was going crazy in the backyard like there was something under our storage shed. I took a flashlight out to look under the shed, and sure enough there were a couple of kitties there trying to stay dry.

we got one of them and took it inside since it was a stray. We tried to feed it, but it mostly just hissed at me. It warmed up to Katie after a while, but skeeter (the name we gave it since we got lots of mosquito bites trying to get him) never stopped hissing at me and pasha.

Katie has been volunteering at the humane society, so we knew where to take skeeter the next morning. Katie cried when she had to say goodbye, even though he was only with us one night.


last weekend katie's parents came down from Lexington. It worked out perfectly for everyone: tom and I played a few rounds of golf while the girls went shopping, and pasha a macy cuddled back home.

we also had our usual activities of bridge, cross-word puzzles, excessive giggling, and puppy walks. all in all it was a good weekend, and we capped it off with pizza and Georgia football.

katrina havoc

went to Hattiesburg, Mississippi with my ward September 16-18 to help people clear fallen trees and repair damaged roofs. Hattiesburg is located around 100 miles from the coast, but despite this the devastation was unreal.

we got there late Friday night, set up camp under the moonlight, and got up early Saturday to work around the city.

the car in the picture had a university of new Orleans sticker, and upon further inquiry we found out that she evacuated new Orleans and came to Hattiesburg. Tough luck.


all of the streets in the city looked like this. There were trucks everywhere picking up the debris, and all the residents had to do was haul it to the side of the road. National guard, red cross, and insurance companies were everywhere too.

things were getting back to normal while I was there, but there was still lots of work to do. The people were in good spirits because their electricity and cable had recently been turned on again. However, walmart would take cash only.

the highlight of the trip was the anheiser-busch water that one guy gave us. yum.

panini paradise

katie's b-day was the 21st of august, and what better way to celebrate than eating italian food!!! we put good use to her presents and made some zucchini panini (say that 3 times fast) with her new panini grill. as you can see, the grill yielded near perfect panini despite the fact that i was at the helm.

i liked it so much that i tried cooking everything on the grill, but here were a few ideas that didn't work: yogurt, apple juice, breakfast cereals, fruit-bats, orangutans, and buttermilk.

classic moments in the classic city

we are finally settling in to life in athens. school started in mid-august, so we have been busy transitioning into the structured shackles of student life.

one of the perks of athens (aka the classic city) is being close to family. robert and bree are kind enough to share their young whipper-snappers with us every now and then. exhibit a depicts caden doing his impression of a dog. caden really seems to like pasha and tries to cuddle with him in the dog bed. pasha enjoys having caden over to play, and they have a fun game where caden takes pasha's ball and throws it back. pasha is patient and really just happy to have a play-mate that doesn't bite his ankles.

exhibit b: Sadie. Sadie is my Sponge-Bob pal, and she keeps Katie up-to-date on the latest fashion trends and elementary school gossip. most of all, she is known for her physical prowess shown during fitness challenges. most of all i enjoy pestering sadie as if she were my own little sister.

our most recent encounter with the other mildenhalls was yesterday. robert and i went to the UGA football game (where i learned UGA is more than just an academic bee-hive, seems they like football too). katie and bree enjoyed mac and cheese while devising a plan to teach their respective husbands that family is more important than football. also, i would have a link to their blog, but it is much too scary.