The Miller Family 2009 Holiday Letter

It has been a packed couple of years since our last holiday card and letter. Of course with kids, those two years seem like ten! Everybody is thriving and loving life. Jack Jack started his first year in Mountain Yard this year, which is the equivalent of first grade. "I love Mountain Yard, Mommy!" Like his Grampa, he has taken to creating things with his hands. "Woodworking is my favorite class!" So far he has made a house (complete with furniture), an airplane, a rattle, and a "speed train" -- all for his dragon. (Whose name, interestingly, is "Dragon.") Owen Owen is now in Big Nursery at school. His days are filled with swapping super hero costumes with his friends, and drawing Batman masks on his face with markers. A big moment for him this year was getting his third "Baby" (security blanket). Yes, he wore his first two out. Our current favorite Owen quote is, "We have never done that in a long time." The year got off to a rocky start when Jennifer's mom, Rusty, suffered a mild heart attack and severe stroke, leaving her partially paralyzed. It is inspiring to witness Rusty's dedication and commitment to healing and walking again. We love you, Mom! (Grandmother pictured with 5 of her grandchildren) Jennifer and I started hosting a monthly Game Night this year. This eventually became The Settlers of Catan Night ("Catan" being a strategy board game that is a cross between Risk and Monopoly, only better!). We also hosted a few Music Nights with five or so friends bringing guitars and other instruments over to sing and make music. A Visit from Gramma & Grampa The Miller grandparents visited us in March. We went to the Getty museum, and thus began the boys' fascination with "The Tram." The tram transports visitors from the parking structure, up the hill to the museum which overlooks downtown Los Angeles and the Santa Monica Beach. Now we go there just to ride the tram up and down the hill (for hours). Easter 2009 Two Favorite Easter Videos: http://bit.ly/4SGMt5 http://bit.ly/57p0mP Memorial Day Camping Over Memorial Day weekend, The Miller Boys packed up the car to go camping in the hills above Malibu. We were joined by 180 other people from Jack and Owen's school. Highlights include: hiking to the swimming hole fully dressed (and prepared) for swimming (Yes, Jack wore his goggles for the entire 45-minute hike!), riding bikes, eating smores, marching in mud, chase plans, and screaming "It's alive!" when finding bugs inside the tent. Owen's Birthday Owen's birthday (May 5) was celebrated at one of the boys' favorite spots on the planet, Adventure City. This was the first of three trips to this amazing amusement park specifically designed for children ages 8 and younger. He only invited his best friend from school to his birthday party. And he let his brother tag along... (Yes, here they are, exhausted on the way home.) Jack's Birthday Jack's birthday (June 30) was also celebrated at Adventure City. He too let his brother tag along, even though he invited more friends to his birthday party. Swimming Lessons Summer 2009 The boys started swimming lessons over the summer. They thrived in the water! By the end of summer, Jack was confident enough to jump off the diving board at a friend's house and swim all the way to the other side of the pool (repeatedly for two hours straight). Owen, on the other hand, still wanted a life jacket and floaties on his arms before entering a pool. Other Summer Activities The summer also included a wonderful visit from Laurel Wills (an old friend of Jennifer's family) and her family. With their three daughters, they affectionately became known as "The Girls" (pronounced "The Goyles" by Owen) (Yes, the boys still speak of them.) We also made two trips to the Long Beach Aquarium in order to stamp all the pages in the boys' LB Aquarium booklets. We ended the summer with a great weekend in San Diego, visiting friends, and attending Jennifer's college dormitory reunion. The reunion was held on a beach with the perfect-sized surf for Jack and Owen to boogie-board by themselves. Yahoo! Halloween 2009 We entered the fall with our annual trip to Mr. Bones Pumpkin Patch. We were excited to find a newly added, 25-foot tall slide next to the enclosed pumpkin jumper. Jack was also fascinated by Nick, the sculptor they had brought in to carve pumpkins. Jack suggested Nick carve a cat into one of the pumpkins, and he did! Halloween lasted weeks in our household this year, since the boys wore their costumes from the moment of purchase until a few weeks after Halloween! Thanksgiving & Christmas 2009 We had a great Thanksgiving Day celebration in Riverside before making our annual (day after Thanksgiving) journey to see Santa Claus. We have seen the same Santa every year for the past 6 years. The boys were exploding with excitement as they showed Santa pictures of the the gift requests they had printed off the internet. Our Christmas trees went up the next day. The boys are vibrating with so much excitement this year that they move Christmas tree ornaments around from tree to tree. (Yes, we have four trees in the house.) They also call Gramma and Grampa almost daily to report how many days until we fly to Cleveland for Christmas AND how many days until Christmas. We will return from Christmas to spend a quiet New Years Day (and the day after!) playing The Settlers of Catan at home. Jennifer's World Jennifer's year has been exciting. With both boys in school five days a week, she has had time to focus on her bookkeeping business. She is busy, and loving her job! She also continues to be inspired by Jennifer Butler, a leading expert in the sociology of style, color and make over. Jennifer is a member of Jennifer Butler's support team, and loves to participate and assist whenever possible. You might be surprised (I was) that Jennifer is a passionate Twitter follower! Yes, she gets such delight and pleasure out of following her favorite celebs (and a few friends too). Okay, if you don't believe me, Jennifer just said out loud, "I love twitter!" Jennifer's love of (almost) anything related to Harry Potter continues to thrive. Another big moment for Jennifer this year was seeing the people who record "PotterCast" live. (Yes, you read that correctly.) Come to think of it, they were the one's who got her hooked on Twitter! Here she is pictured with three (of the four) of them (upper left). Finally, another wonderful moment for Jennifer was seeing her favorite Scottish singer/songwriter, Dougie MacLean (upper right) in concert at McCabe's for her birthday. Doug's World The big news for me (Doug) this year is that I started a new job working with Jamba Juice as their Southern California Regional Training Manager. I am loving my work. I also continue to utilize my training as an executive and leadership coach. Please Comment Below: We are excited to share our year and our love with you. Please take a moment and leave a comment below. We would love to hear from you. Stay in Touch The boys' photo & video website: http://jackandowen.shutterfly.com/ Jennifer on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jennifermiller5 Jennifer on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jennifermiller5 Jennifer's Email: jenhighestvision at gmail dot com (spelled out to avoid spam) Doug on Twitter: http://twitter.com/coachdoug Doug on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/dougleemiller Doug on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/dougleemiller Doug's Email: dougleemiller at gmail.com (spelled out to avoid spam)