miller*time: 2010

Friday, December 24, 2010

Saturday, December 18, 2010

With Matthew out of town we've had opportunity to see Riley more often since he needed "qualified" baby sitters. Nana and Papa got him on Tues. and Papa had him all alone on Thurs. That's when Papa pulled out the camera and we had lot's of adventures.

See the action!!!

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Tiffany

Just so you all know, I started a blog concerning Tiffany's current treatments and status. There were many people that wanted updates and so we opted to start a blog just for her.

Go to http://joyofthejourney.blogspot.com

Thank you all for your prayers! We feel them.

Nathan

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Check out these dance moves!

Savannah & Abigal's Thanksgiving

Another good visit has come to an end..... 2 weeks, 2600 miles 5 states 38 traveling hours and one Wyoming speeding ticket (43 in a 35 along I-80 on semi snowy roads, go figure) and a lot of good memories made!

I'm happy to report that by the end of the visit, Abigail was no longer in Pull-ups, and was back to doing #2's in the toilet like we were doing with Daddy over the Summer! (Let's hope it stays that way this time)!

Both girls are growing in mind and body. Abigail is just a hair shorter than Savannah and weighs in at 42.6 lbs (I know, I know, shouldn't be giving out a girls weight but this is partly for the record so I don't forget). Savannah is the lightweight at 36.8lbs. Savannah is the ring leader in all things but is always sure to volunteer Abigail for any task or activity she does not want to be the first to try. Abigail will normally go along with it, she seems to have a lot of trust in her older sister.

They are both very sweet girls but show their emotions in different ways. Abigail will give hugs and kisses out of the blue while saying "my daddy, I wove you daddy." Savannah is always telling me about times we've shared in the past (very scary what she remember and how well she articulates it) and follow it up with, "...because you love me?" Savannah is very tenderhearted and goes to pieces if Daddy gets onto her. Abigail on the other hand, will normally give a look and run off finding a corner to hide in until Daddy comes to find her to make it better.

They are both very active and are non-stop from dawn to dusk and late into the night. Wait until you see the dance videos....

In backwards order, here is picture summary of all our fun times together.

Can you believe I let them ride shotgun? Common people, it's still a free country and they put the seat belt on without suggestion or help! Hey were did the Supergirl Tattoos come from?

Santa Cookies!!! Can you tell which ones Abigail was decorating?

Love riding our bikes....and getting to big for them. Abigail's helmet is too small for her.

Elvis is in the house!

How many Elvis' are there anyway?

Such a girl. Uncle Matt was using the bathroom at this time, after finding the door locked Savannah came in the to front room with had on hip saying, "Dad, isn't there another mirror around here?" She laughed when I pointed to the one in the kitchen, she then moved a chair in place, climbed up and began to apply her "make-up." When she was done she flipped her hair back saying, "there, now I look pretty for church!" Abigail of course had to do the same thing.

Rest stop in Kansas wearing our "team" for traveling. It just so happened OU and OSU were playing on this day. Though they look the same, Abigail is wearing an OU jersey, Savannah, OSU. They cause quite a stir in public. I don't think we've gone anywhere, including this rest area without someone asking if they are twins and commenting on how cute they are!

Silly girls while out "wish-list shopping!"

They're so young and yet the "PAPA(razzi)" still seems to follow them wherever they go!

Awwww, Papa playing horsey at G-ma Great's house.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Thanksgiving videos

I went with Cameron to pick up his girls just before Thanksgiving. We had a fun visit with Grandma Miller and the new liveins - Mary and Marty Nielsen for a couple of day before returning with the cute ladies for a Colorado Thanksgiving. See the fun:

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Carrots anyone?

Well, it looks like our first winter storm is rolling in later today, so I finished the garden harvest.
All that was left were the carrots and was I surprised when some giants and snaky carrots came out of the ground. The long, snake like ones tasted OK but the big ones had an alien flavor and were rather fibrous.
Anyone want some? They'll be around for awhile. The two little carrots on the right are some normal ones about 5"-6" long to give a size comparison.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Visit to Alamagordo

We had a fun week in New Mexico with Darcey. We enjoyed watching her make some of her fantastic kitchen creations (and eating them too). We helped paint a bedroom and set up the nursery. It all would have been more fun if Rob could have been there too. Hurry home Rob.

For the baby shower!

Halloween treats (candied apples) for the office.

On the way home we stopped in at Carlsbad Caverns. This was the best cave we visited from all our "spelunking" this year .

Natural entrance to the cave - about 800 ft down.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Dibs adventures in China now COMPLETE!

The Chinese adventures of Dibbi the bear is now starting to show. As the production crew has many other projects in progress new adventures will appear as they become available so stay tuned for the fun. This post will be updated with those new videos.

When viewing make sure you select 480p or higher instead of 240p for a better resolution. Happy watching.

Riley comes to Nana and Papas for a belated birthday visit.

Matt and Christy dropped in with Riley last Saturday and we had some birthday fun with them. Here's some of that fun. Hope you enjoy as much as we did.

Fun with Riley!!!

Monday, August 23, 2010

youtube links to China cruise video

The following are links to some very well done video of someone who took the trip to China earlier this year that we are now on . We enjoyed watching and think you may too - at least until we can do our own show for you.

1. Shanghai
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISj-FYNa7wE&feature=fvw

2. Suzhou (silk factory), Nanjing, Mt. Jui Hua (a Buddhist Holy Mountain) and the Wuhan Museum
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo-Vpj7H3ZY&feature=related

3. Yueyang Tower, Jingzhou and a visit to a school supported by Viking Cruise Lines.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVF02G8xDlY&feature=related

4. Three Gorges, the Three Gorges Dam, the Doning River (Lesser Three Gorges) and the Shibaozhai Pagoda.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a3KAgFt4lw&feature=fvw

5. Fendu and the Snow Jade Cave, Chongquin and its zoo featuring Pandas.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJITTvfEnyU&feature=related

6. The Great Wall and the Sacred Way of the Ming Tomb.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmteEPsJNIU&feature=related

7. Beijing: Tianamen Square, Frobidden City, Sumer Palace
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdIFUyoVSDw&feature=related

8. The Viking Century Sun, the hotels and the Cultural Fashion Show onboard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKKHN8C142o&feature=related

9. The Crew Talent Show aboard the Viking Century Sun riverboat.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLfVE_LP1Sw&feature=related

Sunday, August 22, 2010

My Different Look Over the Years!

Dibby's New Wardrobe!!!!!

nǐ hǎo (hello),
Hi all. Dibby wanted to share, but she does need some help with what she wants to say, so Nana is interrupting:

Nana & Papa started packing for China the other day so I decided I needed to pack too. Nana made me some new clothes just for China, and they are reversible, including a satin outfit just for the Chinese Opera (in case Nana, Papa and me go to it.)
I am so excited about our new adventure half way around the world and a whole day ahead of you all! Papa said that we probably won't be able to send very many pictures, but I will try to remind them to write things to you when they can. I'll bet you can't wait for my "report" when we get back!! Bye for now! Love, Dibs

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Summiting Longs Peak

I've had a long over due goal that I've wanted to do since I was a senior in high school, to climb Longs Peak. I always had issues like time of year, working, and other things that got in the way. But, in a recent change of my work schedule I now had the time without even taking a day off work. I studied up on the mountain the best that I could, and the main advice I got was to be careful, and they were not kidding about that, I nearly saw a guy hit by rocks the size of softballs falling from about 70 feet up. The crazy thing with that, we were at that guy's location less than a minute before.

I was able to round up a couple of my little in-laws, Ruben and Katrina (Trina) Kackstaetter to go with me, Trina is a good hiker and Ruben I had to nickname him the mountain goat cause he got up and down the rocky areas with little problem or fear.

We left the house just after midnight and got to the trail a little after one am. After tightening shoes and the final preparations we were off on the trail around 1:30 am. The trail was pretty much all up hill, however at night, because we could only see a limited distance in front of us, we could hardly tell how bad it was until we came down later in the day. Not too much happened on the lower parts of the hike, a bat nearly flew into me, could see lots of stars, and there was a meteor shower that was going on the night.

We made it to the Boulder Field at about 5:30 am and could see the light starting to come up in the east. Though we could see the trail of headlamps behind us most of the way, it was up here that we really found out how many people attempt this mountain everyday.

We crawled up the boulders and made it to the keyhole where it was windy, crowded and beautiful and also met up with a group that we would be playing leap frog with the rest of the way. From the keyhole to the summit my nerves were truly tested. There were areas where my heals were literally hanging off the ledge as I hung on for dear life. I must say that I am very great full that I live at a high altitude that I didn't have to worry about altitude sickness.

Past the keyhole we had to cross the ledges to the trough which was beautiful and treacherous. The next part was the trough, a 600' steep climb up the trough with loose rock, and through out the climb you would hear "ROCK!!!!" because some dislodged a rock and down it went. Reaching the top of the trough, we had to sneak through a small space, trying not to loose our balance or down the cliff we would go. This took us on to the Narrows, an area that once again was very steep and you had to hang onto the rock for dear life. Needless to say, after the Trough, I really did not feel comfortable at pulling out my camera until we got to the summit. After the narrows was the home stretch, a climb on your hands and knees to the summit. We finally got to the top at about 8:15am nearly 7 hours after we began.

We enjoyed a small lunch and the view for a little while, until we decided it was time to go. Going down wasn't too bad except the crowd of people trying to come up. Imagine trying to pass people where you hardly have room for yourself. We were lucky though, we didn't have to pass too many people at the worse places, like the Narrows. Surprisingly, coming down was less terrifying as the way up, not sure if it was because we already did it or we were focusing on each step rather than stopping as often to catch our breath like on the way up. We cruised down and out rather quickly, making it back to the ranger station at about 2pm.

It was a great trip and accomplishment, but I'm not sure if I'll do it again any time soon (if ever again).

For those who don't know Longs Peak, this is the view from the plains

Here is the route we took, it's known as the Keyhole route. It is a 14 mile round trip with nearly a 5,000 foot elevation change from the Ranger station to the top.

the 3 of us right before the hike

5 more miles to go

Hiking in the dark

The sun light starting to come up

Reaching the Keyhole

The view through the Keyhole

At the top of the Keyhole, soo many people!

The ledges

More fun ledges!

Sun coming up

Near the bottom of the Trough

Looking down the Trough

The view to the left of the Trough

The top of the Trough

Looking over the edge

The view over the edge at the top of the Trough. (after this point I didn't dare take out my camera for pictures because of the narrows and home stretches)