Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Our Christmas Card 2018

 Christmas Letter 2018

The Mountain Millers have had a terrific year in 2018. After a few years where leaving the house with our twin babies and toddler felt like a game of Russian roulette, Chris and I seem to have hit our parenting stride this year with our “four under five” and leaving the house for errands, adventures, and routine activities seems much more manageable. With that, we’ve been able to become involved in more church and community activities, which has been fun for our children and for us. 

Tracey Ann turned four this year and played on two soccer teams, took swimming lessons, performed in her first dance recital, and is proving to be quite a social butterfly at school. She is certainly the ringleader at our house with three younger siblings looking up to her ready to actively participate in any game, show, or idea she can imagine. 

Our Howard James has so much energy. “Why walk or sit when you can jump and run?” seems to be his motto. With that motto came six stitches this year – three in January and three in July and all on his head due to falls or collisions. He is taking dance with his sisters, but really wants to play any activity with a ball. Baseball, football, volleyball, soccer, or simple games of catch are staples in our house as per Howard‘s request. 

It has been so fun to watch our sweet Caroline Christine become her own person this year. She loves being a helpful big sister to Lee Lee and helping Mama or Daddy around the house any chance she can. A favorite activity is loading and unloading the dishwasher.  She also loves dance class this year and seems to be quite a little fish anytime we have the chance to go swimming. 

As our fourth child, Addallee Marigold, lives a very happy and busy life in hand-me-downs, she is truly a joyful addition to our family. She chases after her older siblings in an effort to be included as fast as her little legs will toddle her, and her two sisters and brother love her to pieces. 

Our lives very much revolve around our tiny humans, and Chris and I couldn’t be happier about it. Chris continues to work for the Garfield RE2 school district as Dean and Athletic Director of Rifle Middle School and serves on various district committees. He has also started taking local security jobs for an organization in our area on nights and weekends. My priority is of course Chris, and our four children, but I continue to work part time as a Teacher for students with Visual Impairments in our area. I also teach a few classes at the community college, and have started to take a more active role in children’s ministry at our church. 

We continue to pray for our community, state, country, and world and in such a broken place, we cherish you, our dear friends, nearby and across the miles. We’d love to host you in Rifle anytime life could bring you our way, but are so grateful for your friendship until we meet again.

We wish you the Merriest of Christmases as you celebrate the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and great health and happiness in the New Year.

Much Love,

The Mountain Millers 2018

Chris, Brooke, Tracey, Howard, Caroline and Addallee

(and animals, Lexie and Lloyd)

 

The True Followers

This Christmas, God has been revealing new things to me about the Christmas story that He never has before... and its still not perfectly clear in my head (like so many big truths and revelations from the God of the universe... my mind cannot quite grasp the whole thing) so forgive me if this post isn't my most clear.

The true followers in the Christmas Story are the shepherds and the wise men.

I have listened to the Christmas Story for three decades now, and read and studied and heard lessons from many different perspectives of the story and things to be learned and applied to my own life.  But, I have always tuned in more to the events in the lives of Mary and Joseph and how their obedience and faithfulness to God's plan was to be applied to my life.

It is true, Mary and Joseph, are very note-worthy and virtuous people in this story, from whom much can be learned.  They each accepted God's plan for them, in a very scary and tumultuous time and accepted callings for which they were not equipped, but God equipped them in all ways at the proper time.  There surely are a great number of lessons to be learned from Mary and Joseph -- and, as a woman and mother, it is very easy to identify with Mary, especially as an expectant mother during the Christmas season.

What I have overlooked for years, however, is that the shepherds and wise men, not Mary and Joseph, were, in fact, the first followers of Jesus.

Mary and Joseph accepted God's calling for them, and they each knew they had been given a very blessed and high calling... but I think each of them were still learning and still pondering what this blessing meant and how this child would be the Savior.  Not to mention, each was a young newlywed, and a first-time parent learning how to provide for one another and their newborn baby during a very dangerous time in history.  Although I cannot know, I do not think these young parents were worshiping their baby upon his entrance into the world any more than all first time parents marvel and stand in awe of their first-born baby upon his or her entrance into the world.

The shepherds and the wise men, however, they followed Jesus.  They worshiped Jesus.  They literally fell to their knees before a newborn baby -- one of the most helpless creatures in the world.

Mary and Joseph obeyed God when things maybe didn't make perfect sense... but these shepherds and wise men did the incomprehensible -- they traveled miles and miles to see a newborn, to which they had no family connection -- not even Jesus' grandmothers came to visit him when he was born -- and then, upon finding this one, specific newborn babe (which I'm sure there were at least a moderate selection of newborns at the time), they fell to their knees and worshiped him.

They worshiped a newborn.

Not only could this "Savior", this "King of Kings" -- even if He was that, not grant them wishes, He could not give absolution, He could not bestow land or forgive debts -- He was a newborn!!!  He could not even talk, or walk, or hold up His head.  Of all the Kings to worship, to bring expensive gifts, these first followers groveled before a baby that could do nothing for them.

I have never thought about this before... I have learned that God called the highest, wisest kings AND the lowliest, loneliest, uneducated working class to witness this miracle... but I never thought about the actual actions and faithfulness of those who were called -- both the wise men and shepherds.

They really were the first followers of Christ; The first worshipers of Jesus; The first to choose blind faith over any reason for the sake of The Son of God.  

Talk about a lesson and example to apply to my own life... yes Mary and Joseph's lives make good examples, but the wise men and shepherds obeyed, followed, and worshiped.  That is the example I want to emulate.

December 1

The journey of decking the halls of our new home begins with a single step... or a single mantle.

Welcome to the Christmas season:

 

Friday Letters: FRIDAY!!!

• Dear Friday, OH FRIDAY!!!  WELCOME!!!  I have been needing you since Monday.  This has been a LOOOONG, hard week.
• Dear Christmas Cards,  This weekend, it's you and me!  You are getting finished and mailed!!!
• Dear Today, I am absolutely savoring today, and this weekend.  One week from today, Hubby and I will be on Christmas break (yay!)... but we will be in St. Louis, running around like crazy for Chris' brother's wedding, up to our ears in family, and probably a little tired.  Not that we are not looking forward to the wedding in St. Louis -- its going to be beautiful... but I am SAVORING TODAY!!!  This is a Friday before a weekend with my hubby.  We get to spend time together, keep preparing our home for baby, enjoy our beautifully decorated Christmas house, and relax!!!
•  Dear Beautifully Decorated Christmas House, I have not bragged about you on my blog yet... time to fix that!

I love our beautiful Christmas tree -- it's real -- chopped down by us in the rocky mountains

I absolutely LOVE this nativity scene -- I keep it up all year long, but I add lights at Christmas

LOOK AT OUR STOCKINGS!!!  We're really going to be a Mama and Daddy!

• Dear Little Baby,  I LOVE feeling you move in my belly!!!  It is the craziest, AWESOMEST thing EVER!  Hubby and I can actually see my belly moving when you move how, and it is crazy -- and awesome!!!  I am going to miss this so much when you're born.
• Dear Tears,  You were really necessary this week.  A few days, things were really hard, until I burst into tears and bawled on my husband's shoulders... then things seemed manageable again. 
• Dear Friday-the-13th, I LOVE THIS DATE!!!
• Dear Lexie, I'm glad that you're liking our little pack-n-play for the baby.  You will have to give this up when the baby arrives.

I covered the pack-n-play and bassinet with a quilt, and Lexie loves the new nest.

• Dear Lloydey, I'm glad you're feeling better after your week of allergic reactions.
• Dear Lord, Thank you for your protection and provision.
• Dear Newest Ornament On Our Tree, You are hard to photograph... but I absolutely love you!  What a wonderful addition to our tree -- Hubby and me with our sports teams, and our teacher's books... and our animals, anticipating our little baby.  I love the life changes that are depicted in our ornaments each year!  :-D

I LOVE this ornament.
Check out LissaLou Designs on Etsy.

The Nativity in Our House

The Nativity in Our House is not simply a Christmas decoration.
The Nativity in our house is a staple... at least that's what we've decided since this past Christmas.

Have you ever wanted something, but not wanted to buy it for yourself... and not wanted to just ask for it and receive it?
My parents understand this -- a hope deferred... waiting to go to a special restaurant on a special occasion, not just go to the special restaurant on any ordinary day.  My mom is still waiting for the zippy, little sport's car, she's wanted for years and is hoping my dad will get her eventually.
To receive a piece of jewelry from someone special, once in a blue moon and really love the meaning and the sentiment behind that one, rare piece of jewelry.

I have wanted the Willow Tree People Nativity Scene for YEARS... but, like the aforementioned gifts, I didn't want to just buy them for myself.

I have two very little Nativity Scenes that I bought at Wal-Greens when my parents came to spend Christmas with me in Nashville one Christmas.  Since I wasn't going home for Christmas, I decided I needed more Christmas decorations, and, of course, that included Nativity scenes.  I happily put my little Nativity scenes out every Christmas... but I looked forward to the day when I would have the beautiful, elegant, large Willow People Nativity Scene.

This Christmas, my wonderful Hubby bought me the first part of the gorgeous Nativity scene -- the core:  Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, a Shepherd, sheep, and donkey.  I was overjoyed at this beautiful beginning to our family Nativity set.

Unlike my family, my husband's family does not really understand wanting something but waiting to buy it.  They really operate under the idea if, if you want it, then buy it.  My family is more of, if you want it, wait until you've earned it, or receive it as a gift, or have a coupon for it, or treat yourself on a very special occasion... the main point, though, is wait.

So, when my mother-in-law heard that my Hubby had given me the first pieces of the Willow People Nativity Scene... she knew exactly what to get me for my birthday (less than a month after Christmas)... more Nativity pieces.

So, in a span of 3 weeks, I went from hoping to eventually, over the course of several years, receive, little-by-little, the pieces to the Willow People Nativity Scene... to owning every piece of the Nativity set I would want (the Shepherd and animals, Creche, and Angel) from the set except the Three Kings (I have something to hope for next year :-D).

I am so in love with this Nativity set and think it is so utterly gorgeous, that I couldn't bare to put it away after my birthday...

... Hence the decision that the Nativity in our house will remain up year round.

We see no reason to put away a decoration that commemorates our Savior's miraculous birth.  People have Crosses with Jesus on them hanging in their homes more than just at Easter, and so we are, at present, a Year-Round Nativity House.