A Motto

 Facebook has a number of links a person can click on... probably one every minute for the rest of his or her life and never see the same one twice.

Sometimes, I see a link that grabs my interest like, "What would your occupation have been in the Wild West?" and its fun to click the link and find out that I would have been a horse thief.  Then, the website wants you to share your occupation with the facebook world so other people click the link to learn their occupation.

I might click on one of these links a month... maybe.  Then, I almost never share the results.  Even if I like the results or find them funny, I almost never share them.  I just don't need the entire facebook world to know that I clicked the link to find out that I would have been a horse thief in the Wild West.

That said, I clicked a link yesterday that said, "Everyone needs a motto, find out what yours is." and I loved the results so much that I took a picture of them, so I would remember them in the future.  I still didn't share it with the facebook world... but I'm going to share it with you.

My motto (according to the facebook website):

Decal

I saw this photo online and I think I might have to get Hubby a car decal like this for Father's Day.

 

From the Mountain Millers

 Merry Christmas from the Mountain Millers 2020!

Our Christmas Letter 2020:

The year 2020 certainly had some unexpected trials, but we still made it the best year possible and here are some highlights:

Chris: Turning 40 in September marked by the surprise of 18 Miller and Sanden family members coming to Rifle over Labor Day weekend; Getting a bear while hunting; Starting a new job as the Garfield Re2 online 5th grade teacher.

Brooke: A family camping trip in a cabin in Grand Mesa National Forest; Learning we have a 6th baby on the way due in May 2021.

Tracey: Learning to ride a two-wheeler; Losing her first 2 teeth; Starting 1st grade at a new school in Rifle; Sports camp.

Howard: Spending hours at the local skate park on the BMX track after learning to ride a two-wheeler; Starting to do flips on the trampoline; In-person Pre-K at a new school in Rifle; Seeing a bear while hiking with Daddy.

Caroline: Horse-back riding lessons; Learning to ride a two-wheeler; Cooking and baking; Exchanging letters with friends through the mail; Learning to shoot a bow-and-arrow; In-person Pre-K at a new school in Rifle; Swinging “up to the trees” on our swing set.

Lee Lee: Playing “Guess Who” with family over FaceTime; Learning to spell her name; Taking care of Hunter, her “Little Buddy”.

Hunter: Learning to crawl; Giggling at his big brother and sisters; Bringing great joy to our family.

“Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.” 3 John 1:2

10 Years Ago Today

 Ten years ago today, on a snowy day on a black diamond ski rum (Riva Ridge) in Vail, Colorado, my boyfriend asked me a question that would change both our lives forever.  And I gave an answer that would change both our lives forever.  

Best day ever.

This Family

 Hubby and I just found this show on the hunting channel... and so far we are LOVING this family...

Next Week

 Now, I usually try to begin each week with as positive, productive, organized, and hopeful outlook as possible.  It always has seemed like the best way to tackle a new week.

That being said, I laughed out loud when I saw this posted on facebook a few days ago...

Truthfully, I am feeling this even with every positive outlook I am trying to have for the week.  All our school-aged children are virtual learning next week -- a decision that we learned about last Friday night.  Our children have been in school since August, and we feel very grateful that this is the first time this has happened for our children's elementary school... and it falls the week before Thanksgiving break.

As educators, Hubby and I have incredibly full work-weeks leading up to the Thanksgiving break with both our usual obligations, but also some extra responsibilities that we have to complete before taking the week off for Thanksgiving...and now we get to do it with our first grader, and our twin preschoolers learning virtually from home (and our toddler and baby at home too).

I'm sure this week will be fine... if not comical and probably a little stressful, but the Lord has our strength for each day measured... and hopefully He gives me an extra helping of calm and patience for this coming week.

Win Some. Lose Some.

 When it comes to family pictures... you win some.  You lose some.

And there's plenty more where these came from...

Hunter Nicholas -- Ten Months

  Hunter turned nine months a few days ago and what a big month this has been for our little boy.

Hunter at ten months (and the last picture is him on the move, crawling away telling me that photos are done because he is off...)

Lee Lee at ten months

Caroline at ten months

Howard at ten months

Twins at ten months

Tracey at ten months

Comparison picture at ten months

Weight: 

I'm not sure... probably a little more than 16 pounds, 6 ounces

Length:  

Probably a little longer than 27.5" long

Clothing size: 

Almost all 12 month clothing... but as I've said before, I dress him for the weather.  Now, the weather is getting colder so I have mostly 12 months and 18 months clothing for him -- it is all big, but that's what we have for boys during cooler weather.

 Eating:  

Hunter eats anything that we eat except things containing peanuts or eggs.  Now, we don't have any peanut products in the house any more... but we do still eat eggs and cook with eggs.  He eats everything except the eggs and food containing eggs.

His favorite foods include strawberries, broccoli, potatoes, chicken with veggies, and elk roast.  He's a really good little eater.

He also still nurses and I'll be honest, this whole COVID thing has been really good for keeping up my milk supply -- I mean I'm with Hunter all the time, so whenever he needs to nurse, he can.  Usually by ten months I'm wondering if my milk supply will last to make it an entire year... this time I'm wondering if this child will ever stop nursing because I'm with him all the time.  Lol.

Sleeping:  

Hunter has slept really well... up until the last two days or so.  I'm not sure if its a growth spurt or what, but he's just had a hard time falling asleep and awaken during the night more than usual.  Hopefully this will be short-lived.

Hunter is about the age I will be encouraging him to take one longer nap in the middle of the day rather than two naps, but we will see how that goes.

New things/discoveries/accomplishments: 

Four teeth total!  Two on the bottom, and two just barely poking through the top.

Crawling on his hands and knees and getting pretty fast

Pulling up on things

Tracey, Howard, and Caroline first days of school -- and IN PERSON school -- and new schools to them.

Mama and Daddy getting back to work -- virtually, but back to work nonetheless

Likes: 

Crawling

Being around his siblings

Small pieces of paper on the floor that he puts immediately in his mouth

Any small pieces of food that fall from the table that he puts immediately in his mouth

Daddy

Babbling

Baths

Pulling hair

His older siblings holding him while they go down the slide

Mama

Looking out windows -- either the window out our back door or pulling up to see out our backyard window

The color blue

Dislikes:

Being sick

Sitting still for diaper changes when he could be crawling around

When Mama tells him "no" for pulling hair

 Places He's Gone:

We went out to brunch with our family when they were here for Hubby's surprise birthday.

We had family pictures taken while all our extended family was here in town.

After all the excitement of family being here, Hunter (and the rest of us) went to the local respiratory clinic for COVID tests because one of our family members got sick with COVID while visiting us.

Special Memories: 

We did have a very exciting event over Labor Day weekend when all of our close family came to surprise Hubby for his 40th birthday.  We had various family visiting over the span of an entire week, and Hunter got to spend lots of fun time with his cousins, grand parents and aunts and uncles.

Hunter spent a lot of time with his cousin Sloan who is three days younger than Hunter.  They were a very cute pair for the long weekend that Sloan and his parents and siblings stayed at our home.

Helping his older siblings perform a special song as a birthday present for Daddy.

Nicknames:

Hunt Hunt (by Lee Lee)

Hunner (by Caroline)

Hunny (by Howard and Tracey)

Buddy

Buster

Hunt Buddy

Pictures from this month: