tis the season

One of our Christmas card poses. We did virtual cards in an effort to save money this holiday season. I do miss sending real cards through the mail.

We spent the weekend of the 12th and 13th at Fairmont Hot Springs and celebrated our family Christmas. We swam for three days. Eva loved the slide and made friends: Saturday she palled around with Jody and Sunday she ran laps to the slide with a girl named June.

Ben loved swimming and splashing.

Saturday night we treated ourselves to a fancy dinner at the Mile High Dining room at Fairmont. The waitress complimented Eva's polite manners. Ben is just now able to sit in a restaurant high chair. Justin and I enjoyed the free arms and Ben liked banging on the table. Ben has found his voice and likes to scream to the point of coughing and choking from making himself hoarse. The dinner was good: Justin had a giant pork chop, Eva ate bow tie pasta with marinara sauce and I had the duck which was awesome!!

Dinner was a good deal, the swimming awesome, we took advantage of the family package Fairmont offers which included half-day passes to the slide. Ordering breakfast room service was not a good deal and I will from now on always remember the champagne for mimosas.


Our hotel room Christmas tree.

Our at home Christmas "tree."

Tonight, Tuesday December 15th, we have Eva's Christmas program at school. Tomorrow we are having my parents over for Christmas dinner with Eva before she leaves. We take her to Missoula this weekend.

Merry Christmas!!

Happy Holidays!!

Peace and Joy!!

crafting hell and Thanksgiving Bliss

Maybe I should be more patient, take more deep breaths but every time I start a large craft project (like dozens of cutout sugar cookies) I end up regretting it at the end. I wanted to have the girls over to do bag decorating with Eva, and it felt like a huge headache when all was said and done. We expect a lot from Eva: stellar behavior and manners and she was definitely the best behaved. I can't believe how sassy, bossy, and mean girls can be and I am frustrated that they have to be pushed so hard to get a thank you. It will be a long time before I forget the trauma (like birth), although I think that Beth, Kenna and Eva had a good time.

Benjamin and Uncle Liam had some good bonding time. I'm afraid Ben is preparing for a career as Liam's stunt double.

Thanksgiving marks the end of hunting season for our family. We got skunked this year in terms of elk. Justin proved he could out hike me, but the men still all know that I'm the one that sees 'em. I was able to get out three times; Justin and I had one great long hunt together from which I still have not yet recovered my muscle strength. Its hard to train for walking in knee deep snow and tiptoeing through the woods, over logs, scrambling across boulders, slipping and sliding down steep, treacherous downhill. The menfolk got us a loaded up with Venison and this weekend coming up, this first weekend of December Grumpa Robert, Granny Leslie, Justin and I will butcher up the meat.

Thanksgiving was spent up Timber Creek with the Donnelley's and Sally and Kate Schendel. It was a wonderful, restful time and we were so blessed to be surrounded by loving family. One of my highlights was getting to teach yoga to my aunties and my mom down in the pool room. We were even blessed by the presence of our baby buddha.

Ben and Eva wore matching "Don't Call Me Turkey!" outfits and Ben enjoyed his beautiful mocassins crafted by our Oregon Mommy, Christene George.

At hunting camp, the sock saves our lives from the cold and rosies the cheeks. Cousin Kit was taking the picture, one of several taken during the getting stuck episode of the day. Cousin Kit teared up in the womb, such an emotional guy. We don't allow tears at hunting camp.

(Cousin Kit also renamed the inside of the Indian truck the womb)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanks to the Donnelleys for hosting such a wonderful event!

Leslie, Robert, Tommy

Sally, Benjamin, Justin, Sadie, Myra, Eva, Kate, Barbi, Liam, Kit

So, cutting up meat this weekend, also taking a Christmas picture. The weekend of the 12 and 13 we are planning on celebrating our Miller family Christmas with Eva at Fairmont Hot Springs, west of Butte. She flies out the 19th for Christmas in Oregon with her birthmom. We will miss her but she will have a blast.

Blessings to all.

Haven't been taking as many pictures. Had a fun weekend of going swimming Sunday at the YMCA in Dillon with Granny Leslie. Ben loved being in the water; he was even swimming and splashing in his dreams that night, but was also quite fussy with an upset stomach from swallowing too much pool water. I wanted to give Eva a chance to show off her newly learned swimming skills (the second grade just finished their two weeks of swim lessons). Eva swam two laps: one on her back. "It's really relaxing."

She has a lot coming up. Thursday night she is joining Granny Leslie and Aunt Sally for a girls' night out to see the Nutcracker Ballet in Butte. Friday we are hosting a bag decorating party, and this weekend, the Nederhoeds are joining us at Hunting Camp.

Big news from today: Ben rolled from his back to his belly!! For a while now, he has been able to push himself up into the push-up position on his belly and then flips over to his back, but this morning in yoga he was drawn by instructor Joan's red velvet pants and rolled right over onto his belly. Next, crawling, sitting up, law school.

We are well despite annoying little cold. Getting ready for the holidays with crafts and snacks. Lots of love and peace,

the Millers

Playin' -- Montana Style

Ben had his first playdate this weekend! Saturday, while Justin was out huntin', the kids and I packed into the car and headed up to Virginia City to hang out with Stacy Gatewood while she was babysitting Bo (5) and Peter (11 mos.) Kelley. In true Montana momma fashion, we bundled the babies into the strollers, and hiked with the hoodie-clad kids to the park. By wonderful luck, Erin Leonard was able to bring Harper Claire (2) down to swing and merry-go-round with the brave kids who battled wind and metal equipment scrapes.

It was great to connect with old friends, to get out and spend some time with other moms and wives, even though it was brief. Eva did an awesome job as the oldest of the bunch, just as she is with her brother, she was patient and kind with the younger kids. Ben barely noticed the other baby, who eats beef pilaf and holds his own bottle and can crawl. Peter, who is six months older, noticed Ben, especially when he was getting a baba.

Sunday, we drove up to Notellum Creek and set up the wall tent and mom and dad's sleeping tent for Hunting Camp 2009. I am a little apprehensive this morning, thinking about packing up next weekend and playing the role of supreme hunter, mother, camp cook and on and on, the duties never cease. I pushed the stroller up a trail in my hunter's orange and no gun and felt so strange. It was a totally new experience and I couldn't stop scanning the trees and parks for elk. It was actually a relief to not see one.

Eva's on her way to becoming an expert whittler. I think I was nine when I cut myself whittling, sitting on the back steps of the house on the road. Craig Ballou taped up my pointer finger with a couple of popsicle sticks. I still have the scar on my knuckle. I can't keep her from hurting herself, despite my s'mothering. I do wish she wouldn't drift off to day dream land while she's cutting curly ribbons off a chunk of wood.

We love being out in the woods and playing in the great outdoors. Eva and I had a crawling 'cross a log over the crick experience, and Hunting Camp 2009 will be epic. I love the smell of campsmoke that we brought home with us, that and the memories.

Peace to all!

Happy Halloween!!

A beautiful vampiress, tree frog (prince) and a crazy person!!

What a stormy, scary night here in Twin Bridges. Even after we had run out of candy, shut off all the lights, and closed the curtains, still the teenagers pounded on the door demanding their sugary fix. Eva trick or treated with her friend Beth who lives across the street. Justin, Ben and I manned the homefront. Severed arms were the theme of this year.

Eva and I had fun making spooky food for All Hallow's Eve! Here she is chowing down on a gummy hand. Eva put together some pudding graves. I poured Karo syrup blood all over popcorn, and also made salmon dip in the shape of a hand. I also tried to make a hand ice cube but rushed it and made a bloody mess all over the kitchen.

Justin and I took turns hunting this weekend. He and Robert busted their buns hiking for 3 1/2 hours Saturday and Dad and I road hunted Sunday. We're looking forward to setting up a hunting camp using the wall tent and maybe renting another forest service cabin. The countdown to Thanksgiving has begun. I need to practice my pumpkin tiramisu. I need some more willing guinea pigs.

Ben is very close to sitting up, crawling, going mobile.

We're all doing great!

Surviving Quarantine

Eva's school pictures arrived today!!

We survived!! All is well, made garbanzo bean stew for dinner, finished our pumpkins, and are so happy to have avoided hospital time. Eva is enjoying a pomegranate right now, Ben is snoozin' after his Daddy Bottle. It's trying to snow here. Looking forward to the last couple days of unlimited yoga, and Halloween.

Trick or Treat!!

Peace to all!! Happy Pagan New Year! Celebrate the Harvest!

the Millers

Anniversary Camping Trip

Doing some retroactive blogging...I don't know if that is cheesy or not, but I wanted to share photos of our camping trip from the end of September. To celebrate Robert and Leslie's 30th wedding anniversary, Justin, Liam and I rented the Canyon Creek cabin near Melrose, MT. We missed Liam as he wasn't able to join us for studying and working hard on his Construction Management masters degree in Seattle, WA. We went in Friday September 25 and joined our good friends Lia Ballou and Josh Hix (probably the last time they come camping with us b/c they always seem to have car trouble whenever we head up into the woods together). The Clark/Miller clan stayed until Sunday noonish, then walked through the charcoal kilns on the way out. Enjoying cheddarwursts around the fire is where the great picture of a sooty Eva comes from...

The cabin was totally clean, stocked and cozy and we look forward to checking more cabins in the future, maybe renting one this winter for cross country skiing.

peace to all

First Entry

This is my first blog entry (if it works!), a feat resultant from our weekend of swine flu quarantine. I also finished my Halloween costume which, if all goes well, there will also be pictures of on this blog. In other Montana Miller family news, Friday the cat returned home to us Monday, October 12, just as I was heading out the door for a catering gig. She was gone almost 4 months (which must be a record for cat absence length), and now dones a flourescent pink collar with her name and phone number on it. I thought she would strongly dislike the collar and bell, but she seems proud to be claimed, owned, and loved. She left shortly after Eva left for her summer visit with her mom in Europe, the end of June. The stories she'd tell if she could!

Our coffee shop is parked beside the house, ready for us to break loose and set 'er up! Besides slinging hot coffee, we will also be offering breakfast burritos and fisherman lunches. The last should be the best reliable business for us...right now it looks like we could be making ~5000 lunches April through October. When you run a business that depends on seasonal clientele, it is important to be there every day through the busy times. This means that in 2010, we will be unable to take any family vacations April through October. No auction, no Desbarats. We're committed to making this work for our family. Come visit Jumping Rainbow Espresso, open 6-6, 7 days a week (April through October...we'll have shorter winter hours). thanks!!

This next week is the last week that I'll be teaching extra morning classes at the Twin Spirits Yoga Studio, www.yogamontana.com, also marking the end of our 6 weeks of unlimited yoga promotion. Friday October 30th, our last extra class will be a Satsanga style class, followed by sun and moon salutations (maybe a child salutation, as well).

Ben remains well; no sign of fever. I'm still available for flu chat, although by this time tomorrow, I'm sure I'll be pulling my hair out, ready to climb mountains, stretch the legs...

did I mention that hunting season started today??

Many blessings to all, we'll see how this blog thing goes.

the Montana Millers