Global War-burrrrrr-ming!

Well, winter has finally arrived. We have had some snow off and on--mainly off; but this week the Lord has blessed us with an abundance. I was going to share some of our picutres from Hawaii, and I probably still will. However, the big news now is the snow. We went to fellowship on Sunday; and by the time we left, there was about 5 inches on snow on our car. The pictures you see here were taken on Tuesday and Thursday. Each of those days we got 6 or 7 inches. I hope you enjoy the pictures. Our fine-feathered friends were taking advantage of the squirrel feeder--they didn't have to tramp through the snow for their meal. And the snowmen were built today (January 31) by the neighbor kids. I think the two of them are rather cute.

Shambles

We flew home from Hawaii on December 2 and found that Oregon had been hit with violent winds while we were gone. While spending the night at Jim's brother's house in Portland, we viewed the devastation on his television. In the morning we flew home, picked up our car at the airport, and drove home.

We walked into our house, situated our luggage in the bedroom, started a fire, and greeted the dog. It was at this point I noticed our shed out back. It was raised up on the right side about 2 1/2 feet. The only thing that kept it from blowing into the neighbor's yard were the large juniper branches right over it.

Just after we arrived home Jim and Glenda came down with horrible colds that wouldn't let go for almost 3 weeks. It was only after they were well that they were able to re-establish the shed.

Things are back together now, but Jim has had to rebuild the fence three times after the winds worked havoc on it. But, alas, we are thankful for our home and God's protection.

Tropical November

We must digress some to get everyone caught up on our comings and goings. The senior Millers can't compete with their children's blogs (I think their father taught them all too well). Anyway, a trip Jim planned in July finally became a reality in November. Jim and Glenda left the 19 degree weather of Bend for the 80+ degree weather of Hawaii and a cruise for seven wonderful, tropical days.

The cruise was many months in the making. We had miles that we could apply for a free airline ticket; we found great airline deals from Portland, Oregon to Honolulu, and we found a great cruise package. After all the travel arrangements were made, Jim set out to find the best excursions and things to do on the islands. He ended up renting cars on three of the islands. To say we had fun is an understatement; to say we created memories for a lifetime barely scratches the surface.

We arrived in Honolulu dressed in long pants, sweater, and heavy jacket (remember where we came from). When Jim went to baggage claim to get the bags, he found Glenda's right away. After searching for several minutes, Jim was almost convinced that his bag was lost. An attendant in the area asked what the bag looked like. Jim described it and went to talk with Glenda. From a distance Jim heard the attendant's voice asking if this was his bag. Jim looked over to see something completely wrapped in a plastic bag--there it was! Jim began taking off the bag when he discovered that the whole back of the luggage was torn to simmerings. Off he went to make a claim on the bag and found that the ladies were waiting.

Well, that was the start of an absolutely wonderful week. No destroyed bag was going to dampen our spirits. We soon were on our shuttle headed to the dock. We checked in with the cruise line and went aboard. As soon as our luggage made it to our stateroom (it wasn't long since we were on the lowest deck), we changed into shorts which we wore until we flew home a week later.

I won't bore you with paragraph after paragraph of the things we saw and did while in Hawaii. We saw volcanoes, lush jungles, beautiful flowers (and this was winter there), blue water, and colorful fish. We ate Poi rolls, malasadas (Hawaiian doughnuts), and Hawaii Shave Ice. We drove many miles, listened to Hawaiian music in the car, and laughed and enjoyed. The best part was that we got to share it together.

Where Do We Begin?

San Angelo, Texas

August 15, 1970

Hawaii

December 1, 2007

What began in San Angelo, Texas continued to Okinawa, Japan to eternity as we became Christians to Bend, Oregon where we raised three wonderful children: Andy, Maryanne, and Christy. Now some 37 years later, where do we begin to recount what God has done in our lives? The two things that have directed our lives throughout have been our love for God and our love for our family. Today, one of the greatest joys we share is the friendship with our kids, and the highlight of that friendship is the precious time spent with our grandkids: Gracie, Benjamin, and Zoey. There are too many pages to turn back to, so we will begin today and hopefully weave in memories from years past.