Miller Family News 2009

Wishing You a Blessed Advent Season: from our home to yours

2009-11-28T07:20:00.000-08:00

A Blessed Advent to All!

Please scroll down and visit our posts to see what we have been up to this year.

For the most part, we live our lives like the rest of you....eating, laughing, playing, working. Remembering, when we can come back for just a moment, or two, sometimes more...the most important thing: Jesus.

We hold you in our hearts as we all ready for His coming, once again.

We wish you a blessed advent season. Visit http://www.sacredliving.info for daily advent readings beginning December 1st.

With love,
Kirsten, Brian, Emily, Sophie, and Phoebe

Brian and Kirsten go to Thailand: The Carter Work Project November 2009

2009-11-28T07:03:00.000-08:00

In November, Brian and I went to Chiang Mai, Thailand with Habitat for Humanity and President Jimmy Carter. We built a home (sponsored by Bill and Jan DeAtley and Takatof of the Emerites Foundation) for a beautiful Thai woman named Sanya, pictured above. We spent five days working very hard along with 2000 other volunteers around the world to build 82 homes for people who needed decent affordable homes. Words can't describe the magnitude--the scope of the experience we had. We long to bring our friends and loved ones along this journey...We urge you to visit www.habitat.org and search for the Carter Work Project for more information.

Our Summer....

2009-11-28T06:45:00.000-08:00

We had a great summer. All three girls were in the musical, Beauty and the Beast. They enjoyed a June visit from Wisconsin friends Laura and Britta before heading up to Wisconsin to escape the Georgia heat. We all had a wonderful time reconnecting with family, enjoying Eagle River--heaven on earth...and just loving, loving, loving spending time with cousins again!

Georgia Peaches Hit Panama Beach with Nana and Pa

2009-04-21T15:25:00.000-07:00

For spring break this year, we went to Panama City Beach, Florida. Nana and Pa set us up-it was awesome! Every day we swam and jumped the waves. The girls loved to boogie-board.

We are so glad to be so close to the ocean. Our "going to the beach" is like going "up north to the lake"! It's just a five hour drive!

We are so grateful for the opportunity to spend time with our grandparents, and even though we are so far away from the Midwest we are happy we still can manage to see family quite often.

What a fabulous time...we are blessed. We hope you all are well!
We love and miss you...
Emily, Sophie and Phoebs for the fam.

Winter in Georgia

2009-03-02T05:10:00.000-08:00

Hey friends and family,

Today we are enjoying a day we never thought we would see here in Georgia--a snow day! We thought those days were over!The kids were thrilled to see snow coming down from the sky yesterday and actually sticking on the ground, covering the daffodils that were already in full bloom! It was fun to see the neighborhood come alive with kids rushing out to play in two inches of wet snow! Oddly enough, it's sunny today, the snow has almost melted, and the roads are clear and dry. But--people get a little anxious here with winter precipitation, so they stop everything.

Hence, the snow day.

We've had a nice mild winter otherwise. We have had lots of guests come and go since Christmas--some overlapping with others, and we enjoy the ministry of welcoming old and new friends into our abode. We just took a trip to Disney for the first time with the girls. It's so close now. One magical day in the Magic Kingdom with beloved friends, a day or two at the beach and a visit to the oldest city in America--St. Augustine!

We hope this finds you well and hope to reconnect with many of you this summer.

Blessings and love,

The Millers

Merry Christmas from the Millers 2008

2008-11-29T21:49:00.000-08:00

Dear Ones,
We greet you with the loving warmth of Christ this season. We hope you find comfort and peace and joy as you take time to cherish one another this Christmas…

It's been eight months now since our pilgrimmage south to the Atlanta Area. Brian is enjoying the challenges of running a tough capital campaign at Habitat International in the middle of a difficult economic climate. Emily (13) Sophie (10) and Phoebe (8) have adjusted well and have made some great friends. They are all involved in drama, dance and piano.

I have grown to love our new surroundings, our woods or "jungle" behind our house--new friends, and a renewed love of writing meditations and essays--some even published! There is light at the end of the tunnel now as I have seen our family through the worst of the transition, and I will eventually see clients again as the Lord leads.

We are all excited about becoming more involved in our new church, Bethel Atlanta—a wonderful place where the presence of God is strong and people are transformed from the inside out. We have begun to host a home group that meets twice a month. We are wowed by these people who grace our front doorstep.

We will always love Madison, of course, and we still look over our shoulder quite a bit. Yet Atlanta--our new home town-- is beautiful. And it’s warm. And sunny. We have enjoyed having many visitors in our new home. Our house is open. We would love to feed you, pray with you and tour you around the miles and miles of beautiful woods behind our house.
We are just an phone call, email, or most realistically…a facebook message away.

Blessings to you and yours this holiday.
And do look us up if you ever come south…you might just decide to stay for a while.

With love, Brian, Kirsten, Emily, Sophie and Phoebe Miller
130 Windalier Ridge
Peachtree City GA 30269
Kirstenmiller5@gmail.com

(770)486-4995

Cold in Asheville!

2008-09-29T14:26:00.000-07:00

August and September

2008-09-17T16:23:00.001-07:00

We had a great summer visiting family and friends in Madison...and we loved our time up north in Eagle River. We started school the second week of August. Wow, they start early here!
So far, so good. We all like our teachers. We are all taking piano, drama or dance, and Phoebe takes gymnastics. We've got lots of out of town guests lately, but we still have a little time for our new PTC friends.

We are looking forward to a fun fall here in PTC. It's 67 degrees today, which is so weird! We love it because it feels like home!

Miller Camping Trip

2008-05-30T05:23:00.001-07:00

YAY!! Our last day of school was Friday, May 23rd!
On Saturday night we went camping with our neighbors! (in their backyard) We had a lot of fun roasting marshmellows, singing campfire songs, playing games, and having fun with the other family. On Sunday night we went camping by ourselves for real. We drove up to North Georgia and looked at a couple campsites. My family didn't find one until we went to the Bavaria Inn, a German restaurant in Helen, where the person playing the accordion suggested Cherokee Campground. So, we settled there and then on Monday, we had a fun-filled day! We went on a hike around the lake, and we rested here (above) for lunch. It was by a beautiful creek. Afterwards, we went tubing!!
It was great fun. What we did was we got in tubes and tubed down the river! I was NOT good at it, because I kept floating away from my family! But the BEST part was going in the rapids!!
There was this one HUGE one and I almost fell out of my tube! (with a life jacket on) Well, I guess that that's all that I have to say! BYE!!!

-Sophie

Out for A Cruise

2008-05-02T13:33:00.000-07:00

Wahooo!!!! We're heading to the grocery store in our neighbor's glamorous stretch golf cart! We plan to get our very own golf cart soon!!!! (And Emily is legally allowed to drive one! Yikes!)

Fun with New Friends

2008-04-21T13:59:00.001-07:00

One of the fun things about having a lot of boxes is you get to do cool things with them. We've been painting a new 'house" with our new friends and getting really messy!

First week a success!

2008-04-19T10:19:00.000-07:00

Hello all!
We just want to update you all about our first week. A huge relief to have made it through to the weekend! Our movers came last Saturday. We are slowly but surely unpacking, box by box of things we don't really need!
The girls have made smooth adjustments. They enjoy their teachers and the kids have been incredibly welcoming. There are neighborhood kids that invite them to play frequently. Emily is lonely for her girlfriends in Middleton but she is doing pretty well.
Em and Sophie just tried out for a High School Musical Play and made it! Yay! A great way to start our experience here in PTC.
Brian is enjoying living in the same state he works in, and Kirsten is delighted because she got escorted through the woods by golfcart to a neghborhood ladies' party last night. So fun!

The church search is on...we loved a charismatic episcopal church we visited last week and plan to visit a post modern church tomorrow. The exploration will be a great way to learn about the spiritual climate of the area.

So...as everything is new, so many things to discover...we are enjoying this adventure together thus far. At the same time, you all are never far from our thoughts and prayers. We love and miss you dearly.
Blessings on your weekend.
Lovingly,
Kirsten for the Five Georgia Peaches

Our NEW HOUSE!!!!!

2008-04-17T13:21:00.001-07:00

Wow!!!!! Our new house is really cool!!! Not as cool as our old one in the least, though. My room is hardly unpacked yet. But the rest of the house is unpacked, sorta.......But we have a park down the way a little where we play soccer and are yanked around by Zoe. Life here is pretty relaxed, although WEIRD because it's, like 80 degrees every day. Yikes. Well, peace y'all.
emily

Miller Trip Down To PTC

2008-04-09T07:13:00.001-07:00

Hi everyone!
We left on Monday, and drove to Louisville, KY.
There we stayed for the night and then drove to Music City. (Nashville, Tennessee)
Our family had tons of fun there.
We went to a BBQ and then had a wonderful, experience at Belle Meade Plantation and the whole family learned a whole lot about life would be like in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
That time period was so amazing and was so fascinating to me.
We stayed in Dalton, GA last night and will see our house today around lunch time in Peachtree City. (PTC)

Fun With Natalie

2008-03-28T19:27:00.001-07:00

Natalie Pohorski has been our babysitter forever here in Middleton. How we shall miss her! She was home over Spring Break so we got to have her over for breakfast AND go out to the mall and movies!!

Just one week until we move out of the house...

Easter Fun

2008-03-26T08:06:00.000-07:00

We had a great Easter together, celebrating with both sides of the family. Countdown until the big move: 2 weeks!!

2008-03-21T18:28:00.000-07:00

2008-03-21T18:27:00.000-07:00

More Snow

2008-03-21T08:39:00.000-07:00

Unbelievable! More snow is falling in Middleton on this Good Friday March 21st! We are trying to shovel out in order to get to the service...and then we shall decide if we should go sledding down the hill of our yard, or take the tobaggan out to Elver Park. Decisions,decisions...

Spring BREAK!!!!!!!

2008-03-21T07:25:00.000-07:00

WAHOOOO!!!! This is Emily again. It's spring break here in Middleton. We're going to Chicago for a few days, then we'll come back and sleep. Hey, isn't that what spring break is all about? My favorite spring break was 4 years ago. When we went to Florida. (I know it's so original. EVERYBODY goes to Florida). It was in the cutest town, and we went with the Grossenbach family. Man, I wish i was in Florida now........Well, all of you in Florida at this moment, have fun!!!! See ya!
Em

Dancing with the Stars

2008-03-18T18:19:00.000-07:00

Hello! Tonight we're watching Dancing with the Stars, a fun tv show about celebrities that try to be taught to dance by proffesionals. They make it a little dramatic at some times, but otherwise it can be pretty funny, cuz some of the celebrities haven't a CLUE on how to dance. Although some, like Mel B from the Spice Girls, have had TONS of dancing experience. Can you say "unfair"? It's all in good cheer, though. If you watch this show, tell me who you think will win on the comment board. I love Christie Yamaguchi and Mario. Namaste, y'all!!!

October leaf raking party in Middleton

2008-03-14T20:42:00.001-07:00

Fun in the leaves 10/07

Moving Date

2008-03-10T17:47:00.000-07:00

Hi y'all!
We've decided to create a blog so that we can tell all of our friends and family all that is happening in the Miller family. If any of you are a bit behind, we have finally found a final date that we will be hoping in the van and driving down to Georgia, our soon-to-be home. The date is Monday April 7, 2008. We are going to miss all of you, and that's why we have created this blog spot. We will be relocating to Peach Tree City, Georgia. And, some of you may be thinking, "I hope they don't write in it once, and then they'll never write in it again", but we will try to write in it as much as we can. Emily, Sophie, and Phoebe will have their last day at Elm Lawn on April 4. We look forward to keeping in touch with all of you and will miss you very much!

-Sophie