2011 - The Year in Review

I’ve gone back and forth with my “year-in-review” post for over a week.  I really wanted to do it but every time I started it just seemed so overwhelming. 

So, once again, I’m going to try to get ‘er done.

January:

January was such an overwhelming month after the fire (you can read all about that here), with the beginning of the home reconstruction process and adjusting to life in a hotel.  We celebrated B's birthday and my Mom came for THREE weeks to help get me through what was such an emotional time.  In the past year I haven’t posted a pic of my sweet little boy, Skeeter, but wanted to show his face just one time…I miss him so much and I know he was right by my side, making sure I was okay.  I like to think that he is still always with me.

 

February:

This month brought some much needed smiles!  Jake attended the "Sweetheart Dance" with his sweetie, Ali.

We moved into the Residence Inn, which had bigger rooms, bigger kitchens and an indoor pool! 

And we enjoyed the BVHS musical production of Beauty and the Beast, with Jake playing the role of Cogsworth!  

Check out one of the songs HERE! With a short solo from Jake!

I also celebrated a birthday and got quite a surprise gift...

Our new puppy, Sis, came to live with us...such a little s@#t!  I'm glad Sam loves her so much :)

March:

March was a month of decisions, decisions, decisions, and not just in regards to the house renovations.   While working for a Chinese company was absolutely the great learning experience Bryan had hoped for, the opportunity and company culture was not.  Luckily enough for us, Bryan is  well thought of within his industry and gets semi regular recruiting calls, one of those resulted in a new job with another American telecommunications company called Tekelec.  He's very happy there and kicking serious butt as their Region Vice President of USA Wireless.

Jake had the nerve to celebrate another birthday and take another step towards becoming an adult.  I wish they would all stop doing that!

 

I really missed making jewelry and posted pics of some of my creations HERE.  I was sad to have lost most of my tools in the fire, but I'm slowly rebuilding my supply.

We moved into a rental house that our wonderful insurance company, AAA, found for us.  I can't say enough good things about our insurance company, they really treated us well!  Better than I could've ever hoped for!  Since I'm mentioning the insurance company I really need to give a shout out to the company that made our house better then it was before the fire, Phoenix Renovation and Restoration.  We were so lucky to have Brooks May at the helm.  After putting up with me for this past year he deserves an award!  Actually, he won the NARI Award for our home reconstruction/renovation!!  I can't thank him and the Phoenix team enough!  They made my entire house more beautiful, especially my kitchen!

 Day of the fire:

Day of demolition

 Finished product

  April:

My Daddy's birthday month!

I flew to Florida by myself to surprise my parents and to attend a Renewal of Vows ceremony for my baby sister, Candace and her husband, Joe.  They were married 10 years earlier by a Justice of the Peace in Minot, ND - where they were both stationed in the USAF.  Candace wanted our Daddy to be able to walk her down the aisle and for our Mom to be there, so she held the ROV at my parents' country club in Ocala.

Jake and Sam went to prom with friends.  They both looked so gorgeous!

Jake took his friend, Bri  (he and Ali, mentioned above, were “on a break”)

Sam went with our friend, Shemi, a foreign exchange student from France who was living with our neighbors and friends, the Orwick family.

And we celebrated Easter in the rental house.

May:

We started with Jake's Rep Theater performance in Ten Little Indians.  It was made even better because Mom and Dad flew in from Florida!  It was the first time they had seen Jake perform and he was amazing!

While they were here, we shared Mom and Dad's 48th anniversary with them.

It was also the 4th anniversary of our little Sweet P coming home with us from China!

The renovations continued to move along and we could really see the progress!  There was barely time to catch our breath this month because Jake had another Rep play, Harvey, and Phoebe graduated from pre-school!

We ended the month with a wonderful weekend in Texas with our great friends, the Yenney's, to celebrate Memorial Day!

June:

In June my oldest "baby" turned 21!  It's so hard to believe that she's all grown up.

My amazing nephew, Dylan, came to visit with us for three weeks before he headed off to USAF Basic Training.  I'm so happy we all got to spend time with him!  Love that kid and I'm so proud of him!

Jake broke his arm while at Boys' State.  We were so thankful that Kodi was close by and able to take care of her brother.

Sweet P attended a week-long Chinese Cultural Camp.  She had a LOT of questions about where she was from after that, and I really think it helped her to understand the Chinese culture more.  I look forward to her participating again this summer!

July:

Dylan continued his visit with us and I was really happy to have him here for the 4th of July.  We enjoyed the fireworks and each other's company!

We celebrated another birthday with my baby boy turning 13 on the 9th.  Then we had to say goodbye to Shemi as she headed back to France.  She is a beautiful person, inside and out, and I miss watching her learn our language and culture.

At the end of July we moved back to the Residence Inn after our rental house was rented to another family.  I didn't mind though...I really enjoyed "hotel" living!

August:

In August we drove out to Breckenridge, Colorado and rented a beautiful cabin with our friends, the Fosters!  It was wonderful to spend the week with them!  There was white water rafting, ziplining, shopping, eating and lots of LOVE!

The day after we got back from Colorado we starting moving back into our home!  It wasn't quite finished, as a matter of fact, it's STILL not finished, but we are so happy to be back home!

The kids also started a new school year, Jake as a Senior, Sam as a Sophomore, Zach an 8th-grader, and Sweet P started kindergarten!  

We anticipated a busy year filled with plays, musicals, golf, basketball, Daisy scouts, dances, driving classes, college applications, and graduation activities!

September:

In September we continued to get settled into our home, and tried to fall into some sort of routine.

First big event of the school year was the Homecoming Dance,  it seemed like it came VERY quickly after school started.  There's always a lot of prep involved, especially for Sam, who went with Scott Urso.  Jake took Ali, of course, CUTEST couple EVER :)

Phoebe has always loved school and kindergarten was no exception!  She started to spend most of her days after school outside playing with her friends. (They've always lived right next door, but they never played together until school started and they shared a class and the bus ride).  It's so fun to watch her being such a social butterfly.

She also learned to ride her bike!  You can watch a video HERE!

Bryan and I drove to San Antonio, Texas to proudly watch Dylan graduate from Basic Training.  We really enjoyed the time spent with Dylan, Chrissy, Candace, Jayden and Mom.

October:

October started off with Jake's first play of the year, Rythym City.

Then B decided to take me, P, and Zach for a quick trip to Calgary to visit our friends, the Krueck's!

It was really special to go there and visit with Michelle, Tony, Julia and Ethan...but LORDY, what a crazy short trip!

The month ended with Halloween.  Not one of my favorites, but the kids love it and since Sam and Jake plan their own costumes, it's always interesting to see what they come up with.

My Supergirl

Sam (Wolverine's daughter) and Rachel (80's girl?)

 Jake (Killer?)

So cute!

It seems like I never get any pics of Zach on Halloween because he takes off early to trick-or-treat with his buddies...

November:

In November I was really starting to feel settled in our home.  We decided to have a "Welcome Home/Thank You" party and invited our friends and all those that were there for us and helped us after the fire.  We feel truly thankful for those that stepped up and were there for us during that incredibly difficult time.  Phoenix joined us in throwing a wonderful party that allowed us to show how far we've come in one year!

We were then happily entertained by Jake's second school production, The Foreigner.  Again, he was great and Sam did a beautiful job behind the scenes.

Fall arrived and we proudly watched as Jake got inducted into the National Honor Society!

Sam turned 16! 

And continued to kill it in school!  But I really hate that they're all growing up so fast!

We traveled to Pine Mountain, Georgia to celebrate Thanksgiving with Grandma, Margaret, Graham, Rebecca, Nick, Alix, Carlee, Jake, Annetta, Rick, Brian, Skye, Meghan and for a short time we got to meet Gabriel and his brother.  Such a fun time...can't wait to do it again!

December:

In December my little Sweet P turned six!  She's getting to be such a big girl!  She had her first ever "real" birthday party and chose Chuck E. Cheese as the location.  SHE had a really super time and loved it

My parents came for the holidays and we were also lucky to get my sister, Chrissy, here.  We had a blessed Christmas  in our home.  I don't have a lot of photos because I made a conscious decision to put my camera down and enjoy the family time.

It's really interesting to go back through my 2011 blog posts and remember everything from the past year.  It fills me with gratitude for my beautiful life.

I feel so blessed to share my experiences with the love of my life, my husband, Bryan.  I'm also very grateful for Kodi, Jake, Sam, Zach,  Phoebe and the rest of my family.  They certainly keep things interesting and fun!

Last, but not least, I want to mention my incredible friend, Pam Orwick

 

 

Pam is my neighbor who literally saved my life by not letting me run back into the house to find Skeeter as the fire was growing.  She cleaned the soot from under my fingernails as I sat in shock after being released from the hospital and then she, and her family, opened up their home and shared Christmas day with us when we no longer had a home.  Pam also put up with me almost EVERY day for ten months because I would come to her house while the kids were at school so I didn't have to sit alone in a hotel room.  She's an amazing person and a true friend who I am so thankful for and love very much!

Well, I think that's a pretty good review of 2011 for the Miller Family.  I know this is a REALLY long post, so for those that took the time to read it...THANK YOU!  It took a long time to do, considering I had to do it THREE times. UGH!

I'm looking forward to 2012 and wish for you that the new year brings tremendous joy and love.