BABY BRODY WILL BE HERE SOON!

Extended family & friends had a baby shower for my niece, Ashley Park and her soon-to-be-arriving baby boy, BRODY!! She's due around 12/15 -- right after her own birthday!

Isn't this the cutest baby belly?







We held the shower @ Kaffe T' Latta -- where Ashley has worked for about 100 yrs!!!
It turned out to be a great venue -- very intimate & just the right size for all the people who came to bless Ashley.





The cake was a replica of Brody's new crib quilt .....



Aunt Carrie had these darling water bottles made ......


Your's truly made the floral centerpieces .......



And needless to say - the food was delish!!!! (did you notice the pretzel 'fish'?)
I don't think there's anything better on the weekend than a big 'ole brunch buffet!
AND Lori, Ashley's mom, put together a SO cute candy bar -- everybody got to take home a little bag full of yummy stuff.

Here's the soon-to-be Auntie Amy, Great -Aunt Karen & GRAMMA Lori!

(yes, I do love saying Gramma!! Lori - you'll find it's the best name anyone will ever call you!)

Couldn't exit without pics of the packages ---- Lots of packages!!!!

Did you 'catch' the fish theme thruout?!!!

CAN'T WAIT TO MEET BRODY & KISS OFF ALL THE SUGAR!!

"I KNEW CLIFF MILLER"

Our Grampa, Ken's dad, went to be with Jesus just this past Friday, October 3, 2008. It happened so quickly -- just 3 weeks ago he was singing Karaoke! But soon after, we found he had pneumonia again and along with some other health issues, this time he boarded the train bound for glory!

Grampa 'never met a stranger'! That's one thing we all know about him. Every time he traveled, he'd come back with an amazing story about how this person he met had a mutual connection to a another friend of his ------- This happened so often that it became family legend - even generating T-shirts @ a family reunion that read, "I KNOW CLIFF MILLER".

Wherever Cliff went he made a friend --- his last big trip was when he moved from our little town to the Retirement Center that would be his last home on this earth.

Cliff struggled with the confinement he found there -- nothing familiar, no sense of purpose, missing the old routines of life. We had numerous conversations about that -- us trying to encourage him to look for the good things. He continued to struggle with some of those issues, but little by little we saw him reach out to others around him ---- residents and care-providers alike; Cliff was no respecter of persons - he enjoyed them all. We saw him make the effort to draw out those who tried to keep people at a distance and watched him just extend himself in friendship to many - trying to let Jesus show thru.

I think he was successful. Yesterday, as we waited for the funeral home to transport him, person after person came to offer their condolences and tell us how much he was loved - from the administrator to the kitchen helpers, who in their broken english said, "a good man die, a good man die".

Yes, a good man died --- but a good man lived too ..... and because of the choices he made in his life he left a legacy of faith for his family --- something that can't be bought and the reason that each of us in the Miller family can say proudly ........

"I KNEW CLIFF MILLER".