BRODY'S FINALLY HERE!

Well, he's finally here -- a week late, but just in time for Christmas. At 12:33am on December 23rd, Ashley & Jerame welcomed their son, Brody Michael Park to the world...... and now Leo has a cousin! A newborn at Christmas sure makes you think about Jesus entering our world as an infant ...... Our prayer is that He will bless Brody's little life ..... we can't wait to watch him grow~

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".

HERE WE ARE IN PARADISE AGAIN!!!!!

Well, actually Murietta, but I'm pretty sure Jenna & Samuel think they live in a great place!

This time my brother, Pete (1 of 4), came with us! He was able to spend 10 days in CA with us & knowing we would be having a nice, long time together, we decided to spend part of that time in San Diego with all the 'clan'.

I was able to go down a few days early, flying into Orange Co @ the end of the day,so got to have dinner with Rachel & Jenna before we headed our separate ways. It's not very often just the girls get together - so we treasure those times ...... I have the best daughters in the world!!!



I got in some LEO time too ---- finally, some pictures with MiMi AND Leo!





On Saturday, Pete flew out from Philadelphia into Sacramento, Ken met him @ the airport & they flew on Southwest together into Ontario, picked up a car & drove to Jenna & Samuel's.

This was Uncle Pete's first trip to SOUTHERN CA & his first time meeting Leo!

I think they both liked each other ......


And what's a visit without plenty of pictures with our boy?!?!

Here's one of my favs!!

We celebrated Jenna's (29th) birthday ---
ooooooooooo my baby's gettin' old!!!!!!
But, like Jenna said, it just wasn't the same
without Trevor ......
[It was the first day of deer season for bow-hunters
and this was Trev's first year! (no deer yet!)]

AN EXTRAORDINARY DESSERT TRIP

Of course we just HAD to introduce Uncle Pete to what is probably our favorite dessert haven in the whole world ---

well, at least in SD ----

"EXTRAORDINARY DESSERTS" !!!

They also have great paninis and scrumptiously unique appetizers to 'nosh' on ---- but who could possibly resist these mouth-watering temptations ---- oh, and they taste good too!


RA & DAD--- just makin' sure they don't miss anything on that menu!

PETE TRIED THE KIWI LEMONADE ---

a picture in itself!
(his verdict? .... mmmm not so much!)

hey.... it looked good!

THE VIEW FROM MY SIDE OF THE TABLE!


SO ------ WHAT'S YOUR PICK?

(sadly, Jenna,Samuel and Leo left us at this point 'cause Sam wasn't feeling so good)

[oh yeah, no deer yet, so no Trevor yet! :( ]

BEAUTIFUL BALBOA PARK

I think one of the most extraordinary (for those of you in Rio Linda - that was a tongue-in-cheek play on words ------ remember we just visited Extraordinary Desserts?!!!!) places to visit in San Diego is Balboa Park. It reminds me in many ways of Golden Gate Park in San Francisco --- but considerably smaller, I think.

My favorite thing to do @ Balboa is to catch the Sunday afternoon Pipe Organ recitals. I LOVE music -- it was my whole life growing up -- so being able to do this is very nostalgic. AND -- the Spreckels pipe organ is in an outdoor arena!
The various museums and other buildings were actually built for the Pan-American Exposition in the very early 1900's & were meant to be temporary --- hard to imagine when you see the beautiful architecture.



The lily pond in front of the house of flowers ---

I LOVE this spot!

The weather was fabulous & we enjoyed being outside with a lot of other people who were there to enjoy the day too.

OLD TOWN SAN DIEGO

A trip to San Diego wouldn't be complete unless you spend some time in "Old Town". Who knows if much of it is actually very representative of Old California, but hey, it feels right!

It delivers a special Old World romance at night -- twinkle lights, soft Mariachi music and the smell of tortillas everywhere!

We ended our day-trip in Old Town @ El Fandango .... a quaint little Mexican (imagine that!) restaurant with a beautiful out-door patio area, complete with fireplace.

The salsa was perfect!


and so was the company -- Trevor was even able to join us!
[no deer yet tho :( ]