We went to Castle McCulloch to pan for gem, gold and fossil last weekend. We met up with Hayley’s birthmom, sister Faith and her birthmom’s husband Scotty. Hayley had been dying to do it and this place was a fun little adventure. She also took my camera and took a bunch of photos of the castle and grounds.
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I have to add my notes still but our trip to Illinois was fantastic! Here are most of our Chicago pictures- from the W hotel on Lakeshore, Art Institute of Chicago, Gino’s East for deep dish pizza, fireworks cruise on Lake Michigan, Shedd Aquarium, mani/pedis with Grandma Sharen, Ryan & Jill’s wedding, family hanging out ones, the window getting busted and more. I still have to add the pictures from meeting and petting the penguins behind the scenes at Shedd Aquarium. Most of the aquarium and artwork photos are Hayley’s photos.
I love this photo of Hayley dancing with her cousin Ryan.
And this video of her nailing him leaving the church to head to the reception. Ryan was about Hayley’s age at our wedding and nailed us leaving too. Revenge is sweet!
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Hayley is learning to rollerblade. The process just cracked me up so of course I had to snap a few photos and videos with the iphone while we were outside. At this stage, she reminds me of the colts at the stable, just all long skinny legs. Almost 12 and she’s barely 64 pounds.
I love this video clip – she’s lucky to have a good dad and uncle to help:
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Sadly Hayley’s great-grandmother on her birthmother’s family side passed away earlier in the year. She was a lovely lady and I know her family misses her a great deal. While she was up in NC for the funeral, we caught up with Hayley’s grandmother Janie who brought her great-grandfather to visit.
We had our 5th Gingerbread Demo Derby after Christmas – we had more friends involved than ever in the creation and destruction. Christmas Eve we had family and friends over for Chinese food and the construction of the Gingerbread House, which was one big deluxe house, one small house and one little leftover kit so it was more of a Gingerbread Country Estate. I simply don’t care how they look, what I care about is having fun and the kids being silly (ok the adults too).
If you don’t know the background, we discovered that no one actually liked gingerbread despite making houses yearly. My brother-in-law and I came up with the idea to smash them with remote controlled cars and we’ve been doing it each year ever since! So once the gifts are opened and the Christmas food consumed, we drag the Gingerbread house to the cul-de-sac, the kids get 30 seconds to grab candy they want and then we rev up the cars to smash it up. Oh and anything left standing, the kids get to jump up and down on.
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And yes I’ll get back to posting photos soon. I’m still taking them, just haven’t felt like posting them. Nothing is wrong, just busy with life. Yes I’m about three months behind.
Edna Bell Miller, age 90, of Amboy, died Friday January 8, 2010 in her home. She was born in China Twp., Lee County, August 15, 1919 the daughter of Lester and Hazel (Virgil) Reid.
She had farmed with her husband for many years in the Amboy area.
She was a member of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Amboy and the Lee County Farm Bureau. She was a devoted wife, mother, and grandmother.
She married Howard Hillison September 28, 1937. He preceded her in death December 16, 1949. She then married Howard Miller in Amboy on September 6, 1952. He preceded her in death July 20, 1997. She was also preceded in death by a son Reid Miller and a sister Ruth Underhile.
She is survived by 2 sons Dr. John (Sharen) Hillison of Blacksburg, VA, and Rory (Kathy) Miller of Amboy; 4 grandchildren Jeff (Michelle) Hillison of Cary, NC, Jay Hillison of Roanoke, VA, Ryan Miller and Kelsey Miller both of Amboy; 1 great granddaughter Hayley Hillison of Cary, NC.
Funeral services will be held on Monday, January 11, 2010 at 11:00 AM in the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Amboy. Burial will follow at Woodside Cemetery in Lee Center. Visitation will be held on Sunday January 10, from 4:00 until 8:00 PM in the Mihm-Jones Funeral Home in Amboy and also on Monday from 10:00 AM until 11:00 AM in the church. In lieu of flowers a memorial has been established to the Lee County Farm Bureau Scholarship Fund and the Immanuel Lutheran Church in Amboy.
I didn’t take many photos at Halloween or Thanksgiving. Between having a party for Halloween with Jen for the street and having the usual gang for Thanksgiving, I just didn’t pick up the camera much. A neighbor has more Halloween ones of the kids and I’ll those when I get them.
Hayley went as Nancy Drew:
Grubbing
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As most of you know, Hayley was adopted and we have a pretty open adoption with her birth family. Hayley’s sisters, birthmom and her husband, grandmother and granddad visited us here in November for a nice Sunday of lunch and goofing off.
I was taking photos with three cameras and for some reason didn’t end up taking the last couple of photos they posted for with my camera but we got a lot of cute ones.
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Edna Bell Miller, age 90, of Amboy, died Friday January 8, 2010 in her home. She was born in China Twp., Lee County, August 15, 1919 the daughter of Lester and Hazel (Virgil) Reid.
