Christmas Card 2008

We "Witch" You a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Happy Holidays to all of our Loved Ones!
2008 has been a wonderful year for the Millington family.

In January, Nathan (10) had his first
Pinewood Derby and won 3rd place! He started taking piano from a nice widow in our ward. She is a wonderful teacher, and he has progressed amazingly through the year.

In February,He made an awesome shot at a basketball game. That's quite an accomplishment when everyone else on the floor is a head taller than you!

March was a big month for Brandon! Since it was such an important birthday, we celebrated for the 8 days before he turned 8. We took him and Nathan to get their first suits for one of his 8 special days. Aren't they hansome?

In April, Brandon was baptized the same weekend as Ruby's (6) dance show. She was thrilled to be in the production of "Disney's Lands" where she and all of the other little girls got to dance with Disney princesses! At the end, she danced to her Prince Daddy who was waiting with a dozen roses. She loved those flowers to death!

May was the month when Simon turned 6 months! We got family pictures and had a Porter reunion in Las Vegas. We also got a cute little dog, Ginger. Sadly, we had to find a new home for her in November. We enjoyed her while we could.

In June, We started our weekly summer hikes. We hiked along the Diamond Fork River and waded back upstream. Nathan turned 10. Dallin added Nathan's Webelos Den to his Scouting activities and Sarah started a new calling in Activity Days. It is a nice change after 10 and a half years of Primary! We had a great time as usual at our ward campout.

July was packed with fun! We had a blast at our Millington family reunion. We stayed in condos at Pineview reservior. Ruby had her birthday. We camped at Payson Lakes with some friends from the ward, and we hiked up to the Escalante Cross in Spanish Fork.

Dallin spent a week of August in the mountains with the scouts. They climbed King's peak as a part of the adventure. Sarah spent the week in Idaho with her family. The kids started attending Liberty Academy Charter School on Fridays as a part of their homeschool options program. They are enjoying classes like dance, art, karate, theatre, storytelling and more! It is a one-stop shop for all of those extracurricular activities. It has been a huge blessing to our family.

In September, we moved the boys to their own room downstairs.For a few days, it felta bit like we'd sent Wendy out of the nursery , but now we all love the new arrangement. We had the great opportunity to see Dallin's sister Karami and her family sealed to their adopted baby, Brett. It was great to have Brinn's baptism and Brett's blessing all in that same weekend so we could attend all three. While we were there, timid Daisy rode a horse! She actually wants to do it again soon! We had a neat medieval party with our homeschool group that included a maypole,a feast, and a giant foam-sword battle!

October was a festive month! We made pumpkin shirts for the whole family. They were made just in time for our field trip to the corn maze. Daisy turned 4. Nathan scored his first-ever soccer goal at his very last game! It was very exciting after playing for 3 years to finally score! Dallin was his coach again this year. Simon started walking just before he turned 1! Being the Wizard of Oz family made Halloween especially exciting this year.

Sarah decided it was her turn for a weekend away in November. She got to go spend the weekend with her sister Kim and her mom. She spent lots of time snuggling Kim's week-old little boy. She also got to see the premiere of the Gordon B. Hinckley movie that Kim's kids starred in. Ruby and Sarah went to the salon together for Ruby's first haircut. Ruby got to donate a very long braid to Locks of
Love. We had a fun Thanksgiving in Las Vegas with much of Sarah's family. We stayed with our good friends the Wells, and Dallin and the older kids got to spend a fun day hiking with his brother Kurtis and sister Milee. Daisy was SO excited for the Holiday season so she could wear her jingle-bell dress!

Daisy is at such a fun age for holidays. Her excitement has carried into December. She wants to sing and dance to Christmas carols all day. Simon usually joins in the fun, feeling very big and proud that he can dance with the big kids. Daisy is convinced that Daddy couldn't possibly be Santa because Daddy doesn't have any reindeer! We managed to decorate in a Simon-proof manner, and the new furniture arrangement is so nice, we think we'll keep it for awhile. The big day will bring a big surprise for the girls. We'll unveil their very girly own room downstairs on Christmas morning. Wish us luck on getting that big project done in time!

We hope your holidays have been merry and bright, and wish you as happy a year as we've had!


Love, The Millingtons