Grant and Luke checking on the homemade rootbeer.
Mallory in the stuffed animals bin.
Millers in Shanghai
Friday, August 18, 2006
Photos: July 2006 - Olympic Park in Park City
Nash and Grandpa Scott on the zipline with the nordic jump in the background.
Watching the freestyle ski jumpers practicing their jumps and landing in a swimming pool.
Nash and Grant at the top of the nordic jump.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Photos: July 2006
With our friends from Jakarta (Ortons and Powells) at a cabin near Alta & Cecret Lake.
The boys climbing on the rocks near Cecret Lake.
The boys at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.
Eating at the Lion House Restaurant.
Photos: July 2006
The boys with their cousins at Thanksgiving Point.
Luke fits right in with the monkies.
Grant made a birdhouse for one of his cub scout requirements.
Photos: 4 August 2006 - San Francisco
Riding the cable car to Fisherman's Wharf.
Dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. 
I don't need to tell you that this picture was taken at Ghiradelli Square, where we stopped for hot fudge sundaes and hot chocolate.
Monday, August 14, 2006
Photos: 5 August 2006 - Flight home
Luke asleep in the San Francisco airport at about midnight.
I think this was Sunday morning in the Hong Kong airport, during our 3 hour layover waiting for our flight to Jakarta. Grant is sacked out on the couch trying to get over his migraine.
Sunday, August 13, 2006
Letter: 13 August 2006 - from the boys
Here are each of the boys' thoughts on the first few days of school:
Nash
Middle school seemed very fun and exciting in fifth grade. When I finally started school I was confused. I had no idea where anything was. I still get lost a lot. I have Spanish, Drama, and Strings as my classes and I have Math and English as my core classes. I love sixth grade so far. The food in the cafeteria is surprisingly fantastic. I am going to join the track team and compete against other schools as an endurance runner. Track is on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I am also going to join the drama club and go to Beijing to act. I hope I get a good spot in the play. MIDDLE SCHOOL IS GREAT.
Grant
I just started 3rd grade and my teacher’s name is Mrs. Buckley. She was born in Ireland and says she is from Australia. I like my new class. 3rd grade is a lot different from 2nd grade because in 3rd grade you play first then you eat lunch and in 2nd grade you eat first and then play. I have 17 people in my class and there are 10 girls and 7 boys. On Friday a new French kid came into my class and his name is Leonard. I miss my friends from last year, but I get to see them during lunch. Next Thursday is Indonesia’s Independence Day and I don’t have school on Thursday or Friday and the next Monday. In 3rd grade I am going to start on my school swimming team and play violin. I also want to play baseball.3RD GRADE IS GREAT!
Luke
I started 1st grade this week and my teacher is Mrs. Clark. She is from Australia. I really liked my trip to the US this summer and the sleepovers with my cousins.
Nash
Middle school seemed very fun and exciting in fifth grade. When I finally started school I was confused. I had no idea where anything was. I still get lost a lot. I have Spanish, Drama, and Strings as my classes and I have Math and English as my core classes. I love sixth grade so far. The food in the cafeteria is surprisingly fantastic. I am going to join the track team and compete against other schools as an endurance runner. Track is on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. I am also going to join the drama club and go to Beijing to act. I hope I get a good spot in the play. MIDDLE SCHOOL IS GREAT.
Grant
I just started 3rd grade and my teacher’s name is Mrs. Buckley. She was born in Ireland and says she is from Australia. I like my new class. 3rd grade is a lot different from 2nd grade because in 3rd grade you play first then you eat lunch and in 2nd grade you eat first and then play. I have 17 people in my class and there are 10 girls and 7 boys. On Friday a new French kid came into my class and his name is Leonard. I miss my friends from last year, but I get to see them during lunch. Next Thursday is Indonesia’s Independence Day and I don’t have school on Thursday or Friday and the next Monday. In 3rd grade I am going to start on my school swimming team and play violin. I also want to play baseball.3RD GRADE IS GREAT!
Luke
I started 1st grade this week and my teacher is Mrs. Clark. She is from Australia. I really liked my trip to the US this summer and the sleepovers with my cousins.
Letter 12 August 2006 - Summer Break
We are back home after a wonderful 8 weeks in the states. We had such a great vacation. It was nice to be back to the conveniences of the US and to go to Target. HE HE HA HA! I spent a lot of time there that’s for sure.
I had been waiting for months to taste my favorite American dishes and was unfortunately, disappointed by some. I don’t know if it’s that I built them up to be such magnificent things that they were certain to disappoint or that my taste buds have changed dramatically. Things seemed a bit too sweet and tasted way too processed. Not to say I didn’t find a few things I couldn’t get enough of though. I still don’t think I made nearly enough pies and I didn’t ever get a chance to make the 4 or 5 soup recipes I had been waiting all year to have even in the summer heat of Utah. There’s always next year and who knows, sometimes the imported grocery stores here will surprise me and carry some of the ingredients I found previously impossible to find.
We had a great time seeing all of our siblings. Quite a feat, considering many are spread all over the country. We had such a great time at the Miller reunion in Aspen Grove for a week. The boys were in heaven and Grant has declared it the place he would like to be for the rest of his life. We had fun traveling up to Washington for a week soon after we arrived in the states, to stay with my sister, Heather and her family. We all had the stomach flu while we were there, but from what I saw out the windows of Heather’s house, Washington is a beautiful place.
The boys enjoyed the many sleepovers with their cousins including the annual ‘all boy’ sleepover my brother Bret has every year. 10 very active boys all night! My brother’s new name is ‘Bret the Brave’.
I bought the boys scooters shortly after arriving in Utah and they had so much fun having the freedom they don’t have in Jakarta, riding all over the neighborhood. I think that is one of the things we all miss most. Places to play, yards, parks and open space.
Creed joined us after 5 weeks. We had a great time doing several things that were on our ‘to do’ list. We went up to Park City for two days and had a blast with my parents and Heather and Matt going to Olympic Park, riding the zip line (my favorite), the alpine slides, playing games and swimming. We also were able to go to Temple Square and see the new Joseph Smith movie, go to the Church Museum of Art, eat at the Lion House Pantry (DELICIOUS and one of my favorite places), shop (a lot of stocking up on things for the next year), parades, BBQ’s and many other fun things.
We also visited with friends from Michigan who made time for us on their vacations (thanks!) and saw a lot of other friends that we miss a lot.
We were so grateful to be able to spend so much time with family. Living so far removed from everything and everyone makes us appreciate family so much more. We are grateful for the time everyone took to be with us. It ‘filled our cups’ for the next year and we have wonderful memories of being with everyone.
Our trip home was very LONGGGGG! We had a 9 hour layover in San Francisco. We, fortunately, were able to check our luggage in SLC all the way through to Jakarta. Normally, you have to pick it up in San Francisco to go through customs and then check it in again for the flight to Asia, but SLC will check it all the way through. That saved us! We landed in SF and decided instead of sitting around the airport for hours, we would venture out and find something to do. Our flight didn’t leave until 1:00 am and our primary goal was to keep the kids awake until then so the 14 hour flight to Hong Kong would be as manageable as possible with 4 kids (more worried about the very wiggly 21 month old in our family!). We caught a train out of the airport and went into the city. We then took a cable car and went to Fisherman’s Warf where we could see the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. We walked the streets a little…enough to set Nash up to be scarred by the ‘bush man’ (a man that hides behind some tree branches he’s cut and scares people that walk by). It was hilarious and brought a huge laugh from the crowd watching as Nash jumped about 15 feet high. We then went to the Rainforest Café for dinner and up to Ghirardelli square for a hot fudge sundae.
We made it back to the airport and waited a couple of hours for our flight. Mallory was awake and completely fascinated by the escalators so I spent 35 minutes riding those things up and down. She fell asleep just as we were boarding the plane.
We all slept on the flight to Hong Kong and were happy to land. In Hong Kong Grant announced he was getting a migraine and spent the rest of the HK layover and the 4 hour flight to Jakarta throwing up. He was a trooper and was happy to be home…as were we all!
The smell of our house was something I was happy to experience. It felt like home. Things looked strange after having gotten used to the carpet and 8 foot ceilings in the states. Mallory walked around so happy and kept finding things and saying ‘member dis?’ She must have heard her brothers. We all tried to stay awake for the rest of the day so we could get a handle on the jet lag better. We were all walking zombies as we spent several hours unpacking our 12 pieces of luggage. I was happy to have it all and that none of our luggage was lost.
We have all had several very early mornings and early nights with all of us falling asleep by 7:00pm. One night Creed came home and we were all in my bedroom. We had been having FHE. There is a running joke with the boys that when they hear Creed come home we all pretend we are asleep. He walked into the room thinking we were all joking only to call our names and realize we really were asleep. I’m hoping that we are all almost back to normal.
The boys started school on Thursday. They all seem very happy to be back and to see their friends again. Nash was so excited to start middle school and has been reveling in the freedom that it brings. He got the classes he wanted and is anxious to start track and field and is going to try out for a drama club with hopes of making the team that travels to Beijing in November.
I have finally relinquished my kitchen to our new maid/cook after realizing that she is happier if she is cooking for us. She offered to make cookies and cakes and brownies whenever we want. Creed says he wants to give her a schedule. Monday: Choc. Chip, Wednesday: Snicker doodles, Friday: Brownies.
We look forward to what this year will bring. Time goes by so quickly. We are looking forward to our visitors this year! It helps to have people see how we live so they can understand. It’s such a different life. We are grateful for everyone’s time this summer. We will miss you all. To all the cousins…Good luck with school!
I had been waiting for months to taste my favorite American dishes and was unfortunately, disappointed by some. I don’t know if it’s that I built them up to be such magnificent things that they were certain to disappoint or that my taste buds have changed dramatically. Things seemed a bit too sweet and tasted way too processed. Not to say I didn’t find a few things I couldn’t get enough of though. I still don’t think I made nearly enough pies and I didn’t ever get a chance to make the 4 or 5 soup recipes I had been waiting all year to have even in the summer heat of Utah. There’s always next year and who knows, sometimes the imported grocery stores here will surprise me and carry some of the ingredients I found previously impossible to find.
We had a great time seeing all of our siblings. Quite a feat, considering many are spread all over the country. We had such a great time at the Miller reunion in Aspen Grove for a week. The boys were in heaven and Grant has declared it the place he would like to be for the rest of his life. We had fun traveling up to Washington for a week soon after we arrived in the states, to stay with my sister, Heather and her family. We all had the stomach flu while we were there, but from what I saw out the windows of Heather’s house, Washington is a beautiful place.
The boys enjoyed the many sleepovers with their cousins including the annual ‘all boy’ sleepover my brother Bret has every year. 10 very active boys all night! My brother’s new name is ‘Bret the Brave’.
I bought the boys scooters shortly after arriving in Utah and they had so much fun having the freedom they don’t have in Jakarta, riding all over the neighborhood. I think that is one of the things we all miss most. Places to play, yards, parks and open space.
Creed joined us after 5 weeks. We had a great time doing several things that were on our ‘to do’ list. We went up to Park City for two days and had a blast with my parents and Heather and Matt going to Olympic Park, riding the zip line (my favorite), the alpine slides, playing games and swimming. We also were able to go to Temple Square and see the new Joseph Smith movie, go to the Church Museum of Art, eat at the Lion House Pantry (DELICIOUS and one of my favorite places), shop (a lot of stocking up on things for the next year), parades, BBQ’s and many other fun things.
We also visited with friends from Michigan who made time for us on their vacations (thanks!) and saw a lot of other friends that we miss a lot.
We were so grateful to be able to spend so much time with family. Living so far removed from everything and everyone makes us appreciate family so much more. We are grateful for the time everyone took to be with us. It ‘filled our cups’ for the next year and we have wonderful memories of being with everyone.
Our trip home was very LONGGGGG! We had a 9 hour layover in San Francisco. We, fortunately, were able to check our luggage in SLC all the way through to Jakarta. Normally, you have to pick it up in San Francisco to go through customs and then check it in again for the flight to Asia, but SLC will check it all the way through. That saved us! We landed in SF and decided instead of sitting around the airport for hours, we would venture out and find something to do. Our flight didn’t leave until 1:00 am and our primary goal was to keep the kids awake until then so the 14 hour flight to Hong Kong would be as manageable as possible with 4 kids (more worried about the very wiggly 21 month old in our family!). We caught a train out of the airport and went into the city. We then took a cable car and went to Fisherman’s Warf where we could see the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. We walked the streets a little…enough to set Nash up to be scarred by the ‘bush man’ (a man that hides behind some tree branches he’s cut and scares people that walk by). It was hilarious and brought a huge laugh from the crowd watching as Nash jumped about 15 feet high. We then went to the Rainforest Café for dinner and up to Ghirardelli square for a hot fudge sundae.
We made it back to the airport and waited a couple of hours for our flight. Mallory was awake and completely fascinated by the escalators so I spent 35 minutes riding those things up and down. She fell asleep just as we were boarding the plane.
We all slept on the flight to Hong Kong and were happy to land. In Hong Kong Grant announced he was getting a migraine and spent the rest of the HK layover and the 4 hour flight to Jakarta throwing up. He was a trooper and was happy to be home…as were we all!
The smell of our house was something I was happy to experience. It felt like home. Things looked strange after having gotten used to the carpet and 8 foot ceilings in the states. Mallory walked around so happy and kept finding things and saying ‘member dis?’ She must have heard her brothers. We all tried to stay awake for the rest of the day so we could get a handle on the jet lag better. We were all walking zombies as we spent several hours unpacking our 12 pieces of luggage. I was happy to have it all and that none of our luggage was lost.
We have all had several very early mornings and early nights with all of us falling asleep by 7:00pm. One night Creed came home and we were all in my bedroom. We had been having FHE. There is a running joke with the boys that when they hear Creed come home we all pretend we are asleep. He walked into the room thinking we were all joking only to call our names and realize we really were asleep. I’m hoping that we are all almost back to normal.
The boys started school on Thursday. They all seem very happy to be back and to see their friends again. Nash was so excited to start middle school and has been reveling in the freedom that it brings. He got the classes he wanted and is anxious to start track and field and is going to try out for a drama club with hopes of making the team that travels to Beijing in November.
I have finally relinquished my kitchen to our new maid/cook after realizing that she is happier if she is cooking for us. She offered to make cookies and cakes and brownies whenever we want. Creed says he wants to give her a schedule. Monday: Choc. Chip, Wednesday: Snicker doodles, Friday: Brownies.
We look forward to what this year will bring. Time goes by so quickly. We are looking forward to our visitors this year! It helps to have people see how we live so they can understand. It’s such a different life. We are grateful for everyone’s time this summer. We will miss you all. To all the cousins…Good luck with school!
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Photos: 28 May 2006 - Cub Scout Awards
Photos of Nash & Grant receiving their Cub Scout awards. This was Grant's first award ceremony for scouts. This photo is a side shot, but I think you can still see the huge smile on his face - he was grinning from ear to ear.
One photo of Mallory thrown in, for good measure. If we're not careful, she will smear her face and hair with her yogurt.
Photos: 28 May 2006 - Workshare
One morning this week Heidi and I went into Luke's class for 30 minutes for a "Work Share," where they kids show us all of the work they have been doing. They also performed a couple of songs, and then the teacher showed us a slide show she had made with photos of the class and all of the activities throughout the year - she gave us a copy of it on DVD, as well. Luke's teacher has been great and he's had a great experience at JIS.
Letters: 28 May 2006
Thanks for those who have been concerned about the earthquake here in Indonesia. For those who haven’t heard, it was yesterday morning (Saturday morning) near Jogjakarta, a town in Central Java nearly 400 km to the south east of us. All day yesterday and today we have been watching for updates on the news and on the internet about damages and casualties. We got together with some friends on Saturday night (one couple from the US Embassy and one couple from the Canadian Embassy) and both of them kept getting phone calls to take care of things relating to the earthquake – locating US citizens who might have been in the Jogjakarta area, coordinating relief efforts, etc.
Thursday of this week was a public holiday – no work or school. We got together with members from our branch and put together some packages with toothpaste, shampoo, soap, toys, etc. for children (and their families) in a cancer hospital. We then went to the hospital to give the kids the toys and to play with the kids for about an hour. There are so many needs for help & assistance here in this country. We need to do more things like that.
The rest of the week was somewhat normal. The boys had a primary party yesterday, which including the cub scouts receiving some awards they have earned over the past year.
Here’s a letter that Grant wrote about his experiences over the past little while.:
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Yesterday I got some turtles from the Powell’s (some good friends of ours). Then we got a haircut and left the turtles in the car with our driver “Cartim” (Charteem). When we were riding home from the haircut place we decided on some names for the turtles. We thought for a while, then Nash thought of a name for the big one it was “Ted” next I thought of the name “Ricky” for the little one. Then we realized that Ricky would sound better for the big one and Ted would sound better for the little one. When we got home we thought that little Ted would be better so we started to call him little Ted. Then when we were washing the bowl I was holding Little Ted and he about bit me. Then we decided to call him Snapper, but we decided it wouldn’t be a good idea.
On Thursday we did a service project at a cancer hospital. We gave toys to the children that had cancer and we played with the kids for a while. We also gave them toothpaste, soap, and other stuff like that. When we got home I went on a bike ride with my friend and then I went to lunch with my friend. And then we watched American Idol and then we went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner.
On Saturday morning I went on a bike ride with my Dad and after that we went swimming. Then we had a Primary party. At the Primary party we swam, jumped on a trampoline, ate pizza, and had rootbeer floats. I also got awards for Cub Scouts. I got the Bobcat badge plus belt loops for Chess, Computers, Language and Culture, Music, Badminton, Baseball, Soccer, Swimming, and Table Tennis.
Luke wrote his letter on a piece of paper, so I scanned it in. I hope you can read it:
Luke drew this picture of what he wants to do this summer:
Thursday of this week was a public holiday – no work or school. We got together with members from our branch and put together some packages with toothpaste, shampoo, soap, toys, etc. for children (and their families) in a cancer hospital. We then went to the hospital to give the kids the toys and to play with the kids for about an hour. There are so many needs for help & assistance here in this country. We need to do more things like that.
The rest of the week was somewhat normal. The boys had a primary party yesterday, which including the cub scouts receiving some awards they have earned over the past year.
Here’s a letter that Grant wrote about his experiences over the past little while.:
Sunday, May 28, 2006
Yesterday I got some turtles from the Powell’s (some good friends of ours). Then we got a haircut and left the turtles in the car with our driver “Cartim” (Charteem). When we were riding home from the haircut place we decided on some names for the turtles. We thought for a while, then Nash thought of a name for the big one it was “Ted” next I thought of the name “Ricky” for the little one. Then we realized that Ricky would sound better for the big one and Ted would sound better for the little one. When we got home we thought that little Ted would be better so we started to call him little Ted. Then when we were washing the bowl I was holding Little Ted and he about bit me. Then we decided to call him Snapper, but we decided it wouldn’t be a good idea.
On Thursday we did a service project at a cancer hospital. We gave toys to the children that had cancer and we played with the kids for a while. We also gave them toothpaste, soap, and other stuff like that. When we got home I went on a bike ride with my friend and then I went to lunch with my friend. And then we watched American Idol and then we went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner.
On Saturday morning I went on a bike ride with my Dad and after that we went swimming. Then we had a Primary party. At the Primary party we swam, jumped on a trampoline, ate pizza, and had rootbeer floats. I also got awards for Cub Scouts. I got the Bobcat badge plus belt loops for Chess, Computers, Language and Culture, Music, Badminton, Baseball, Soccer, Swimming, and Table Tennis.
Luke wrote his letter on a piece of paper, so I scanned it in. I hope you can read it:
Luke drew this picture of what he wants to do this summer:
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Photos: 21 May 2006
Mallory kept insisting that we put this blanket over her shoulders or over her head so that she could walk around with it on. 
Grant dressed up for his "put on the whole armor of God" FHE lesson.
Nothing's more entertaining than a monkey tied to a chain asking for money.
Photos at the IMAX theatre at Taman Mini. Heidi took the photo above when the school group was taking pictures of us. We took the photo below because a family asked if they could take a picture with us. The man was so insistent on having his daughter look at us.
Luke with his friends Dhyven and Devon at the school for "Science Night." 
Nash with his hot air balloon science project.
Grant (above) and Luke (below) each had an art project on display at the school during science night.
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