4

In September, Aelis started preschool and turned four, two major milestones she is still celebrating. :) She is attending a part-time nursery school in College Park, Maryland, which sounds far but is actually only ten minutes away.

She spends her mornings there playing with toys, reading books, learning her letters, painting and playing outside. On her birthday, she requested that I bring doughnuts to class instead of cupcakes (she is not a fan of frosting) and seemed to relish the experience of wearing the special birthday crown and hearing her classmates sing to her. We had a low-key birthday party for her a few weeks ago and she thoroughly enjoyed having her friends over and eating ice cream cake.

I told her the other day that I am happy she is becoming a big girl but sad that she is no longer my baby. She replied, "You can call me 'baby', mom." Glad I have her permission! Here are a few photos from her big day.

Spring

The dust is finally settling from a fun-filled April. We went to visit our family in Bellingham, Washington and had a wonderful time. Aelis loved seeing her cousins Stella, Riley, Ethan and Sky, and enjoyed meeting baby cousin Camden. She still talks about the trip.

A week after we returned from (the other) Washington, Aelis and I took a short trip to Atlanta to visit my grandmother. My mom and Leah met us there, and Kate and Sharon also came. Nana loved seeing Aelis and Aelis loved interacting with her.

 I'm so glad we had the opportunity to visit everyone. Here are a few photos from our travels.

Family

I've been missing my family a lot lately. Aelis has asked more than a few times if we can get on a plane to go see her cousins. I wish we could! It looks like we won't be back in California for a visit until December. :( In the meantime, we will have to continue enjoying the benefits of Skype.

We are thankful to be part of a group of Christians here, who meet as The Church in Dunn Loring,Virginia. They have become our family away from family. In addition to Sunday morning meetings, we participate in two small groups during the week at different homes in the D.C. area. Our times of singing, fellowship, prayer, and eating together have been my lifeline. To sum up my experience so far, two verses from the Bible come to mind:

"...that you, being rooted and grounded in love, May be full of strength to apprehend with all the saints what the breadth, length, height, and depth are." Eph. 3:17-18.

Thank You, Lord, for all the believers. With them, I am strengthened to enjoy and know this Wonderful One so much more.

Our House

When we decided to move, we also decided not to bring any furniture because the cost of renting a truck and buying gas was equivalent to buying new/used things once we arrived. Some days I am happy about that decision, especially when I am in the decorating mood. Other days I wish we would have just brought everything and thrown cost to the wind, especially when I walk through the living room and realize there is not a stick of furniture in it yet. Do built-in bookshelves count?

Living Room

Downstairs Sunroom

Some of our family members and friends have asked to see photos of the new place. I plan to post them once everything is set up and at least minimally decorated. For now, the photos above will give you a small glimpse at our place and what it looked like before we moved in. Our current endeavor, after finally buying the living room furniture, is finding roman shades for 27 windows. Yes, that's right, 27. We do not live in a large house but we have two sunrooms full of windows. I see lots of late nights ahead.

We've Moved!

Greetings friends and family! As you know by now, we are now living in Washington, D.C. I thought it would be the perfect time to start (well, continue) a blog for anyone who is interested in the happenings of the D.C. Miller's! I will mainly post photos and updates of Aelis, our family, and our life here.

We miss all of you! Come visit us soon!

Laura