Ella
has changed so much throughout this year as many of you know
from our monthly
e-mail updates. Ella is a delightful little girl. She's
talking up a storm and surprising us with new words every
day, even finding new ways to combine three and four words.
She is such a sweet little girl and many people comment on
how easy-going she is.
In
addition to watching Ella grow, our family was able to take
a few vacations this year. In July we stayed with Angela's
brother, Corey, in Chicago. Ben's parents  watched
Ella for the week, so it was truly a vacation for us. We
visited museums, the botanic
gardens, and tried an assortment of great restaurants in
the Evanston and Lincoln Park areas. Both of Angela's
brothers as well as her parents were there too, so it was a
'Wise Family' reunion of sorts.
In
August, through the gracious generosity of one of A ngela's
friends, we were able to stay for a week in North Carolina.
Along with Ben's parents, we stayed in an ocean front beach
cottage on Sunset
Beach. We truly enjoyed the lazy days of picnics on the
beach, long beach walks, and swimming. Ella flew kites, rode
the waves, tried to catch fish, hung out on a body board,
tried to not get knocked down by the waves and made sand
castles. We were able to view dolphins from the porch of the
cottage and check on the protected sea turtle nests nearby.
We even had the opportunity to visit the local planetarium
on the day when Mars was closest to Earth.
 Angela's
family has had some exciting news on two fronts this year.
Kevin, who will be completing his Ph.D. at Stanford
University this June announced his engagement to his
girlfriend Michelle. We all got to meet Michelle during our
Chicago trip and couldn't be happier with Kevin's choice.
She is a wonderful young lady and we are so fortunate that
she will join our family. Their wedding will take place this
April.
Angela's
brother Corey, who will complete his MBA at Northwestern
University this June, also shared some fantastic news
with the family over Thanksgiving. Corey has asked  his
long time girlfriend Laura to become his wife. She has
agreed, so it looks like there will be two "Wise"
weddings within the next year. Laura and Corey met nearly
three years ago, and we've all been wondering what has taken
Corey so long to propose. Laura is charming and outgoing and
her love for Corey is evident. We are so delighted that
Laura will be joining our family. Their wedding will take
place in August.
Angela's
parents both continue to enjoy their work and friends in Bloomington.
We are sure they will have a busy year with all of the
family's upcoming events.
Angela
continues to stay home with Ella and loves it. She
administers two of the websites for our church,
worked on VBS
this past summer, teaches Sunday school from time to time,
sings with the praise team, works in the nursery, and holds
a two-year position as the Church's Administrative Board
Secretary; and some how manages to run the Miller household.
 Our
only sad note for this year is that Marty Nolan, Grandma
Mohlke's long-time friend and Ella's great-grandpa, passed
away after living a wonderful 90 years. We all had a chance
to visit with Marty shortly before he died, and he was as
kind and caring as he always has been. Marty will be missed
not only by Angela's grandmother, but by the whole family.
Ben's
family celebrated the birth of Katherine
Elizabeth, Ben's brother Ken's second little girl.
Katherine is doing well and has been such a joy to the
family. Big sister Julia, who is five, seems to be taking
her role in stride and has been very helpful. Ken and
Christy also seem to be enjoying parenting an infant the
second time around effortlessly.
 Ben's
father has completed his first year as Pastor of Mt.
Calvary Lutheran Church in Ft. Wayne, Indiana; and Ben's
mother recently was offered position of Director of Worship
at the same church. This is perfect for Ben's mom, as she
had been working at other churches during the past year. She
told us that her office is on the extreme other side of the
building from Ben's dad's office, so they will just have to
e-mail to keep in touch.
This
summer, the company that Ben works for, Data
Communications Consulting, was purchased by another
local technology company, OneCall.
The merge combines OneCall's facilities with the services
that DCC offered within one company. The new company is
called nFrame. This was
a very positive move for both companies and nFrame has been
doing well. Of course this has made for an extremely busy
schedule for everyone involved in bringing the two companies
together. With new clients and a rebounding economy, Ben is
kept overwhelmingly busy every day. Ben's evenings and
weekends are kept occupied with church boards, singing
rehearsals, and his favorite little girl, Ella.
As
an added blessing to our family, God has granted us another
amazing gift. Ella is looking forward to a new baby brother
near the end of April. He will have his work cut out for him
with a big sister and nothing but older girl cousins with
which to contend. We are very excited by this news and
Angela is doing wonderfully. We are condensing our entire
home office into a small computer armoire in our bedroom to
make room. We're sure the schnauzers know that something is
up, but probably won't realize the extent of this change
until we bring home a new little wriggling bundle. Then
again, we may not realize it until then either!
We
are again looking forward to celebrating this Christmas with
Ella and other family members and to all that the Lord has
in store for us during this next year. We pray that this
letter finds you all well and that you have a blessed
Christmas and 2004.
In
God's Grace ~ Ben, Angela, Ella, and Baby
(and Sisko and Evie) |
