Farewells and Family Traditions

We Millers are definitely ready to say farewell to 2009 and looking forward to a much better 2010. We are ready to ring in the new year (although Derek and I may only make it to about 10 pm- at least it is midnight somewhere and we can celebrate any time!) We hope those of you at parties have a fabulous time!!! To help celebrate, I have posted a Nintendo Wii family portrait! (The new software lets you add pets and babies.)

Dad- you will love that the Wii says that Ash is "zero"! (Inside Ruchti family joke! We only use integers to refer to age!)

We also must say a fond farewell to the red Subaru Outback Imprezza. We had a nice 8 years with it. I show a picture below with Derek and I in Austin, TX just after its purchase right before our move to New Mexico. (Ok, now I feel old!!!) It was a great little car. We said goodbye yesterday when we picked up our new blue Subaru Outback. On another note, a few of you have asked about the pinwheel. It is a tradition started by my parents when they were first married. They did not have much money for Christmas Tree ornaments, so they made their own. The origami pinwheel was one of the first and has all of the names of Ruchti family members (including pets) on it. As new members are added through birth, marriage, or adoption, their name is added to the pinwheel. So, since this is Ash's first Christmas, it was a really big event to add his name to the pinwheel this year!!!!