Happy New Year, cousins and elders!

We'll close out our 2009 blog year with this photo of a large, delicious ice cream sundae, in which you may also notice a couple of good-looking Spricks. Happy, happy 60th anniversary, dear Joe and Mavis, and thanks for everything in 2009! See you all in '10, cousins and elders!

Christmas Eve at Chatsies' church

We're delighted to present these photos from the Christmas Eve service at Cathy's church in Wichita, Kan. They, too, had a snowstorm, so attendance was down, but it was a lovely, warm service nonetheless. Cathy addresses worshipers before communion was served.

Brother-in-law Michael Northrup chatted with parishioners before services.

A pretty poinsettia tree in front of the church.

Cathy's church is historic and beautiful. Here's what worshipers can look up at.

Happy Birthday to two cousins!

Happy Birthday to Sandy Kirkwood Turner (today) and Joe Kirkwood (Thursday)! Here they are with little sis Jane a few years ago. We meant to mark all the cousins' birthdays over the past year, but know we missed a few, either from negligence or because their birthdays fell during times we were away from the computer. Sorry if we missed you! Next year we won't routinely put up every birthday, but instead will focus only on those over 80, because they're special! Also, we're back in search of old photos, too...we know there are more out there! And send us your Christmas photos; we'll post 'em.

Avamarie's first Christmas with the Millers

A major snowstorm and crazy work schedules couldn't keep the Millers from getting together for a low-key gathering to celebrate a Miller milestone -- a first Christmas with the newest Miller, little Avamarie, who arrived from China in August. Ava enjoyed the special gathering, and so did the other Millers.

Presiding at this little get-together was Avamarie's big sister, Elizabeth, 6. Heavens to mergatroid! What has our Elizabeth looking so sultry? ... ... Why, she's guarding her gifts, of course! In case one of the other Millers gets it into his or her head to try to swipe them. Elizabeth confided in Auntie Pam that if anyone didn't want their gifts, she, Elizabeth, would be happy to take them. Why yes, Avamarie indicated, Thank you, I think I will have a little tapenade on my festive party dress. Avamarie and Hannah played and sang that well-known Christmas song, "My Heart Will Go On." Requests, anyone? Mary Bear and Mary Bear Jr. Looking a little like Taylor Swift, or maybe a Christmas angel, was our Moriah. Moriah, a freshman at Minnesota State University-Mankato, was enjoying her time home for Christmas. As this is published, she's on her way to Florida for a Catholic youth conference. Sistahs. Mo gave Hannah those awesome chandelier earrings for Christmas. No, no, Avamarie, these are mine! None of the Millers needs a thing, but they all got a few things. Pooped after eating and opening gifts, Zack and Mary took a rest on the big red chair. After Pam and Noah said goodnight to the Millers Seven, they went outside and pounded each other with snowballs. No one was seriously hurt.

Merry Christmas from Pam and Noah!

Merry Christmas to you all from the scrapblog editor and her No. 1 son! Not that she needs one more thing... Noah, ever jazzy, opens a card. Ho ho ho! That excellent photographer Mary Miller sure makes us look good.

An Avamarie Christmas

Our newest cousin, Avamarie, is darned photogenic, and her mom is a gifted photographer. A good combo. Little Avamarie under her dad's grand piano. Look who found the Christmas pickle! When they're not using her, the Millers keep Avamarie in this handy kitchen corner cabinet. You can't really see her here, because she's hiding.

Happy anniversary to a beloved aunt and uncle!

Happy, happy 60th wedding anniversary to our wonderful aunt and uncle, Joe and Mavis! Here's what Joe wrote about these two lovely photos: "They were taken 60 years apart. The bottom line is that I married a girl who liked to fish. I had a total of $600 to my name. Now, 60 years later, Mavis still likes to fish with me and we have almost twice as much money!"

An old chestnut, recycled

As you all scurry around seeking fabulous, expensive, one-of-a-kind gifts for the cousins and elders, we once again offer this set of suggestions to save you time and brainpower. Seriously, don't get anyone anything (except photos that can later be shared with your scrapblog editor), but if you do, get this stuff!

Anna's holiday letter

Uncle Joe helped Anna craft her holiday letter from her comfy chair by the window at the Lake City Nursing Home. It contains the shocking revelation that The Diminutive One has never won the Coveted Burnt Wienie Award! Can you believe that, cousins? Click on the image to make it larger and more readable. Anna is always thrilled to hear from the cousins, so send your cards and bonbons to Anna Smith, Lake City Nursing Home, 500 w. Grant St., Lake City, MN 55041. We love you, Anna!

We read it in the news paper

Click on the image to make this bigger and more readable .... awesome, eh? Uncle Joe submitted it to the St. Paul Pioneer Press (or "Brand X" as we call it at the Strib), and they had the good sense to run with it.

A warm winter evening

Sunday was a lovely, cold, snowy day in Robbinsdale, Minn. Some snapshots: Pam and Noah.

Noah studied his Latin, in which he excels, near a plate of Christmas cookies.

Lucy the old cat enjoyed the roaring fire, fueled with wood chopped and stacked by cousin Dan. Thanks, Dan!

Friends Michie and Colleen came over for dinner and to sit by the fire. Lucky to have such dear longtime friends!

Thanksgiving moments

A belated few shots from Thanksgiving at the scrapblog editor's wee but happy home in Robbinsdale: Among those present were Auntie Mary Miller and Lavone Broberg, paternal aunt of the Broberg cousins.

Cousin CMill played a few tunes on the piano, closely supervised by his new boss, Avamarie F. Miller.

Look who found the scrapblog editor's top-secret kitchen art-supplies cabinet! Actually, the cabinet is deliberately set up so short people, i.e. small children, will find it, as Noah once did after we moved into this house when he was 3. Note that Ava, like many eclectic artists, keeps her bottle close-by.

Portrait of the artist as a 1-year-old: Avamarie laid her lovely plaid party dress flat on the crumb-flecked post-dinner kitchen floor to sketch a riveting abstract work in washable-marker orange.

What's this? A comrade scamp! Elizabeth, 6, came by to check on her little sister's impromptu art crawl. Soon after, there were priceless new works festooning the scrapblog editor's refrigerator-front gallery.

Happy Thanksgiving week, cousins and elders!

Hope you all have a great holiday! To get you in the mood, here's an old family photo from some 1970s holiday, probably Christmas, at Millers' Old Frontenac home. Grandma Sprick, looking splendid in scarlet, was surrounded by some of her grandkids: clockwise from left, Jane, Chris, Pam, Joe, Tuck, JoAnn and Chats.

The thrill of being an auntie

Whatever could get the aunties so excited? Why, the arrival of a wee cousin, of course. Here, Florence, Katie and Anna got the news via telephone that their sister Marion had just given birth to Danny. It was Dec. 20, 1961. Marion and Danny came home from the hospital on Christmas Day that year.

Osama bin Alfie??!!

No, the sainted Alfie was no mullah on the lam. In this 1970s photo, he got an assist in staying warm from Chats, who gave him the scarf off her neck.

Puzzle solvers

Cousins Tuck Kirkwood and Sarah Broberg pondered puzzles in the Millers' Old Frontenac basement on some holiday or other in this undated photo.

On Coffman Lane

You older cousins will recognize the venue below as the Brobergs' place on Coffman Lane in south Minneapolis. The house, which was designed by Uncle Wally, was an awesome modern place that the country cousins loved visiting.

Grandma Sprick inspected Marion's tulips one sunny spring day in the early 1970s as Marion and Florence looked on.

Marion, Wally, Sam and Dan.

Miller-ville

Scavenged these assorted photos of the Millers from Chatsies' photo collection: Looks like a picnic at Frontenac State Park in 1967, before Dad left for Vietnam. Nothing like a picnic where you have to wear your winter coats.

Alverna, Chris, Pam and Cathy in June 1967, after Bill's departure for Vietnam.

Halloween 1967; we carved three of the 30 or so pumpkins we grew in our Old Frontenac garden.

Chris and Cathy looked through a photo album with Grandma Sprick at Christmas 1985.

Chats met her cute new nephew, Zachary William Miller, in 1988. Nice facial expression, Chris!

Zachary was very excited to be admired by mom Mary, dad Chris and Auntie Chats. Wait -- maybe not.

Chris and daughter Moriah danced to "Love Shack" at Chats and Michael's 1996 wedding.