A pre-Halloween frightful moment at the Strib

Ah, nothing like election season to bring out the nutbirds. This was the scene outside the front door of the Minneapolis Star Tribune on Thursday after a manila envelope that contained white powder identified by the demented correspondent as anthrax arrived in the little newsroom mailroom where cousins Chris and Pam pick up their fan mail (ha!) daily. Luckily, it was just sugar. But as this photo, taken by our friend and colleague Deb Pastner, shows, it was pretty serious for a minute or two.

Cousin Chats' church throws a party

The Rev. Dr. Esquire Chats' church in Wichita, Kan., First Presbyterian, recently threw a big Heritage Days party celebrating its Scottish background (something it has in common with the Miller family's heritage). Here are some photos from that bash featuring our own bonnie Chatsie ...

What are YOU thankful for, cousins?

Cousins! The frost is on the tomatoes and the iron door of the north is clanging open, as the poets say. Our favorite dark-season holiday is Thanks- giving, which comes with less hype than Halloween and Christmas. Here's a challenge: Send your scrapblog editor a card, letter or e-mail telling what you're thankful for this year. Yes, yes, we know you're all thankful for the fabulous scrapblog and your wonderful cousins, but go beyond that ... search deep in your gut, or your funny bone, for what you're REALLY happy about and want to share, and we'll post the replies the day before Thanksgiving. Humor is especially appreciated! Send your submissions to pmmiller1@comcast.net or P. Miller, 4328 Beard Av. N., Robbinsdale, MN 55422. And spread the word to our relatives who don't use computers, too.

A big winner

1952 was Uncle John Kirkwood's lucky year. He won this cool boat in a Lake Pepin fishing contest! Look at those jealous fellas behind him checking it out.

A Miller family weekend

Some of your Miller cousins got together this weekend in Centerville to celebrate Elizabeth's fifth birthday. It was loud and fun! Some snapshots: Izzbee and the delicious ice cream cake. Izzbee tried to take a bite out of the cake before it was served. Wherever could she have learned this sort of behavior?!

Izzbee acted goofy. Wherever could she have learned to be goofy?!

Izzbee with siblings Mo and Zachary (Hannah was out partying somewhere!) and cousin Noah.

Aunt Pam and Moriah. Nieces are so wonderful!

Auntie Mary, the one in this photo without significant nose hair, made a delicious, healthful dinner.

Creating a spectacle(s)

Your scrapblog editor got new glasses this weekend... Wait! These aren't her new glasses. This was just a festive moment during a weekend visit with her fab niece, Izzbee Miller. Here are the actual new specs. And here's Noah's new shorter haircut.

International Anna Smith Week

Our beloved Aunt Anna turns 88 this Thursday! Send your cards and letters to her at 1935 Perlich, Apt. 201, Red Wing, MN 55066. Oh, say! Some more photos of the diminutive one, in honor of her birthday:

Happy Birthday to T-Bro!

Happy 16th Birthday to Tyler Broberg! (It was yesterday, Saturday, Oct. 11, actually.) Hope you're having a wonderful one, T!

Winter is icumen in, and this cousin is ready

Cousins! With the stock market and our 401(k) accounts tanking, it may be a good time to rev up our basic survival skills in case the whole economic kit-and-kaboodle goes haywire. Cousin Davy, for instance, split a lot of wood this weekend, assuring that his Eau Claire home will be warm as toast no matter what happens to fuel prices this winter!

Another journalist in the family??

Let's see, when cousin Pam wrote her first news story for a daily newspaper, it was on Page 151Y of the Podunk Shopper. When cousin Chris wrote his, it was on Page 206Z of the Iron Range Gazette. But today young cousin Noah had his first story published in a daily paper, the Minnesota Daily, and it was on Page 1A and at the top of the Daily's groovy website. Wow! Cousin Pam, Noah's mom, is pretty impressed. Honest, she had nothing to do with Noah applying to the Daily, one of the nation's best college newspapers. Although Noah was co-editor of his high school newspaper, the Robbinsdale Cooper High School Quill, he is not going into journalism, rather studying political science and philosophy, with his eye on the Peace Corps after college, and then, who knows what? But...there's that 1A story. Congrats, Noah!

Uncle Ed would be so proud!

Cousin Joe Kirkwood took a break from his hard work at Federal Mogul in Lake City, Minn., to go fishing recently in the Mississippi backwaters and landed 30 bluegills.

A swingin' cousin

Uncle Joe and Aunt Mavis proudly forwarded this Eau Claire Leader-Telegram photo of young cousin Katie Sprick. She's a fine tennis player! (Click on the article to make it bigger.)

Forget "Access Hollywood" -- it's "Access Vikings"!

Things are a little dicey today at the Minneapolis Star Tribune, which again defaulted on major loan payments, increasing the threat of bankruptcy. But cousins Pam and Chris continue to trot off to work, and work is still there. Today, Chris recorded an especially jumpin' "Access Vikings" mini-movie -- check it out at www.startribune.com; scroll down to "Multimedia" and look for the one titled "Access Vikings: Cleanup Week at Winter Park."

Happy 80th Birthday to Uncle Deadeye!

Happy 80th Birthday to Uncle Charles "John" "C.J." Kirkwood, our Irish branch, husband of Katie Sprick Kirkwood, father of Sandy, Joe, Jane and Tuck and grandpa to Paul, Kelly, Teddy, Katie and Jeff! Jane sent us these delightful photos.

John served with the U.S. military police in Vienna, Austria, after World War II.

John with stepgrandson Jeff and a lotta big fish.

Happy Birthday to Patty Lou!

A very Happy 56th Birthday to cousin Patty Lou Rafferty Pepin! Here she is a few years ago with husband Steve Pepin. Hope all her kids fete her intensely!

Happy Birthday to Izzbee!

The scrapblog editor is an hour or so late in wishing little cousin Izzbee a Happy 5th Birthday! It was Tuesday, Sept. 29. In a candid phone interview with young E. from her lovely home in Centerville, the scrapblog editor learned that her preferences are for "two or maybe three birthday parties," preferably "with elephants." A couple of snapshots: Izzbee swam with big brother Zachary Miller. Izzbee savors some delicious prune juice whilst sitting on the kitchen counter.

Another friend leaves the Star Tribune

The Minneapolis Star Tribune, employer of cousins Pam and Chris, continues to go through tough times. We're used to it by now, but there's little to soften the blow when good friends made over the years leave, except that we're glad they've found better, more secure jobs. One such departure came this past week, when reporter Terry Collins bid us farewell to head for a new gig with the Associated Press in San Francisco. Journalists -- and even some politicians and others he's written about -- flocked to his goodbye standup at work. Here are some photos with people you may recognize:

We gave Terry some gag gifts, including Rice-A-Roni -- you know, "the San Francisco treat."

Cousin Chris schmoozed with Terry near the cake table.

The scrapblog editor made another of her dear work friends, Minneapolis news team leader Suzanne Ziegler, promise not to leave!

A big news day

Today was a day of momentous news, what with the financial crisis and bank-bailout discussion intensifying and the presidential candidates debating. But here on the home front, the big news came from the scrapblog editor's favorite son, Noah, who got hired as a reporter for the Minnesota Daily, one of the best college newspapers in the US of A. His newspaper-employee mom and uncle had nothing to do with it, and in fact were a bit surprised when Noah announced he was going for an interview there. Maybe journalism has a future after all! Congrats, Noah! Noah in a recent reflective moment in the Sculpture Garden at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis. In other news, Noah stood in line for two hours to land tickets to the Bob Dylan concert to take place Election Day in Northrop Auditorium on the University of Minnesota campus. Here is a Minnesota Daily story about the rush for tickets.

Happy Birthday to a young cousin!

Happy Birthday to Maria Cook, daughter of cousins Tanya and Levi, granddaughter of cousin Cindi, great-granddaughter of Uncle Joe and Aunt Mavis. Maria turned 5 this week, and her proud mom generously shared these photos, also posted on her Facebook profile: No. 5 is a big birthday! When you're 5, riding a Madison city bus is a major thrill. Here Maria is on the bus with kid brother Perrin. Maria opens gifts.

Readin' and rockin'

Grandma Sprick read in her rocking chair in her Lake City, Minn., home in May 1959. Probably was the Bible, but we're not sure.

Back in '65

Found this old one in a scrapbook of Anna's. That's Bill, LeRoy, Chris (in an excellent pair of PJs), Grandma, Adelaide, Alverna, Vi and Norm at Grandma's old house in Lake City, Minn. It was July 1965. The Millers were probably visiting between U.S. Army stints in West Germany and Frederick, Md.

Another family feast

In this photo of a beautiful table spread with fine china and large, delicious food, you may also notice some Spricks. It was Oct. 9, 1993, Friday night, thus a fish-fry night, and Anna, Alverna, Bill, Elmer and Mavis were dining at Ten Oaks, Joe and Mavis' former place north of Lake City. Note the lovely china cabinet, which Elmer made. Hope he still has that excellent shirt.

"One! Two! Three! And the winner is..."

In this July 1993 wrestling match, bruiser Tyler Broberg, age 0, took out Noah Johnson, age 5. Or maybe he just couldn't take Noah's crazy outfit anymore.

Fashion babes

The second generation of Miller cousins has inherited their parents' savvy fashion sense. In this January 1994 photo, Mo, H.B. and Noah modeled some pretty odd, we mean mod, outfits. H.B. looks like she'd rather be anywhere else -- Manhattan, perhaps?

Trunk of dreams

In this June 1987 photo, Aunt Annette Sprick Kulseth worked on the porch of her Old Frontenac cabin to refinish the old family trunk in which her grandfather, Heinrich Augustin, packed most of his family's possessions when he came to America ("Amerika," it says on the trunk) from Deutschland a century before. To see photos of the refinished trunk, go back to this old post.