New Addition

The Millers have a new addition to the family. We welcomed Carter Coleman on November 13th at 3:07pm. He weighed in at 7 lbs 2 oz and was 20 inches long. His big sister Anna was extremely excited to finally meet him.

My Friend Wes Hardy

On Saturday, July 7th, my friend Wes Hardy was killed in a motorcycle wreck while on duty as a Plano police motor officer. Wes was an usher in our wedding and was also a Deputy at Wise County with me. He leaves behind his wife of 7 years Ashlee and twin 3 year old daughters. Please keep his family in your prayers.

The funeral procession was the most incredible thing I've ever seen. There were 150-200 police motorcycles and even more patrol and fire vehicles in the procession. They shut down I-35 headed North from Hebron road to Denton and then shut down US380 from Denton to Decatur. They took him by the Sheriff's Department in Decatur where he started his law enforcement career one last time on the way to the cemetery in Boyd. The trip took 2 hours and 15 minutes. Here is some video from the procession. The Lewisville Police and Fire Departments really honored Wes by assembling on an overpass as the procession passed underneath. They had many police and fire trucks on the overpass and all of their personnel stood at attention as we passed by. They had 3 ladder trucks with the ladders extended in formation - what a sight to see. The Lewisville bagpipe and drum corp also played the entire time the procession was passing. I could hear the bagpipes in my car with the windows up. I just started bawling as I saw this in the distance. The video helps to visualize all of this.



All along the route, we saw fire and police departments in similar formation. Wes would have been so proud.

He was also a volunteer firefighter in Howe. One of the fire trucks in the procession had his bunker gear on the tail for one last ride.

The Wise County Messenger also has a great video of the procession and some shots from the burial. It can be found here.

At the cemetery, they had a police helicopter flyover in the missing man formation, a riderless Dallas PD mounted patrol horse that carried only Wes's boots in the stirrups, a 21 gun salute, and echoing taps. One of the most moving things they did was to make a final tour of duty announcement over the Plano police radios. In the police world, we start our shifts by checking on duty with the dispatcher via the radio and similarly check off duty with them at the end of our shift. Over every radio, we heard the dispatcher call his number - "Mary-4"...no answer..."Mary-4"...and Wes's voice answered her and you hear Wes check off duty for the last time. It was one of the most impactful things of the ceremony. I still cry just trying to explain it.

Wes, a Christian, was a good man, husband and father. He had a huge heart and would do anything for anyone. He still wore his conference championship ring from his days as a walk on player at Texas A&M. He had a great sense of humor and loved to laugh and joke. I'm going to miss him.

If you feel inclined, you can leave a reflection about Wes or to his family on the Officer Down Memorial Page here.

Finally, The Plano Police Association is accepting donations for his wife and twin daughters. If you have the ability, please consider a donation. You can donate here.

Rest in Peace My Friend.

Here is Wes holding our daughter Anna as well as some recent pictures of him and his daughters Cora and Caitlyn.

Our Trip to Greece

Michael and I went to Greece June 11-21. It was a much-needed break after a whirlwind year of studies - full-time for Michael and part-time for me! If you want to see all 155 pictures from our trip, you can click here.

It's a Boy!

We found out on June 8 that we are having a boy!! It was fairly obvious from the moment the sonographer touched Amy's belly with the instrument. We passed through the stages of finding out: shock, disbelief, denial, and finally acceptance. God has somehow seen fit that our family should include a boy!! Amy is now 20 weeks along. We are actually really excited, as everyone we know with boys tells us how fun they are and "easier than girls." Anna is really looking forward to meeting her baby brother and is frequently heard asking Mommy if she can feel the baby move in her tummy. She will be really good at showing baby brother the ropes (aka "bossing")!

Graduation

Well, graduation is now officially over. Michael graduated on Thursday the 7th of June. His mom, step-dad and brother came up to Boston as well as Amy's mom and dad. We had a great time seeing the sights around Boston.

Graduation day started early for Michael. He had to be at the Kennedy School by 7am for photos and they then marched through Cambridge to Harvard Yard behind some Boston Police bagpipers and a drummer. Harvard's graduation is steeped in tradition. This graduation was the 356th commencement in their 365 year history. The president still sits in the same chair during the exercises as the president did in 1737. I've attached a picture of Harvard Yard filled with chairs and banners. Everything is held outside and the weather couldn't have been better.

I've also attached a picture of the family as well as one of his diploma for the family that couldn't be there.

Family expansion

Yes, we are expecting!! If you look closely at the sono pic above, you will notice that the date is April 20, 2007. This means (1) we are 15 1/2 weeks along now, and (2) I am really late on posting this info on the blog. Please forgive me! We are due November 13, 2007. I will have a sonogram on June 8 where we will try and see the gender. Anna is convinced it is a baby brother. I am scared of that possibility but have heard boys can be great children :)

Anna drew this picture around Easter time - it is a picture of "Mommy with a baby in her tummy." If you tilt your head to the right, you can see Mommy's face fairly straight on. There are cheeks involved in that picture. There is also lots of hair. To the left is Anna herself. Not sure where Daddy is, but she usually draws the full family portrait whenever she gets going.

Wrapping It Up!

Well, Michael is officially finished with classes as of Friday 5/4. He's still got a paper, a take home final, and a 3 hour in class final exam left before it's all over. It's been a whirlwind to say the least and hard to believe our time in Boston is almost up.

We've been looking for houses in and around Washington DC. We had 2 good options, but both fell through. Things are just so stinkin' expensive in the North East! We'll both be glad to move back to Texas at some point.

Both of our families are coming up to Boston for Michael's graduation. Harvard only holds one main graduation ceremony for all graduating students - both undergrad and graduate students. So, they only allocate 2 tickets for the main ceremony to each graduating student. Each school (Kennedy School, Business School, etc.) has their own ceremony following the main one...and there is no limit to the number of people that can attend it. This is actually where Michael will get his degree. Every year though, there is a black market for tickets to the main ceremony. This year Bill Gates is speaking. I just saw a video report on CNN about the black market for tickets to graduation - some tickets are going for $125 each! See the video here. Anyway, isn't it crazy that with the high tuition bills we have to pay that we only get 2 tickets??

We are back in Texas this weekend for Amy's sister's graduation from Texas A&M. We are excited to get back to campus!

Whiskers?

The other night I (Amy) was putting Anna to bed, and she looked at me and said, "Whiskers!" Fearing the worst, I said, "Where?", and she pointed to my eyes. I smiled extra big and asked if she meant just to the outside of my eyes. She nodded proudly. Apparently my crow's feet reminded her of cat's whiskers! I would definitely have "eye whiskers" than the other kind!!!

The Aggies are in the Sweet 16!!

The Aggies beat the Louisville Cardinals in a second round playoff game of the NCAA tournament today 72-69. A big reason for our win was the Louisville player (Sosa) pictured on the left who missed 2 free throws and a 3 point shot within the last minute. Sosa had 31 points for the game and is only a freshman.

In this photo, Acie Law (A&M) comforts Sosa after the game. What a class act this guy is! He gives me hope that sportsmanship is not lost in college athletics. I wish we could all be gracious winners like this guy.

Stay tuned for the Sweet 16 from San Antonio!

Take Classes from MIT for FREE!

Have you ever wanted to take classes at MIT? Well, now you can! MIT is now putting many of their graduate and undergraduate course material online - available to anyone for free. Check out the hundreds of classes they offer....everything from biology to philosophy to public policy.

The link can be found here.

Greatest First Name Ever....

This guy has the greatest first name!

First publication!

Michael wrote an Op-Ed that got published in the Dallas Morning News this morning. I am very proud of him! The print version actually had his picture in it as well. His piece was one of 3 today. The other two were articles by Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison and the Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau Chief. Not bad company for his first published Op-Ed!

We think his family is more excited about it being published in the Wise County Messenger than the DMN. They asked for permission to reprint it, and ran his Op-Ed in the Thursday, March 8th edition. Michael would love to get everyone reading the Wise County Messenger everyday just as he does! :-)

Winter has arrived!

We apologize for not keeping this up to date! We started out strong, but with the pressures of school and family life, something had to give. The Fall semester was pretty tough on the Miller family. Michael studied every waking moment and Amy was left to take care of Anna and everything else. Needless to say, we were thankful for our 6 week break over the Christmas holidays. Michael was happy to report he made all A's and one B+ last semester....so maybe the studying paid off.

During our time off over Christmas we did a lot of traveling to see family. We spent time in Dallas with Amy's mom, Decatur with Michael's parents, Tahlequah, Oklahoma with Amy's dad and a few random trips to see other family and friends. We are still amazed that Anna managed to keep it all straight even after our move to Boston less than 6 months before.

The Spring semester has started for both Amy and Michael. Amy is taking a class in Soteriology (the study of salvation for the non-seminarians among us - myself included) from Dallas Theological Seminary. Thankfully, Michael is taking a lighter load this semester and has been able to spend more time with the family.

With the Spring semester came the COLD weather and the wind! Winter has definitely arrived. This picture was taken a couple of weeks ago here in Boston. The wind chill factor was around -10 this day. It's not uncommon to have gusts of 50 mph....in case you are wondering...umbrellas are not made for this type of weather. Unfortunately for Michael, he has to walk about 15 minutes to class everyday. Anna really likes to feel of his cold face when he comes home after a long walk back from class.

The big news for us is that Michael has officially accepted a job as the Special Advisor to the Director of Intelligence of the FBI. Some of you may have been contacted by them during his background investigation. The job will be in Washington, DC, so we'll begin looking for housing very soon.

We are looking forward to a couple of visits from Amy's family over the next month as well as a visit from some of Amy's girlfriends from Dallas in April.

Well that's our update for this week. We'll try to keep this more up to date and will give you more information on our upcoming move to Washington in June.