Paradise??

Aloha family & friends,
Okay, so I jumped on the whole "blogger" wagon and am joining the masses. I am really terrible about keeping in touch with everyone on the mainland, so I guess this will be a great middle man!
Chase, Skyler, Madison and I arrived on Oahu March 13, 2006, to discover Hawaii was having the worst rainy season in 60 years. It rained for 50+ days straight, try doing that in a place you have never been, with no tv, no toys, and a backyard that flooded and was a mud-pit (can you say muddy dog?!!!) We survived and soon made many friends and started to see the island as the sun reemerged. We met up with our old and dear friends from Maryland, the Frantzens, and new friends that are now like family to us, the Crouchers and the Wilsons. Without these three families my prison sentence (4 year tour) on Hawaii would have sent me to the crazy house or divorce (j/k hun!) We have experienced many good things here and the culture and the scenery are worth it. The boys have adjusted slowly and along the way there have been trials, but We are Miller (sorry stole from We are Marshall, couldn't resist) and we made it through! We did a hike up a mountain to see a lovely waterfall, it was an easy hike that took less than an hour, but my oh so adventurous husband wanted to do the off-the beaten track hike up the side of the mountain (literally) to the top, where I will begrudgingly admit the view was breathtaking! The whole experience caused several (20+) gray hair to sprout on my head!!! In September, I got to go home to Tx on the squadron plane and see my grandbaby Devon the day she was born, she is as beautiful as her mommy! I spent 6 days there and is was wonderful. The majority of 2006 was spent boogie-boarding at Bellows (true paradise) hanging out at someones house playing darts, dominoes or cards (yes and drinking too!) 2007 was the year of really experiencing life in Hawaii, during the boys 2 week spring break, we went to Waikiki and played tourist for a week...it was awesome! We went on a submarine 120 feet under the water to different sites that had sunken boats and planes, where we saw sea turtles and sharks and thousands of rainbow colored fish. On the boat ride back to the pier be had a pod of pacific bottle-nose dolphins swim next to the boat, some would dive out of the water, I felt blessed (me and dolphins, what can I say?). We swam at the beautiful Hale Koa hotel pool, went to dinner shows, and went out on a sunset dinner cruise, where the boys got to feed huge fish that swam along with the boat, and watched Chase dancing in a conga line!! We went to Sea Life Park (50 first dates filmed there) and Chase snorkeled with Sea rays and various fish. Got to see the one and only in the whole world Whalphin (a dolphin got nasty with a whale and a baby was born!!) the dolphin show was of course my all-time favorite. We hiked up to the lighthouse and the pictures will never do it complete justice. We snorkeled at Hanauma Bay (I should say Dad & Chase did) Skyler and I hung out on the beach and watched, it was still gorgeous. Summertime the boys and I caught a C-14 supply plane (yeah we sat in jump seats among supplies going over to Germany, with 50 other passengers) that flew us to McGuire AFB, where we met a fabulous couple driving to Md and they offered us a ride to my brothers house. We went to Kings Dominion in Va and it was a blast, Chase and I rode some killer roller coasters, and Skyler got to ride on his first big coaster and loved it!!! From there the boys and I traveled up to Pa and stayed with Carol and Bob (Jiffy's mom & dad) and spent the 4th of July with all his family and friends, did a lot of swimming in their pool. We left there and ventured down to NC to visit my mom and her husband Archie at the Outer Banks beaches. The boys and I discovered and obsession of going to the fishing piers that extend about a mile out in the ocean and are open 24/7. We experienced so much in a few days that will last a lifetime in my boys memories. They got to see various fish caught, and caught a few themselves, Skyler caught a baby blue shark (he still talks about it) and we saw a 4 ft in wing span stingray swim past the pier and 6-7 ft long shark jump out of the water (Air Jaws). My mom took us to the aquarium and to touristy shops and the boys got to go to an outside play about the first settlers. My mom works at a hotel that has an indoor heated swimming pool and the boys and I swam everyday. We spent time with my good friend and old roommate Kathy and her brother Billy and daughter Martina. We went ghost crab hunting at night with flashlight and buckets, climbed Jockey's Ridge (the largest sand dune on the Eastern coast) and we crabbed for well crabs! on the soundside using string and chicken necks, that was a very fun day. Jeff met up with the boys and I and we drove back up to Pa to spend 2 more weeks with his family. We went to Kennywood, an amusement park in Pittsburgh, and stayed until close, riding all the rides over and over. We fished in the river next to the dam and caught HUGE channel catfish (nasty eating!!!!!) We got to meet the newest addition to the Miller family, Austin born July 3rd to Jeff's older brother Dan. We were sad to see our vacation come to an end but we flew back to Hawaii mid July. Chase is in 4th grade and Skyler 2nd at Mokapu Elementary on Kaneohe Marine base (where we live....duh!) They both like their teachers and are consistently A & B students. Chase was on the fitness team, that competes with other schools on the windward side of the island (again where we live), he won silver at the Kaiser competition (a 1st for Mokapu EVER) and was awarded the President certificate signed by president Bush. This year has been quiet with sports, Chase hasn't wanted to play anything and Skyler has had a difficult time with his left knee. After numerous visits to specialist after specialist, Skyler was diagnosed with psoriasis causing an auto-immune reaction in his body resulting in rash and arthritis in his knee. He is a brave little boy and has adapted to his situation admirably. I guess you noticed by now that I totally skipped over fall and winter?? Well, it was a Banner year in the Miller family and we'll leave it at that. We lost our good friends on island, the Crouchers are now stationed at our old stomping grounds at Andrews AFB, Md. They are renting a house off base in the country and are expecting a baby in Sept. Way to go Pam & Scott!!!! If I were to say anything about the fall and winter of 2007 I would say "Thank you" to higher up for putting us through hell. We learned valuable lessons about life, our marriage and especially ourselves, and thank you to the friends that stood by us and never once faltered. Christmas was great, the boys got some truly awesome gifts and Jeff enjoys playing with them quite often...lol!
So, that now brings us to January 2008 where we are now living in a different house on the same base, god love the military!!!! We are in a 3-story townhouse with no backyard, an adjustment when it comes to walking two dogs. Oh, yeah I forgot to mention Jeff and I have been smoke free for 5 months and I have lost 13 lbs. I walk everyday, up the hill, down the hill, up the hill etc..... We entered 2008 not with resolutions, but with strong convictions, and being this will our last full year here, are determined to make every moment count. We love everyone and I am soooo sorry to make you read our saga, I promise all further updates will be short and funny!