Miller Family Christmas 2019...

We celebrated Christmas with Candace's side of the family on Sunday, 22nd December. It was a fun afternoon with food, presents and games together.

 Riaan and Eliza (with Mommy's help) opening their stockings.

Cousins photo.

Four Years...

Sunday, 15th December, marked four years since Candace's life was saved after a postpartum haemorrhage. We are so thankful for her life and annually celebrate her on this date. I had a t-shirt and a tea towel made especially for her. They were printed with the song that she sung in the ambulance that day, Showers of Blessing. Candace is certainly a shower of blessing to this little family! Her story is in two parts here and here.

 Back of the long-sleeved t-shirt.

The tea towel had the same design.

Happy Christmas 2019...

To all our family, friends, and blog readers: We hope that you are having a blessed Christmas and have a very happy new decade as 2020 dawns on us next week! May you truly know Jesus' love during this festive season. It's been an action-packed last decade. I started off the decade single and serving with Mercy Ships and since then I met Candace and fell in love, got married, left Mercy Ships and moved back to South Africa. We subsequently moved to the USA and now have two very special kiddos. God is so very good, and we are excited for this next decade of life! Thanks for reading our news! Love from all of us, Murray, Candace, Riaan, Eliza and Rusty. :)

Rather awkward family self-timer photo. :)

Riaan's Fourth Birthday...

We celebrated Riaan's fourth birthday on Saturday, 7th December. We spent most of the day up at Brown County State Park, where we swam in the indoor aquatic centre at Abe Martin Lodge. We also enjoyed cake together in one of the lounges and also hiked around Ogle Lake, which was absolutely lovely. The birthday boy had a great day! He has changed a lot since last year!

 Riaan on his last night of being three. This is an annual photo tradition. Here he is last year and three years ago!

Snuggles with Daddy.

 Riaan with his birthday balloon.

 Pancakes for a special breakfast.

 Present time!

 A Hot Wheels racing track!

 Abe Martin Lodge at Brown County State Park.

 The aquatic centre is fantastic.

 Riaan and Eliza having a blast!

 Cake time - complete with homemade Lego minifigure candles!

 Family selfie with the tree.

 Hiking around Ogle Lake.

 Grey squirrel keeping an eye on us.

 Fungi on an old log.

 Beaver activity.

 Beaver dam.

 Pretty reflections.

 Playing hide and seek in the forest.

 Camouflaged Riaan!

 Investigating inside a tree. What a happy, outdoors boytjie! :)

Cambridge Trip...

We visited Cambridge, Ohio, on the weekend of November 29th till December 1st. We were going to meet up with a maternal near-miss survivor friend of Candace's, but she had to cancel at the last minute. We still ended up going and stayed at the Holiday Inn Express there. We had a fun time, exploring what this small town in eastern Ohio has to offer.

We spent the Saturday driving around the town, seeing various sites. We visited the Colonel Taylor Inn, an old historic residence that now serves as a Bed and Breakfast, and also stopped at the lovely park nearby. Our kiddos had so much fun playing in the playground.

We then went and saw the site of an historic mile marker and the Peters Creek S-Bridge, which is an original (albeit restored) bridge that was built in the 1820s and served as part of the National Road.

From there we went to the Great American Steam Locomotive Museum, which is a small museum detailing the history of steam trains in the area. It also plays host to intricately-detailed wooden (walnut) model trains as well as a wood shop, where many wooden toys are produced. We all found it very interesting!

We came back to the hotel via Nothing But Chocolate, a chocolate shop that was highly recommended on TripAdvisor and other sites. We spent some time swimming in the hotel's indoor pool in the late afternoon, and that was quite possibly Riaan's favourite time of the whole trip!

After supper in the evening, we drove past the City's Town Hall where we saw the lovely Christmas light show. The lights decorating the Town Hall were synchronised to Christmas carols and holiday songs and it was amazing!

We headed back home after breakfast on Sunday morning - and we enjoyed a good, uneventful drive home. It was a good trip away from Daviess County, Indiana!

 Eliza relaxing with Candace.

 Colonel Taylor Inn.

 Another impressive building nearby.

 Cambridge City Park.

 Riaan loved the castle.

 Eliza sliding down an elephant's trunk!

 Armstrong Bridge, originally built in 1849 - but in a different location.

 Peters Creek S-Bridge.

 Mile marker near the historic bridge.

 With Riaan on the bridge.

 Ruined house on a forested hillside.

 The Great American Steam Locomotive Museum.

 Riaan loved the working trains!

 The small one-room museum.

 Nothing But Chocolate.

 Riaan and I had a blast in the pool!

 Eliza was less keen, though!

 Driving home through rain showers.

A round barn in the distance, just east of Indianapolis.