Christmas Letter 2008

Christmas greetings from the Milnes! It’s hard to sum up 2008 for us, but in a word it has been a year of Family. Every month we spent time with the Milnes in DC, the Hoppers in SC or with them in our home in Newport News, VA. That made for a lot of travel in the mini-van, but the boys love spending time with their grandparents and cousins! And the more cousins, the merrier as Jacob and Zachary welcomed 2 new ones this year – Silas David Yoho and Campbell Ann Compton.

Our boys are growing up so quickly! They are best friends and love to play alongside each other! Favorite activities include playing trains, riding bikes and exploring waterparks and Busch Gardens. Playing with cousins ranks high as well given the numerous trips to SC and the Milne-Yoho vacation in the Outer Banks. We had several fun family outings with just the 4 of us: a trip to Sesame Place theme park, a “Day Out With Thomas the Train,” the “Elmo Live” show, and a night at the Great Wolf Lodge indoor waterpark. On Thanksgiving, we hosted friends, the Boyers and Gaskells, for a chaotic but delicious lunch!

Jacob is now 2 ½ years old. We celebrated his birthday with 2 Thomas the Train parties – one at home and one in SC, with grandparents, cousins and friends. He participated in gymnastics and swim lessons and loved both. He can identify most of the alphabet, with a few favorites like “S for Sa-Sa” (Aunt Sara) and “W for Welcome Home Daddy!” He also knows his colors, can count to 20 and can name most of the trains in the Thomas the Train series; potty training is the current challenge. Other interests include games, Putt-Putt, “pool balls” at Nana & Pop Hopper’s, and Dora and Diego videos.

Zachary is 17 months old now. Sesame Street was the theme of his 1st birthday party and we were happy to have both sets of grandparents there! He learned to walk a week before his birthday, and is now walking, running and climbing all over the place. He is very ambitious and tries to do everything Big Brother does! He recently took swim lessons learning to blow bubbles, kick and splash in the water. Zack is a very sweet and happy little boy whose favorite words include “choo-choo”, “pi’-ba’” (piggy-back) and “Nana.”

Dean’s 4 deployments with the Coast Guard Cutter LEGARE took him from the Mid-Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean Sea including an unplanned hurricane-relief mission to Haiti. He had a successful surgery for his achalasia (a swallowing disorder) in March and undertook a weeklong bathroom-remodeling project in July. He’s currently interviewing for Coast Guard special assignment jobs in DC and we anticipate a transfer there next summer. Julie continues to be a full-time wife and mommy and remains involved with her Mothers of Preschoolers group at church. She has also become a blogger (http://deanjulieandboys.blogspot.com) in an effort to keep our family and friends up to date on our family happenings. Thanks to family support (watching the boys), we enjoyed 2 getaways to Virginia Beach and Puerto Rico. On a sad note, we both lost grandfathers this year: Julie’s Granddaddy and Dean’s Grandpa Eckroth, wonderful men who loved their families and are greatly missed.

Christmas is now here and we have been diligently trying to teach Jacob about this special holiday: a celebration of Jesus’ birthday who is the greatest gift to all. In a new tradition this year, we are having an actual birthday party for Jesus along with our other family gatherings. It should be a fun Christmas and we hope yours will be also!

Merry Christmas!
Dean, Julie, Jacob and Zachary Milne