ToddlingAroundTheWorld

#ToddlingAroundDisneyWorld Day 1 A bit bleary eyed after finally getting to sleep around 3:00 ET on Thursday, LeAnn, her twin sister, Lisa and I ‘flew’ over to Universal Studios and spent some quality time with the other muggles at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. It was freaking amazing. There really was magic in the air! We went up to Hogsmeade Village and it was just so cool being in that setting. The architecture was amazing and the shops seemed so authentic to everything we know from the books and movies. We then went up to Hogwarts Castle. This place was incredible. You line up for the ‘Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey’, and the line takes you through the castle, with interactive 3D projected exhibits of Harry and Dumbledore and even the magical portraits. It was so cool! Then the ride was pure joy and awesomeness. It is mostly a 3-D ride, and you literally feel like you are flying on a broom next the Harry. Goose bumps. Next was ‘Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike A...

At 10:18 p.m. on December 31, 2021, I was able to reach what 5 ½ years ago I would have thought was an unattainable goal – I finished 16,710 miles of #ToddlingAroundTheWorld! This surely proves that ‘By Small Means come about Great Things’. I never would have thought back in 2016, when I could hardly walk around the block due to severe pain from complications of H…ectomy surgery and the aftermath, (I wont say ‘recovery’, because even now I haven’t fully recovered. I still experience chronic pain) That I would be able to walk up to one mile, let alone tens of thousands. I ran the mileage through a step calculator, and it came out to be 30,236,745 steps. (give or take a few thousand 😉 ) What started as a goal of completing one virtual race over the course of a month, turned into a much larger one of Walking from Seattle to Prague during Autumn's mission in the Czech Republic. From there, I continued on to virtually walk along the Silk Road and then the Great Wall of China. Then on t...

#millersnoshnwalk trifecta! - weeks 40, 41 AND 42 For week 40, we kinda had to take a shortcut. Things got crazy busy, and we were out in Sammamish at our niece’s dance competition. She did a fantastic job and we ended up going out to a late lunch with Jaylin afterwards. Where we had planned on going out to a unique local spot, we ended up going to a chain, Chipotle, which is still pretty good stuff. Burritos and Tacos and Tortilla salads, oh my! For Week 41, we met up with Kelly and Ruth in T-Town. We had all of the kids in town for Christmas, so it was a special occasion to have Autumn Miller, Austin and Jaylin with us for this outing. My mom had gotten us all tickets to see the Zoo Lights at PDZA for our ‘Christmas Experience’ present, and we met up at WildFin on the waterfront for dinner. It was fantastic. LeAnn had a bolognese with andouille and chicken, and I had a peppercorn steak. It was delicious. They have great seafood there too, but I usually take the turf over the surf. Th...

Finished my eighth, and final #millermarathon last night, while walking 227 miles from Rexburg toward the #majesticfamilyreunion in Sandy, Utah. I have now completed 209.9 miles. Now have landed somewhere just east of North Salt Lake, UT. This one is dedicated to my third little brother , Brandon Miller Brandon is almost exactly 12 years younger than me. He capped off our seven kids perfectly, adding another red-head to our Neapolitan bucket of ice cream. Though he was not your standard feisty, Irish type of red-head, he was even-tempered and so much fun. He was a smiley little guy - until he got to be not such a little guy, Brandon is now 6’5” and has a couple of inches on his ‘big’ brother. Though we are quite a bit apart age-wise, it was fun to watch him grow up. He became quite the baller and played at Olympus High. I had married and move to Seattle by this time, so unfortunately didn’t get to watch him play too often. Though I did go watch him play in the State playoffs in 2000. ...

Finished my seventh #millermarathon last night, while walking 227 miles from Rexburg toward the #majesticfamilyreunion in Sandy, Utah. I have now completed 183.5 miles. Now have landed somewhere just south of Pine View Reservoir, outside of Ogden, UT. This one is dedicated to my second little sister , Ashley Miller Ashley is the kindest, most thoughtful, loving and compassionate person I know. We were blessed to have her live up here in the PNW near us for 18 years. She came up on a basketball scholarship to Seattle Pacific University. She was so fun to watch. She dominated in the paint, and was called Xena, Warrior Princess, by her teammates. Not only because she looked like Xena, but because she was as fierce and powerful as a ball player. She loved our kids and they loved seeing her. She would take our young kids overnight for sleepovers and one time they even thought it would be hilarious to make a Barbie cake for my birthday. My daughter, Autumn enjoyed my incredulous reaction s...

Finished a 15K on Christmas Day ! 9.3 miles total around the Jovita trails and then on my sister, Kelly’s Peloton treadmill after an amazing Christmas Dinner, courtesy of Ruth and Kelly! The peloton took me on walks around Iceland and Oahu. So cool! With that I was able to finish the Charlie Brown Christmas virtual challenge. I then hung the medal on our Charlie Brown Christmas Tree. 🙂 #toddlingaroundtheworld

Finished my sixth #millermarathon last night, while walking 227 miles from Rexburg toward the #majesticfamilyreunion in Sandy, Utah. I have now completed 157.8 miles. Current milepost is somewhere near Paradise, UT. This one is dedicated to my first little sister , Brooke Miller Ordenes While you couldn’t quite tell when she was born, Brooke was a towhead just like me. After having a red headed sister then two brown haired little brothers, I was excited to get another vanilla to join our Neapolitan ice cream of kids. Brooke was a happy girl and quick to make friends. She also was into sports and an incredible athlete. She has an intense, competitive drive and excelled in both soccer and basketball. Growing up with three older brothers, she feared no one and even ended up on a basketball scholarship at Western Wyoming University. My stories around Brooke would not be complete without telling of the TWO times she totally knocked me down for the count. One time, Me, Brian and Brad wer...