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THE
2000
CHRISTMAS
LETTER
It
is
Christmas
letter
time
again.
The
time
is
really
flying
by.
We
entered
this
year
with
the
Y2K
boogieman
in
the
shadows,
but
most
everyday
things
continued
as
before.
Joe
had
the
basement
full
of
stuff
to
make
sure
that
we
wouldn’t
have
any
problems
and
we
always
had
plenty
of
love.
The
year
began
with
Joe
and
Greta
celebrating
their
fourth
anniversary
on
January
1
and
ended
with
us
celebrating
Christmas
2000
at
home
with
friends
and
family.
We
will
give
some
highlights
of
the
year.
A
very
special
time
was
in
May
when
Jason
graduated
from
College
with
a
BS
in
Computer
Science
and
accepted
a
job
with
SAIC
in
New
Orleans.
We
attended
the
graduation
ceremonies
at
Southeastern
Louisiana
University
and
it
was
mucho
fun.
Since
Mardi
Gras
had
just
ended
a
couple
of
months
before,
the
whole
crowd
was
dressed
in
Mardi
Gras
attire
and
celebrated,
likewise.
One
guy
came
in
during
the
opening
graduate
procession
with
a
gigantic
Afro
wig
on
his
head.
The
wig
was
about
3
feet
in
diameter
and
three
feet
high.
Jason
said
that
he
was
going
to
wear
an
Afro,
so
we
all
thought
Jason
was
wearing
the
large
wig.
He
did
wear
an
Afro,
but
it
was
much
smaller.
Even
with
the
wig,
he
was
allowed
to
graduate.
Angela
is
finishing
her
senior
year
at
James
Madison
University.
We
will
have
special
graduation
stories
to
tell
about
Angela
in
the
next
Christmas
letter.
Angela
is
living
in
a
townhouse
close
to
campus
where
she
has
three
roommates
who
have
become
close
friends.
Angela’s
major
is
Integrated
Science
and
Technology.
She
is
in
the
process
of
interviewing
for
a
career
position
and
she
is
having
an
exciting
time
with
all
the
new
experiences.
This
summer
she
lived
in
Baltimore
and
spent
some
time
as
a
lab
assistant
at
a
bio
chemical
lab.
Christina
finished
her
first
year
of
college
and
made
excellent
grades.
For
the
first
semester
of
her
second
year
she
is
studying
in
Florence,
Italy.
It
has
been
a
wonderful
adventure
for
her.
She
has
made
many
new
friends
and
has
learned
how
to
speak
better
Italian.
Yolanda
(our
dog,
for
those
who
do
not
know)
is
doing
well.
She
celebrated
her
13th
birthday
this
year.
There
were
some
unhappy
times.
Joe’s
mother
had
some
internal
problems
that
required
two
operations
to
correct.
Her
first
operation
was
in
January,
which
did
not
correct
the
problem
and
then
she
had
another
operation
in
July,
which
apparently
corrected
the
problem.
Joe
went
to
Little
Rock
in
July
to
be
with
her.
All
seems
to
be
OK
now.
In
May,
Greta
and
Joe
traveled
to
New
Orleans
to
celebrate
their
grandson’s
birthday.
Fede,
who
is
Jason’s
son,
had
a
super
birthday
party.
Cake
and
ice
cream
was
eaten
by
all.
In
August,
the
family
took
their
annual
vacation
trip
to
the
Outer
Banks,
North
Carolina.
The
Christmas
photo
was
taken
just
after
the
family
ate
dinner
at
a
restaurant
near
Corolla.
In
the
photo
are
Joe,
Fede
(Jason’s
Son),
Greta,
Angela,
Christina,
and
Jason.
The
big
trip
that
we
took
this
year
was
to
Australia
for
the
2000
Summer
Olympics.
The
plane
ride,
including
layovers,
was
about
21
hours
long.
When
we
landed
in
Australia,
it
was
8
AM
their
time,
but
it
was
11
PM
East
Coast
Time.
We
experienced
quite
a
jet
lag
shock.
We
required
about
3
days
to
get
acclimated
to
the
new
time
zone.
We
not
only
enjoyed
Olympics,
but
we
also
enjoyed
the
people
and
the
sights.
We
spent
10
days
there
and
we
got
to
see
many
of
the
Track
and
Field
finals.
We
also
had
a
chance
to
see
the
kangaroos
and
koala
bears.
We
have
a
great
photo
of
Greta
hopping
after
a
kangaroo.
It
was
a
super
trip.
We
are
writing
a
trip
summary
that
we
will
put
on
our
family
page
soon.
The
location
is
http://www.josephsmiller.com/
.
Joe
is
still
operating
out
of
his
company,
EDA,
Inc.
He
is
currently
working
on
some
web
development
projects,
developing
his
company’s
intranet
and
taking
courses
to
become
a
certified
Microsoft
System
Engineer.
Greta
is
still
working
her
buns
off.
She
is
the
Managing
Partner
of
her
company
and
she
has
taken
the
responsibility
in
stride.
We
are
teaching
5th
and
6th
grade
Sunday
school
this
year.
It
was
particularly
nice
since
we
knew
all
the
kids
in
the
class
from
previous
years.
This
year
the
class
is
about
22
strong.
We
love
teaching
this
group.
We
are
also
reading
at
Paine
Elementary
School.
This
is
a
school
in
Southeast
Washington,
DC
(inner
city)
that
Joe
and
Greta
volunteer
their
time
about
twice
a
month
to
travel
down
town
and
read
to
2nd
graders.
It
is
very
rewarding
to
interact
with
these
disadvantage
children.
Joe
also
helps
a
support
group
called
ECHO
and
tutors
a
5th
grader
on
Monday
nights.
We
have
had
a
great
year
with
God’s
help.
We
wish
you
and
yours
a
joyous
holiday
and
a
prosperous
2001
The
Miller’s
and
the
Tosi’s
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