What a day for these two! John Paul received his First Holy Communion and baby Ben was baptized on Saturday. 

These two share a special connection. They are named for St Jean de Brebeuf and St Gabriel Lalemant (middle names), Jesuit missionaries to Canada who were martyred together. And now they share special sacrament anniversaries too.

It was a beautiful, beautiful day with the Mass for the (transferred feast) of St Jean Baptiste, the baptism immediately afterwards, and hanging out with family who came to be with us. 

Welcome to the Church, Benedict Jean! Congratulations, John Paul Gabriel!

Benedict Jean

 

Introducing... this sweet little fellow: Benedict Jean

Baby Ben was born June 12th at 10:02am. Keeping in true Millette baby style, he matched his birth weight within an ounce of his four siblings, at 8 lbs 9oz. To say we're smitten is an understatement. 

Benedictus means "blessing, blessed" and we certainly feel blessed to have this little guy.

 

The Long Winter

 

To borrow a title from Laura Ingalls Wilder, it was a Long Winter. A long, long winter. That top picture was taken in November and already we had a lot of snow. Little did we know that it would snow and snow and snow some more until the pile in our backyard was big enough to sled down and easily at window height. 

The past few years our major winter past-times have been snowshoeing and sledding. We took in a number of family snowshoe adventures, Dan and Joseph did even more, and Dan on his own was snowshoeing until April 24th. We decided to invest in some kids-size snowshoes this year! Despite the super cold, we also got out skating and Jude found great balance and was able to begin his skating career. 

Dan spent a good portion of his winter writing his first youth fiction novel! Disconnected: The Broken Path was self-published March 19th. It's been a crazy adventure, to say the least, but a rewarding and wonderful experience for him. Joseph got the author's kid perk of reading a proof copy before the book came out. He read it in one day and promptly said it was in his top 5 books ever!

Joseph has become quite the hunter. To date, he's shot, cooked, and eaten three squirrel. They are surprisingly good meat! With Grandpa and Dad's help, he also brought in a rabbit and two prairie chickens this fall/winter. We ate them all, enjoying the wild taste of fresh meat. 

Other outdoor winter activities included the annual big burn at Grandpa and Grandma's, complete with hotdogs and marshmallows, and playing with new baby kittens. You might notice in the above eating picture that all our kids are wearing their Bass Pro Shop hooded sweaters. This was another family affair this winter - acquiring the coveted camo! Apparently, I am no longer in the family because I've declined buying one, thus far.

My lame excuse for not buying a sweater includes the added pounds and frontal growth I've experienced the last 8 months. Baby #5 is just about finished and due on or around June 10th. The above picture was somewhere around 30 weeks and, I swear, I look bigger in real life. Lol. We are all excited to meet this new little member of our family! Hopefully, we can settle on some names before he/she actually is born. Jude is a happy little man with his own baby book now (see below) and can now move into the roll of big brother - we'll see how it goes...

Between school, shoveling, and eating food, we also spent some leisure time this winter building a number of awesome puzzles, working out in our basement, and celebrating the liturgical year (see Mardi Gras masks above). I'm not sure where all the time goes... but when looking back it always seems to have gone quickly. We are looking forward to the end of another school year, a new baby, and a busy, fun, outdoorsy summer. 

Christmas Letter 2021

 Millette Christmas Letter – 2021 

“2021 was even better! Hell of a time! I’m on a roll!” – signed, Satan

Was 2021 a dumpster fire? Read on to find out… 

But first, a shameless update on the kids:

Joseph (10) – Grade 5. Loves outdoor adventures such as hunting, hunting antlers, shooting at things, and hunting. He also likes watching hunting on TV, and hunting.

John Paul (7) – Grade 2. Loves reading, creating, playing sports, and beating up his siblings.

Emilie (5) – Kindergarten. Loves tea parties, learning to read, and stomping her feet when told to clean up.

Jude (2) – Loves playing every sport and game imaginable, making people laugh, eating food, and making people laugh while they are eating food.

2021 Year in Review

Jan – Mar   Being locked down and unable to visit anyone *wink wink* we took on loads of snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, building winter shelters (the boys), hockey, and having massive bonfires (destruction is therapeutic).

April 10   The parents went out for supper, alone, to celebrate 11 years of marriage. The first time in… about 11 years.

May 21   Bring on the long weekend! Drinks! Shorts! Half a foot of snow…

May 31   The homeschool year ends for Becca and the kids.

June 30   The public-school year ends for Dan. He wonders if he should take up teaching homeschooling instead. Becca assures him that it doesn’t pay well.

July 2 - 10   Landscaping and summer projects.

July 11 – 21   The entire family escapes to the Rocky Mountains. See our crazy adventures here: The Millette Family: Millette Family Vacation 2021 - Two Videos, or read about them Here and Here.

August 5 – 10   Becca and the two youngest head to Ontario. Dan and the two oldest boys surprise them by doing a bedroom makeover. HGTV eat your heart out.

August 10-11   The boys build a small backyard log shrine for Our Lady. She then appears to Dan in a dream and says they did a pretty good job, for a first try anyway.

Sept 4   John Paul has his first Confession. He comes out and says, “It was easy! I only said one sin!”

He gets his holiness from his dad.

Fall   The usual… a two week completely useless COVID-quarantine, smashing a demon pinata for Michaelmas, carving pumpkins, smashing pumpkins, hauling in the garden, shoveling snow…

Dec 25   Hopefully we are celebrating Christmas with others. If our Lords and Masters allow us, of course.

 

 

 

Coming - Spring 2022: Dan is writing a novel (for ages 10-14). It concerns a day when the internet dies, and people need to learn to live again. Stay tuned! I’m sure I can count on all of you to buy a dozen copies each. Buy 99 and get the 100^th for free. While supplies last. No CODs. Operators are standing by. Be the first on your block.

 

 Kid (mostly Jude) Quotes:

Jude crying late at night while we drive home…Emilie – “Jude! Be quiet! You’re going to wake me up!”

On our way to Mass… Mom – “Jude, are you going to be good and quiet at Mass? Jude – “Not today.”

Jude – “Oh my Dod!” [God] Mom – “?!?!?!” Jude – “O my Dod, I heartily sorry…” *Praying Act of Contrition*

John Paul – “Jude, you’re bad.” Jude – “I not bad. I Jude!”

Dad – “Jude, what do you want for your birthday?” Jude – “Mommy!”

Dad – “Jude, you need to go outside with someone. Who are you going out with?” Jude – “My gun!”  *Walks out with a big wooden gun*

 

The Finale: Our apologies that most of you will receive this letter via email this year. It had to be. But we hope 2022 will see a return to our usual mailout.

The highpoint of the year was undoubtedly our trip to the mountains. A real peak. It elevated our spirits. The height of perfection. It brought a new range of experiences. We felt on top of the world.

We climbed mountains, and hiked near valleys and gorges. Us and our four kids. Surrounded by beauty, crisp air, fresh streams, and dogs. Lots of dogs. I mean, everyone had a dog. There were dogs pushed in strollers. Dogs out at restaurants. Dogs in baby carriers. Having four children made us feel out of place - though it was tempting to buy a leash to control some of our kids.

One night at the campground Jude started crying. Before we could whisk him away to the silence of the van, a nearby dog woke up barking. Within 30 seconds the entire campground (over 700 sites) was a howling mess of barks, woofs, and growls. Way to go, Jude. Seriously, I was proud of him.

Why bring this up? Because it’s a world that continues to lose its mind. Yet one child, like a nighttime explosion at a campground, can set off the entire world. One child can bring suffering and joy, change and hope. I’m not referring to Jude anymore. May this Christmas we allow The One Child to bring peace, joy, and, if needed, a good whooping for all of us who need our heads and hearts readjusted.

God bless us, everyone. (Even Trudeau, I guess). Merry Christmas, from the Millettes.

Happy All Saints' {pictures}

Saint Nicholas. Saint Patrick. Saint Therese of the Child Jesus. And Robin Hood?? Nope, Saint Hubert. 

Saint Hubert is the patron saint of hunters, in addition to mathematicians, metal workers, and opticians. 

He has a very interesting conversion story. From Wikipedia:

“Legend holds that on a Good Friday morning, while the faithful were in church, Hubert was hunting in the forest. As he pursued a magnificent stag or hart, the animal turned and Hubert was astounded to see a crucifix floating between its antlers. He heard a voice saying: "Hubert unless thou turnest to the Lord and leadest a holy life, thou shalt quickly go down into Hell." Hubert dismounted and prostrated himself, and after asking "Lord, what wouldst Thou have me do?" is told, "Go and seek Lambert, and he will instruct you."

Hubert is honored among sport hunters as the originator of ethical hunting behavior. In some versions of the story, the stag is said to have lectured Hubert to hold animals in higher regard and have compassion for them as God's creatures with value in their own right. For example, the hunter ought to only shoot when a clean, quick, and therefore humane kill is assured. He ought to shoot only old stags which are past their prime breeding years and forego a much-anticipated shot on a trophy to instead euthanize a sick or injured animal that might appear on the scene. Further, one ought never to shoot a female with young in tow, to assure the young deer have a mother to guide them to food during the winter. Such is the legacy of Hubert, which is still taught today and who held in high regard in the extensive, rigorous German and Austrian hunter education courses.”