Heading out...

Well, the day has finally arrived. (Miriam's) Mom and Dad are heading down to Costa Rica this evening to begin their year of language training. We were able to spend a great weekend together at some friend's lake house in GA. What a fun time of making memories during our last weekend together as a family for a while.

Last weekend we were able to get together with Dad's brothers and sisters and their families. Dad is the baby of 10 children, so it was quite a fun time with all of the families. It has been a while since all of the kids were together but they all wanted to see Mom and Dad before they left.

This weekend was reserved just for our immediate family. Some friends of Mom and Dad offered to let us stay at their lake house. It was a wonderful place right on the lake with a great screened in porch. We ended up spending a lot of time out there, especially when the storms rolled in and there was a cool breeze. The husbands enjoyed throwing the football around and fishing while the girls just hung out and talked. It was nice to just be together.

Stephen, Miriam's brother, joined Mom and Dad on Sunday evening and then took them to the airport this afternoon. Since Stephen "inherited" the Toyota Previa mini van (commonly referred to as "the silver bullet" or "the Prev") from Mom and Dad, they asked him to take them and all of their luggage to the airport. They each can take 2 suitcases that weigh no more than 50 lbs. each plus their carry-ons. This small amount of luggage which includes their books and supplies for school and 1 year's worth of clothes plus a ton of other necessities!

With promises to call via Skype and Vonage and after a few tears, here we are...adjusting to the life of having parents who are missionaries and live in another country...and being thankful that it is them, and not us, who are going to Spanish class every day for the next year! Good luck with that Mom and Dad!

Here are a few pictures from the family weekend. The first is a picture of the immediate family - Dad, Mom, Miriam, Stephen, Rebecca, and Deborah.

Tutoring Session

In the words of our little friend Aeden, Blue is getting "tutored" today.

Since we may breed Polly again, we decided to get Blue neutered so there is no chance that any accidents will happen.

Blue couldn't have any food or water after 8pm last night and for those of you who have met Blue, this was not easy! He LOVES food. We had to leave pretty early so I could drop him off so he was still pretty sleepy (and hungry) and didn't quite know what was going on. All Polly knew was that someone was "going" and she wanted it to be her. So, I had to bribe her a little with a treat, which of course Blue wanted because he was so hungry. Anyways, I finally got Polly inside and Blue outside in the car and off we went. He should be having his surgery sometime this morning and Polly and I will pick him up this afternoon after work.

Triathlon 4.13.08

Mike's triathlon pictures - Centennial Campus, NC State

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Not to Worry...

Triathlon pictures are coming...

I used my regular camera, not the digital (READ...I have to actually get the film developed- the INSANITY!) to make sure I got some good quality pictures of the race. I'll try to get them uploaded asap.

Blue

Again, can you blame us for keeping him?!?

Tagged!

I've been reading these on everyone else's blogs lately, so I guess it's about time that I got tagged! Here goes...

Four jobs I've had: (they sound WAY more important than they were!)
1. Treasury Sales Analyst - SunTrust
2. Bankcard Specialist - CCB/SunTrust
3. Recon Specialist - Synovus
4. Office Assistant - CHA!!

Four movies I've watched more than once:
1. Top Gun
2. Message in a Bottle
3. Wedding Planner
4. Indiana Jones...thanks, Dad!

Four places I've lived:
1. Creedmoor, NC
2. Columbus, GA
3. Phenix City, AL
4. Huntsville, AL

Three TV Shows I watch:
1. 30 Minute Meals
2. Andy Griffith
3. Matlock

Four places I've been:
1. Guatemala
2. Slovakia - hey, Brandy!!
3. Austria
4. Romania

Four people who email me regularly:
1. Bec
2. my mom
3. Abby
4. Laura H.

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Mexican
2. Italian
3. soups/sandwiches
4. Ice Cream

Four places I would like to visit:
1. Western Caribbean...MAY 2008!!
2. Italy
3. Greek Isles
4. Northern California

Five things I'm looking forward to in the coming year:
1. Mike Graduating - May 10, but who's counting?!
2. Cruise in May!
3. 5th year anniversary
4. Visiting Mom and Dad in Costa Rica
5. Mike getting a job

Five friends I'm tagging:
1. Rebecca Durham - does this mean you have to start a blog?!?
2. Glynis Miller
3. Abby Fernandez
4. Leah Hattaway
5. Laura Hendren - does this mean you have to start a blog too?!?

Commissioning Day in VA

As many of you know, my (Miriam's) parents are moving to do full time mission work. They have been in training for the past 8 weeks in Virginia and were finally commissioned this past Wednesday. Our whole family, my brother and sisters and their husbands, were able to be together for the event.

The kids and spouses all came to our house on Tuesday night and then we travelled up to Richmond on Wednesday morning for the afternoon service and back to our house that evening. We were able to spend time together as a family which we don't take for granted anymore. Mom and Dad will be leaving at the end of April to move to Costa Rica for language school for one year and then move to Guatemala permanently. They will have furlough after a couple of years to come back to the States.

We as kids are SO excited for them but yet are sad because we will not get to spend as much time as we are used to together. Mike and I are planning on taking at least one trip a year down to CR and Guatemala but that is a lot fewer than we were taking to GA in the past. We know this is just part of the deal and will cope through Skype, Vonage, Blogs, and the other host of technology that helps people keep in touch. We are thankful that these things have been invented for us. Many families in the past had to rely on SLOW mail communication and expensive phone calls, if any!

To keep up with the Millers, visit their blog. Their link is under our Favorite Links section.

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Lily's last day with us

On Monday, March 31, Lily left to go live with her new family. With mixed emotions, we enjoyed our last night together. Lily was so much like Polly but quite a handful. It was hard though after keeping her for nearly 15 weeks to let her go to someone else's house. In some ways, she had become part of the fam. We realized that she would have to go but it was still kind of hard.

Here are a few pictures of the last few days with Lily.

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