Vote for Steve!

My brother, Stephen (Steve), is running for City Council District 8 in Columbus, GA. Recently, his election statement was posted to a local tv station website. Go to this link and scroll down to view Steve Miller's Election Statement.

If you are in Columbus, listen carefully and cast your vote for the fresh new voice in Columbus - Steve Miller!

I'm proud of you Stephen and am hoping the BEST for your campaign!

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.

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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Slacker updates

So, as you can tell, I have been a slacker on updating the blog! I hate to pull up other people's blogs day after day and not see updates...well, guess I shouldn't get so anxious to read other people's if I can't update my own!

So, here's what's been going on.

Yes, we are keeping Blue. We still haven't decided on an official name so we still call him "Blue." He responds to it and seems to know it is his name so we may just keep it. After being called that for 12 weeks, I hate to change it but we'll see! He continues to get bigger but is definitely a snuggle bug. He loves to cuddle up when he sleeps if we are around. I am not sure how we can accommodate when he gets to 90+ lbs though.

We were finally able to sell our last little girl (Yellow) at the beginning of March. Her name is Lily. Her new parents are actually in the process of moving to Raleigh so we are keeping her for a little while longer so they can get settled.

They have a 12 week vet visit this week to get shots updated and all so I'll try to post the weight updates then. At 8 weeks, Blue was 23+ lbs. and Lily was 18 lbs.

This weekend we were able to go up to Virginia to spend time with Miriam's Mom and Dad. They only have 2 more weeks left at their training center so we decided to take advantage of them being close and having a day off. We went to Charlottesville on Saturday for lunch and toured Monticello. We were also able to join them for dinner and lunch at their cafeteria and join their "house church" with others who are going to their same region (Middle America & Caribbean and South America) on Sunday. What a fun time to meet some of their new friends and to see where they have been living for the past 6 weeks! I also was able to spend my birthday there on Sunday so it was a fun time - they even sang "Happy Birthday" to me in Spanish.

Polly was able to spend the weekend with our friends, the Peacocks. When we picked her up last night, Aedan said he had so much fun with her that he wanted her to stay longer. We are so fortunate to have friends who love us...and our dog!

The puppies spent the weekend at the grandparents (Mike's parents). They made it through with only minimal damage, so overall it was a successful weekend. They were worn out when we finally got them home last night after a weekend of playing together. We were glad to all be back together last night.

Here are a couple of pictures from the weekend. I'll try not to take so long to post next time!

Waiting for the bus to take us up to the house.

Mom and Dad at Monticello

Miriam and Mike at Monticello

Mom and Miriam

Couldn't resist including this GREAT picture of Mom.

Mom and Dad with us at ILC on Sunday.

We hope you had a Merry CHRISTmas!

Here are a few pictures from the GA Christmas. Mike stayed back with Polly and the puppies in NC while Miriam went to see her family in GA for Christmas.

Miller Christmas in GA consists of:
* meeting at the community center in Adrian for a huge lunch with more desserts than you can count
* going back to the house "down the railroad bed" where Dad grew up
* spending the night wherever you can find a bed
* meeting for breakfast at Uncle Wayne and Aunt Wrena's house which includes eggs, grits, biscuits, cooked apples, and yummy grilled meats (smoked sausage, pork tenderloin, and country ham!!)
* sitting around and visiting after the big breakfast
* figuring out what to eat for lunch and dinner even though EVERYONE is still STUFFED from breakfast!
* new this year - paintball!!
* new this year - marshmallow roast!!

All of our immediate family (Mom and Dad and my 2 sisters and brother) were all able to be together with our extended famiy. This was Mom and Dad's last year to join us for a while as they will be leaving to go on the Mission Field (language school in Costa Rica for one year and the moving to Antigua, Guatemala). We had a special time of prayer and encouragement over them after our lunch on Christmas Eve. Dad also had the priviledge of leading a dedication of the new babies in the family.

We sure love being together as a family and especially spending Christmas together in Adrian.

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Weekend with the Millers

Miriam's parents stopped for a visit this past weekend for a little rest before heading up to Richmond, VA for the week. We were able to spend time with them and we were glad we were on the way. Polly was happy to get the extra attention...boy, does she get spoiled when she is with either set of the grandparents!

Sunday after church, Miriam and Mom went to the Spa and enjoyed a massage and pedicure for a fun pre-anniversary gift.

Monday, Mom and Dad celebrated their 30th anniversary! Congrats!!

Lake weekend with Family

This weekend we went down to Ridgeway, South Carolina to Miriam's aunt and uncle's lake house at Lake Wateree.

Ice Cream!

Mike chillin' on the swing

Hi Polly!

Loy fishing

Look what I caught!