< We got a good laugh when Emily popped into the wheelbarrel for a ride from Daddy too.


This is one of my favorite pictures of Faith. Silly, I know, but I love it because she has just discovered lightning bugs. It was adorable. She would point at it and say "bug light up". I never realized that there are no lightning bugs in California. Poor California kids.. they don't know what they are missing! :)


We spent the afternoon at Dawes Arboretum, hoping to see the Indian Earthworks and tour the Olde Mill Ice Cream factory.... but time escaped us and we only made it to Dawes. Here Elizabeth discovered a fox.







It is so strange how close you can come to somoene you have experienced a life changing event together! We only spent 2 weeks together, but those 2 weeks were life changing for both of our families. The Masyr's adopted their daughter, Faith at the same time we adopted Elizabeth. They are from the same orphanage and only 6 days apart. Since then, God has allowed our families to build a very special bond. We are enjoying a week with them, right here in Ohio! They live in California. This weekend, we will be joined with another family who adopted thier daughter, Tapie. The only thing that would be better is if the Crosse family and the Mears Family and the Lenard family could join us too!

Mark took Ri into the creek for the first time. He loved it! It was so neat to see the sparkle in his eyes.


I am often reminded of the awe of God's creation when I watch young toddlers explore the world around them. They stop and look at everything. Here, Mark has just pulled a crawdad out of the water for the kids to see. He took a stick so that the crawdad would pinch it.



Sam has always been our biggest explorer. I hope he will never lose his love for science and nature. Here he discovered a snake skin. He has a crawdad and is trying to get the crawdad to pinch the snake skin.

One of Elizabeth and Ri's favorite things to do is to visit our neighbors horses. Our neighbor is so precious to the kids. She tells Elizabeth that Deacon and Charlie are her horses. Elizabeth truly does love them both.


Sam hunting for some toads/frogs to show the little ones.
I love to see the wonder in the eyes of children. I wish that as we grew, we didn't lose that awe of God's creation!




I think that we have turned a corner. Ri and Elizabeth are both beginning to do wonderful. Elizabeth seems to be having less and less meltdowns and far less screaming and crying. I think the tiredness and sickness is finally leaving. This weekend, I caught her hugging Ri and laughing with him lots of times. It was wonderful to see. They ran around holding hands and playing with each other far more often then fighting. And when Elizabeth is going to do something, she makes sure that we do not forget Ri. Things seem to be getting back to normal! I am truly thankful for that!

Mark and I had the incredible privlidge of being lay leaders in our Senior High youth group for several years. When we adopted Elizabeth, we stepped down. During the time that we were involved, we saw God working in many of the teens lives. Last night at church, we enjoyed hearing one of those teens speak. One of the sad statistics is that 85% of teenagers who attended church actually leave the church once they graduate. THat is a terrifying statistic, but unfortunately, we have witnessed much of that through working with the teens. It saddens my heart and puts fear in me for my own children. This young man, though, is in the 15%. I remember when I saw him become on fire for the Lord as a teenager. It was exciting to watch him grow. When he graduated from high school, he went on to a Christian College. From there, he graduated and became an intern for Josh McDowell. God's hand is on this young man! For those of you who do not know who Josh McDowell is, he is a very, very well known writer/speaker in the Christian realm. I can not imagine what an honor and privlidge it was for him to become Josh's intern.

As we listened to him share about how God worked in his life over the 10 months he served as an intern, I thought about some of the things that he shared. Since we adopted Elizabeth, I have missed many, many services. My husband is so precious, he realized how often I was missing church and began trading off with me. Because Elizabeth responds in terror if we leave her in the nursery, we decided that one of us needs to be with her. So, one of us misses the sermon and the other misses Sunday school. The next week, we swap. It has helped out tremendously. But I realized that since we have adopted Ri, my devotion time, my prayer time, my time with God has dwindled to nothing. I've known it, but honestly, I just didn't have the energy to do anything about it. Well, my life has reflected that and recently, God has been working on me.

Some of the hardest lessons I have learned are through my children. Since we have come home, my attention has been focused on getting through Elizabeth's jealousy and Ri's adjustment. Unfortunately, the other 4 have been "neglected". Several things have happened recetnly to bring that to my attention. And... last night, our friend shared with us some of the things that Josh McDowell speaks on. One of them was the influence a parent has in their child's life. It was at that point that I truly began to see how God has been put aside in my life while I have tried to keep my head above water.

Ok.. I know that what I truly need as my life perserver is God... but, as usual, I tried doing it on my own. You would think that I would learn this lesson! So, this morning, I was back to the word of God. How refreshing! God's word truly is ointment to a wound. His word is life. It is healing, refreshing, and food for the soul.

I went to the book of Romans. A week or so ago, the Pastor spoke on Romans and how Romans is a guide on how to walk a Christian walk. I figured that was a good place for me to go. The verse that first caught my attention was this:

Romans 2:11 For there is no respect of person with God. You see, I use to teach abstinence in the school system. Our friend shared with us that Josh McDowell teaches abstinence in Christian schools. I am not sure if he shared this about STD's, but I always did. STD's are no respecter of persons. It doesn't matter if you are rich, clean, good, ... nothing... you can get an STD if you are exposed to one. Then, with Ri's TB, the nurse used the same phrase. TB is no respector of persons.

So.. when I read this verse, it jumped out. I then got to thinking about all the people who think they are better then the other guy and they are just good enough to go to HEaven. I thought about how so many think that God is a God of love and that He loves them and so there is no way that God would send them to Hell, especially because they are good people. Then I got to thinking of how many "christien kids" feel safe in going to heaven because they have been to church all their life or because their parents have taught them. Well... I couldn't help but think that I haven't done much about those thoughts with some of my friends and family. I have allowed fear to enter in me. Fear of offending them or coming on too strong, or something. I am not sure what. I am guessing I have just become too comfortable with my walk and have found it is much easier to not say anything then to confront anyone.

Then my very best friend shared with me a dream that they had about Hell. It was very real and very terrifying to hear. As they were sharing it with me, I thought of some of the people I love so dearly. I know that I am not to judge someones salvation, but by all appearances, though they say they are saved, they have absolutely no interest in the things of God. They have no church, they do not read the bible, and there is no discussion on the things of God. So.. my natural thought is that they are probably not truly saved. I began to fear for their souls. If they died before knowing Christ, .... HELL IS REAL!!! And though it is God who quickens their heart, I am still held accountable for my actions or in this case.. my lack of actions.

Well, here is Romans 2. It is what I read this morning. It was cut and pasted from Biblegateway.

The Impartiality of God
1Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. 2And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. 3But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? 4Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? 5But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart (I)you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, 6who WILL RENDER TO EACH PERSON ACCORDING TO HIS DEEDS: 7to those who by perseverance in doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, eternal life; 8but to those who are selfishly ambitious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, wrath and indignation. 9There will be tribulation and distress for every soul of man who does evil, of the Jew first and also of the Greek, 10but glory and honor and peace to everyone who does good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 11For there is no partiality with God. 12For all who have sinned (W)without the Law will also perish without the Law, and all who have sinned under the Law will be judged by the Law; 13for it is not the hearers of the Law who are just before God, but the doers of the Law will be justified. 14For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, 15in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them, 16on the day when, according to my gospel, God will judge the secrets of men through Christ Jesus.



For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16

Oh how wonderful are summer days! Ri had his first ice cream cone. Can you tell he loved it?

Two buddies. I think thier bond will always be strong.



Good morning! I heard Chuck growling in the garage this morning. I sent my brave Jacob out to investigate. This is what he found!



Well.. at least ELIZABETH is not the unhappy one this time! I think there is some progress. :)

Ok.. this one is just too cute for words.

I have a moment to myself, so.. let's blog!

We have been home for 12 days and I just can't seem to get more then 2 minutes at the computer without having a little one pulling or screaming at me. So I haven't been able to keep everyone posted. Hang on, I have much to write. No pictures for now, though; just thoughts.

I am confident that we are all completely over jet lag, but I am not so confident that we (or maybe I should say me) have adjusted to our new life. I have to praise God, at the top of my lungs, for His perfect timing. We came home and the kids had one day left of school. I can't imagine living life with these 2 little ones without my 4 older ones! They have been a true gift to me. Mark has been too. I am so worn out, emotionally, that it is hard for me to get it all done. Everyone has picked up the slack and pitched in watching Ri or Elizabeth. It has been a blessing for me.

Why is it so hard on me? Well.. I think it is because Elizabeth is having such a hard time adjusting. For the first week, she was just plain exhausted. To take a 2 year old out of the country and her home for 16 days, turn her night and days around .. not only once, but twice, live in 3 different hotels, travel on 7 different airplanes, and then become a little sister to a bigger/ little brother is very difficult. Her life has been turned upside down. She was exhausted. And when Elizabeth is tired, everyone knows about it and mom is the only answer to EVERY tear... and boy are there tears!!!! So, for the first week, I understood and was pretty sympathetic. Well, we are on day 12 and the tears are still very, very frequent and very, very loud and very, very long. Now, I am attributing it to her being so sick. I just can't wait until she is back to normal to see if this is ALL jealousy or just jealousy that she can't handle due to exhaution and illness.

Sick? Well, do I have a story to share with you! If you followed our blog last time, you might remember when Elizabeth officially fit into our family. You see, our family is known for not being "normal" when it comes to illnesses. In 2005, Erin lost her short term memory, Emily had meningitis, and Sam was literally staked to the ground. That kind of sums up our family perfectly. We just don't do things normal. And... as you read the blog, China was no different with Jacob literally passing out on us. So when Elizabeth seizured and we had to call the squad 3 months after she came home, we figured it was just her way of trying to offically become a Miller :)

Well, Monday was interesting and exciting. We took Ri to the adoption clinic on Friday to have him evaluated. We figured that they are very accustomed to international kids. After talking with our family doctor, he agreed it would be a good idea. They did tons of blood work (over 25 tests), stool samples, TB test, and physical evaluation and nutritionist. We scheduled an appt at Children's Hospital for a reading of his TB test, dropping off the stool samples, and an exam by a physchiatrist and hearing/vision screening. They are very thoruough. Well, over the weekend, I noticed a spot on Ri's arm. At first I wondered what it was from, then I remembered the TB (tuberculosis) test. Yikes. What I knew pointed to a positive TB test. We didn't know for sure, but were pretty confident it meant a positive. Now what? We looked up all kinds of scarey things on the internet (the internet is soooo dangerous!). All we could think of was his health (the fears of it), then we couldn't help but fear for our kids because we knew they had all shared forks/spoons/cups... all that kind of stuff, then all the people he had been in contact with. TB is highly contageous (at least that is what we read and have since found out). So, we were very, very anxious to get to the doctor and have them read the test and do a chest x-ray on him.

Monday was the day. I woke up anxiously waiting to get ot Children's for the exam. Elizabeth woke up and was enjoying her morning milk watching a video. I had taken a moment to type something on the blog (I think). I heard some funny noise and ran into the other room to discover Elizabeth in a full blown seizure. This is her 3rd episode. The first 2, I called the squad. This one, I screamed for Emily to wake up. Poor Emily! It was 6:01 in the morning and she woke up to me screaming "I need you". I saw Elizabeth through the first seizure and actually kept calm. She came out of it, but not completely with it. She screamed and screamed in pain and tightened up a lot, gasping once in a while for air and continually grinding her teeth. I called the doctors office to see if the screaming and grinding of teeth indicated anything out of the ordinary and should she be seen. They told me to go ahead and take her to the hospital. In the meantime, we had to wake up Ri and the others. She did some "mini" type seizures in my arms. Not full blown, but intense grinding of her teeth and tightening her arms and body up against me. The kids worked together and Emily and I hopped into the van (I think Ri was with us too). We headed to the hospital and she came out of it. I thought she was fine, so 10 minutes into the trip, I had Emily turn around. We drove about 2 miles or so and Elizabeth started into a mini type thing again, so we turned around. She stopped and seemed ok, so we turned back to go home. About 3-4 miles later, she started moving her body as if convulsing, only to throw up all over me and the van. Turn around again! Well, this time Emily threatened me and said she wasn't turning home. Well, after throwing up, she was fine. She seemed back to herself. So we decided that we would head home. We went back in forth simply because we knew the seizure was due to fever and we knew she would be fine. We also knew Ri's arm had to be read and we HAD to have answers about TB. I figured that we would be at Children's and if I needed Elizabeth seen, I would do it then. Just as we decided to go to Children's instead of our hospital (Childrens is an hour drive), Elizabeth literally closed her eyes and fell against me. Now we sat trying to figure out if she passed out or just collapsed in exhaustion from the seizure. Poor Emily. I was making my 16 year old help me make decisions on Elizabeth's health. Poor thing! Well, I was pretty confidetn it was tiredness, so we went home. We got home, I changed clothes and we headed for Children's. My 16 years old driver at the wheel, and me dangerously holding Elizabeth for fear of her seizuring again. We headed into Columbus rush hour traffic.... again.. poor Emily! It was a very crazy morning. ON the way, Elizabeth woke up, threw up on me again, and then fell back to sleep. She woke up happy when we hit the hospital. You would have never known anything had happened.

Once at the doctors, Ri was confirmed to have a positive TB. We were then sent to x-ray. God is so faithful. We had been praying that his TB would not be the disease and not in his chest. We were so fearful of having exposed so many people. Our precious son has TB in what is called the latent stage. He is NOT contageous. It is the infeciton and not the disease. Someone who has the disease has probably coughed on him and infected him. God answered our prayers. Ri is safe and so is everyone else who has loved him already! He now has to take 9 months of medication in order to make sure that the infection never becomes the disease. It will be a long 9 months, but oh how thankful I am for the medicine and that we have adopted him. I sat back and thought of what would happen to ourlittle guy if he was still in the orphanage. Would it ever had been discovered? Would he ever have been treated? Or, would it have become the full blown disease and his life be taken? God is so good. I praise Him!

Well, since I began this blog, Elizabeth has woke up and screamed for 45 minutes. She has finally fallen asleep again. Please pray for her. After Ri's appointement, we took her into the Dr. Each time, in the past, when she has gotten a cold and/or seizured, it has become pneumonia within 2 days. I was trying to catch it before it headed that direction. But, Monday, she checked out just fine. Today, we were back at the doctors. She has mucuous in her lungs and appears to have bronchitis. Poor thing. The past month has been tough on her little body.

I need to sign off for now. Pray for Emily. She is whitewater rafting tomorrow with her youth group. This mama has a tough time knowing her daughter is on a raging river! She is in His hands, but, admittedly, I will rest better when she is in mine :). I can see mine, though I KNOW His are the only ones that are strong!

After an exhausting day, we decided to go on a hike through our woods to visit some good friends. Mark thought the little ones would enjoy a ride in the wheel barrel. He amazes me sometimes. He pushed that thing all through the woods, over logs, through briars, through the field... telling Ri and Elizabeth they were going through a jungle. They loved it, Elizabeth giggled most of the way while Ri wasn't completely sure of it all. They were so cute riding in it. I didn't have my camera, but I had my cell phone. It amazes me how decent the pictures turned out. I need to remember to use it more often.

The last picture is of the two just after the hike through the woods... or should I say the "ride" through the woods. They were full of little burrs and lots of sweat, so Elizabeth took the liberty of fanning off Ri. It was adorable!

I feel like we've been home so much longer then 8 days! We have our nights and days back, but by the end of the day we are pretty tuckered out. I have to admit, though, it may have nothing to do with jet lag. I may just be tuckered out because of running after TWO toddlers!
When we knew these 2 would be virtual twins, most people responded with sympathy and questions like "how are you going to do it?" and giggles about how tired I would be. Inside, I thought they were all crazy. I had had 4 biological children in 5 years! There is no way it could be tougher then that! THe thing is, I forgot to take into account that I am 11 years older!! Not to mention I now have 3 teenagers and a preteen to boot! I don't know which takes its toll more... 11 years older or the teenagers! :) Either way, my body is telling me that I am tired. I am sure hoping it is still jet lag. I am very, very blessed though with my children and my husband. ALL of them pitch in ALL the time to help with the little ones or with picking up around the house. I can't imagine doing this without them.
So... how are the kids doing? Well, Ri is doing incredible. It is as if he has always been with us. He is an amazing sleeper! He goes to bed very easily and sleeps completely through the night. Often he sleeps 11 hours at night. He also take a power nap in the afternoon. It is incredible. He has adjusted to the animals and has even mustered the courage to pet our dog, Chuck. The other day I walked into the kitchen and found him sitting on the cat and playing with her head. It was a very funny sight. We have the BEST cat in the world! She lets the little ones carry her around anywhere and do anything to her. Keep in mind, Ri was terrified of the cat when we first came home. Now he squeals and chases her. Very cute! He is potty trained but still wears diapers at night. He still has loose stool, so he is being checked for parasites, ovum, bacteria, and viral stuff to locate what the reason is. He eats fairly well. He has slowed down on his eating quite a bit since we got home. But if you have gerber puffs around... look out! He loves those as well as cheerios. He is still Daddy's boy, but Mom is quickly rising to the top. As much as I want to hit the top of his list, it is so much easier on me to be just plain 2nd. Elizabeth has me so high on her list with the next person being far down the ladder... I just can't imagine dealing with 2 clingy toddlers. Ri, though, I don't think will be clingy and terrified like Elizabeth. He seems so much more calmer and accepting. But, I have noticed that he is becoming jealous of Elizabeth. There are more and more times when he screams to be held when she is in one of our arms.

It thrills me to hear from those of you who were anxiously awaiting to hear we arrived home. I will attempt to keep the blog updated often. I know how much I enjoy following those who are home too.

I think we are on the final stages of jet lag. At least, we have our nights and days back. We are still feeling the effects, but it is better everyday. I am so thankful. Ri is a very, very good sleeper. He goes to bed easily and generally sleeps through the night. Elizabeth has slept hard the last 2 nights. It has been so nice.

So.. how are Elizabeth and Ri adjusting? Well, Ri is doing wonderfully. He is full of smiles and giggles often. He has a temper and he loves to throw anything in his hands. We have to work on those things, but boy is he a sweet natured boy! Elizabeth is dealing with the effects of exhaustion. For the first time ever, I heard the words "my mommy" out of her.

Hang on.. my little girl needs some attention right now.

We made it home! We arrived in LAX airport around 5:15 Thursday evening to a wonderful welcoming home party! What a site it was to see the Masyrs and the Lennards holding banners and balloons and cheering as we arrived. They whisked us out of the airport and took us for pizza and even had a cake made for us. It was so much fun to spend time with them again! It made the previous 20 hours of flying seem like nothing! It was great seeing all the kids together again and meeting Colton and Carson for the first time. I couldn't believe how much Cheyenne and Faith had grown! Oh how I wish we all lived closer together.

Elizabeth and Ri both did wonderful on the plane rides home. The other 4 kids amazed me. They were right there filling in to help Mark and I out any time we needed them! It was so great having them along. They were incredible!!! Elizabeth only had a small meltdown on one plane ride... it only lasted about 5 minutes (intense) and then about 10 minutes of whimpering. She was such a big girl. We finally arrived home at 7:07. Our plane in LAX was delayed an hour and a half, so we arrived later then expected. We arrived home with Mamaw, Papaw, and Uncle Paul ready to embrace us all. Aunt Susan came as we were getting our luggage. How wonderful it was to see them. We discovered that they had been hard at work while we were gone. They mowed our yard, shampood our carpets in our house and our vehicles, washed and waxed both vehicles, filled up our gas tanks, power washed our garage and our porch and the front of our home, and filled our refrigerator with food. We were blown away. They constantly amaze me at their generosity and their love!

Ri was reserved, but not completely afraid. When we got home, Mark took him for a walk around the house. When he got inside, he ran around and giggled and smiled all morning. He and Elizabeth have played a lot. He seems to love it here, though he is terrified of our dog and our cat. Today, he seemed to get a little brave with the cat and even walked up to it and played near her. Mark took him for a walk in the woods. It is something Mark loves to do with the kids. But as soon as they got into the woods, Ri became terrified. It was the first time Mark had really seen fear in him. It made us wonder why. But today, Mark was able to take him for a walk and Ri seemed to enjoy it. As we were walking outside this evening, we heard an owl. Ri kept pointing in the direction of the owl as if he wanted to go search it out. That is one of Mark and Elizabeth's favorite things to do.

As for Elizabeth, she is still wonderful with Ri. But... she is exhausted and out of her mind. She has had more meltdowns since we got home then she has in the past 2-3 months! The meltdowns are very intense and she literally is "out of her mind". They last a good 1/2 hour to an hour with no break in her intensity. She is just plain exhausted. Please pray for her as she tried to adjust... again... to the 12 hour time change.

We are so thankful for our friends and our family. We are blessed beyond words!