I wish that I could remember all the silly things that the kids do. But by the time the day has passed, I often forget the details of the funny things. Then as years go by, I have forgotten them all together. That makes me sad. One reason I like blogging is so that I can look back and read what my life really was like, not just the faded memories that seemed to have cobwebs so thick over them that I can barely "see" them.

So, when Elizabeth did something that made all of us crack up, Jacob asked me to put it on the blog. So...here it is. The other day I wrote on the blog that the kids were coming down with colds. That is always a little concerning with Elizabeth since we discovered her feverol seizures. It use to be that the day after we noticed her first symptoms of a cold, she ended up in the doctors with bronchitis or pneumonia or something effecting her breathing. She seems to handle colds so much better now! My sweet, sweet husband read the blog (often it is the only way for him to discover what is going on in our life since we seem to travel in two different directions during the school year) and wanted to help, so he bought some cough drops. He felt it would soothe the kids throats. It was so sweet! Anyway, I had been walking in the woods (one of those..."leave me alone moments when I had to get away from it all and be by myself). They all came out to meet me in the woods. We were walking in and Mark was asking Elizabeth if she liked her cough drop. She shared with him that she had dropped it. Mark was thinking that it was probably just too big or she just really didn't care for it. Mark explained to her that it would help her throat feel better. She listened quite intently. Then he told her that next time he would cut it in half. All of a sudden, she squealed a very high pitch squeal and grabbed her throat. It was histerical! We all laughed so hard. She truly thought he was talking about cutting her throat in half. Too funny!

Saturday, the rain poured down most of the day. Erin traveled nearly 2 hours for a soccer game, only to have the match canceled due to lightening. I spent the day cleaning out the "dungeoun" (our basement's unfinished area) and Mark spent the day cleaning the garage and working around the house. It was one of those days that isn't very exciting, but quite fulfilling when it is finally done. I have been waiting a long time for a "yucky" day to arrive so I could do it.

Jacob and Em had difficult weekends. This time, it was more on the side of feelings and emotions. SOmetimes, things just aren't the way we would like them to be and it is a little more challenging to work through. So, if you think of it, please pray for them. Sam and Erin are completely exhausted. Erin is on overload with soccer and homework. Sam has been dealing with 3 games a week and is pushing his limit. As much as I enjoy them playing, I am looking forward to a break for both of them. I can't remember the last time we sat down as a family for dinner. We use to never miss a meal together, now we rarely sit at the table and are on the run most of the evenings.

As for the little ones, they are growing like crazy! Ri is at least an inch taller then Elizabeth now. I can hardly believe it. She has him beat in pounds though. I think we are beginning our first bouts of colds around here. The chilly air at night might be the culprit. But outside of the running noses and Elizbeth beginning to develop a cough, they are healthy.

We get to see my girl in less then 2 weeks. I am so very, very excited! Until then, we will keep on plugging away. The leaves are falling (very quickly it seems), so the evenings might be tied up even more with soccer games and raking. That will help the time go by quickly. Wednesday is the homecoming bonfire. Erin is on the court, so we will all be there for her. Friday is the homecoming game and then Saturday is the big dance. It will be another full week!

That's my girl! Oh how I miss her!! College life sure seems to do her well :)


Karis and Emily
Dezra and Emily. Dezra was one of the friends who took care of Emily when she had the spell that sent her to the ER. She missed classes and practically the entire day to be with her. I am forever grateful.
Tony is the other friend who sacrificed his day to take care of Emily. By God's grace, Tony had his car on campus last week. He drove Emily and Dezra to the hospital and never left. Only one could be in the room with Emily, so they took turns. I am so thankful for the friendship that they have.

Thanks to Dezra and Karis, I am able to get a few pictures of my girl. I am so thankful to the wonderful friends that EMily has made. Thanks to the webcam, I have been able to "meet" several of them. She is doing well. Because many of her good friends are gone for the weekend, I am hoping she will catch up on some sleep (though I noticed she was on facebook at 1:30 last night!) I am really hoping that the lack of sleep has been attributing to her shaking incidences. Maybe if she gets a little more, things will slow down for her.

As for life around the Miller home? It is chaos as usual. Erin and Sam both had away games in the pouring down rain Thursday. I am trying to make it to as many of Erin's as possible since this is her last year. It has been a difficult season for her, so I want to be there to encourage her as much as I can. So... I chose to go to Erin's. Mark stayed home to watch the little ones. By the end of the game, I was soaked from toe to rear-end. It was crazy... but so much fun. There is something cool about sitting in the pouring rain watching kids play soccer. I don't know what it is, but I really enjoy it. Unfortunately, they lost again.

Mark's knee is recovering nicely. Ri is coming down with a cold (I think). I will be anxious to see how this plays out. In the 2 1/2 years that he has been with us, I only remember one time when he was sick and it only lasted an evening. For the first year, he had a continuous runny nose, but never a bad cough. It amazes me. He truly has been the healthiest of our 6 kids. It cracks me up. He's our "special needs" kid. I am so thankful.

I am so thankful to the pastor and his wife who are candidating for the Senior Pastor position at our home church. Joan (his wife) has stopped by 3 days to see Emily. She has brought her small gifts each time. THe last one was an adorable pumpkin to put in her room. SHe also left a card. I giggled because Joan has missed Emily all 3 times. The last note mentioned how they were anxious to meet the "mystery girl". Emily is so anxious to meet them as well. The school has arranged a neurologist appointment for Emily for Oct 9th at 2:30. Amazingly, that is the day that we are coming to visit her! Unfortunately, we can not leave until Erin has her official photo taken of her signing her letter of intent to play for Houghton COllege. The only day that they can do it is on Oct 9th. So we are hoping we can get it done very early and leave immediately and run into very little things that may slow us down. Joan and Tony (the Pastor and his wife) have offered to take her and be with her to ask the right questions for us if we can not make it in time. I am so grateful! Emily's friend, Tony has offered to take her as well. Oh how God has been so gracious to our family!

There have been so many moments lately in which God has opened my eyes to see HIm. He has restored a very precious relationship, revealed to me some things about myself that I hadn't come to grips with, allowed me to meet the candidate pastor and his wife on a day when I could actually talk with him and share with him things about Emily, delivered a care package to my girl the moment she needed it, and the latest..... gave me a webcam so that I can see my baby girl!

On the day that I was really struggling with not being with Emily, our youth pastors wife called and asked me if I was in town because she had something for me. I told her no, but Erin was and I would have her swing by after band (9:15pm). At 10:00, I saw the gift sitting on the counter top. I opened it up and nearly broke down. It was incredible. A webcam so that I could make calls to Emily and see her while I talked with her. It was unbelievable and something I so desparately wanted to do. So I sat down and installed it (all on my own.. which is an incredible task for someone who totally depends on her computer man!). By midnight, I had it all installed but had no clue how to use it. So I gave up. The next day, our youth pastor called and wanted to surprise Jacob and take him out to eat. What perfect timing! Jacob and I had had a very rough morning and Jacob was not feeling the best about himself. Matt wanted to surprise Jacob...what a perfect blessing! While he was here, he finished getting me set up. And before they got back, I was talking with my girl! What a precious gift!!! I LOVED seeing my baby. One of the first things I did was have her show me her hands. It was a joy to see her hands not shaking (at least no more then usual). She looked GREAT!!!!! Oh how wonderful it was to experience.

On a side note... I am thankful for God's faithfulness and how often he brings my thoughts back to HIm. I am not so angry or bitter at Em's dorm mom. Life is not all about me nor is it all about my daughter... Em's dorm mom has been in the process of taking 4 classes, raising 3 kids of her own, being "mom" to 30 or more girls, teaching classes (she is a professor as well), and putting out every fire that comes her way. I am thankful for the love that she has given Emily and all that she has done to help her in other ways. She is there for the girls and I am very glad for it!

I think that something good must be about to happen. The past week has been a very difficult week. I found myself in a few spots where all I could do is trust my Lord. But, He has been faithful and has given me so many things to rejoice about.

First, I rejoice in sharing that the difficult situation I found myself in this week has opened my eyes to many things about myself. By God's grace, I trust I grow and I praise Him for resolving it.

On Friday, Marks' knee surgery went very well. There were a few unexpected things that made the after surgery pain a little more then usual, but we are trusting that the pain he was in before surgery will have been reduced greatly. He did wonderful and is recovering well.

As I pulled into my in-laws to pick up the kids, I recieved a phone call from Emily. It's not one of the type of calls that you want to recieve when you are 8 hours away and can not hold your little girl. SHe was beginning to have some fears about her health and was experiencing some symptoms that made her very nervous. They made me nervous as well. It is hard to be so far away and not be able to see her. We went through the weekend, convinced that some of these things are a result of the physical demands she had put her body through since arriving at college.

Then came yesterday! At 9:30 I recieved another "one-of-those-calls". It's one of those calls that you want to put the phone down and jump in the car so that you can comfort your baby. She was very, very scared. Her question was whether her friends should take her to the ER or not due to some of those very issues she shared with me on Friday. Well... it is very hard to evaluate over the phone. She had already been planning to see the nurse at 11:00, so I asked her if she could wait. Her friends seemed to feel that this was more urgent and she was scsred. I tried to get them to locate her dorm mom; but they knew she was in chapel and they didn't want to bother her. I called the nurses office and an admission counselor but got no answer. I then called my doctor who told me she should go to the ER. We got it all figured out. I told them they had to let her dorm mom know so that they did not get into any kind of trouble (2 kids missing school to take my daughter to an ER and I already felt as if the dorm mom was judging us as "over-reactors", so I didn't want Em to be recieving some critical judgement and have to deal with that). They said they would, but they were unable to and they just took her. On the way to the ER, they got ahold of the dorm mom who told them that she wished they would have seen an EMT on campus. At this point, I get a little frustrated. I think the dorm mom was a little out of line. I told Em she was the only one who knows how bad she was feeling. If she felt ok, maybe they should turn around and have an EMT look at her so that the dorm mom did not get angry with them. So, they did. This is where I get even angrier. I allowed the reaction of a dorm mom to control me. I encouraged them to go back because this person (who I highly respect and admired) had seemed frustrated with me when I had called her Friday and Saturday about Emily's health. I emailed her Saturday and Monday and still had not heard anything. I am sure that the mom was totally just for not responding to me and for saying what she did to the kids, but I felt intimidated and as if I was over-reacting to symptoms that I honestly should be concerned for (especially since I am 8 hours from my daughter and unable to see for myself!). So the kids turned around, took Em to see an EMT and ended up waiting over a 1/2 hour and saw a nurse who took her vitals and told her to go to the ER. By this time, Emily was scared to death and really struggling with it. I still am having some problem coming to grips with how this situation was handled. Em spent the day at the hosptial, had bloodwork and a CAT scan. She was there for over 6 hours and not once did anyone from the college check on her. This afternoon, I checked to see if the dorm mom had said anything and found out that she hadn't even checked in on her. And I still have not recieved a response to my 2 emails or a call to tell me how my daughter is doing.

It surprises me. I can't say that I have figured out if the way she handled it was right or wrong; but I do know I am surprised and very disappointed. It saddens me that Em was so scared and there wasn't an adult from the college who checked on her. She had two very INCREDIBLE friends with her the entire time. Bless their hearts! They did not leave her side. Unfortunately, Emily is only 18 and really has no clue what to ask a doctor or even how to ask the right questions. It would have been nice to have someone (maybe the nurse?!) checking things out and filling me in!

I praise God that Em is feeling better today and that it appears that her Cat Scan did not show anything. I really needed someone to be there for her to ask the right questions and make sure that the information was sent to the appropriate people.

To share a very neat story with you, Emily came home from the hospital (after a very long physically and emotionally draining event) and walked into her room with a gift from us. It was an amazing "God thing". This weekend, I met the Pastor and his wife who are candidating for the Senior Pastor position at our church. We have been without a shepherd far too long and we are aching for someone to lead us. I met them at my son's soccer game. God is funny how He intervenes in our life. Their nephew is on my son's soccer team. I am good friends with his mother. She introduced me to them. In the course of the conversation, she shared with them about EMily being at BBC. Well.... believe it or not, they live 15 minutes from the campus. They immediately offered to take a care package to Emily. I was blown away. It never ceases to amaze me God's timing. Well, I shared with them the phone call I had reacieved from Emily and they instantly offered to take her for her MRI or any appointments she would have, to check in on her, to hold her hand, whatever I needed. I was so blessed. It was just what a mother's heart needed to hear. And as soon as they arrived in Clarks Summit, they delivered her package... in time for her to get it when she got home.

So... I rejoice. And I know that if Emily needs an adult with her, all I have to do is call and my new friend will be right there. In fact, I just got a message on my cell phone from the her telling me that she had called Emily and tried to check on her but couldn't reach her... and that she will call her again tomorrow. God is so faithful!

Don't you just love fall? It is my favorite time of year. I love the bright, crisp colors and the cool air. My favorite time is waking up in the morning to a chill and seeing the light creep in. At night, my favorite thing is sitting at a ball game as the sun begins to set and the air begins to chill. Oh how I love fall!

Today, Mark is having his knee scoped. He tore his maniscus (just like Erin did 2 years ago). So, please pray that the surgery goes well and is successful. It is possible that they go in and discover too much arthritis in his knee to make any difference. I am praying that is not the case.

Emily is still loving college. She sounds so wonderful on the phone. I do miss that girl! I can hardly believe that a month has gone by already. We will be making a trip to see her Oct 9th. I am so very excited.

Erin has made a verbal committment to play for Houghton College. SHe is so excited. It is a Christian school in New York. They are in the NAIA division and have proven themselves to be a very strong team. She spent a week at a soccer camp and really felt that this was the team/place for her. She and I had visited the campus back in the spring and both of us loved the people and the campus. She absolutely loved the girls on the team and truly felt like she fit in. At this moment, she is not sure if she will be majoring in Secondary Education or in Pre-Med (a Physicians Assistant).

Elizabeth has been soaking up the bible verses and stories. Ri is learning them as well, but I think it has come easier for Elizabeth. It is adorable to watch them say their verses. Elizabeth just lights up... I mean REALLY lights up when she goes through them all. Ri just starts bouncing up and down; all excited.

Today I am struggling with my flesh. On Sunday, our interim pastor preached a wonderful message on handling criticism. I sat through the message knowing some things that were about to take place and praying for the individuals involved. My heart was aching for them, on both sides of the situation. Little did I know that I would be facing the same thing and needing to take the word of God and apply it to my life... that very week. It is funny how I can so easily read or hear the word of God and apply it to someone else; totally missing the boat for my own life. It is so easy to see others faults and defend our own.

But today I was reminded of the message and I have to admit that my flesh is battling the word of God. So I ask that I can see what God would have me to see and to learn. I ask that I do not take the sting of the words and hold it against the ones that I love so dearly and whom used them against me. I truly want to not be someone who sees no fault in themselves, but grows and seeks for truth of my own sin. There is a verse that David cries out to God and begs him to reveal to him his heart. I want those things to be revealed to me, despite the pain and sting of the truth. I want to learn and become more like Christ. I want to respond with love and not with lashing back. I knew it was difficult, but I have to admit that I wasn't anticipating this and my knee-jerk reaction is to guard and defend rather then sit, ponder, and seek God's truth. Pray I am obedient to Christ and that I love as Christ loves. I truly loves these precious friends.

His face is so precious. He was in the mood to pose for me all evening. I got several cute shots of this little guy. I guess they have been around "senior pictures" way too often!
When we first arrived at the western round up, Elizabeth had just fallen asleep, so she would have nothing to do ANYTHING or ANYONE for the first 2 hours. She was warmed up, almost, by the time we left. She missed the horse rides because of her mood. At the end, Sam took her to Mommy A who so graciously let her ride the horse.
For some reason, he really likes this pose. I think I asked him one time to put his hand near his chin and from that, he seems to think he needs to put his hand up to his face... not having a clue what to do with the rest of his arm! He is so funny and oh so sweet.
Check her facial expression out. Can you tell she was in one of her moods? She was not going to get out of it for nothing! She eventually warmed up some, and thus, I was able to get one shot of her.
Sarah was having a good time trying to mess with Ri's hat. She was relentless and he tolerated it. They had a lot of fun, though. I really am thankful for the opportuntity we have to watch Sarah one day a week. They are blessed to be going to the same church as well.
I found this picture on Emily's profile for facebook. I thought it was very cute.

"Super Dora"

I love everything there is about fall. I especially love apple picking. Boy did we miss Emily though; this is her favorite thing about fall.