Merry Christmas

Hard to believe it's that time of year again. I don't know how the girls made it to the nice list. Oh to see the smiles on their faces, as they open their gifts and empty their stockings. We enjoyed some nice get togethers with family and friends this holiday season. Alex was with us at Thanksgiving and enjoyed the "family" atmosphere that we shared. Alex is thinking about coming and living with us and going to school here in Montana next year. She is currently in 8th grade in Boise, Idaho.
As far as the adoption status. We are still waiting. We recently updated our homestudy and barely made the 15 month deadline, three days before it was due to expire. Off tomorrow to Helena, Mt. (225 miles away) for our fingerprinting updates. It seems very silly to Tracey and I that we should have to drive that far and do this again. Does your fingerprints ever change? Also, Tracey and I work for the federal government and can get them done electronically and have them sent to USCIS. I made several phone calls, but to deaf ears. So, we will take a long trip with the kids and stay in a motel overnight and then redo the fingerprints. I only wonder if we will need to make another trip in 15 months again. We know deep down in our hearts, that when the time is right, we will get the call telling us our kiddos are waiting in Colombia. Until then, we will keep sharing our journey with you all.

Hunting Season

Dad was definitely blessed this hunting season. I was able to be apart of three different successful bull elk hunts and get the "trifecta" (antelope, deer, elk) myself. Several days and hours of hunting with friends and family in various conditions. If I wasn't in shape prior to hunting, I definitely was after the season. I almost forgot how difficult getting these large animals out of the mountains and into the freezer is. Thanks to my father in law and mentor Dale, I have learned some of the arts of butchering and providing meat for my family, without paying a large fee in the process. The freezer is now full and to the kids disbelief, the large half filled ice cream containers had to go to make room for all the new meat. Tenley and Bree are learning this is a way of life in Montana and helped dad with wrapping and labeling the game. Hopefully, I can still stay in shape and pass on these skills to our future adopted kiddos.
No new news to report on the adoption front. We have officially been waiting 4 months now with probably two more hunting seasons until a referral. Tracey and I just keep plugging along and raising our existing kids and hope that we have made the right decision to add on to the Miller gang. We pray that this is the right decision, and believe that God would not have steered us in this direction unless he wanted us to do this.

Fall Fun

Well, fall is finally here and we are actually getting to enjoy a few nice weeks of fall weather this year. The last two October's, we had big snowstorms and fall changed to winter overnight. Tenley and Bree were able to finally harvest our pumpkins from the garden. This was our best year as far as growing pumpkins. A couple of them were close to 3o lbs. As far as any news in the adoption world, we received notice in the monthly noticero that a sibling set of four children were being split up in two's, and that the oldest (a girl between 8-9yrs and the youngest, a boy 4yrs) were available. The girl is a little older then what we are approved for, but we thought that the same age as Tenley might work out. We emailed our interest to our social worker. We found out that a family that has been waiting longer, and is approved closer to the ages of these kids were interested and ahead of us on the wait list. So again, we wait and continue to finish projects at the house and go back to our routine.

Hawaii

Aloha...

The Millers just returned from a great getaway in Hawaii. We stayed with some good friends Chuck and Barb in Kaneohe on the island of Oahu. The kids loved the beaches and different marine life. They were able to see various fish, sea turtles, and even an octopus that a local had harpooned for dinner. We were fortunate to play on a different beach each of the five days we were there. I think if all we did was play on the beach, the kids would have been as happy as a pig in mud! The weather was great and a little rain every day, usually first thing in the morning and then it was gone and sunny 87 with a low of about 74. The kids enjoyed going to the luau at the polynesion cultural center, and especially enjoyed watching the locals climb coconut trees, retrieving them and cracking them open with a rock. During our reality getaway, we noticed the latest ICBF wait times came out, and again siblings 0-5 wait time decreased a little. This year started at about 37 months, and now down to about 34 months. At this pace, we are probably looking at about spring to summer of 2013 for travel time.

"The Burb" part II

Well, it's official now. The Miller's are suburbians! Dad made another venture to the autoauction, in hopes of getting that bigger dependable vehicle with 4 wd. With a lot of patience and nerves, dad watched one by one go by, only to stop bidding before someone else. Finally, the right one came by, a few years older "2002" then most of the dealers wanted to purchase. If you haven't been to an auction before, it is very fast paced, and you have to be carefull not to get caught up in the frenzy of the event. I have never spent $100 a second before and at such a high rate. I was in a bidding war with one other person and it was high paced adrenaline. I ended up successful and close to my price. I got an ok deal, but not a steal. Nevertheless, came away with what I intended to. Room for the additional kiddos.

Fun at the Park

Today we got together with our friends the Shrag's. We should give them a lot of credit for pointing us in the direction of adopting from Colombia. Steph and Loren adopted a sibling set of three two years ago. At the time, I worked with Steph at the hospital and met her at a work bbq. She had just returned from Colombia two weeks prior with her kiddos. They were much smaller then in this picture, and definitely holding onto mom and not letting her out of their site. I have been told that is pretty routine for adopted kids, especially from an orphanage. They tend to worry that any adult they are close to, might leave them. Two years later, they are speaking english, as though they are native and the kids are doing great. Two of my girls had a blast playing at the park with the three of them, while mom and dad discussed adoption issues and things to look forward to.

The Burb

Well, I woke up today thinking this was the day we took another step at getting closer to being ready for the addition to the family. The government suburban came up for auction today, as all government vehicles do. I have driven this vehicle for 3 years and have thought of the day I could bid on it and finally have that bigger vehicle. The past two days Tracey and I spent down at the auction house inspecting the "Burb" and a few other suburbans. I did my homework and studied prices, but had never been to a real live auction. I got there bright and early at 7:15, looked them over again and received my bidding sticker. the first suburban to come up was the one I was use to. Before I could hardly bid, the price had skyrocketed to well over what I was wanting to pay. I was in shock. I watched two or three more go about the same way. We had one left on the list that would work for us. I was in a bidding war with one other person. Something just didn't feel right, so I stopped at what I told myself was the limit, only to watch the other person take it for my top limit. I left kind of bumbed, but it was a learning experience, and maybe it was not meant to be today. I think our "burb" is out there somewhere, but just not today. As everything else in this adoption journey, we will wait patiently and try to understand the curve balls thrown at us.

Montana Mountains

There is no place like Montana in the summer. Something going on every weekend, and endless mountains and trails to hike. A couple of weeks ago, Alex and I got up early and hiked the three mile hike upto Mystic Lake. The picture says it all. Beautiful! Hopefully next summer the girls will be ready to haul a back pack and camp over night. Dad has to stay in shape, so we can all do this hike with the new kiddos in a couple of years. The adoption from Colombia is still two-three years away, but we finally got approved as of 7/8/10 and on the official wait list, which is currently just under three years.

summer time fun

Summer is here and we are in the middle of family and friends visiting. Over the 4th of July, we had our friend Connie and her kiddos up from Boise to spend some time with us. the weather started turning hot. We enjoyed our local Laurel parade and fireworks with family. Still no word from Colombia on our dossier. We were told the ICBF (Colombia board) has 45 days to review our update. We are going on 4 months now. Nichole, our social worker from CHI has told us we are the next family on their list waiting to hear a board decision. Hopefully, this will be the week.

Well, we are not letting this delay get the best of us. Yesterday, grandpa, myself, and the girls went on a hike up into the mountains to a waterfall. We happened to see a brown bear during our 5 mile hike back into the wilderness. The kids did great. the last 1 1/2 miles coming out were tough on Bree (5yrs) and dad carried her on his shoulders. Can't expect the kids to do a 10 mile hike and not be just a bit weary and tired. All in all, we had a great time and celebrated with fresh watermelon back at the pickup.

Summer Camp

Well ten months since originally submitting our dossier to Colombia, still no approval yet, but we have not lost faith and keeping very busy this summer. I had the privlege of being the camp nurse at Tenley's (8yrs) summer church camp this year. Alex (13) was able to be my assistant and we had a great time in the mountains getting closer to each other, and our relationship with our heavenly father. A few kiddos with homesick tummies and a few bumps and bruises, but otherwise nothing major. Tenley and Alex loved all the great activities offered including the zip line and rock wall. Dad even went down the zipline upside down and backwards(I forget i'm not 18 anymore).

ADOPTION JOURNEY

April 2009

After two years of contemplation and life event changes, we jumped in with two feet and started the application process with Children's Hope International. Initially, we were not sure which program to pursue. A co-worker had adopted a sibling set of 3 from Colombia. The kids have adjusted great, and we decided to go in this direction.

September 2009

Almost 6 months into the process, our dossier is finally complete and sent off to Colombia for ICBF approval.

February 2010

I guess any news is good at this point, even if it is the ICBF wanting more information and an update to our file before approval.

July 2010

The past several months have seemed like an eternity waiting to hear something or should I say anything from Colombia. Today (7/21,2010) we heard from our social worker that the ICBF board has made a decision and sending a letter, but no word as to what the letter mentions. Hopefully, we will get a phone call from our social worker Nichole telling us we are approved. More waiting to go.

August 2010

Finally, Today August 4th, we received a phone call from our social worker that she has received the letter from Colombia stating we were approved for "dos ninos" siblings 0-5. Our official approval date is 7/8/2010. One month down, and roughly 30 to go.