Visiting our Future Home (MTC MO)

We took a quick trip to New Tribe Mission's MTC (Missionary Training Center) in Roach, MO. We left thursday so that we could help these dear friends from the Bible School move on to the next phase of training (Downings and Cizdziels). 

We drove through rain the ENTIRE drive from Indiana to Missouri (the worst rain I've ever drove in too!), and we hit some frustrating construction as well. But we made it in one piece, and thankfully a lot of things stayed dry.

It was nice to help them move because it also gave us a chance to see our future home! Hopefully, this is where we will be moving to next August in order to finish our last phase of training. This is the older, smaller housing ... this is Jason's and Laken's apartment.

This is the newer, bigger housing for families...

And standing in the same spot as the previous picture, but looking down the hill instead of up, you can see the classroom and administration buildings. It's a little bit of a walk, but not bad.

Here are the administration buildings.

And that classroom building.

Here is the beautiful lake. It is really pretty! We love the location of the campus. It's on the Lake of the Ozarks.

One other nice thing about visiting was that we got to see quite a few Bible school friends! It was nice to see Brett and Kelli and baby Addie.

After a quick few days in Missouri, we drove home through the night last night (less traffic, no construction hold-ups, and no rain= much faster arrival time!!!). It was so nice to get home to see this little girl who stayed with my parents. It's the longest we've been away from her, and we sure missed her... but I think she had such a good time that she didn't really miss us much. She will love the MTC too- it is very kid-friendly with playgrounds and lots of other kids and lots of area to run.

Family Vacation with the Millers - Gull Lake

This past week we took a little vacation with Ben's family as we do every year. They go to a place called Gull Lake Family Camp every year. It's in Michigan, and Ben's family has gone for 24 years! That's some dedicated family vacationing, right there. I have gone with them ever since Ben and I got married- so this was my 4th summer. And it was Sophie's 2nd summer :)

Ben unfortunately still had to work- but his job is about half-way between our house in Warsaw and where we were in Michigan, so he didn't have to drive much further to work. He would go work every morning and then come hang out with us the rest of the day!

This is our cottage that we've stayed in every year since I have gone. It's a nice little cottage right on the lake. I sat in the back yard almost every day while Sophie took her nap- it was nice to soak up some sun while reading and watching people on the lake.

Sophie had SO much fun with her grandparents and aunts and uncles. They definitely spoiled her, and she knew it! Last year she was only 4 months, so it was fun to see her enjoying everything this year. They have playgrounds, a splash pad, a gym, and a fun nursery area for her. Here she is with Uncle Nate kicking her feet in the water. She was trying to splash Aunt Katie.

On the last night, they had a fun carnival-type thing set up for the kids, and Sophie loved the bouncy houses! This was a little bouncy house, perfect for Sophie...

It had a slide that she loved to go down. She did it over and over again.

Here Sophie and I are after we went through the splash pad some! She likes it as long as she's with an adult. Nate, Katie, and I all took her through in our clothes because we didn't have our swim suits on :)

(thanks Katie for a couple of the pictures... I am always bad about taking pictures at Gull Lake!)

Sophie's Going to be a Big Sister!

We've enjoyed Sophie so much, that we can't wait to add another Miller baby into the mix!!

I'm about 11 weeks and due around February 2, 2013.

If you want to read more, you can go to my Mommy Blog :)

5 Homes. 4 Years.

Ben and I have been married for 4 years as of May of this year. In those 4 years, we've lived in 5 different homes! To be honest, moving is not one of my favorite parts of the missionary life. It's a lot of work! The up side to moving so often is that it keeps us honest with out stuff (we are always getting rid of things, and we're cautious spenders) and our house never has a chance to get very messy or dirty because we move again before it can!

Our first home was in Larwill, IN. We lived in this modular home in a nice little hillbilly town for 2 years before moving to New Tribes Bible Institute.

In 2010, we moved to New Tribes Bible Institute to begin our training with NTM. This is the building we lived in both years we were there...

Our first apartment was on the third floor, had no running water, was a mere 400 some sq. ft., and had a loud radiator and paper thin walls.

We felt so blessed our second year with the apartment we were able to move into! It was 700 some sq. ft., had running water, had thicker walls and a quiet radiator, had a newly remodeled kitchen, and was on the second floor.

This is the loft we lived in the summer before we headed to NTBI, the summer in between our two years at the school, and for a month after we graduated. This loft is above Dad and Mom Miller's garage. We're so thankful that we had a place to stay when we needed it!

 And here is our most recent home! Last weekend we moved to Warsaw, IN into a 3-bedroom apartment. We're excited about having our own place and really like our new home! We'll live here for the next year... until we leave to finish our training with New Tribes.

Sophie is 15 months, and she has lived in 4 of these 5 homes!! What a crazy life this little girl has had. She's done really well with all of the changes, but I know it's still an adjustment so prayers for her are always appreciated.

Philippians 3:20: But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

There and Back Again [Pennsylvania Trip]

We took a (quick) trip to Lancaster, PA two weekends ago. We hadn't been back for 2 years (I was born in Lancaster and lived there until age 13 so I have family and a few friends back there), and I wanted some people to meet Sophie. When we heard that my Mom's parents were going to be in Lancaster to celebrate their 50th anniversary, it seemed like the perfect time to go. The only problem? Ben only had one day off. So we left thursday afternoon and drove back sunday morning. It was a lot of traveling in a short amount of time- especially for the little tike- but we all did it, and it went well!

Sophie got spoiled by all the people she came in contact with...

It was really nice to celebrate my grandparents!

Sophie's still unsure of the pool, but she stayed in a long time with Aunt Renee...

My mom's whole side of the family that was able to be in Lancaster for the celebration...

My best childhood friend, Heather. We stayed with her and her family who are always so hospitable, and Sophie LOVED their dog!

We got to go to Sight and Sound to see Jonah. Sight&Sound does amazing productions, and I hadn't been since I was a little girl, so it was fun to go.

We also had a chance to see some of my dad's family which was really great since my grandparents and aunt hadn't met Sophie yet. We took some pictures with them as well, but my aunt has them on her camera :)

Farewell to the Hoods and Cones

Our church, Christ's Covenant Church, had a gathering for all of those interested in missions about 2.5 years ago. It was there that we first met Jared and Megan Hood. At that meeting, Jared and Megan shared about their heart for Africa, but they were unsure at that point where that would take them. It amazes me that now, just 2 years later, they are preparing to leave. In less than a month, they will be hopping on a plane and heading to Tanzania, Africa with Africa Inland Mission where they have committed to serving for two years as church planters but hope to serve for longer.

We also met Jordan and Tirza Cone around that same time. They, along with their two young children, leave in just a few days to head to Cameroon, Africa where they are going to work with Wycliffe Bible Translators as school teachers. They grew up as missionary kids in Africa and attended the school they are going to be working at, so they will be a great encouragement to the students there. They have also committed to two years but hope to be there for longer.

A week ago we had the privilege to spend a night hanging out with these two awesome couples. We had a picnic and talked with them about their journey thus far and their plans for the future. We're so excited about what God is going to do through them and will certainly be praying for them. They have many changes ahead, and we trust that God will faithfully guide them.

Work and Play

Summer is in full swing, and it's consisted of work and play. Mostly work for Ben and mostly play for me and Sophie.

Ben has been busy at his new job, working full time. When he's not working at his official job, he's been helping to renovate two rooms in his parents' house, doing other odd and end jobs around his parents' house, and working on both his car and his friend Caleb's car. Once he's done working, he's pretty tired... so his "play" usually consists of watching TV and sleeping. Needless to say, we haven't seen too much of him.

Sophie and I have been doing lots of fun things since being home. We've gone to the park at least once a week to play, use the stroller, or go to the splash pad. (Sophie's) Aunt Brianna has come along several times :). We've gone to the mall a couple of times, and (Sophie's) Grandma took her on the carousel once. We've visited lots of friends, just to hang out and catch up. We went to a 31 bag party. We went garage sale-ing. Sophie got in the kiddie pool once. But mostly we just go outside LOTS. And Sophie's favorite thing to do outside is to play with all of the animals and particularly to visit the goats and kitties. We play lots.

As a family, we've gone to church (so glad to be back at CCC!), visited some college friends for dinner on the grille (yum!), hung out with our new mentor couple from church, checked out our new apartment that we'll be moving into in a couple of weeks, and hung out around the house and in the pool.