The Miller Family Chronicle: May 2011

Mackenzie has been involved in a program called Girls on the Run. It's a great program that encouraged girls to get up and moving, talks about self-esteem and positive role models for girls, etc. We have really enjoyed it. She had practice 2x/week for the last 2 1/2 months and on Sunday morning she compete in her first ever 5k with me. We were up at 6 to get ready to make the trek to St. Louis for the run. Jeff, the other two girls and my mom made the trek with us to watch us run in the rain and cold. It was rainy and cold...and did I mention rainy and cold...rainy and 51 degrees.

Mackenzie did great! She ran the whole way and completed it with a time of 34:59. I think when she does the program again in the fall she can improve her time. But I have to say getting around all the girls that stop and walk in the middle of the course is a bit tricky. There were over 5000 girls that ran! Pretty amazing! We probably could have shaved off a good 2 minutes without all the detours :) We are so proud of her for competing and completing her first 5k!

Here are some photos from the day...

All of us on our way up to the arch post-run

Mackenzie post-run

Mackenzie and Ainsley post-run

Mackenzie and I post-run

This is Mackenzie and I pre-run...

I don't know why I haven't been taking the time to blog. I have the time but I would rather read other's blogs than write on my own!
We are enjoying our new area here in IL. The area has lots going on and we have begun to meet some new people.
The girls are all enjoying school and have met some new friends. Ironically Ellie is the one who seems to miss her KY friends the most. She talks about them fairly often and is really excited about going back to visit sometime this summer. We are leaning towards holding Ellie back for another year of Kindergarten. She has done well with this move but I think another year in Kindergarten for her to develop socially and to improve her writing skills would do her a world of good. The school has agreed to allow her to stay back but we have till the end of the year to make the "official" decision. Both Jeff and I think it's a good idea but we have asked the opinion of her current Kindergarten teacher too. I think he agrees but I will wait it out till the end of the year and make a final decision then. Ainsley will be moving to the school that Mackenzie currently attends and Mackenzie will be staying there for one more year. In our school district they break the schools into Primary (K-2) and Intermediate(3rd-5th). So Ainsley will be moving to Cassens in the fall. I think she's pretty excited and many of her friends are moving to the same school so that's good. I honestly couldn't have asked for a better transition to a new school system. We have been so pleased with how this year has finished up. Only 5 more weeks of school I think!

And I am slowly but surely meeting people and making friends. I love the area, the church that we have found and the mom's small group that I am attending. I love that God allowed there to be a family here that we already knew a little bit. My friend Lauren has really helped make the adjustment here so much easier! I already feel like I have connected with some of the women in the small group that I attend and I am meeting other women through volunteering at the school too.

I love volunteering! Trying to decide whether to pursue some kind of work opportunity for next year or just stick with volunteering for now. Praying for God to open doors and make it clear to me what He wants for me in the coming months too.
On the adoption front...slow going. We have to update our home study which we are in the process of trying to do. We have an agency and I am waiting for the social worker to call me back after her vacation to set up a time to come for a home visit. But I did e-mail Meg at our agency and she thinks the wait time will be closer to 12 months than 6 so it looks like it won't be till next year that we get to "meet" Phynley. I was hoping for this fall, but this allows us time to save up the money that we will need for the rest of the adoption. Waiting is always tough though! Patience isn't always my strong suit!

A few pics from the last few weeks...