The Miller family comes for a visit!

Last Sunday the Miller's came to visit us. Kim and Scott were one of our travel families on our last trip to China. They were getting their son Drew from Urumqi while we were picking up Luke. Pictured above is Drew, their son Riley, Lily and Luke. We were so happy when they informed us that they were going to vacation in Springfield. We met up with them on Sunday and all went out to a Japanese Steak house for some good food. Lily really dislikes the flare up of fire that takes place during the cooking presentation so she hides under the table. Everyone came over to our house after that to play in the backyard. The kids seemed to blend together really well. I had to leave town that evening for a two day seminar but John was able to meet up with the Miller's everyday for some playtime. I got back on Tuesday and we had a cookout at our house. On their last day we went down to ride the Branson Belle on Tablerock lake. We had an enjoyable meal, roamed around the boat (all three levels) and then watched a great show. At one point during the show Drew kept putting his arm around Miss Lily and she would pick his arm up and unwrap it from her shoulder. It didn't discourage Drew as he tried it several times. The kids all went for one last round of swimming at the Miller's hotel and then it was good-byes all around. The next day when I picked up Miss Lily from school, her first question was, "where is Kimber and Scott?" We are already making plans for a camping trip down their direction in a couple of months. They live close to the beautiful Current River and it is only a 3-4 hour drive away.
Drew just celebrated his 5th birthday and is doing very well. He pronounces his words very clearly and speaks in the third person, it is kind of funny to listen too. John tried to talk to him in Chinese but he pretended not to understand. I think this is a common occurrence of older children after they get immersed in English. John still continues to talk to Luke in Chinese and every once in awhile he gets a response in Chinese but not often. "Ba Ba" is now called "Daddy." It is kind of sad to see the Chinese go but we hope to get Luke in Chinese class with Linda Sun this Fall after camp Panda. Right now his brain is making the transition to English and his speech gets better with every passing day.