Jeff and Missy Miller have a large family of nine. Out of their seven children, one is their biological child, while they have adopted six more over the course of several years. They started with two, and in 2009, they adopted another four, which brought them to their current number of children.
That year, and as summer was approaching, Jeff and Missy thought that it would be a great idea to book a holiday so that they had time to bond with the new members and that the latter would be more easily immersed in the family.
However, when they called their favorite hotel to make a reservation, they faced a huge disappointment.
“I got on the phone, called our favorite hotel and was told, ‘Ma’am, your party is too large for one room. Would you like to reserve two rooms that adjoin?’ Heck NO! was my response,” Missy narrates in their blog.
That was when they realized that maybe conventional holidays were not made for them. They had to come up with an alternative.
RV? Cabins near the beach? No, nothing was working for them and for their budget.
And then, Jeff had this amazing idea, which at first sounded funny to his wife, to buy an old school bus and transform it into a portable home.
Indeed, just a while later, they bought their first school bus, a Blue Bird International School Bus. Within three months they turned it into an RV that perfectly fit their large family and they were ready to live the adventure!
Initially, they parked it at some relatives’ parking lot for a couple of months, until they decided it was actually working for their family and they could live and travel in it.
It was also a great opportunity to bond with the four new members of the family, who were coming from the foster system and didn’t really trust adults or any other person for that matter, at the time.
So, they took their bus-home and started traveling.
“Jeff and I decided why not travel the country and tell others about our love for Christ and how HE had put our family together,” Missy explained.
So, what did the bus look like when it was done?
As you can, see, there is lots of storage room in the bus. A family of nine certainly has lots of stuff and the portable home had to accommodate this need.
Over Missy’s bed there is also a bookcase- necessary when you are a bookworm and when your kids are homeschooled- and a flat-screen TV for entertainment.
The kitchen features a microwave and a four-drawer storage unit. It is fully functional with kitchen utensils, towels, a fridge, and practically anything you would ask from a basic kitchen.
The bathroom is small, but it has anything you might need. Also, it has a closet where the family keeps clothes. As you can see, they have made sure to take advantage of even the tiniest corner to make it functional.
And, of course, the bunk area. The beds are comfy and they are fitted with drawers and hooks for the kids to store their clothes. Nothing really seems to be missing!
After some much-wanted adventure, the Millers returned to their “stick” home due to some health issues, but in 2016 they started working on a second bus home.
And not only that, they have since founded a company that transforms and sells bus-homes to other families.
We just loved how this family worked creatively to build their dream home!
You can watch Missy talking about how it all started in the video below.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
