A Good Week!

This has been a good week for our family.  Every day we see more improvements in everyone's attitudes. It's like we are finally clicking as a family of 8.  We have been home a short 6 weeks now.  And honestly I think we've come a long way in such a short amount of time.

Maggie LOVES Tiff.  She (and Hope) get so excited if they see Tiffs car is home. That means (most of the time) that Tiff is home.  I love how excited they are to see Tiff. And I think Tiff loves it too.  This photo was taken the other day.  I told them to make "silly faces".

The girls came home the other day with a letter written in Chinese.  They were so happy but we told them we could not read it.  We thought it was from a teacher so we told them to tell teacher to write so we can read it.  Well the next day they came home with another letter. This time in Chinese & in English.  And guess what???  It was from a FRIEND!  Oh my were they excited.  Their friend gave them her phone number and address and asked if they could come over for a play date.  She also said that her mom speaks Mandarin.  I could not believe this.  Really God???  You have brought a friend who's mom (and the friend can too a little) can communicate with the girls???  Why am I surprised?  I should not be.  God has been with us since the beginning.  Why do I doubt that He would bring friends in their lives who can talk to the girls etc.  I know I have said this before, but GOD IS GOOD!

The girls are at their friends house as I'm typing this. They were happy. Hope kept saying "Goodbye Mama" and trying to get me to leave. LOL  I'm anxious to hear how the play date went.  I'm leaving soon to pick them up.

Also, the girls came home with a recipe from their cooking class. It was also in English &  Chinese. Their teacher translated it for them on the computer.  Again, I've said it before. But the teachers at the school have been amazing!  I also had another teacher call the other day. He thought I was going to be at the meeting they were having but then when I knew nothing about it, he realized it was just for the teachers. So he asked if there was anything I wanted them to discuss while they were meeting. I just told him how wonderful I think they all have been to the girls and to please do not make them feel any differently than the other kids.  He was very nice and said he enjoys starting his day with Hope & Maggie.  Yes, that was something I was very happy to hear.  He said "have you noticed any "good mornings" or "good evenings"?"  I said "Oh yes...." He said "we've been working on that .  LOL I told him that they have to yell "Gooda Morninga" to the sheriff who directs the traffic in the morning LOL

Wednesday night I got out the English/Chinese Bible that we have and gave it to Hope. She sat down and was reading it. She could not put it down.

Yesterday the girls came downstairs in the morning and they were dressed exactly the same.  These were not the outfits they picked out the night before. Well it was the outfit Hope picked but Maggie changed to match Hope.  Of course I took a photo.  I do believe we now have 2 sets of "twins".  LOL

Since it was Friday we got our swimsuits on and went in the pool.  These girls are turning into FISH!  Yesterday they both took their swim rings off and wanted to SWIM!  I was so nervous but allowed them to IF they stayed in the shallow end.  Well by time we had to get out, Hope was doing flips under the water and doing hand stands.  And Maggie was going under and trying to do flips & hand stands under the water too.  They are teaching themselves how to swim.  I'm so amazed with how quickly they are learning things.  6 weeks ago we had to bribe them to go in the pool.  Now they beg to get in the pool.  After swimming we ate hamburgers & french fries.  The girls started making silly faces while eating their food. So I grabbed the camera.

French Fries sticking out of their mouths

Today when I was making Hope, Maggie & Ethan's lunch, Hope asked if Abby & Jadyn were eating it too. I said "No, they are going with daddy".  She looked at me for a second (I could tell she was thinking) and then she said "Abby, Jadyn.......hamburger-a".  I laughed so hard.  I looked at Hope and said "Oh Hope, GREAT words!"  I loved how she was thinking of the right English words to use, and used them properly.

OK, update on the friend play date.  They had a BLAST!  They were happy to see me when I showed up too which made me feel good. And they were planning their next play date.  LOL  I'm so thankful for the people God is putting into the girls lives.

Yesterday, Sept 28, marked the first time we saw the girls photos.  It was the day we thought about adopting 2 at the same time.  We asked our agency to review the files.  We were nervous about adopting 2.  And then we found out what their Love Without Boundaries names were.  Hope & Maggie. We knew that God was telling us to adopt them both.  So here we are a year later.....With 6 kids.

Tonight Bill & I went out with friends.  Tiff stayed home to babysit. She said "Hope was SO good. She had fun.  Maggie was good but didn't listen a few times".  I was really happy to hear this.  Because we always worry about Hope's behavior when we are gone.  And she seems to always be good for everyone. So thankful for this.  We know she is a good girl. She just likes to test me & Bill.  But I guess most kids do that, right?  Test their parents, but act differently (better) for others?  

It has been a GOOD week.  

Thankful for the Good, When going through the Hard

Today had some rough moments.  Moments where I just wanted to go back to bed and sleep the rest of the day.  Just when I feel things are going well, something happens that makes me feel like life will never feel "normal" again. And I know our new normal is different than our old normal.  But times like today I feel like we will never be able to leave the house as a complete family.

Then tonight we go to church.  Tiff stayed home with Ethan, Hope & Maggie so Bill & I could both go (Bill has not been to church in over 2 months).  I'm so glad we went.  Our pastor said, and I've tried to tell myself this too, but when life seems hard and difficult, remember to thank God for all the good He has given to us.  And that is when it hit me, we do have A LOT of good to be thankful for.

7 weeks ago was Gotcha Day.  A short 7 weeks, that sometimes seems like an eternity.  The girls are definitely comfortable with us now.  They talk back to us when they are mad (yeah, trying to stop that one but they are teenage girls and so that will be hard), teasing us, laughing at jokes, trying to make jokes etc.  Their English is coming along.  I have caught them saying 2-3 word sentences.  Here are a few:

-Listen to Mommy (yes, they say this, not me saying it to them LOL)
-Time for Bed
-Teacher gave Maggie

Crafts!!!  Oh... My...Word!!!!!  The girls (all 4 of them) are crafting us out of everything!  I love it. Because so much of the supplies have just been sitting in boxes.  Well, yesterday they spent hours cutting things from the cricuit (yes, they quickly learned how to use this machine, I still have no idea).  They would glue their creation to another piece of paper and then color the paper.  Oh my.....very creative. I took 2 pictures to show you Hope & Maggie's artwork.

Maggie's artwork

Hope's artwork

Then today they found these beads that we have that you make into shapes and then iron it to make it stick into the shape.  They did this for about 5 hours today.

Maggie is really bonding with the girls. She wants to be included in everything.  The other night she put on matching PJ's with Abby.

We had movie night again on Friday.  We watched Kung Fu Panda.  Hope fell asleep 1/2 way through it. She was exhausted. But she liked the parts she did see.  Maggie laughed when she should have laughed. I love how the girls watch the movies, even though they don't fully understand what is going on.  Poor little Ethan....the only boy.  But....he LOVES it. He gets a lot of attention from the girls. And when they annoy him (like big sisters tend to do), he puts them in their place (or the place he feels they need to be LOL).

There are days, when the kids stop for a minute and are all together, that it hits me.  We have FIVE beautiful, hand chosen by God, MIRACLES from China.  On the hard days, I do remind myself that they are kids, kids who needed a family, kids who God watched over until we could bring them all home. Bill & I never in a million years thought we would have 6 kids, never thought we would adopt from China, and NEVER thought we would adopt FIVE kids from China.  I love how God chose us to be their parents. Because every single one of our kids, all SIX of them, are truly blessings to us.  Tiff is our miracle by birth and Hope, Maggie, Abby, Jadyn & Ethan are our miracles by adoption.

Teacher Conference

Last night was conference night at the middle school.  So I contacted the girls 4 main teachers and requested a conference.  We were blessed to have a friend come over to watch the kids so Bill could go with me. I was so happy he came.

We met with their Social Studies teacher first.  She immediately said how wonderful the girls are.  She had very nice things to say.  She said they listen, they do their work, they try. She said the only "bad" thing she has seen was the other day. They had a school assembly in the gym.  And Hope was bored (can't understand anything they are talking about) so she picked her nose and made it bleed. So this teacher walked her to the nurse.  We told her some of the behaviors we experience at home, and this teacher said she has not seen any of these behaviors at school.  YAY!

Next was met their math teacher.  Oh my word this teacher is fired up with excitement over Hope. She said this kid can do math.  She said she wished Hope could speak English so she could teach the kids.  I told her that Hope said "teacher show me 1 time and I get it" and she totally agreed.  She said she passed out a test the other day and as she was giving directions (which the girls don't understand) Hope was doing her test and before she was finished with the directions Hope had done 3 math problems and they were correct.  Maggie is slower at the math. She's not getting it.  And we agreed.  So we need to figure out how to help Maggie understand.

Next was Language Arts (she is also their homeroom teacher).  Again, she was excited to have the girls in her class and said they are good, they sit in the front of the class and they listen and do their work.  She said that she told the class what an honor it is to have 2 kids who speak Mandarin in their class. Maybe the kids can learn from Hope & Maggie how to speak Chinese.  She also told the kids to introduce themselves to the girls to make them feel welcome. And she said the kids have been doing this.  Hope & Maggie are happy and she is excited to see them "grow" in their education.

Finally we met with their science teacher.  She immediately said something like "I don't know how to teach them. They don't understand.  So help me to know how to teach them". So, we told her to include them in everything, to just be normal and let them just copy the things off of the board. We did tell her how Hope got upset because we would not do her science homework for her.  And so we suggested she tell them it's not homework or just give them 1 or 2 problems to do (well really for us to do). She said she would.  she also said that the girls are good and she has caught them chatting and she just goes and says "girls, shh" and they immediately stop talking and pay attention.  This is the only teacher who said anything about Hope's "rocking" back & forth.

Every teacher said how much they like having them in their class. That the girls are good girls. They are impressed with how they are trying.  They said they smile all the time, tell everyone "HELLO!" And even gives people "high 5's" in the hallway.

They told us not to worry about their grades. They are not grading their tests.  And nothing will show up on the report card (meaning they will not fail).  We were told that they will not be given any standardized or state tests for a year.  So that is good.

Hope does not behave the way she does at home for the teachers.  Praise God!  They all say that she is eager to learn.  They can see how much she is trying.  They said Maggie is just now coming out of her "shy" shell and she is a joy to have in class.  OH, the math teacher did catch Maggie "cheating" off of another student's test. So she's tried to tell her that is not allowed.

We were happy to get such good reports.  Everyone at their school has been so helpful.  We saw the guidance counselor and she just went on and on with how wonderful they are doing.  I love that so many are looking out for our girls.  And that they are happy to have them in their class.  After talking to the teachers, I do feel that we are witnessing to these people about adoption and especially older child adoption.  They said this is the first time they have had students who have been in their classes who spoke NO English, and who's parents do.  Other students who have come speak Spanish but their family speaks Spanish.  So.....having 2 Chinese students who were adopted at an older age is new to everyone at the school. And they are impressed with how easy the girls have transitioned and how well they are doing.

We are happy the girls are happy. We are happy they are trying.  We are happy that they want to be at school.  OH, and the teachers said the kids have been amazing to Hope & Maggie.  Very nice to them and almost taking care of them.  PRAISE GOD!!!!

Are you HIS Family?

Please, help me find little "Bergen's" forever family.  He is waiting.  He needs to find them soon.

This was taken from my friend's blog.  PLEASE spread the word.

Isn't he adorable!?  He needs a home.  He also needs a heart surgery as he has a very complex congenital heart defect.  The quicker he gets matched with a family, the quicker he gets the care he needs.  He is inoperable in China, but here there are more options.

If he is your baby, and you want more information - please let me know!  I cannot give specific information, but Kimberly at Great Wall can help.  Her email is kim@gwca.org 

Can you join me in prayer for this sweet baby - that God protects him and his precious heart and that God leads his family to him so they can get to him quickly. 

"Every day of my life was written in your book before one of them came to be."  Psalm 139:16

Thank you.

"If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask in prayer."  Matthew 21:22

Amazed!

I'm simply amazed.  I don't know why. Everyone told me I would be.  But I am still AMAZED!  We have been home just about 5 weeks now. Been the girls parents for just over 6 weeks. And WOW!!!  Simply amazed at how quickly they are adjusting.

We went to celebrate Bill's niece's 7th birthday on Sunday.  The girls got dressed and they all chose to wear the same shirt.  Very cool.  I thought "Okay, but you don't have to". And then I'm glad they did. Because they were easy to find at the park.  LOL

After the park we went to Bill's brothers house and had more cake.  Maggie's tongue turned green (I think that's green).  Her personality is starting to shine. She's so funny and loves to laugh.

Yesterday the girls came home with library books.  Hope kept saying "TEACHER".  I opened it and Hope wrote her name in it. I said "Hope, NO!  This is a library book". We had it translated and Maggie freaked out.  Hope erased it. I know Hope was thinking "teacher gave to me, it's mine". LOL  Well, Hope was excited about the book.  And guess what???  She can READ!!  Yep this girl is reading.  And she's so proud.

Tonight Maggie wanted to do sidewalk chalk. She kept saying it in Chinese and I had no idea what she was talking about. Finally she went and found the sidewalk chalk and asked to go outside with Jadyn. I said okay.  I looked and she drew a hopscotch game on the sidewalk. then was drawing another one. She was playing it with Jadyn.  Wow!

Then the girls were getting ready for church. It's crazy hat night for AWANA so A & J had on their crazy hats. Well H & M are not in AWANA but they wanted a hat. So I gave them the hats we brought to China that they did not like.  Interesting now how they like the hats.  LOL  They are too cute in them.  Then when they saw the camera, they wanted pictures. Well, Maggie posed. I had to ask Hope to pose. She was more interested in listening to Chris Tomlin on her iPod.  Yeah, this girl loves music.  And she is learning the songs and singing.

I'm amazed at how the girls are adjusting to their new life. They are bonding with all of us. They are comfortable with us. We get lots of giggles and smiles daily.  We are able to joke with them. And they joke back.  We are starting to have fun, as a family.  I'm just amazed. I do not think I would adjust so quickly if I was told to live with strangers in China.  Goodness, I know I would not. Just the 2 weeks we have to stay there for the adoption was too much for me.  These girls are so brave. I wish I had 1/2 of the courage that they have.  I am so excited to see them grow and to see them learn about Jesus.  (They are at church now in youth, and excited to go).  Thanks for praying for our family.  I'm so thankful for the happy moments.  So thankful for the smiles. So thankful that we are able to be amazed by such a wonderful experience.  God is so good!

Hard to see your child crying.....

Today we took Hope to the neurologist.  We made this appointment a few weeks ago after the family doctor we saw suggested it.  We have noticed some developmental delays. More social and emotional delays than anything.  We told Hope last night she would be going and Maggie would not.  BIG mistake.  She was so upset.  She did not like that she had to go and Maggie did not.

This morning we all got up early.  Bill & I left with Hope. She was still saying "NO DOCTOR.....Maggie...."  We put a Chinese DVD in the van and she was happy.  We arrived at the doctors office and she was still saying "NO DOCTOR!".  They wanted to do an EEG.  She was NOT happy.  The tech was great. And guess what???  She spoke Mandarin.  And no, she was not Chinese.  God was here for us!  And for Hope.

Bill was standing with Hope and she was not happy.  But she did not put up a fight.  The tech put the probes all over her head.  Then the tears came. And would not stop. She cried THE WHOLE TIME.  She did not fight. Just cried. And then cried for Maggie.  Over & over again.  This went on for about 30 minutes.  Bill & I switched places and I just held her hand, rubbed her tummy and kissed her hand. I prayed over her, asking God to just give her peace.  She started to calm down.  But never stopped crying.  This broke my heart.  I sat there wondering if this brought back memories of her surgery in China.  Wondering if she was comforted during that time (guessing probably not). And then I got upset, thinking about her in China after surgery all alone.

The EEG was over. Hope calmed down.  She wanted to be held.  So Bill picked her up. We went to wait for the doctor.  A PA came in and talked with us for about an hour.  Good news......EEG looked normal.  Bad news???  We still don't know why Hope is behaving this way.

Honestly I'm starting to think that her behavior is because she needs it.  I mean, I've heard how kids need to experience every stage of development to move on to the next. And I'm starting to think that Hope was not able to be a "normal" toddler.  Now that she has a mom & dad, she NEEDS the attention that toddlers receive.  Yes, it's hard when a 13 year old acts like a 4 year old.  And I pray that if we do give her what she needs, that she will progress and move on to the next stage of development.  Hope does not act like this for others (that I know of).  So I think that she does it for us because she needs this from us.

Yes, it's hard. Yes, it's exhausting parenting a 13 year old toddler who wants all of our attention.  BUT I have to remind myself that she NEEDS this.  We just need to figure out how to meet her needs and the needs of our other kids at the same time.  Please pray about this for us.  Pray that we can have the understanding to help Hope and pray that we can have the patience when our day seems never-ending with the toddler demands.

For now, we are just taking it day by day.  The neurologist wants us to see a pediatric psychologist.  Well we need her to have the understanding of the English language first.  They also want to do an MRI. We are waiting for that, since they said that might not show anything either.  Hope still has an EKG scheduled for next week to check if she does have a heart murmur.  After that, we are taking a break from doctors until the new year.  Then we will address her cleft needs.

Hope is a precious girl. She loves to hug. She loves to laugh. She loves to get attention. She loves to be loved.  We are thankful that God chose us to be her parents.  Even in the hard moments, we know that she was meant to be our daughter, and that we were meant to be her parents.  Yes there are days when we do not feel equipped to parent her, and we wonder "What was God thinking when He chose us??"  But we know He has plans for all of us.  So we are taking it one day at a time.

It's Loud At Our House!

What do you get when you have 6 kids???  Noise.  Man is it loud in our house.  5 of our 6 talking at the same time, demanding attention from us at the same time.  And it seems to just echo.  Our ears are tired by the end of the day.  That is why we like that the girls are in school.....because it's quiet during the day.  LOL  BUT...I have to say it's not all bad noise.  Lots of giggles, and laughter, and silliness goes on to make this "noise".  And that's the kind of noise I like to hear.  It's been a while since we've heard a lot of that.  And I'm so thankful that we do hear the "noise".

Hope & Maggie asked me to braid their hair yesterday.  This is the first time they have asked for me to do this. They have watched me do this for Abby & Jadyn.  I was happy to see Maggie wear her hair different. She wears a ponytail with headband every day.  Well, before she left for school I noticed that she added a hair bow where her ponytail would have been.  LOL

I just LOVE technology.  Waiting for the girls to come home, I met so many wonderful ladies who have and who are adopting from Huainan.  We have connected via email and have shared photos with each other.  Well now, Hope & Maggie are able to connect with their Huainan friends via Skype.  They Skyped with one friend while we were in China. I do believe that helped the girls at the time.  And now, last night and today they Skyped with 2 more Huainan friends.  The friend last night has been home a few months.  They were SO excited to talk to her. They talked for about an hour.  I loved listening to the girls, even though I had no idea what they were saying. Hope & Maggie were excited to show me their friend.  Then today, we connected with a Huainan friend who lives an hour away from us.  Yes, AN HOUR!  Her mom connected with me a while ago and then I just forgot.  So today we connected via Skype and Hope & Maggie were THRILLED.  She has been home 2.5 years so it's been a while since they saw her. And they were so happy.  They talked for over an hour and then I was able to talk to her mom for over an hour.  What a blessing it is to have new friends, and for the girls to be able to connect with their friends from China.  I know this has helped them adjust to their new lives here.

So, it's the middle of September and well....I'm ready for fall.  Even though it does not feel like fall, I still like to decorate. So we got out our fall stuff.  Hope & Maggie were excited. They have never seen this kind of stuff.  They found spider rings and immediately put them on.  Maggie found a trick or treat bucket and thought it was a hat (sorry, did not have camera out for that and she was quick to take it off LOL).  But I did get a photo of her putting Halloween garland on her head.  LOL

Then back to swimming.  Goodness gracious these girls are turning into fish.  Just 5 weeks ago they were TERRIFIED of the pool. Would not even put their feet in the water.  Now, they are jumping in and teaching themselves to swim.  Me, being the nervous mom that I am, am so worried about them taking the floaties off.  But I know they need to learn to swim.  Yesterday Maggie took them off and was going under the water and kicking her feet etc.  Today Hope wanted to be the big girl and she took hers off.  I'm more nervous about Hope because she's shorter.  But she did great.  She did not try to go to the deep end.  But she did go under a lot.  I did not take photos of her swimming (or trying to swim) with floaties off, but I did take photos of her trying to swim with them on.

Seeing the smiles on their faces, and hearing the giggles is awesome.  6 weeks ago they were at the orphanage not sure of what their life would be like.  Who knows if they were scared.  I'm sure they were sad to leave their friends.  But now, they are happy. They are laughing. They are teasing us, and they are letting us tease them.  Maggie has truly settled in to her role as sister.  Hope is starting to find her place as sister in the family.  She is more needy than Maggie is for attention. So right now she is demanding more of our time and not wanting any time from her siblings.  But we're working on it.  Right now, as I'm typing, she is upstairs with the other kids watching a movie.  Not too long ago, she would have put up a fight and just played her video game.

Praising God for every little milestone and positive moments.  Thankful for the opportunity to parent these precious kids.  They are so brave.  All of our kids are brave.  Adoption is so powerful.  Adoption is awesome. Adoption has changed all of us.  Have you thought about adopting?  Email me if you have questions.  I love to advocate for the kids.  And I love to talk about adoption.

English

I've had so many thoughts going on in my head the past few weeks. Things I want to blog about. And of course I have not written any of them down so I would not forget.  I need to do that.  But who has the time? And little hands (about 10 of them) keep taking any notebook/paper etc that I seem to find. LOL

I was asked how the language is coming along.  Lets just say, I'm amazed.  These girls are learning quickly.  They are still learning so there is still some hard times communicating.  But it's a lot easier than it was.  I do believe they understand us more than they can verbally communicate to us.

Some of the words the girls say, and understand what they are saying are:
-Daddy Come Here/Mommy Come Here
-Thank You
-You're Welcome
- I'm Sorry
-Excuse Me
-Bathroom
-Teacher Listen (means they listen to teacher)
-Homework
-School
-Shower
-Eat
-Drink
-Good
-Bad
-Hello
-GoodBye
-I Love You
-Good Night
-Sleep
-Hope can now count and recognize the numbers 1-20
-They can say each of our names, and call each other Hope & Maggie
-Stop It
-Friend
-Good Job
-Yay
-Pencil
-No
-Yes
-Okay

These are the things I can think of off of my head.  Hope tries very hard to learn English. Maggie is trying but we think she understands us more.  Maggie tries to make sure Hope behaves. She will yell "Hopa stop it!"  (yes, most of their words end with an "a".)  :-)

We did get an email the other day about Hope not behaving in school.  She refused to go outside with her PE class and laid on the gym floor.  So we talked to her about this. She was upset that she got in trouble. The look on the girls faces when I told them the teacher contacted me was, well priceless. But not in a good way.  You could tell that they had no idea the teacher would contact us. Well now they know.  We had our friend come over and talk to Hope about why she did not participate. She said she was tired and too hot.  We told her that she has to stay with her class and that she will get graded for trying. We could tell Hope had no idea she gets graded for PE.  Hope said she likes her other classes because she can learn, write and make her teachers proud.  She also said Maggie can not keep up with the teacher so she copies off of Hope's paper.  Hope also said the teacher only has to teach her something one time and then she understands it.

The girls love going to school.  They come home happy. They immediately want to do their homework.  They get upset if they have homework that they can not do (stuff with questions and answers). They can do their math every night so that is good.  They are getting A's in their classes. I'm so happy the teachers are having them try and not making them feel different.  Conference night is next week and I plan on going.

It's Friday. No big plans for the girls tomorrow. Just hanging out.  Sunday we plan on going to their cousin's birthday party.  It's at a park so hopefully it will be fun for them and not too stressful for us.

OH, we went to the orthopedic on Tuesday and Maggie checked out good.  No worries for now. Hope will need physical therapy for her legs. We are praying that will fix her walking problem that she has.  We see the neurologist this Tuesday for Hope. Praying they can help us with some of the behavior's we've experienced.

All in all the girls are doing amazing.  They are flourishing and thriving in their new lives.  Last night we had to teach Hope how to hug, without giving us whiplash.  She got it. Now let's pray she remembers today when she gets home.  LOL  She hugs hard, and pulls us down and it literally hurts our necks.

Thanks for praying and checking on us.

Swimming

The girls are getting very comfortable with swimming.  Here are some photos from the other day.  

Riding A Bike

It has been SO hot here.  We don't want to go outside. The kids BEG to go outside though.  So Bill caved and took them in the front yard.  Thankfully it was "cool" out (clouds were around to help cool us off).  Jadyn can ride a bike without training wheels. We have 2 other bikes with training wheels.  We have Abby's bike without training wheels and the girls old smaller bikes with training wheels.  Bill put training wheels on Abby's because it's a bigger bike.  Well, they did not work too well.  But it did help Maggie for a little while.

The girls faces were priceless.  Every time I think that we've lost so many years with the girls, so many of their first....well then I see that they have NEVER ridden on a bike so we have witnessed another first for them.  So thankful for the firsts we are able to witness.  Their smiles and laugh was precious.  They had so much fun.  And Abby & Jadyn were the "big sisters" by helping and encouraging them.  Another precious moment to be a part of. OH, and Abby decided tonight she would like to try to ride without training wheels.  She did great!

Here are photos from tonight.  I'm so amazed at how much the girls have changed in 5 short weeks.  They are SO happy.  Their smiles are genuine.  I have watched other older children come home with their families and have witnessed the miracle of them adjusting to their new lives.....But actually being apart of it, and seeing it daily, and receiving the love & hugs is just amazing!  God is So Good!!!!

Jadyn & Maggie

The smile says it all

Hope ready to go

Jadyn walking with Hope

Pure joy!

She had trouble NOT smiling. :-)

6 weeks ago this never crossed their minds

Happy Maggie

Beyond Happy Hope

Still smiling

Look who is our daredevil.  :-)

Our crazy girl

Look at Abby go....

Abby

Our precious kids playing together

Abby helping Maggie learn the scooter