Saturday, February 17, 2007

February Update




Hello everyone,
Julie and I wanted to write a quick blog to let everyone know how the girls and ourselves are adjusting. The girls have been in school now for about a month. The transition seems to be going smoothly. Their English is coming along. Luda is in 8th grade. Galina is in 3rd grade, and Nastia is in Pre-first. I know what you are thinking, but it is one step above kindergarten. Leave it to California to come up with a transition for kids between kindergarten and 1st grade. I guess the old way was just too much of a leap.
We all made an unexpected trip to Albuquerque to visit with Julie's family, due to the unfortunate passing of her little brother, Tim. Obviously, it was a very sad occasion, however, Julie's family did get to meet the girls. Due to that and my starting work-ups with the Navy again, we haven't had a whole lot of settling down time.
The girls have been enjoying meeting new friends and their schools. Also, they are enjoying their rooms and freedoms here in the U.S. The girls all have their own chores to do every weekend like the rest of the kids. Helen, Joshua, and Jacob are adapting well too.
It took some getting used to, but Julie has the daily routine down with getting everyone off to school, getting them home, and then getting all of the homework done. Right now, it seems as if she and I are back in school, at least when it comes to the English homework. Meals seemed to be the biggest thing we were challenged on initially. Unfortunately for the girls, they did not realize how seasoned/ stubborn their new parents are. After a few turned up noses and a couple of "I don't want this!" statements, Julie and I quickly enacted a new house rule. If you don't eat what is put in front of you in a reasonable amount of time, then you will get no sweets/ dessert for 1 week. Problem solved!
We will continue to try to update the BLOG about once a month. Sorry about not doing it in January, but as mentioned earlier, we got pretty preoccupied.
We are continuing to follow the other couples' adoption efforts in Ukraine and continue to pray for them as well. Please continue to pray for us and our wonderful children.

Blessings to you all,
Dan and Julie