Christmas is Here!

I feel so far behind and there are so many pictures to show... the girls love to get their picture taken with everything that we do. 

So on Sunday, 23rd, we went to church in the morning where the girls got to meet even more of our friends and those that had helped bring them to America.  When I asked them about church, it did not sound like they attended anywhere back at home.  I think it seemed a little long for them but Faith In Action had us rockin' it out!  I hope that if nothing else, they found that to be entertaining!  After church we headed to the mall where we could look for something a little dressy for Chistmas... it was a long 3 hours but finally we found beautiful outfits for both the girls that were respectable and cute!  We stopped at Politio's for a pizza lunch.  The girls love pizza, they knew exactly what pizza was!

Later that evening we headed to Marshfield for a look at the Christmas lights.  Other than the long drive, everyone LOVED it!  It was beautiful and fun to see their reaction to all the lights.  On the way home we stopped for some hot chocolate at the local café!  Though we are still playing a lot of charades and using the translator, it's is getting easier everyday to communicate with them girls.

I forgot to post this in the first few days but it is a funny story that should be shared.  Two things:  we have successfully taught them more Spanish than English and Randy taught them to say 'rabbit poop'.  So the first night they were here we taught them how to play Uno,  the very next day, Valya was trying to communicate with me and said "Mama, mama, uno" and held up one finger.  I was like, great!  Now we have taught them Spanish instead of English.  Randy has also taught them "lets go" in Spanish and a few other words.  Uhm, not sure we have been successful in the English lesson but if you want Spanish speaking Ukrainians... we are good to go!
Then the second night he handed them blackberries and thought it would be funny to call it rabbit poop.  Now the girls walk around saying...rabbit poop, over and over!  It's adorable in their accent and we find it hilarious that they continue to say it.  Now the whole family is saying it to eachother.  I did finally translate it for them and they just laughed and laughed!

Christmas Eve
We always have Christmas Eve morning at our house since we head down to my parents in the afternoon.  We took our traditional C.E. morning picture in our jammies and then opened gifts.  The girls seemed to really enjoy every gift and every moment, just soaking it all up with smiles and laughter!  They showed me everything item they opened, making sure to study it carefully.  I got them both necklaces which they loved and have not taken off since.  We then cleaned up, packed and jumped in the car (as much as you can jump into a car with 7 people, a dog, a trailer packed with suitcases, bags, presents and more) and made the 3 hour trek to Grafton.  The evening was wonderful.  They loved my family and really seem to make a connection with them.  There were lots of smiles, hugs and laughter.  We stayed with my parents Christmas Eve and all of Christmas day.  C.D. was our usually relaxing PJ day at my parents.  With nowhere to go for the day, we just lazed around all day and watched movies.  It was a great way for the girls to get to know Grandma and Papa better too. 

 

Like part of the family...

3 days in and they are just like part of the family.  :) So much has happened in the last 48 hours, it's hard to remember everything.  Lucky for me the girls want me to take pictures of EVERYTHING that they do...good think I LOVE to take pictures! 

Yesterday we went to see Courtney for their vision check.  Everything went smoothly and great but Roxy did not enjoy the eye drops to dilate.  You could tell she was uncomfortable for hours.  But once that wore off, it was fine.  In the afternoon went to Jacob and Josie's school for their Christmas party and to drop off the gifts purchased by PTL.  The girls met a lot of friends/teachers/kids but were troopers about not understanding anything that people were saying to them.  They waved, smiled and hugged complete strangers.  I tried to tell them that these people were my friends but if you have every met my friends...you know they are crazy!  (love you girls...3G's!) So it may have been a bit overwhelming but they were fine.


 
 
 I promised them I would take them shopping but the day kept getting away from us.  So at about 7pm we finally headed for the stores.  It was like I opened Pandora's box.....they were so excited! 

I was a little afraid, but wow, if you open an old navy card and use their coupon right now, my bill dropped over $100 dollars!  It was awesome.  Besides what was on sale, the bill went from $270ish to about $160 for clothes and jewelry.  Then we headed over to Kohls.  I was starting to get nervous...how do you say no to these girls?  Well I mustered the strength to say no to some of the things they picked out but mostly they were very practical.  We came home and they showed Randy everything they had picked out, they ran up stairs and hung everything right away and were SO happy.  So much excitement and adrenalin....I think they kissed, hugged and thanked me about 4 dozed times that evening!  So for all of you that donated.... you truly made their hearts smile! Thank you! I wish you all could have been there to witness the joy!

I finally got them to settle down and get to bed by 1030.











Today was a little more relaxed and casual.  The kids all wandered around the house, played on the ipad, played games, went outside in the snow and then.....we took them to the ski hill to see Santa!  It was so great!  Really a memorable moment that I hope they never forget! 

Tonight we had a huge tickle fight.  It was amazing to see the connections between the girls and Randy and the girls and JJM (Jacob, Josie, Makayla).  You can just sense their longing for physical connection and love.   I can only hope and pray that we are being successful at meeting their needs. So far they are the opposite of what we were told to expect.  They are open, loving, affectionate, and reasonably adjusted.  The Lord is blessing us and hopefully we are blessing them in return. 

1st day at our house!

It was the first day at our house with the girls.  They must have been quite hungry.  Once I got out the cereal, I think they ate about 4 bowls each.  The morning was great.  Another family with orphans dropped off about 10 boxes of clothes for the girls to look through.  They spent an hour just picking out whatever they liked.  They had lots of smiles and Josie helped them sort through all the clothes. 

The girls woke up with about 8 inches of snow on the ground and more coming out of the sky.  They were pretty excited to get out in the snow and like girls after my own heart, kept asking for me to photograph everything!  They had a great time chasing eachother, throwing snow and climbing on the playset covered in snow.

They both really LOVE Sophie.  Since that is the one name they know for sure, they ask where sophie is all the time.  They told me today that Valya (the younger one in blue) does know some English but very little and Roksolana doesn't know any.  We did a lot of thumbs up and thumbs down and used the ipod to explain things to them.  They seem to really like that, but its hard to tell sometimes if it translated it correctly and they really know what you're talking about. 

They also both really love Makayla.  This morning she was a little shy and didn't know what to think of them.  But after a while, it was just another family member to Makayla.

 

We made lots of cookies and the girls wanted to be a part of every detail.  They also helped make dinner.  Roksolana and Jacob played 'volleyball' in the basement for about an hour.  I think they just hit the ball at eachother but they seemed to really connect and have a good time.  I think Jacob really likes her and really enjoys having an older sibling.  He asked me tonight if they were really his sisters.  So cute!

They were really affectionate.  We had plenty of hugs today and they made sure to tell me every time they were going to leave the room...to go up stairs, down stairs and even to the bathroom.  They are really sweet!

Tonight after dinner, the 6 of us had a 45 minute pillow fight.  It was amazing!  The girls were so relaxed, having an awesome time and smiling like crazy!  I think they were exhausted by the time 8pm rolled around so we had all 5 kids in bed by 815pm.  It was great. Tomorrow we are off to see Courtney, the eye doctor, and then the girls will come to Trinity for the class Christmas parties. 

Today could not have gone better!  They are truly a blessing!