Becoming тато

When Anna was first with us, she had a hard time bonding with Josh. The last week in December was the first time Аня (Anna) really started to talk to Josh and show a more goofy side with him. She was always very clingy to me and very reserved with Josh. I will never forget the night we were all in the kitchen playing with the play-doh and she started teaching us some Ukrainian. She found Josh's attempts at Ukrainian absolutely hilarious and really started accepting him into her life at that point. She had a funny relationship with him. She didn't call him Josh, instead, she called him, "Sleepy." Rightly so! Josh had been working long hours at work and often came home looking very tired. She also would talk back to him. Many times, jokingly, she would say, "No, Sleepy!" Even when Josh wasn't telling her to do something. At that point, she didn't know many other English words, but it got to be a bit excessive and disrespectful, so we had to translate to her that she needs to be respectful and be kind. Immediately, she did as we asked and her relationship changed. We were becoming more of a "mom" and "dad" figure rather than just a fun couple she was hanging out with. That was one of the only times we had to confront her actions and she handled it very well and with a great attitude.

 

From day 1, I was "мама" to her and quickly became a more endearing term. She clung to me. When Josh would get home from work, she would sometimes overshadow Josh by trying to hug me first when Josh walked in. It eventually calmed down and I made a point to go hug Josh right away. We felt it was important for her to see that we cared for each other and then her and Aden. We were never harsh about it, but we were deliberate. She understood and eventually, she embraced our after work "welcome home." However, Josh was still "Sleepy."

  I don't remeber exactly what day it was, but one day... a sunny afternoon... kind of out of the blue... Josh became "тато." 

That. was. huge. 

HUGE! 

It was nearing the end of hosting and she was walking down the stairs and turned around because she forgot something or wanted to tell Josh something - I can't remember... but I remember she was trying to get Josh's attention and quickly said, "Тато!" Which made Josh and I both stop briefly and smile at one another. This moment, though fading in my memory, was important. Every day, she was getting closer, opening up more, allowing us in to her life... and we were blessed. 

  Anna never got super close with Josh, but they had a special relationship. He was someone important to her, you could tell. She continually got more comfortable with him during her time with us... and it was incredible for me to see my husband be a nurturing father to this teenage girl who needed a special kind of father's love. For a man who was not so sure he even wanted to host... it was inspiring for me to see his heart change towards her. He went from a person who showed mild concern for an orphan girl to a man fiercely protective of a teenager he wanted to be able to call his own. His care for her extended far beyond what I ever thought possible. 

Because we decided to host Anna, I was blessed - as a wife - to see into the depths of my husband's heart. I was able to get a peak into a part of his soul that I had never seen before. 

Because we hosted - 

WE were blessed! 

WE were changed! 

WE grew! 

If it was that impacting for us... I can only imagine what kind of soul-stirring, life-altering impacts it has on these children!

I often think of the phrase, "It is better to give than to receive." I hate to say that Anna got the short end of the stick in this hosting - because we know she didn't... however, we feel as though we have been blessed in ways that are completely unexplainable. Sometimes when we think about her, we just take some time to thank God for her life.

Each person has a purpose in this world. No matter their "status." Orphan or wealthiest person alive...

Each person has the unique ability to change someone else's life - even if they don't realize they're doing it. 

Essentially, God used Anna to change our lives. We pray, we were used to change hers.

This entire experience is completely unexplainable... no matter how many words I type or things I say - I just can not convey just what has happened to our family. From the deepest, most intimate parts of our souls - we are thankful for the lessons we learned, the challenges we faced, and the focus that has been changed. 

The Best Night of Her Life

It was finally the New Year and we were having a great time at home and going on small trips around the area. On Sunday, January 6th, we took a day trip up to Camp Forest Springs to go sledding and snow boarding. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we were excited to get up there! That morning, we went to church and I translated the gospel to her again (as I did every Sunday). Since she didn't understand what the pastor was preaching, I just told her the basics. Each week I would do that so that she would understand more about Christ. She seemed to have a bit of a religious background and she nodded to show that she understood what I was saying. Many times she would smile and get excited when I told her things about Jesus. He was common ground. I think she knew of Him, but didn't yet know Him personally.

After church, we headed up to the camp. Our family had never been there before, but we had heard great things about it. We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived. The sledding hill looked crazy, there was a decent ski hill, and they even had lessons for first time skiiers and snowboarders. The lessons were nice, but with a non-English speaker... it made it a little more difficult. No worries. Josh, my fearless and talented snowboarding husband happily agreed to teach her. He took her up the small slope, helped her get her board strapped to her boots, and showed her over and over again how to get up, stand the right way, and glide down the hill. He would snowboard backwards while she would come clumsily down the hill. It was a small hill, so each trial was only a few seconds long, but we could tell that she was LOVING it! I took a few pictures of her standing up and boarding down. She was proud of what she was accomplishing. She never got to a point where she wanted to go down the hill on her own, but she was such a good sport and really enjoyed learning! I was proud of her just for being willing to try it! 

After the snowboarding, we had a turn at sledding. The hill was a bit... ummm... scary. I had my 3-year-old with me and I was a bit nervous taking him down the big hill. We tried it... and as we were airborne, I decided that was the last time we'd go down. I had Aden on top of me in a tube and it was just not something with which I felt comfortable. Anna wasn't a huge fan either, not because it was a scary ride down, but because it took too long to get up the hill!! There was a pulley that tugged the tubes (with the people) up the hill and it went slowly. She didn't like that and only went down the hill a couple times. We stayed outside for quite a while. Josh scooted away for a little bit to snowboard down the big hill a few times. We watched him do the jump and Anna would say "ooooh," and "aaaaah," as Josh came flying down the hill. We were all impressed. I have a pretty cool husband. :) 

We finished by spending some time inside and drinking hot chocolate. It was a fabulous afternoon. That night, we had already planned to watch a movie. So, we headed home and ate some dinner. 

After dinner, we all snuggled on the couch in the basement and watched the Jesus film. We were excited to watch the movie because it was actually in her language! Josh and I watched it in our language on my iPod while her version played on the tv. It was old. It seemed really corny. It was long.

 It changed her life. 

We were about half way through when it was Aden's bedtime. Aden had been enamored with her version of the movie and was sitting like a champ during the first half. We paused it and put Aden to bed. We were going to turn it off and watch the second half another time, but she begged us to watch more. She had never so sincerely asked for anything else before. She was completely hooked. Personally, I didn't think she would like it, but perhaps because it was in her language she was extra interested? Perhaps because it was Scripture after Scripture quoted? Perhaps it was because we had been talking about Jesus at church and at home when we prayed that it was all coming together? Perhaps, just perhaps, the Holy Spirit was working, churning, convicting that heart of hers?

We could not turn it off and expect to just pick it up again later... We finished it to the end. We were having some issues with it on the TV, so we went upstairs and she finished it on the computer. Josh fell asleep on the couch and I sat next to her, still watching it in English on my phone. 

It was late, probably close to midnight before it neared the end. She was not tired, she was not bored... her eyes were still glued. She was still completely interested. 

The end of the movie arrived and it gave a bit of an overview and then an invitation to Salvation. I was not expecting what happened next. The invitation ended with another invitation: an invitation to pray. As I watched in English, I saw a little head next to me bow. Her hands were folded. She prayed. Out loud, whole-heartedly, completely, sincerely prayed. She didn't care that I was sitting next to her. She mouthed the words lead by the movie and then some other things. After she said "Amen," she looked at me with the biggest smiled. At the same time, Josh semi-woke. "I think we have a new believer in the house," I quietly said to him. I'm not sure he was awake enough to understand what I said... but I was so overjoyed, I would have told him even if he was still completely asleep! I had to tell someone! Meanwhile, she was quick to go to the translation program to ask me to help her write down the words she just prayed. She wanted them written down, to keep with her. I got a piece of paper and a pen and handed them to her. We replayed the video part where it went through the prayer and she frantically wrote down the words. She was so excited. So was I! My thoughts were that, now, even though this child has no earthy father - she had just been adopted! She had been adopted into the family of God and she was now a child of the Lord! Though no earthly father claimed her, she now had a Heavenly Father! My heart was greatly at ease, but I also had more of a burden than ever for this child. She needed a family. This precious, precious child, with such a sweet and tender heart - needed an earthly family. Anna and I talked a bit about what happened and she translated a few things about how happy she was. 

That night, I tucked her in like I did every night, prayed with her, and gave her a kiss on the forehead. With tears in my eyes, I thanked the Lord for saving such a sweet soul. 

One thing I noticed about Anna is that she liked to write down her prayers. After she left our house, she left some papers on the table next to her bed. All of them ended with "amen," and I just thought they were the same prayer she had prayed that night... but I had them translated. They were all prayers she had prayed since that night. She asked God to help her with some things she was struggling with and her normalcy hit me again. She was a sinner... saved by the grace of God. Just like me. 

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

After Christmas, our time seemed to just slip away! Josh went back to work a couple days before the New Year and I got into a routine with the kids.

Up around 7am.

Cuddled on the couch with Aden and Anna watching Shaun the Sheep until 7:30am.

Breakfast

Anna would then take a long bath (and usually soak our entire bathroom floor... we eventually were able to explain that she can't fill the tub to the top or it will spill over! ... and the shower curtain stays IN the shower.) :) She loved her baths.

While she took a bath I'd play with Aden and give him some special attention.

After her bath, she always wanted me to dry her hair for her. I happily agreed. Every morning.

I pulled out my straightener and curling iron a few times, too!

This would often take us to the point where we could suit up and play in the snow for a little while before lunch.

We'd make some lunch together... we'd eat... then we'd put Aden in his room for a nap.

Anna and I would often work on a puzzle while Aden slept.

By the time Aden was up, Josh would be home from work and we'd spend the time together as a family. We went out to the indoor water park a few times, we took the chaperone from Latvia bowling, we had wonderful friends visit for dinner, we went to a huge sledding hill, and some nights... we just stayed home and played play-doh and goofed off. Life was good. This little family was changing. Our hearts were growing ever so fond of this young lady. 

New Years came and went. We stayed home as a family.

A few mornings, a friend offered to watch Aden, so I took Anna to the Clay House in Weston to do some painting. She enjoyed that a lot! We ended up doing that a couple times. In fact, some gorgeous friends of ours came down from Ashland (you know who you are) to paint with her. We all had a really lovely time together. 

God was growing Josh and I closer and closer to this child. I ached to be her mumma and Josh was ready and willing to take her as his own. I checked, I rechecked, and I verified OVER and OVER with the adoption agency to find out FOR SURE we would not be able to take her into our family forever. The answer was always the same. "You're too young."

Not too young to adopt... Just not 15 years older than her... which is a country requirement.

So, we continued to advocate. With broken hearts, and minds fully committed to this girl, we advocated. We grew closer, we loved her, we prayed for her, we advocated. We saw God work. We saw what kind of love God has for children who do not have earthly parents. Week after week, we saw the Lord do mighty things. 

Time was flying. It was going by so quickly and I wanted everything to slow down! I soaked in every moment, good and bad, and I am certain - she was doing the same.

A Little Christmas Drama

As I write this, I think about the fact that this all feels like it was AGES ago, yet it also feels like it happened just yesterday! It's an odd feeling to reminisce. 

Christmas came. On Christmas Eve, we spent the time at my parent's place. It was Anna's first time at my parent's house and she quickly greeted my family. She immediately took a liking to my mom and helped her straightaway in the kitchen. Later, she was down in my parent's basement with my mom and she was enamored with some Barbie dolls my mom had in her office. My mom and I gave each other a look... We knew. Anna would go home with the beautiful Barbie dressed in a glamorous sparkling pink dress. We just had to wrap it without her knowing! I went back upstairs with Anna and my mom snuck the doll into her room. It was quickly wrapped and we were excited for her to open this special treasure! 

My family opened gifts that night and I wasn't certain how she would react. Our family doesn't do a small Christmas. No matter how much we suggested to just 'keep it simple,' it was no use. Thankfully, she handled it well. All the gift opening seemed to exhaust her (and I think she was still a bit jet lagged). We finally got to the doll. As she opened it, she didn't see what it was right away. When she turned it over, she became so visibly surprised and happy! Mom and I exchanged smiles.

We headed home before it got too late and Anna went to bed right away. We all had a great time and enjoyed our evening together.

Then came Christmas Day. 

Remember the title??? Here comes the drama. 

Anna developed a crush. Like a really super huge crush... on my brother-in-law. We tried and tried to tell her that he had a girlfriend. She was going to be coming to Christmas dinner and we didn't want her heart to be unprepared. However, we think the translation must have been poor... or perhaps she thought we were teasing her by saying, "Oh, he has a girlfriend (meaning her)!" That is NOT what we wanted to portray, but she clearly did not understand what we were trying to tell her. 

It all went down at the dinner table.

His girlfriend was running late, so we decided to start dinner without her. I don't even think we had a plate set for her, so I'm sure Anna didn't suspect another visitor. We ate and laughed and Anna was clearly a giddy teenager. Then it happened. That moment that we thought could be a possibility due to the lack of translation, but way worse than we imagined. I am pretty sure it happened in slow motion... The girlfriend entered. 

My brother-in-law got up to greet her at the door.

Anna was a bit confused at first, but caught on VERY quickly when she saw the visitor give my brother-in-law a hug and pull a chair up next to him. 

Before we could even introduce her to Anna, the connection was made.

I could physically feel her heartbreak. 

I can't even imagine how she felt! It was nobody's fault, we tried the very best we could to warn her, and yet... my heart broke for her broken heart! "She's such a normal teenage girl," kept running through my mind! 

How embarrassed she must have felt! 

How disappointing! 

That night, I didn't see her as a needy child; rather, I saw her as a typical teenage girl with a crush on a boy!! 

She retreated. No tears, just a complete and utter shut down. It was probably the longest "pouty/shut-down" moment from her the entire time she was with us, but I could TOTALLY understand it! I was not mad. In fact, I retreated with her. We sat in the living room together and I stroked her hair. I translated a couple things to her... but mostly we just sat quietly.

Everyone gave us space. Then a bit later, my mother-in-law joined us. She started making the mood much lighter and I could feel Anna's attitude shifting. 

A little while later, Josh came in. 

Then Aaron & Katie. Aaron brought the guitar and started strumming a bit. She loved it and was soon sitting on the floor with him, learning how to play some chords. All of this cheered her more and more. She was the center of our attention - and she was loving it! Marc joined us, and when we were all laughing again... My brother-in-law and his girlfriend entered. For just a moment, Anna went quiet... but then, like a switch went off... she was completely fine. 

Not only did she become a normal teenage girl in my eyes, but I was incredibly impressed by her maturity. That was it, she was over it. At least, visibly, she was over it.

The rest of the night was VERY enjoyable!! We all laughed and enjoyed each other's company... it truly was an unforgettable Christmas night! Josh and I were so blessed. Those moments we shared as a family will never be forgotten.

I think that little Christmas drama pulled us closer together. Anna let us see inside her. We could feel her hurt and know her pain. We looked at her differently, we loved her even more. We couldn't have asked for a better Christmas. 

Christmas Shopping!

One of the suggestions of New Horizons was to take your host child Christmas shopping so he or she could also take part in the gift-giving at Christmas time. I thought that was a fabulous idea and there were about 15 people she could lavish gifts upon. With a crisp $20 in my purse, we headed off to the dollar store.
Let me set the scene.
The Dollar Tree...a couple days before Christmas...
The majority of the ornaments were no longer available for purchase... and the "good" gifts seemed to be a bit scarce. That's what I saw.
When we walked in, I told her to pick out a gift for each person in our family. We live near my parents and Josh's parents and she knew them from visiting with them. We had also shown her pictures of my family that would be coming up for Christmas. When I told her to pick out a gift for each person, her eyes lit up! She wasted NO time to start her Christmas shopping! I would tell her a name and she would search and search, high and low, until we found what she considered the PERFECT gift for each person. I found it absolutely intriguing what she chose. All the gifts she chose were very heavily thought over, rethought, and there were many times where she would find something different and put a previously picked item back. As I said, the pickins were scarce, but it did not deter her from finding some serving tray or tree ornaments to give.
Her taste in ornaments... well, they're MUCH different than my taste in ornaments! It seemed as though the bigger, the gaudier, the most 'out there' ornaments - were the best possible finds! She was thrilled to find these and quickly added them to the cart. At times we'd re-count and realize there were 20 items rather than 15 and we'd have to go through the roll-call again to see who was getting what and put back certain items. In the short time she was here, she had developed a bit of a crush on my brother-in-law and at one point, about 5 of the gifts were designated to him... Eventually, we got it down to 15. Some of the gifts included: a gum ball machine, a broom & dust pan, a deviled egg tray, a plastic serving platter, numerous gigantic ornaments, and a few other things such the like. We did end up putting back a few things because I decided they were not suitable gifts from her - which included a pair of underwear.
We then picked out some tape, wrapping paper, and ribbon... and paid for our goodies. I let her hand the money to the cashier and she was very excited as the crisp $20 became nothing but a few coins of change. She gave the change to me and we headed home to wrap our new treasures.
She had obviously never wrapped a gift before, but was more than excited to learn!
We took almost the entire afternoon to wrap gifts and re-designate certain gifts to certain people. We played Christmas music and ate Christmas cookies and really enjoyed that special time together. She was so excited to give her gifts to everyone and I was really excited for her! What a special treat Christmas was going to be for all of us!

Sensory Overload

A few days past... It was filled with making Christmas Cookies (which she ABSOLUTELY loved), and preparing for my son's 3rd birthday and my dad's birthday (same day - his age is being left out for his benefit). :) We planned to have a small family gathering with just my family and Josh's family. The only problem was that we kind of forgot to get some stuff for the party.
One thing NHFC suggests during training, is that you NOT take your host child to Wal-mart if you can help it. Don't do it within the first few days of their arrival, especially. Why? Because it is completely overwhelming. In fact, I even get overwhelmed when I go there - and I'm "used" to that place! Unfortunately, we found ourselves needing to stop there briefly to get something for our son's birthday party... Bad idea. We knew it wasn't a great thing in the first place because it would be overwhelming, but we didn't understand how this would be displayed in Anna's actions.
She shut down.
The first few minutes we were there she did fine. We heard a few "oohs" and "aaahs." Then, after about 5 minutes, her smile was gone, she stopped talking or responding to any of our questions, and she just kind of got grumpy. She totally shut down.
We had already planned to go in and get out right away, so we were glad we didn't have to be there long. We went through the check out and a few minutes we got in the car and drove away, she was fine. In a way, I'm glad we went there. It was good to see how she reacted in a place like that and how we could take care of the situation because we figured more of that would come. Not necessarily Wal-mart, but other situations. That is how she dealt with stress and overwhelming situations. It was good to know. Remove her from the situation and let her adjust. It could have been worse, however. I don't suggest taking a host child to Wal-mart just to see how they deal with overwhelming situations. You never know what could happen...
Anyways, we got home and were ready for the next day's party. We knew our son would be getting some gifts, so we asked that his gifts would be accompanied by one for Anna as well. Our families were happy to oblige (and wanted to give her gifts anyway), so that worked out well. The night of the party, we did our traditional M&M cake decorating which includes throwing M&Ms at the cake until everyone's bowl of M&Ms are secured to the entire cake. It's fun. Anna enjoyed it, but cautiously.
The party also included some great family time. During this entire time, Anna stuck by me like I had been glued to her. Absolutely no problem with me. However, when it came to gift-time, she was pretty unsure what to do. We had almost a Wal-mart shut down again. I found out that in Ukraine, when given a gift, a person doesn't open it then and there... so, the fact that we wanted her to open her gifts in front of everyone must have been a bit strange to her. But she did it. She thanked everyone... and then she went silent. She laid on my lap the rest of the evening and fell asleep. I'm sure jet lag was still an issue, and it was a sweet time... but we were starting to see how overloading it was to her to see all these things and be given all these gifts. They were small gifts, practical gifts, things she could wear or use back in Ukraine. Thankfully, we had been warned. New Horizons did a fantastic job informing parents of what to expect when it came to overwhelming situations such as this. We knew it was unavoidable for Christmas and wanted her to know that Christmas was not about the gifts we give each other, but the greatest gift given to us - Jesus Christ and salvation through Him. I think as time passed, as she watched our family, she understood this... but within the first few days of being here, it was a bit foreign to her.

In all, we were starting to get a glimpse into this young lady's life. We were starting to see what made her tick, what excited her, what made her sad or angry. We were starting to understand that she did not care for chicken, but would eat all the sweets in the house if you let her. She was letting us get to know her, non-verbally, and we were totally in love with this child. We knew she was a special girl - sent to our family to change our lives.

Welcome to America! Welcome to your FAMILY!

Money raised: Check (well, for the most part... but we were not concerned.)
Room Prepared: Check (well, unless she actually hated the color pink)
Mentally Prepared: Check (well... as much as we could be)
It was the day before Anna arrived when it finally hit me. She was going to arrive the NEXT DAY! Our house was a mess, Aden was being a grump, and though I was excited as could be... I realized, I didn't have much time to finish getting the rest of the house ready to go!
That day was a bit of a blur. I'm pretty sure I went grocery shopping, but wasn't sure what I was getting. I had run through the training manual to the page where it talked about what foods they eat in Eastern Europe... but then on the blogs and Facebook posts, some people would write about how their host child wouldn't touch a supposedly "favorite" food. I stocked up on yogurt. Even if she wouldn't eat it, I would! Cheese, sauerkraut, bread, a bag of chips, spaghetti, and hot dogs were also on the list. Aside from food, I grabbed a box of (name brand) gallon-sized Ziplock bags... You probably don't want to know why, but you'll find out later.
After shopping, un-grumpifying Aden, and making sure everything was as prepared as it could be... I tried to sleep, but all my new Facebook friends who were also hosting were welcoming their kids that night; so I found myself constantly reading the updates on the New Horizons group page, watching the pictures pop up of the parents meeting their host child they had already fallen in love with, and trying to spot Anna at the airport. Which, a friend of mine spotted her for me! She was coming!! She was at one airport, then I spotted her at the New York airport! She was getting closer!! She actually spent her first night in the US in New York, along with her chaperone and a few others coming to this area. I had to force myself to sleep.
Josh was up around 3am, I believe. He went into work early so he could get a half-day in before 9am. While he was at work, I packed up Aden's bag and got his stuff ready for Nanna's house (we decided not to take him with us to the airport). Then I anxiously got ready, made some sandwiches and packed some other snacks in a bag.
When Josh got home from work, we drove to my parent's place and dropped Aden off. We also took their car because it was more reliable than ours. Right away, I went to the car and tucked the gallon-sized Ziplock bags into the pouch on the back of the passenger side (anyone see where I'm going with this?) and made sure the box was open and readily available.
I laid some blankets and pillows across the back seat put the paper bag of food on the seat as well. I knew she'd be tired and wanted her to feel comfortable in the car.
Shortly after 9:30 we headed to the airport. We had to be there at 1pm to meet with our airport coordinator and we had to get her a welcome gift at some point too. I was planning on getting her flowers but didn't want to take them on the car ride lest they wilt during the drive! Nothing says "Welcome!" like wilted roses! So we planned to stop at a shop in the airport and pick some up.
Well, we arrived at the airport closer to 1pm than we wanted... and there was no flower shop in site. Uncool.
We had to do something!!! So we went to the incredibly overpriced shop at the airport, found a little stuffed monkey that made a ridiculous noise if you pressed its foot, and had "MINNEAPOLIS" written across its chest! Ugh. It was going to have to do! The only good thing about it was that she couldn't read English - so she'd have no clue what it said!!
While at the airport, we met a few of the families that were also hosting. I was eager to meet them as we had been Facebook friends for a while, but never met in person.
It was nearing arrival time and Shari, the airport coordinator went to greet the kids and chaperone at the gate... We waited.
I was getting so excited, I was shaking. After what seemed like FOREVER, we saw some little people walking closer all wearing red shirts. That was them! They were a level up, so I tried to pick out Anna but wasn't certain until she came down the escalator and I saw the blue coat I saw in the pictures the night before! She was here!! She was so close!!

HOLD ON!
Do I give her a hug straightaway!? What do I say!? She doesn't know English!
She was getting closer...
Do I just shake her hand? Do I give her a big bear hug or a small side hug? Is she going to like us!? What is she going to think of this ridiculous monkey!?

I made the decision quickly-
Make contact immediately. Let her know you love her, care about her, and will be a comfort and security for her.
So I started walking towards her and as she approached us I said, "Hello Anna, Welcome," and I wrapped her in my arms. From that moment, I didn't let her go... and she, just as happily, clung to me. I handed her the monkey. She liked it... especially the annoying noise it made. Josh said hello and she nodded and said hello back to him. She wasn't distant, but she wasn't quick to bond with Josh at the airport. That was okay. Josh was fine with that and he was wonderful in how he responded to her. Neither of us had any idea what she had been through, so we were watching her responses to us and taking our cues from there. Josh knew that she would have to have some time to get comfortable with him.
We had to get a group picture and she just hung on to me. I didn't mind. Once that was done, Josh carried her bag and I held her hand as we walked to the car. Once we got to the car, I opened the door and showed her the plastic bags. She looked at me funny. Ugh.
They told me at training I might have to do this... So I grabbed a bag, opened it, and pretended to throw up - noise and all.
She half laughed, and was half mortified.
"No, no, no!" She said. She smiled. "No."

PHEW! That was a relief! If I understood her correctly... she doesn't get car sick!
Apparently, many MANY of the children who are hosted have a very bad time with car sickness. They walk everywhere and are rarely in cars in their country! It is totally understandable, and I was ready to deal with it... but it was kind of my greatest fear. Silly, I know. I had prayed so fervently that she wouldn't get car sick. We had a 3 hour drive ahead of us!!
I got her settled into the car and we headed home. I used google translate on my phone to let her know it was a long drive home and that she should eat and sleep if she wanted to. She just sat there. Silently. She kept her hands folded in her lap and was so quiet. I didn't want her to get car sick so I didn't want to use my phone much to talk, so Josh and I talked a little so she could just get comfortable hearing us talk. Every so often, I'd translate something or ask her something... but we mostly let her just be quiet. Eventually, she ate the food in the bag and rested her head on the pillow.
When we arrived home, my parents and Aden were there to welcome her. We brought her in and she was quick to be kind to them, but we could tell she was exhausted.
My parents left and it was just us.
Now what?
Bath.
I took her hand gently and showed her around the house, showed her her room, and showed her the bath tub. I showed her how to turn the water on from cold to hot and how to plug the tub. I showed her the soap, shampoo, conditioner, and where the towels were. She was excited!
We let her take a bath for as LONG as she wanted, but she was quickly in and out. I had set out some new pajamas for her and she was happy to wear them.
She found Aussie, our dog, to be the highlight of entertainment for the night.
We were pleased to see her smile and laugh as she chased the dog around the house and scratched his belly when she caught him.
We let her get comfortable and settled in and by then it was time for bed. We tucked Aden in and had her come in his room with us. We all prayed together and said goodnight to Aden. We let her stay up just a little bit later and then we tucked her in, just as we did with Aden. I gave her a kiss on her forehead and said, "I Love You." She just smiled. Josh stayed back by the door to give her space but said goodnight.
She was still pretty quiet.

She was asleep quickly.
So were we!

We decided for the first week at least to sleep downstairs on our couch since both the kids' rooms were down there. We had a few reasons for this, but it was mostly so she would feel safe knowing we were just outside her door if she needed us.

It was a great first day. Since we were not sure what to expect, we were pleased with the outcome!

So we slept. We all slept. I had a feeling this was going to be a very wonderful experience for all of us.