Some More Photos from Earlier this Month

Down at the pier in Emerald Isle with our friends from Chicago

In Emerald Isle for the 4th of July

Our new little American

Part of the reason I haven't blogged much since I've been back from Ukraine is that we have a new Mac and I don't really know what I'm doing on it yet!  I can tell that it's going to be great, but in the meantime everything is taking me a little longer while I'm figuring things out.  Our dear friends from Chicago came to visit us at the beach over the 4th of July weekend.  Nicole was in heaven getting to be with three girls everyday.  The boys had just as much fun though.  Their girls are so sweet.  They adopted their youngest from China years ago and they were very encouraging to me.  I will have to write more later because it's 1:30 a.m. and we are leaving this morning for 10 days.  We are picking up Jimmy from camp and I cannot wait to see him.  He's been gone for 2 weeks and I'm dying to hear how he liked it.  He wrote us a lot of funny letters, but he kept mentioning that he missed us so I hope he's glad that he went.  It's been over 100 degrees here so we are looking forward to a little cooler weather.  We will be meeting up with five families from TX, IL, and MD at a place called Camp of the Woods.  It's a Christian family resort that is on a beautiful lake.  We have been going there since Jimmy and Nicole were babies and Paul has been going since he was a child.  John is going to be in heaven with 17 of our friends' kids to play with everyday, most of which are boys, and that's not including all of the other kids that will be there.  He is very social and has had a great time at camp this week.  Then we will head to Stowe, VT for a lacrosse tournament for Jimmy.  Maybe I'll bring my laptop and blog from there.

Is Anybody Out There? A Brief Update on John

I am sorry that I have completely fallen out of the blogging world!  We so appreciated the support and prayers of those of you who followed us on this journey to adopt John and are very grateful for your friendship.  Just to give you (if there is anyone reading this) a brief update, John is doing amazingly well.  He is healthy and his English has come a long way.  The only Russian word that he still uses is the word for "and".  He can communicate with us and and with most people,  although sometimes he's hard to understand because of his accent.  He is getting along well with his siblings.  Nicole is like a second mother to him and he really didn't want Jimmy to go away to camp last week.  He looks up to Jimmy and wants to play sports with him whenever possible.  John and Scott play together a lot since they are the closest in age and at times there are conflicts, but for the most part, things are going pretty smoothly.  Scott is learning to share his room, his toys (except for his Lego creations, which go on the top shelf), and his mom and dad.  John has gone to a Vacation Bible School at the church we attend at the beach and a day camp from 9-12 this past week.  He has gotten along well with the other children, has enjoyed playing with kids his own age, and has learned some fun Christian songs.  Today he saw a live monkey, alligator, owl, and snake at camp, which he was very excited about.  Thankfully he LOVES to swim at the beach and in a pool so we have spent a lot of time at both of those places.  We will go away this Friday for a week in the Adirondacks and then we will be home until school starts because Nicole will have to be around for Middle School volleyball practice.  It seems hard to believe that the summer is getting closer to the end than the beginning!  John has attached well to the family and loves receiving hugs and attention.  I think that Scott and I have struggled in attaching to him.  Scott has lost his position as the baby of the family and has had to learn how to be a big brother.  For me, not having those years of bonding with an infant or even a toddler makes connecting with an older child harder than I thought it would be.  I am trusting the Lord that it will continue to get easier each day and am thankful that John is a healthy and smart little boy.  I will post more later.