YEAH!

Well, I have a few minutes to myself because my wonderful mother-in-law watches the kids every Thurs. morning.  They are so excited when we pull in the drive way.  They both shout "Kiki, Papa...Yeah!!"  What a huge blessing!!  We are getting into a pretty good routine now.  They are both hillarious with their English speaking.  It is really amazing how much they know.  They are trying to learn their colors and point to everything randomly saying a color.  I'm hoping it clicks soon!!  They are both like parrots, trying to repeat everything we say and every time we climb the stair, which is a lot, they count to 10 and say "yeah!"  Pretty much everything they are excited about is followed by a 'YEAH"  They are doing room time by themselves now for an hour, which is a slice of Heaven.  Not that they don't complain and get into some kind of mischief every time, but they know they are safe and are getting better every day.  One time I came up the stairs to find they had emptied the two shelves of their closet  and thrown all the clothes over the gate into the hallway.  I wondered why they were so quiet.  Oh well!! I honestly didn't care at all!  Another time they found the babywipes and had taken out every one and were cleaning their room and each other with them.  Again....Oh Well!  What price can you put on an hour of alone time?!  After room time, we fold the laundry. They hand every piece to me and tell me whose it is and carry the shirts to the appropriate room, then it's time to go shovel and walk outside.  I got to thinking they probably think it is always cold and white (including the people) and stark in their new environment, since it was pretty much always hot and lush green in the Congo!  We are out for a half hour no matter how cold it is and they are fine with it.  The cold doesn't seem to bother them at all!!  We then come in and go downstairs to watch Barney, where they stand in front of the TV pointing at Barney and all the kids and trying to sing and dance.  I enjoy a cup of coffee and check my e-mail...I never thought I would say this but, God bless you, Barney!! Soon after Barney is over, the kids come home!!  The big kids are amazing!  Jay had to travel and be gone over night for the first time and I was dreading it!  The kids stepped up and helped play with the littles and helped me with bathtime and were wonderful companions!  What a blessing!

A few funny stories...One morning Lydia was done with breakfast and climbed up on the bench at the table.  She saw the syrup bottle, which happened to be Aunt Jemima and pointed at the picture and said, "Lydia!" Too funny!  Aunt Jemima does look a lot more hip than she used to, so that's a good thing!

Something else, we got Belle's haircut for the first time since they've been home and when they saw her they literally freaked out!!  Daniel ran to his room and would not come downstairs for dinner.  He even slept restlessly.  So interesting. We have to wonder what his experience has been with dogs or animals. 

We have a bedtime routine now that includes reading a Bible story and praying.  It is so precious to watch them pray.  They hold each others' hands and ours and say "Amen" when we are done.  It really is so precious.

On a personal note,  as many of you know, this has been a challenging time for me.  Not just because of the adoption but we have some other things going on in our life as well.  It has been somewhat of the perfect storm.  I have struggled with sleep and it has been very difficult.  I have been clinging to God for strength and peace.  I have been begging Him to remove the problem...to allow me good sleep and give us clear direction, but instead He has given me the strength to make it through each day...some better than others.  I have never felt more fully dependent on Him for each moment.  Yesterday I was reading the book of Daniel from the Bible and read the story about Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego who refused to worship a golden idol even though they knew they would be killed for it.  Their reply to the King was that they would choose to trust in God and whatever happened, they knew He would deliver them.  They still ended up being thrown into the fiery furnace, but it did not consume them and when the king looked into the furnace, Jesus was walking around in there with them.  He didn't remove the circumstance, but was walking in the fire with them, preserving their lives and He ended up receiving glory.  The king demanded that everyone worship the God of Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego.  May the same be said of me!!

Thank you all for your continued prayer and support!!