Summer has been full of learning; for all of us. Anna is doing good for the most part. We have had a few learning moments because well, my boys don't like being hit for no good reason. If they got too close to something Anna was doing or had, she would hit them on the arm and hard. We have that under control now but not without lots of tears and hurtful words from Anna. I hope you don't mind my honesty as it is not all sunshine and rainbows. It is a daily struggle but to be expected since she spent 10 years in an orphanage and had to fight for what she got.
Peyton has picked back up on her Russian language now and that has been good and bad. I am glad that Peyton can now be bi-lingual but in turn that hinders Anna from learning English and really Anna has little desire to learn English. We found a wonderful tutor through the Adult Literacy Program at our library and I was so hopeful that that would really help her. The lady is just great and Anna is so smart but again you can lead a horse to water but you can't make her drink.
I think starting school next week is going to be a turning point for Anna. We enrolled her in the sophomore class and Peyton is in the Freshman class. They may have one class together but we decided that it is time for Anna to choose her path without the aid of Peyton.
Anna was really misled by someone in Ukraine; someone at the orphanage, our facilitator, her brother, her aunt, we are not sure. She was under the impression that her brother, who is in his twenties, would be making his way to America and she can't understand why he has not come for her yet. She also knows that at age 18 she can choose to go back to Ukraine. We have a lot of work to do to get her to see the opportunity she has here as opposed to the life she will have if she chooses to return to Ukraine. I have had Peyton explain to her the realities she will face in Ukraine and I'm not sure she really can comprehend it because she was in the orphanage for so long. I daily put it in God's hands because as hard as I try this is all far more than I can do. Anna really is a smiley girl and loves to give hugs; sincere hugs. She is very bright and can have a wonderful future if that is what she wants. We are hopeful that she will start to see her future here and we will fight for her to the end.
As hard as this summer has been we have had several blessings including our sweet Carson accepting Jesus this last Sunday. He has been talking to us about it for a while but we needed to make sure he realized what he was doing as he is only 9. He amazes me what he grasps at this age. He sure has been listening in church.
I want to give a shout out to my sweet friend that sent me a wonderful gift and letter this week, at just the perfect time, God's timing. Included in the package were butterflies. If you have been following our adoption stories you will know how significant butterflies were to us. Thank you my friend!
We have been doing a lot of canning this summer as we have had an abundance of cucumbers, Good thing the kids like pickles. We made Dill, Bread and Butter, Sweet Pickles and Relish. Yummm!
Enjoy a few photos from our Summer.
~Tina
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| homemade popsicle - blueberry banana chia |
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| Carson's baptism |
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