OK - 2 Months Home!!!

Ok - thanks to my good friend Nancy - I'm guilted back into posting an update!! So here's for you Nancy!!!

First - the pictures above!!!
#1 - Papa hoping that Ira and Nastya will find some really good Gems to off set the cost of mining and ring settings!!!

#2 - Charlie realizing how good it is to be King when two teen girls ADORE you!!!
#3 - Ira loving Nastya to pieces while presenting her with her "Welcome" cake!
#4 - 2 Best Friends for Life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#5 - Mama - never so happy as to be kissed by her beautiful daugher and being with her best friend who is just and sweet and wonderful as Ira!!!! What 2 special girls!!

Honestly we've been so busy I've been negligent w/ the blog but folks - we've been so busy having fun I just haven't taken the time I should have.

We have been home about 8 to 9 weeks and life is FANTASTIC!!!! Ira is beyond amazing. We are not having any problems at all. We have all 3 melded, bonded, begun serious attachment and are just having a blast with each other. Ira is delightful, she is funny beyond belief. I've never known such a happy child. Every day she wakes happy and the day stays that way. She makes us laugh constantly. She is so smart and so fast it amazes us. She loves everything - from fun and silly to school work. She is tutoring 3 days a week for 2 hrs. each session w/ a teacher that is from Russia. Her English has exploded in 2 months!!! She is quite conversational in English - and has just now in the last couple of weeks really become very confident in using English in public with strangers. She and I are also working hard with reading and Hooked on Phonics - she is reading amazingly well. She reads basics in menus now, street signs, items in grocery stores, as well as elementary level books, etc. I'm blown away by her quick grasps of this as well as her excitment to learn. She constantly tells me "Mama - Ira LOVES books"!!!! Could it get any better than that???? We will be homeschooling this fall for the first year. Ira knows that and is happy that is the path we're taking. She is working so hard to catch up but she understands that she is not up to speed w/ English enough to be grade level in US and she doesn't want to be in school w/ 5th graders. So she's happy to stay home and keep working hard - and folks - this girl works hard. She has a goal all her own and she's busting it out to achieve it!!

Last week we had her very best friend, Nastya, from UA, who was adopted 18 months ago and lives in MD. She came to the house and stayed with us for a week. It was more fun that I can begin to described having two loving, sweet, amazing, beautiful teen girls here with us!! They laughed, played, gigled, did hair, painted nails, and talked into the night. We went to our local "little" amusement park - Tweetsie - did gem mining (both girls found some gems and got rings made as keepsakes); went on picnics at waterfalls and many other adventures. The week passed entirely too quickly but fun was had by all and at times Tom and I were overwhelmed at the reunion of these two girls and watching them build a bridge together from the past, that only they understand. to the present of today and indeed the future. We're planning on another get together in the fall - probably Ira going to Nastya's house for a week. The girls are both counting the days!!!

Having the language barrier break down has been wonderful - learning more and more about Ira - her loves, her likes, her dislikes - has been wonderful. Her daily attitude and disposition is incredible. She is without a doubt the happiest child we have ever known. We are blessed many times over to have her here in our lives. We are so in love with her and we are just having the best time ever. Tom and I both can no long begin to imgine life without Ira!!! We never planned this path but thank God he did plan it and we still don't know what we did to deserve this amazing young girl who has so enriched our lives!!!!!