Hair and Lake...

Today was a big day forViktorija in alot of ways. The day started off with a trip to meet Preston (UnkaP) to get her hair styled. Preston was wonderful with Viktorija and gave her a few blonde highlights, in addition to a trim and styling. And if that wasn't already great enough, Preston gave Viktorija a hairbrush and some styling products. Viktorija could hardly wait to show Julie what a great job Preston had done and tell her how nice he was. THANK YOU PRESTON.

Ok...now I'll take over writing the blog:-) (It's me, Julie). Our friends, Tim and Carla, invited us out for an evening on the lake. A first for Viktorija. She has never been on a lake, much less a boat. She was so excited! She took to the tubing like a champ. The water was a bit choppy at times, but she didn't want to stop. Initially, Mike demonstrated how riding the tube worked. Mike hasn't been on a tube in quite some time. And, as luck would have it, he was thrown from the tube at approximately 45 mph and took a hard tumble. For you physics majors out there the impact due to his body mass and accleration was significant. He said he feels like some of his ribs may be "broken". YIKES! Say a prayer for him. Viktorija felt very comfortable with Tim and Carla and asked, "when can we go again.?" This child will be so exhausted when she returns to Latvia!! But, she is having the time of her life...thanks to our generous and caring friends and family members. (Tim will do anything to make it into the blogs:-). Just kidding, Tim. We love you both!

Viktorija was so proud she got a card in the mail today from my mom! It included stickers, which she really liked. She looks forward to getting the mail everyday. To find something with her name addressed on the envelope is a special thing for her. Thank you, Mom!

Viktorija is very excited about our trip to Carowinds tomorrow with our friends Miriam and her daugther, Brooke. I'm anxious to see how she responds to another girl who is almost her age. She seems to be more open with adults than with her peers. This will be good for her.

Good night to all you faithful blog followers. We love and appreciate all of you:-)

" I want a hot dog"

Since Mike's birthday is next week, Viktorija wanted to paint a present for him. So, another trip to Meg Art was made. She enjoyed herself thoroughly. They made her a fabulous cotton candy smoothie that she really liked:-) I think she felt pretty special since the lady was so attentive and kind to her.

Afterwards I asked her what she would like for lunch. She said "I want a hot dog"! Well, again, not something on my menu choices, so I had to rack my brain to think of where to get her a hot dog while we were out. Thank goodness I had seen Matt's Chicago Dog in Cornelius, the other day! She LOVED it! Have you ever had a hot dog with mayo, ketchup, and pickles?? Well , that's her choice, and she ate with a big smile!

We then went to Jetton Park so she could get a close up view of Lake Norman. She enjoyed watching the boats go by. She posed for many pictures...mostly her ideas for poses. She's quite a little ham!

This afternoon my friend, Laurie came by to meet Viktorija. Viktorija performed her new magic tricks for Laurie and showed her her bedroom and her favorite clothes. This touched me since she arrived with just a few items. She's so proud of her clothes. She enjoys picking our her outfit for the next day the evening before. Laurie brought a couple of gifts...a pretty bottle of PINK bubble bath (which she has already used this evening), and a lovely photo album from Laurie's mom. Viktorija is also very proud of her pictures that we've taken so far, so a photo album was quite appropriate:-)

As I was cooking dinner tonight, Viktorija was drawing a picture for us. It was a picture of a heart with 3 people and 2 dogs inside the heart. The caption read: "we are family", "love, Viktorija. She has made several references lately to being a family. When it was time for Mike to arrive home from work, she waited outside to watch for his vehicle to come down the street. She didn't want to eat dinner without him. After a phone call from Mike telling me he was running late, I told Viktorija we needed to go ahead and eat without Mike. She was disappointed, but when Mike did get home she ran outside to meet him and jumped into his open arms. And to think we were worried she would have a hard time bonding with "the man of the house"! I think she's doing pretty well:-)

Currently Mike and Viktorija are playing a rousing game of Old Maid. When that's over we will get in her bed and read her Bible before bedtime.

The day for Viktorija and I started out at 8am sharp. Viktorija was very excited in anticipation of her visit t0 Chrissy Schell's home to see the baby sugar gliders. After a healthy breakfast and heart to heart talk we headed out to Birkdale to see if she could use the gift card our friend Kyle had given her. After alot of searching she decided on a Magic Trick set from Barnes and Noble. My parents were able to visit us for about half an hour and Viktorija performed a few of the "magic" tricks for them and showed them some of her art work. After an exciting (not) trip to get my vehicle inspected we finally got to see the baby sugar gliders. She was so excited. Chrissy gave Viktorija some very sweet presents...a wonderful purse, a diary, and several items that Viktorija just loved. Viktorija was very affectionate with the sugar gliders. We are very thankful to Chrissy and her parents for making us feel welcome and taking the time for us. For lunch Viktorija and I went to Wendy's and shared some time together. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing a Latvian Computer game I had purchased to learn Latvian. She enjoyed teaching me some more Latvian and was actually impressed with what I knew. To end the evening Julie, Viktorija and myself met Tracey, Ryder and Greg at Kabuto's. I believe Viktorija was a bit overwhelmed by the Chef and didn't fully understand some of his pranks. She visibly withdrew for most of the meal after that. Finally after the meal we visited some minature horses and fed them some carrots. Viktorija was fine after we left Kabuto's. Well I am worn out to say the least...I think she wants to play one more game with me...good night..

church

This morning Viktorija was happy to have Mike go with her to Sunday school class. Mike said she seemed more relaxed this Sunday with her peers. At the end of class the teacher asked the kids to go around the room and say a short prayer, if they wanted to. If not, they could pass. Apparently, Viktorija said she was thankful "for Mike and Julie" in her short prayer. She also got to meet some more of our friends at church. A BIG thank you to Kyle for the gift card! Viktorija is so excited about going shopping with her gift card!

After church we had lunch at Brixx and then went to Kevin's (Mike's brother) birthday party. I think the highlight of her day, though, was going to the pet store to see puppies, kittens, fish, and birds. She got to hold 2 poodle pups and a papillon pup. She was really working on Mike and I, but, we did manage to walk out of the store empty handed....yeah for us! :-)

We are trying to have an early night tonight, but she is wound up right now:-) We have another busy week ahead. More fun and more memories. She is already saying she doesn't want to go back to Latvia. It will be hard when that time does come--for all of us. But, for now, we are enjoying every moment we have with Viktorija!

a busy couple of days!

Our Friday started off with Viktorija getting her 2 cavities filled. Although she kept saying she didn't like going to the dentist, she did very well. She took her bunny with her and held it close. Mike and I were both there for encouragement, and the dental staff at Dr. McNulty's office was FANTASTIC!!! They were so gracious to donate her treatments. God is good!

Friday afternoon we packed an overnight bad and headed to Great Wolf Lodge to meet my sister and her son, Ryder. The excitement in Viktorija's eyes was priceless!! She loved every minute of the water park and arcade games. We got home today about 6:00 pm. We are pooped!!! Mike was great with the kids. We discovered Viktorija, although shy initially, is quite a little daredevil. She liked the "scariest" water slide the best. It does a freefall before it tosses you around in this tube of water. I still feel like I'm on the ride!! I don't know how many times we rode that one. Another weekend of great memories together.

Girl's Day

Viktorija and I had a wonderful day together. We went to the "Old Country Store" for some fresh produce. She enjoyed selecting some fruits and vegetables.... cucumbers, blackberries, peaches, and lemons. I'm so glad she likes fruit! It was also a very good English lesson for her, and Latvian lesson for me, as we named all the fruits and vegetables. My Latvian is really coming along:-) Kidding! Her English, however, is coming along so well. I'm so proud of her for making the effort to speak English. I'm understanding more of what she is saying everyday.

We also ran into my friend, Cynda, at Target today. Viktorija took a liking to her quickly. She wanted Cynda to come to the pool today:-)

Going to any store with Viktorija is an eye opener, to say the least. It's as if she is seeing everything for the first time. She enjoys just looking at everything, yet she never asks for anything. We did find her a very cute dress and pair of shoes today. She announced she will be wearing that to the dentist tomorrow. She is so appreciative of every item of clothing she has gotten. The sad part is that she can only take 3 Summer outfits and 3 Winter outfits home with her (those are the rules). It will be sad telling her that not everything she has aquired can go with her. When she arrived she had a small backpack with 3 items of clothing (sweater, raincoat, and a top) in it.

Viktorija was SOOOOO excited today when she went to get the mail (she enjoys doing that) and there was a letter addressed to HER! Thank you Chrissy for your thoughtfulness. Viktorija is very much looking forward to seeing all the bunnies and other animals. I translated the card with google translator and she squealed with excitment when she read that she will get to see some baby sugar gliders too.

Mike took her to pick up her art work from MegArt tonight. When she got home she presented me with a beautiful heart that said "I Love you" on one side, and "I miss you" on the other (she did this when I was at work one day). Needless to say, I will cherish that heart forever!

I could sense that it was difficult for Mike to return to work today. He went into Viktorija's room and gave her a kiss on the cheek while she was asleep. When he got home he gave her a huge hug and kiss. It's pretty great to watch their bond strengthen. This is a special time for all of us. I thank the Lord for this amazing opprotunity. I didn't realize how much you could love a child that wasn't biologically yours. She has etched out a special place in our hearts. Please continue to pray for God's perfect will in our lives. I will accept whatever God has in store for us. But, I'm hoping this Summer won't be the end ....

Today Viktorija and I spent a wonderful, sun filled day with my nieces Claire, Lydia, Sara, Anna and my sister-in-law Dianne. We started the day at their neighborhood pool. After several dunkings I gave the girls a break and we had some good old KFC by the pool (big thanks to Dianne for providing lunch). Viktorija really liked the Colonel's Original recipe. We were lucky to have Claire join us during her lunch break. We then proceeded to swim some more and then went back to their home where Dianne kept the treats coming. We had ice cream with apple cake. Let me just say..it was GOOD!. We then ended the afternoon by visiting a home that had eight little black lab puppies. Viktorija was beside herself. If she said it once, she said it ten times, "Oh Michael I want to have a puppy, it's so cute...". I put my many years of experience dodging similar type requests from Julie to good use, and managed to get out of there with lots of puppy pictures, with no additions to our family. I think Julie wants to take her back on Sunday just to SEE the puppies again. Well that's all for now from me. I go back to work tomorrow. I'm sure I'll miss Viktorija all day...oh, I'll miss Julie too.