Finally Able To Post

I want to open this post with a picture of all the kids and with our proud football player. Christian started his football this past weekend with his first game!!! He really loves it and has so much enthusiasm to play. Of course, his father could not be any happier!!! Duane played football through high school. The funniest thing happened to Christian. The opposing team was very close to the goal. They all huddled down to make the next play. The ball was hiked and a pass thrown. Christian jumped up into the air and grabbed the ball for an interception. Of course, we all went crazy screaming for him to run. Well, he ran alright......toward the NEAREST goal post....the opposing teams goal....HA HA HA!!!!! You should have seen Christian's coach trying to get Christian to turn and run in the opposite direction. When Christian realized he was running the wrong way, he turned, and headed toward his goal, but, was soon tackled. But, that's okay as his team now had possession of the ball!!!!

Christian is a Longhorn!!! Moooove aside....their coming through to the goal.(Karissa and her sister Katie Aunna.....best friends)
Now here is some cool hair!!! Our eldest daughter (Kisty) sat down the girls and put their hair into bands. It is so difficult and time consuming to do. Kisty did Katie Aunna first and surprisingly she did not cry once. She did look at me a few times and asked for Kisty to stop. But, once it is started, it is very difficult to stop the process and make it look good. I want Katie Aunna's bangs to grow out. She is so beautiful and I feel like her bangs cover up her pretty face. Her little face is delicate and beautiful. Here we can see her face so nicely. Karissa is built a lot like Katie Aunna and this pictures shows how these two sisters look so much alike. It often surprises me how much a like they are. In fact, when we first came home with Katie Aunna, I had her in Annie Kate's room. I was thinking that developmentally she would be more in Annie's age group. But, she is not developmentally delayed at all and wants to play with Karissa most of the time. At bedtime, Katie would ask to sleep with Karissa in her queen sized bed. Several weeks later we decided to move the twin bedroom furniture out of Annie's room and into Karissa's room. Annie got Karissa's furniture and so she sleeps in this huge queen bed now. Annie Kate loves it and Katie and Karissa are very happy about the arrangements.

(Annie, Karissa, and Katie)

Well, anyway....back to the hair business. Next, Kisty did Annie Kate's hair. Poor Annie was not in the mood to have her hair done and she cried so much that we could only get two rows of bands before I said enough;-). Little Mary refused to do her hair entirely!!! Kisty said "Mary, I'll give you a treat if you let Sissy do your hair". Mary turned around and looked at her and said "I don't want a treat. I'm playing outside!!!" So off Mary flew out the door to escape the torture chamber...Ha Ha. I love putting their hair up. We usually do it at the end of summer and after the New Year. It makes their hair grow really fast and looks so cute!!! I must brag that Kisty is very good at making different hair designs with these tiny rubber bands. By the way, we use only the glossy type and not the regular rubber band type. The glossy type can be slipped out of their hair whereas the other type would really be damaging.

Here Annie Kate is trying really hard to let Kisty work her hair. But by the time we hit the second row....she was through with it.
Annie has tears running off the end of her nose.....awe!!!!
Karissa takes it well as did Katie Aunna!!!!
Annie, Katie, and Karissa.

Katie and Karissa both smiled most of the time and are pretty tough girls!!!! As you can see, it is a challenge for the girls and lots of hard work for Kisty.

Katie Aunna upon completion.

The entire process took about 15 or 16 hours to get Katie Aunna, Karissa, and Annie's few rows done. We began working on it at around 4:00pm and worked on Katie until around midnight. The next morning we did Karissa's and then a few hours for Annie's hair. BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!

On to other news....Karissa starts soccer this week. She has practice twice per week (so does Christian) and games on Saturdays (as does Christian). Trisha is homeschooling with us and dancing Monday through Thursday evening. She is teaching dance again this year and attending classes for her own dance. Casey and Trisha will both be training to acolyte with our church this fall. Katie will be baptized into the Catholic Church around Christmas time and also with John-John as we have not had him baptized yet. Oddly, I felt that I should wait to baptize John-John. Now, I realize God had this planned, for them to do together. I am also hoping to get Katie into dance after she gets a little better at her English. I have a feeling we are going to be really busy this winter.

Oh yes, and in October Duane is being so mean to me...Ha Ha!!!! He is "dragging" me away from my children to go on a trip he earned through his business in Switzerland....Ha Ha!!! It is truthfully a very difficult thing for me to leave the children, their school, and activities we have running on a schedule. However, after much thought....we have lined out the children's care very well, I will miss our children so extremely much!!! But, Duane and I need this time together to relax and just enjoy being in each other's company undivided by the needs of children. I will take lots of pictures and post to the blog. I worry that Katie Aunna will cry for me and I know that John-John, Annie, and Karissa will.

So, we are making a very simple calender to mark the days that Mommy and Daddy will be gone and when we will return. It was funny....when I told the children that Daddy and Mommy are going on a short vacation, the older kids freaked out. Casey said "No, Mom, you can't leave us for that long like Russia. It was horrible without you here!!!!" The others chimed in and Katie asked me where her suit case was...Ha Ha. You should have seen the look on her face when I said she was not going on this trip!!! But, I explained it would only be for ten days and then in the Spring we will all go to our favorite vacation spot and stay at the lake condo. This really perked them up and we have come to an agreement. Plus I had to promise to bring them Swedish chocolate!!!! But, things will not be so wonderful upon our return.

I took Katie Aunna and Karissa to Lubbock last week to see their Pediatric ENT. Dr. Neal said Katie Aunna's tonsils and adenoids must come out. We will be back one week from Switzerland when she has her surgery. I worry about this as she has now acquired enough English to tell me various things about her past. She was horribly traumatized by her surgery in Russia on her arm. She told me that the orphanage took her by car (maybe van....all vehicles are machina to her) to the hospital. The nurses there took her to her hospital room with two other children in this room. Then later they took her to surgery and when she woke up she did not know anyone and was in a lot of pain. She said she cried to go back to the orphanage,but, they said NO.

In previous posts...this is where we met Katie...in a Russian hospital where she was recovering from this major surgery. Katie told me she was all alone. When she said this I just cried. How awful for her to be dropped off to a hospital and no Mama or Papa to stay with her for one month. She said she did not eat or sleep very much there and missed her friends and her bed at the orphanage. She has a huge scar on her arm from this surgery. So, I know this is going to be a very big deal for her and she will be very frightened that when she wakes up I will not be there. I got a little coloring book from Dr. Neal's office and I am not going to tell her anything until we return from Switzerland. Please, keep her in your prayers.

Speaking of praying....we are still praying for God to help us find a way to get a second vehicle that we can use to transport all the kids at once. Our mini-van seats eight and we need a vehicle which can seat 11 of us. Please, continue with us in prayer about this difficult matter. It is such a challenge if we all need to go somewhere (church for one thing) without finding one of our adult children to help us transport them. Weldon has been a sweetheart lately. He has a five passenger pick up and has been helping us out with transportation and also by babysitting if we have to take some and leave some. But, if we are to take the kids on a trip to see Duane's aging mother we need a bigger vehicle. I would love for Katie Aunna to meet her only living grandparent who is 86 years old.

Well, I think this just about covers things for awhile. However, I will post again soon as "There's never a dull moment" around here!!!! Many blessings to you!!!