Eliza's 11th B-day

Eliza turns 11 on February 4th. Just a couple weeks after she returns home to Ukraine.
So we wanted to celebrate her birthday with her and we had an inpromptu party for her today.

It started with breakfast in bed in the kitchen. (We didn't make it to her room before she came down and when we all tried to rush her back to bed her still-sleepy self was alittle confused). 

A good-morning birthday gift!

Paige shared her cuddle bear with her.
(Eliza had shown interest in it the day before)

EXPLOSION ART!

We had already made plans for Uncle Josh and Aunt Lisa to come for dinner. 

So when talks began to have Eliza's birthday, she asked if we could have it while they were here.

She must have asked me 1000 times that day when they would be arriving!!!!

Paigey having fun with Aunt Lisa!

The birthday girl!!

She blew all the candles out before we had finished singing. 

We lit them again and had another go...

Steve tries to hold her back!

And now...

The kids playing "Hot Lava" with Uncle Josh!

Alona and Aunt Lisa talk on the iPad about teen life and God's love.

We also had the privilege of hosting one of the Ukrainian Chaperons that came over with the kids.

Olga has been staying in Holt, Michigan and she joined us for dinner. 

She has wonderful English and we had a lovely time with her!

Eliza was just a little bit excited and grateful for the gift Jake gave her!!

Soccer wrist bands!! Yah, baby!

She was so excited she was squeezing Paigey with thanks before she even opened the gift! :)

And...Connor gets the tackle "thank you" hug!

Here she is all "looted up" in her soccer garb!

And from Mom & Dad...

And the thank you tackle for Dad!!!!

YES!!! This is Eliza picking Josh up with the strength of her legs!!

The girls is ROCK SOLID!

Lisa gives it a try with Steve! (ha!)

It was a great night, with great friends!

Midway Hosting Update

We're just about at the half way mark of our 4 weeks of hosting.

The girls are beautiful. 

They've seen, heard and experienced way too much for two young girls their age, but they are strong and brave. 

They are survivors.


Alona loves music, dressy clothing, shopping, cooking!! She seems to really like animals and is very sweet with all four of the younger kids.

Eliza loves soccer, video games, her Wildlife Storyteller voice box and Pa-pa! (Steve)
She's great at playing games, has learned how to ride a bike, and is very good about learning English!

Although, neither of them are all that fond of American food, they have taken to the likes of shopping!  They enjoy being out and about and active.  They tend to be timid in new situations at first, stating their dislike and unwillingness to be there, but slowly they see others having fun and they emerge from within themselves and join in and have a great time

Many people have asked how Paige is handling another girl snuggling with her Daddy and quite honestly, I tell them that she is perfectly fine with it.  I think she understands the lack of love in Liza's life, but I also think that she is very secure in her Daddy's love for HER and so there is no need in her mind to question or push it.  This is truly a testament to God's work in Paigey's life, but also to her solid relationship with her Daddy, as well.  

The kids are doing amazingly well.  They work hard at engaging the girls in activities.  They strive to communicate with them in whatever ways that work.  They are patient when Dad &  Mom have their heads in their phones trying to translate and they have set solid examples of correct behavior when what is often surrounding them is defiance and mistreatment of others.  They've been understanding of the multiple trips to the store and the huge amounts of sugar ingested by certain persons and their being told "no" to such luxury and they've endured numbers of snowball and pillow fights that seem to never come to an end.  

It's funny, how my perspective on my kids has changed since I've seen their characters develop and showcase so vividly over the last two weeks.  We're really very proud of them!

We've definitely had our share of hiccups and trying moments. Our exhaustion level is high.  But, we are seeing God work...in us...in them...and we know our labors are not in vain. We hope you will pray with us that the remaining two weeks we have with the girls during this hosting would be lead by God and that we will be HIS hands, His feet and His voice into the lives of these precious daughters of the King!

New Year's Eve Party!!!

For New Year's Eve, we had the Hensler's over and had the kids all dress in black and put glow sticks on their bodies.  

Then we rocked the music and got this:

Later, the tape became restraint as they all wanted to be bound up and try to escape.

All sorts of crazy!

Alivia and Alona

Steve & Eliza take a watch our live entertainment!

Drew and Paige play a very serious game of 

Holiday Yatzee!

These two are good buds!

And the New Year did NOT disappoint.

Balloons and confetti and streams and 

all sorts of happy!

 Alivia was very concerned about the mess!  

She wasn't sure she was going to be able to sleep knowing it was left behind :)

I think it is safe to say that they Alona and Eliza had a great time!