Life in the Fast Lane

Has it been 10 days since I last wrote? How is that possible?
Since then...

• the girls finished soccer camp and were so sad to be done. They had a great time. The highlights? There was one not-so-nice girl on their team and Turi one day stood up for the boy she was picking on. We were so proud of her!
• the girls started swim lessons. Although they are loving being in the water everyday, I'm not sure they're getting a whole lot out of it. Time will tell.
• they continue to improve in English. Turi continues to pick up new words daily and that is pretty amazing. She understands too much for Curt and I to talk a lot around her. Tihi, I think, also understands quite a bit because she knows when we're telling a story about her or will suddenly repeat something I was saying to someone. That can be embarrassing. She still doesn't say a whole lot so it's uncertain how much she actually understands. Bitsu is probably at 50% comprehension. She speaks more than Tihi but might understand less. It's so hard to gauge!
• Personalities: Turi continues to be observant (she can recognize places in town when we're driving), responsible, and driven. She needs to finish tasks, even if they're not done well. She is also turning into the peace-maker/conflict-hater and I am praying that she would learn to please the Lord rather than men. Bitsu continues to be our fun-loving one. She is not as cautious as Turi and makes friends easily. She is friendly and open. She is easily pleased and tends to be impulsive. I am praying that she would learn skills to help her think through things before she acts on them. Tihi continues to be our typical baby. She is cute and loves attention. She gravitates toward anyone who loves on her. She is meticulous and likes to do things her way. She can spends hours coloring or reading and enjoys being by herself, although she plays with other kids well. She is also very stubborn and I am praying that the Lord would soften her heart and capture it for Himself at a young age.

Thank you for continuing to pray and love on our girls!

Soccer Camp

We decided to sign up Turi and Bitsu for soccer camp. We thought it would be helpful in getting out, making friends, learning language, etc. They have been having a great week. Day 1 resulted in Turi injuring her foot (but not enough to wipe her out for the rest of the week) and Bitsu quitting an hour early because she was "sooooo tired". Day 2 turned out much better with both girls feeling good at the end of the day and having a great day. Although it's been good for them to be out all day and hearing English from a lot of different places, they have been having a harder time making friends. You can pray for them. First of all, the other kids all have cleats and matching soccer gear (see the pics; can you pick out our girls?) and I think they feel a little left out. Secondly, although the kids play great together, lunchtime seems to be a little lonlier as the girls are hesistant to join any of the other groups eating because of language. I think it's been a good experience for them and they are learning a lot but it has also been a challenge being away from their support structure all day. As a mom, it has been hard for me to watch them exposed to the "big, bad world" :).

Tihi's B-day

June 15th was Tihi's 5th birthday. What a day it was. We returned from CO less than 48 hours before and Curt from PA less than 24 hours before. Bills had piled up, the kitchen sink was flooding water (leaking just doesn't express it), someone had run over our mailbox while we were gone, Turi and Bitsu started an all day soccer camp and Tihi had a dentist appointment. So the day was a little crazier than planned. Thankfully the most important part of the day (the cake, of course) was made the day before. The last pic is the girls helping. They had no idea what frosting was and after eating it, asked me to leave it off next time. Too much sugar, they said. The gifts got wrapped just in time and dinner (Ethiopian) was actually ready at an appropriate hour.
Tihi was thrilled. She kept pointing out that it was her birthday. She asked for cake for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. She couldn't believe she got so many presents (you can see the pile on the table) and had an absolutley wonderful day, despite having to have 2 cavities filled. It was fun to watch.

Prego

Lots of people have been asking for pictures of me pregnant. Well, here you go. It might be the first picture I have seen of me this big and when I saw it I thought, "Whoa! Am I having twins?". But no, there is just one in there. I am 31 weeks.
We just returned home from CO where we had a GREAT week of learning. There was A LOT and we have a lot to process. But it was just what we needed. Thanks for praying for us.
Today, I just completed a 12 hour drive with just the girls (Curt's in a wedding in PA) and it went great. No complaints. But I am pretty tired. So, no more blogging tonight. For now, just enjoy these pics that my friend took. The eating ones are them pigging out at an Ethiopian restaurant in Denver. Man, were they ever excited!

"We want to rake"...

I don't know what it's been about the last 24 hours but the girls have been thrilled about working. Yesterday, Curt and I had to run an errand and left the girls alone. They do great when we need to go out for an hour or two which is a huge blessing. As I was leaving, Turi asked if she could mop the kitchen and dining room floor while we were gone. Well, ok, I guess if you have to :). When we got back, not only were the floors cleaned, they had also dusted some furniture and vacuumed most of the house. I thought, "I guess we do have the best kids in the world."
We have also been working on the yard and the girls will ask to go out and gather the sticks or rocks or rake. I put some pictures up so you can see them hard at work. They have been so helpful.
We leave tomorrow (4am) for CO where we will be attending a week long training for Lifelines, the ministry we are with under Campus Crusade. The girls are excited about going, even though it'll be another 14 hours in the car. They have been doing so well in all areas that we have no qualms about uprooting them for a week. We will be out of cell phone contact so I don't think you'll be hearing from us for awhile (not that I'm all that diligent with the blog anyway :)). Pray that the week would be good learning for us as we continue to figure out Lifelines' strategy.
Also, when we return (0n the 13th), Tihi's birthday will be right around the corner. She will be turning 5 on June 15th. She has never had a birthday so she is pretty excited!