I can do all things through Him who strengthens me

Playing at the beach....The girls LOVE taking pictures!
Gracie... just my little love
Having fun
Stephen and his girls....

Their first time seeing snow!!!

Staying warm!
First day. sisters meeting:)

Wowza, has life been moving fast. The girls got here on Friday morning and we haven't stopped since. When they first arrived it, they had big, nervous smiles on their face... It seemed at that time that they were not understanding anything that we were saying, they were very shy and talked only through their social worker and their translator. Stephen and I both took deep breaths and new that this was going to be a challenge, nothing we were not expecting, but not anything you can prepare for. It wasn't until everyone left that helped bring them here that we realized that they could speak and understand a lot more then we thought!! We can pretty much communicate for the most part with definite moments of "whatever" or "never mind" as they say:)

Communication is a big sigh of relief, yet there are a lot of things that they have no idea what we are saying (concepts of block schedules at the junior high, and "brunch" or break between classes.) Today is their first day of school, they are there as I write this, and I am so nervous about them getting around... the people there are so nice, but I don't know if they realize their limitations in comprehending basic needs at school. I am so anxious for them to come home so I can see how it was! They cannot read or write, but do know the ABC's and can at least count to 10 (we played Sorry the first day they got here and they loved to move their markers down the board.)

They LOVE Grace. Let me say that again... THEY LOVE GRACE! Which is great, but so much so that I worry about her safety! It is like teaching a toddler how to act around a newborn baby, how to be gentle, not rip her arm out of socket, not always forcing food down her throat, that she doesn't always want to be held, or talked too at a decibel level of 10. Grace is having a great time with them, but you can tell that she is starting to act out a little bit, she is grumpier than normal, but also getting over being sick... Time will tell.

More about the girls. They are happy in nature, loud by nature, and are basic 12 year old girls that love music and love to dance. Stephen and I made our first mistake of buying them a CD that we have never heard that they wanted; Rhianna. We figured since it didn't have the "explicit lyrics" that it would be fine... We popped it in the cd player and the first song we heard had this to say "sticks and stones may break my bones but chains and whips excite me." Oh my Lord... we made our first of many many mistakes... Note to self, always know the CD you are buying, or listen to it yourself before you broadcast it in the car!

Anyway, the girls are twins, but very different. I guess I naively assumed that they would like all the same things! Why, I don't know? But boy was I wrong... Jamuna is the loud and outgoing one, loves to try new things, including food (which is a biggy) Ganga is more quiet, but still louder than we are used too:) She loves to sit and relax, hates trying any American food and is more resistant to any change. She is obsessed with watching all things Nepali and Indian on YouTube.

The girls are very happy to be with us, even the last family they lived with in America was abusive to each other, and we don't really know if they were to them. The things that we hear about that family is just really sad... They were never allowed to go to a friends house to hang out or spend the night, the parents took their money and never gave it back, they made them clean all the time, never helped with homework, yelled at them for using too many paper towels etc... COME ON! These poor girls have NEVER been in a good environment! Stephen and I are determined to give them unconditional love and treat them with respect.

We sat down with them the night before last and had a "heart to heart," telling them that we love them, we are so glad that they are a part of our family now, we will NEVER hurt them physically, we will make mistakes, and more than likely get angry at them a few times, yet that doesn't mean we don't love them. We just wanted them to know that they are now in a safe environment. They seemed very happy with that talk.. at least what they could understand of it:)

The girls are wonderful, well behaved, clean and very positive, yet the change as been difficult for our family especially for me. I wish I can be super duper positive all the time, BUT IT HAS BEEN HARD! It is not them specifically, again, they are great, but this is a big change, a lot more going on in our house, the noise level is through the roof, sometimes they never leave Gracie alone which sometimes works and other times makes her even more grumpy. It is hard when I am without Stephen often times they are all vying for my attention and I just am not able to give them all my undivided attention at the same time. Food has been really hard, since they lived with a Nepali family this last year they have not had to have any American food other than at school, so to get them to try food every night for dinner has been trying. Their older sister took me to an Indian food store in Sunnyvale and went shopping with me, then taught me how to make 2 dishes... they loved them, but those are the only ones I know how to make! I served them lasagna, didn't like it, pancakes, didn't like it, bread, didn't like it and so on.... The thought of what to make for dinner every night is the hardest part of my day, I want to make something they like, I also don't want to only make food that they are used to because then need to learn how to try new things....

Being pregnant definitely makes it a little more emotional than it has too, there are many times where I am on the verge of tears, and been a few times that I have cried to Stephen at night. Now things are not bad, just different! Why am I crying? Blame it on the pregnancy!!! Poor Stephen! The hardest part has been Gracie being grumpy. I blame myself for not paying enough attention to her or being a good mom to her. I love her soooo much I want her to be happy! It is a big change for her too, and I know that she will come around, just wish it was right now:)

There has been a lot of good that comes out of this week too! I swear! We are doing a lot more things as a family, beach, snow, hikes and more board games! Stephen and I are much more a team then we have ever been. We both realize that we need breaks every once in a while so he lets me take baths at night, or yesterday I took myself out to Sushi and let him deal with dinner:) I let him take unnecessary trips to the hardware store, or get a 2 hour haircut... just things that let us have a breather every little bit. He took the girls to the snow in Bonny Doon and I stayed home with Gracie, I took the girls to school and shopping and he stayed home with Gracie when she was napping... I LOVE HIM!!! We are a lot more prayerful then we have been, we talk together on how to handle things with the girls so we are on the same page, we can vent, laugh and just lay with each other when we need too...

We are reading the bible a lot more to gather more wisdom and sanity. "I can do all things through Him that strengthens me" and "With people this is impossible, but with God all things are possible." I keep going back to those verses knowing that I am not a lone, but God is here!!! THANK THE LORD! We are also reading a Children's Bible to the girls who are very interested and love story time before bed.

I know this is a lot to read.... it is nice to use this to just get all my feelings and emotions out. We are so blessed, these girls are going to add a lot to our family, I can see that God brought them here for us, not us for them. I have to constantly work on a lot of my flaws... Patience, those of you who know me, know that I lack patience... well, when you have twin 12 year olds... you are not going to get out the door when you want. Selfishness, I am very selfish with my time and my sleep, between Gracie and the girls that is gone! God is working on me for my betterment and though it is not easy, I am going to become a better servant of Him because of it, and there is nothing I want more in life.

Thank you for reading, please keep us up in your prayers!