Progress To Date (Part 2)

Elena's visit was full of fun, learning to communicate with someone who understands very little English and trying to find food that Elena would eat.  This was not always easy, as she would not eat the typical foods that we eat.  Thankfully our friend Natalia came to the rescue numerous times, translating for us and explaining things to both Elena and to us.  

We spent the first few days celebrating Hanukkah and getting ready for Christmas.  Lauren and the kids went to a play that a friend was in and enjoyed getting to know one another.  Hannah and Elena really hit it off.  They both wanted to sleep together in the same bed.  They were so cute that it was easy to say yes.  We had fun putting up the Christmas tree especially with a wonderful ornament  that Elena made for Jay.

 

Ornament that Elena made for Jay

At the end of the first week, we took the kids to the Smoky Mountains to enjoy a special time away together.  On the the way back we stopped in Chattanooga to enjoy one more day together away.  The following is a list of the fun places we went:

• Swimming in the wonderful indoor pool and water slide at the Resort at Governor's Crossing
• Watching a play about Jesus at the Miracle Theater
• Picking out ornaments at the Christmas Place in Pigeon Forge
• Rides, shows, lights, parade and more rides at Dollywood
• The Chattanooga Zoo
• Chattanooga's Creative Discovery Museum
•  Ice cream at Clumpies (Elena loved ice cream)

The rest of our visit with Elena was a wonderful adventure getting to know her.  This was not always easy given the language and culture barriers.  She also had a hard time trusting us, which is normal given her background as a orphan.  Special times included reading to her and Elena reading to us, playing games (Elena loved Connect 4), watching Elena and Hannah dance and play, fun times eating ice cream and Jay and the kids wrestling.

It was very hard to see her go back.  She asked us to send her a package because she said she has nothing in the orphanage.  We just put a package together for her and sent it to the staff at New Horizons, who will hand deliver it in early February.