Our summer with Leanna - Part Three

June 29, 2010

Hi friends,

I want to thank you all for your continued support and prayers. They have been felt. After a rough day Sunday (for me), yesterday was better than I could’ve hoped. Leanna is getting back to herself. We got her some cold medicine that seems to be helping and she’s now on antibiotics for a skin rash that she’s had for over a week. It’s been causing her lots of pain and discomfort. I hope it starts clearing up very soon now. We went to the welcome party for New Horizons Sunday night and it was a wonderful time for all of us. Three girls that were at our training were there and Leanna latched right onto them. Two of them were from her orphanage and one she knew very well. It was SO wonderful to see her smiling and laughing and talking with her friends, although I was dying to know what they were talking about. I jokingly told one of the girls that, ‘you’re only telling her good things about us right?’ and she said that she did tell Leanna that living in America is good. Having parents is good. Leanna didn’t pay a whole lot of attention to any of the other kids. I was thankful she was with adopted kids who are doing well here.

Yesterday I spent about two hours with Leanna and the translator just talking about different things. I told that we missed her A LOT since January. She said she missed us too. I told her how much Jon and I enjoyed seeing her so happy with her friends at the party. I said I wished I knew what they talked about and supposed that was how she felt not always knowing what we’re saying. She said they just talked about Russia and America and their mutual friends. She said they asked her if she was happy to be here but didn’t include what her response was. So I asked her and she said yes, she is happy to be here with us. I told her we are VERY happy (she laughed at the big VERY) that she’s here. Then I told her I will be VERY sad on August 1. To that she hugged me. She found my picture library on the computer and the folder titled Leanna and looked at many of the photos. She got to the yard sale photos and asked me about it. I told her we had a huge yard sale and many people donated things for us to sell. Then she saw the pictures of the puzzle fundraiser coming together. Then she saw the pictures of the jars and asked about that. So I said a silent prayer and told her that adoption is very expensive and we’ve had to do many fundraisers. I explained the jars and the purpose. I explained the puzzle and showed it to her. She just kept saying, ‘Wow!’ I told her we are very thankful to God for providing everything we’ve needed so far.

We talked about other things too…school (she just finished 7^th grade), friends, Russia, etc. I told her Jon’s parents are coming this weekend and my mom will come next week to spend 5 days with us. It was really a wonderful conversation. Just a quiet one since we were typing everything. I look forward to her knowing English better and having a normal conversation with her. We love her voice, especially her laugh. As Jon says, she has a musical laugh. After lunch we headed to the pool and spent a great afternoon there. She swims very well (after telling me she didn’t know how) and dove (literally) right in. All four kids had a good day together. We came home, rested a bit, had dinner and then went to our favorite park for a walk. Which was very nice. Leanna held my hand the last part of the walk. And I didn’t even mind the sweaty hands. J We got home, had some pineapple and then Leanna laid on the couch with her head in my lap and I got to run my fingers through her gorgeous, thick hair.

All in all, yesterday was a super day and I am thankful! Please keep the prayers coming. I know Leanna is still getting to know us and we’re working on building trust. Her spunk is returning and each hour feels a little more normal than before. We don’t have anything planned today…please pray that she’s not bored out of her mind!

Love you all,

Amy