It seems like the opportunities to sit down and blog are getting harder and harder, but there were 2 people today that said they are looking forward to my next blog, so I figured it must be time. I think a realistic goal may be trying to blog once a week, we will see how that goes!  
We are still cruising along day by day and continuing to adjust.  The newness and the amazement still continues as the girls discover things each day.  They discovered roller skating...and LOVE it !  We went a few weeks ago with our church and they had such a great time.  Anslee ended up with 2 blisters and several bruises, but said " it's okay, when can we go again? "  I am sure the other adoptive parents can agree with me when I say, these kids are so tough!!!!  Things that you think should hurt or bother them, they just shrug off and say, it is okay, I guess they have had to be tough to survive.  Russie was feeling very brave on Friday night, and took all the kids, plus Ana, Lena, and Erik rollerskating again, while I went to the lodge to help decorate for Heather's Bridal shower.  Joe and Ginger did meet him there to go roller skating, I think they were thinking 8 kids to 1 adult was way to crazy, so they thought 2 more adults may help him out..thanks to Joe and Ginger for that !  I mentioned Heather's Bridal shower.  She is getting married on May 27th.  For those of you that read this and don't know Heather, she is my sister in law ( and the sister that I never had).  She has met the Love of her life, and Russie and I could not be happier for her and her fiance, Torey.  We "showered" Heather with lots of love yesterday and lots of presents too !!  It was a very special day we got to share with her.  The girls had never been to a wedding shower and had a lot of questions as to what it was, but they enjoyed themselves and got to meet lots of people.  They did not fully understand the whole wedding thing either, so Heather's wedding will be their first to attend.  They did not understand why all the bridesmaids and groomsmen wanted to wear the same thing.  There are so many exciting "firsts" for them !!!
Two weekends ago, the girls also got to do another new thing, they went to a "revolve" youth event. Revolve is an event held numerous times a year at several different locations across the country for teenage girls.  They have Christian speakers, bands, and comedians.  Michelle & Paul Politizza took them, along with 3 other girls to the event.  They had such a great time and were so overwhelmed by how many girls were there.  They also were so surprised at all the different types of Christian music.  They both brought home some CD's and have enjoyed listening to them.  They are also heading to another youth event this weekend with the youth group they have been going to, they are excited for that as well. 


I feel like there is so many more things I could write about their adjustment, but I think I might head a different direction and talk a little about Russie and I's adjustments to being their parents.  I guess I may not be able to fully speak for Russie, but I know I have had a rush of emotions and adjustments. I reached a wall that I had never came to before.  I did not have one specific reason why I was struggling, or why I was feeling the way I was, I just know that I didn't feel like myself.  The girls were great and there was no issues with them to address, but I just felt burdened and I could not figure out why.  Usually I know what my problem is, and try to solve it, not this time.  The devil had managed to use a new technique on me.  He managed to combine confusion and uneasiness on me.  To keep a family of 8 running, I have to maintain some sense of order and routine in our house, and I have to be consistent or things start to unravel. I could feel myself unraveling and like I said, I wasn't even sure why!!!  Russie kept asking me, what is wrong with you? I couldn't even give him an answer.  At one point, he got very worried because he knows if there is ever anything bothering me, I ALWAYS talk to him about it. When I didn't talk, he was worried, and quite frankly, so was I. After a long few days of trying to self diagnose, prayer, and talking to a friend, I started to feel God slowly lift me out of my "fog" and place me back to reality.  The best I can make of it at this point was the devil saw me becoming overwhelmed and he jumped on the opportunity to work his way on me, making me unaware and confused while doing it to me.  I just wanted to run away and be alone 
( which is not an option for me) I am thankful that God has already defeated the enemy and always will and that he prevailed on my behalf and won again for me.  I know that these moments will probably creep up on me again, but I will have a better knowing of how to handle it.  There are some days, that I am so overwhelmed and cannot process another thought or action, but I know it is to be expected and that God will continue to strengthen me and my family.  He is refining each of us and pruning us to be better and live better.  I have learned that although I have no idea where we are going to end up, I know that I am not jumping out of his hands, I want to rest in his nail scared hands and never forget the Love and mercy he has for me.  Russie and I have both learned so much about ourselves and continue to learn how to be new parents to these girls.  There are so many moments where it is so easy and takes little effort to Love and care for them, and then there are moments where we look at each other and are at a loss for how to handle it.  We knew very little about their past going into this, but we are slowly uncovering things about their life before they came to the orphanage that we are going to have to seek God as to how to approach and deal with.  The attitude they have towards their biological parents is not negative, not resentful, but is matter a fact and they talk about the abuse they endured like it is normal.  In a way, I am thankful for this, that they harbor very little animosity towards their biological family or the life that they had before, but I also know that as they continue to learn what a loving family is, that they will start to realize the things they went through were not normal and were not right.  Thanks so much for your continued support, prayers and words you have enlightened us with, our family has needed and appreciated them beyond what words can say.  Have a great week !