Happy 4th of July

This year, the 4th of July takes on a new meaning. Big S is old enough to know and understand the implications of "coming to America." All the way home, in the airport and on the airplane, he asked us if "are we in America yet?" He also mentioned numerous times that America is "Utopia." Wow...that one really took us by surprise. Fortunately, we were warned by one of our agency's in -country personnel, that some of the older kids have the misconception that life in America is perfect, and all their problems are solved. Well, based on what we've seen/experienced in the past week being home, I can attest that is a reality for these children. We've had a week of reestablishing realistic expectations for them and setting boundaries.

Honestly, it's been a rough week in many ways, but each day gets a little easier and we all are starting to settle in and bond.

I do love older children adoption...their little personalities are awesome: their language...their accent takes my breath away......and their facial expression, ranging from confused, sad to elation when they see something for the very first time. We are not having the language issues we anticipated; Big S speaks, read and writes English. When necessary, he'll translate sometime to Little S or vice versa. But even without his translation, we are managing to communicate with Little S.

So, here are a few pictures of the last few days....of our family celebrating the 4th of July......