The First Day of the Rest of Our Lives

Sunday was our first full day at home. Other than Steven, who had to go work the sound for the services, the rest of us took a day off from Church to recover from the trip and our jet lag, or to help take care of the girls and help them get acclimated to their new environment. It was a much needed day of rest. The girls had a blast playing together, and everybody got along surprisingly well. Everybody is still trying to figure out their places in the new family structure, but it will come together quickly, I think. Emily Cate has a servant's heart and wants desperately to help any way she can. Elizabeth wants to help take care of "the little girl," and Caroline is enjoying having two new sisters and playing with both of them. Madelyn is enchanted with the doll houses, and spent a lot of time playing with them.

The language barrier really doesn't seem to be a problem. The girls jabber back and forth while they are playing and nobody seems to notice that they are using two different languages. I have been surprised how easily both of the girls are able to decipher and follow instructions based on context, tone of voice, and gestures. We are basically talking to them just as we do Caroline and Elizabeth, and for the most part, they seem to understand what we want. Occasionally, something doesn't make sense to them, but a quick demonstration clears up the confusion. I think they will both pick up English very quickly. Already, I pick up a word or two here and there that sounds English. It may just be that the word they are using in Bulgarian sounds very much like the English equivalent, but I think they are starting to pick it up, at least a little. The flight from Sofia to Paris was a huge transition for them. They went from an environment where, even if we didn't understand them, everybody else did, and they could speak to anybody they wanted and be understood, to an environment where absolutely nobody understood them. There were times in Paris when they would start talking to someone and would be totally ignored, not because the people were rude, but because they couldn't understand and so didn't realize they were the intended object of the conversation.

From this point forward, we are just all working to learn how to get along better, to love each other more, and to build a stronger family. We are so blessed and excited that Emily Cate and Madelyn have joined our family, and we can't wait to see what wonderful things God has in store for them as they grow up.