Monday, May 28, 2012

The Fatherless

Our hearts ache for the fatherless.  We KNOW, without a doubt, that the Lord has put a burden on our hearts to reach those that feel hopeless; that feel they have no advocate.  We feel it so much that it has catapulted us forward to make significant changes in our lives.  It started with adoption but has seeped into living in community and sharing Christ with the broken, one relationship at a time.   

After more than a year of making significant life changes, that included selling our suburbia home in West Omaha, we happened upon this video of another family that has already paved the way and become a model for what is to come in our lives. 

Introducing... "Living On The Front Porch" 

Sunday, May 27, 2012

His Words...

We waited in the slowest line of the day.  Ever so slowly we weaved our way through the snaked path towards the immigration booth.  On an elevated platform, behind a raised counter sat the gentleman whose words echo in my ears.  Words that confirm and overwhelm you with their truth. 

We proceeded like the other times before.  We did this in China and once coming into India and now we are leaving for home.  The passports and boarding passes are handed over soberly, without words, without smiles, another check point.  He calls a name; "Ava" and we hold her up, feet dangling she smiles and his eyes change.  "Meg" again smiles and his mouth begins to move.  "Livi" she giggles and smiles and he smiles too, "Ella", she can see without us holding her and she smiles at him confidently, "Punya" no smile but we do.  All five are done and he looks at us.

"Why are you doing this?" 

That pause was in my throat, we aren't quite home, will this matter for her?  Then the words, "our faith" I hear myself say and then my wonderful husband finishes, "because Jesus loved us and we will love others." 

We smile and wonder what he thinks... and then his words...

"Well, if more people believed the way you do, there wouldn't be any orphans in the world." 

I'm not sure what part of that sentence makes me ponder more; the cause or the effect.  I hope it makes you ponder too.  As Christians our lives should not look like the world's ways. 

Friday, May 25, 2012

Attachment

This is a post that we SHOULD have written before now.  Many of our friends are also going through these same life changes, due to adoption, I will use their thoughtful comments here.  This post, that I will adapt slightly, was written by a friend Christina A.  Her family is waiting to receive clearance to travel to Ethiopia for their daughter; thanks Christina!
Walk Alongside in Prayer and Encourage Us
Thank you once again to our prayer team that have faithfully prayed with us these last three weeks.  What a blessing and change it made to our lives.  God used your prayers to pour out His provision, kindness and grace to us in an environment that was challenging. 
THANK YOU! 
May our Lord richly bless you for being a servant for His purposes!

On hibernation:  Here is a link to a blog post written by Jen Hatmaker which addresses the attachment period needed between family and child. I am going to cover a few of the statements addressed in her post that our family has chosen to take on as our new normal for awhile. I will copy those here, clearly, in this post, to help you know how to help us and Punya adjust.

It is crucial that we use this period of time with Punya wisely to build a foundation that will help her move forward in a healthy fashion.  We also hope to help her move forward more quickly as she becomes certain that WE are hers and SHE is ours - FOREVER. Our home will be the 4th "group of people" she has lived with in her first 4 1/2 years of life. Try to understand her fear, brokenness and her confusion. Can you imagine?  She is used to many people meeting her needs so if that continues here, our home becomes yet another "care facility".  She MUST learn what family is, who her parents are, what her parents roles are in her life, who her siblings are and their roles as well. That's a lot to learn for a little girl!  As we have arrived home we must put these boundaries in place. As Punya moves into our family environment, we need to teach her that is exactly what it is.



  • "Know this: Those first few weeks and months will more than likely be difficult. They might be downright disastrous. You will struggle through feelings and emotions you didn’t know you were capable of. You will cry. They will cry. They may absolutely spaz out actually. You will wonder if your life is ruined or if happiness will ever return to your home. Beloved, IT WILL. It so will. They are grieving and processing and transitioning. It’s just hard – on them, on you, on the bio kids if you have them. There is no magic formula that will skirt your family around this chaos."
EVERYONE IN OUR HOME HAS HAD MELT DOWNS.  WE ARE ALL LEARNING A NEW WAY OF BEING A FAMILY.  SIBLING RELATIONSHIPS ARE BEING STRETCHED.  JUST TONIGHT MEG CRIED THAT SHE MISSES HER OLDER SISTER.  ELLA HAS THE BEST RELATIONSHIP WITH PUNYA OUT OF ALL OF US AND THAT IS BOTH HARD AND AND GOOD DEPENDING ON WHO YOU ASK. 
  • "Prepare your family and friends in advance for this very important attachment plan: No one touches, kisses, holds, or meets the needs of your new one except you and your spouse. No one. Tell them in advance and explain why. Your child needs to learn right away that you are his mother and father. YOU ARE. You will meet his needs. You will hold him when he cries. He belongs to you, and you are forever. He is coming from a multiple-caregiver situation, so if twenty strangers hold and kiss and feed him and rock him in his new environment, nothing has changed at all. He will struggle to attach to you because you are not his sole caregiver. This principle is not permanent, but it is so necessary at first. Tell your family and friends to give him a “high five” and that’s about the end of it for a bit."
JON AND I FEEL WE NEED TO WATCH THIS MORE CLOSELY WITH PUNYA AND PULL BACK WITH LIVI.  HONESTLY, WE FEEL WE ARE SEEING LIVI (WHO WENT THROUGH ALL OF THIS THREE YEARS AGO) REACHING OUT INAPPROPRIATELY TO MALES, POSSIBLY BECAUSE WE DIDN'T MONITOR THIS MORE CLOSELY.  YOU ALL CAN HELP US WITH BOTH OF THEM BY KEEPING TO THE "HIVE FIVE" AND REDIRECTING THE BOTH OF THEM TO JON OR I FOR ANYTHING MORE. 
  • "Keep visitors at bay for awhile. Your child doesn’t know you yet. A lot of revolving faces simply reinforces the notion that people come and go, and he is alone. Yes, these people love you and love your child. They are thrilled he is home and care so deeply. You know that. He doesn’t. Tons of smiling, oversized, touchy strangers constantly in and out make for a nervous, insecure child. Our friends left dinner on our porch and texted us. Our parents chomped at the bit waiting, while we worked our way through the early storm of transition. God bless them."
THANK YOU FRIENDS FOR CARING FOR US IN THE SAME WAY!  THE MEALS HAVE BEEN A BLESSING!  ALLOWING ALL OF US TO WAVE AT THE WINDOW GIVES PUNYA BOUNDARIES AND SECURITY.  SHE CAN CONTINUE TO GAIN CONFIDENCE KNOWING THAT THERE IS A PERIMETER OF SAFETY.  WHILE YOU MAY NOT HEAR, SHE WARMLY ECHOS HER SISTERS WITH "TANK EW!" ACCOMPANIED BY BIG SMILES. 
  • "Stay home. I mean it. Stay the heck home. Cancel your calendars. Pull out of everything you’re involved in. Temporarily quit your small group and your Bible study and your volunteer position at church on Wednesdays and your gym classes. Katy, bar the door. Circle the wagons with your little family and hunker down. Do not take your newbie to Target. Do not drag them to public places. Do not spend two hours in the car running errands with them. Keep the moving parts to an absolute minimum."
HONESTLY, WE'VE PROBABLY STRETCHED PUNYA TOO MUCH ALREADY.  IT HAS ONLY BEEN ONE WEEK HOME.  WHEN WE DO TOO MUCH WE SEE HER SHOW SIGNS OF SELF-SOOTHING BEHAVIORS; ROCKING HERSELF, HUMMING, TEARS.  THE SWEET ONE ONLY KNOWS A VERY STRICT ROUTINE, DAY-IN AND DAY-OUT.  EVEN HAVING AN HOUR OF FREE PLAY IS OVER STIMULATING FOR HER.  IN THE ORPHANAGE SHE COLORED AT 10:30.  SHE DIDN'T CHOOSE BETWEEN MARKERS AND CRAYONS, SHE DIDN'T CHOOSE BETWEEN GREEN PAPER AND BLUE, SHE WAS GIVEN A COLORING BOOK AND COLORED.  OUR HOME IS PRETTY ROUTINE IN COMPARISON BUT TO PUNYA'S LIFE THE CHOICES ARE THRILLING AND DAUNTING ALL AT ONCE, CAUSING HER TO ACT LIKE A WOUND-UP TOP SET LOOSE TO SPIN AND CRASH. 

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Time

We are making every effort to use our time to pour into the girls; each of them.  The girls have always cherished our date outings and now, they are more important than ever.  I had some special time with Punya on Sunday morning when everyone else went off to church.  We built boxes with linking straws, sorted by color and then she helped me get, an already prepared, lunch on the table. 


Sunday afternoons we savor as a family, resting and replenishing on the Sabbath.  This Sunday Livi and I escaped alone together.  We went to Target to get a few things for Punya.  All our size 3 & 4 pants and shorts are just not going to work for this peanut; size 2 were needed.  Livi didn't care what we did, she enjoyed chatting and choosing and being the apple of my eye. 


Tonight Meg and I went to Hobby Lobby, the girl "needs" farm stuff.  Her and her buddy have this plan to purchase their own land, build a barn and fill it with animals.  The plans delight her to no end!  We discussed brushes that were needed to paint the barn, we found just the right "sign" to point to their property and she showed me a packet of stickers I could get her for her birthday IF I wasn't going to buy a live animal.  (She was gracious and said stickers would be a fine second place.)  We held hands, laughed, skipped; enjoyed being together. 

 

Jon is also taking special times with each of them.  Today he and Livi walked five blocks up the hill to mail two letters.  They were alone and she had full dibs to the shoulder ride!  She planned her time with him and since 10:30 a.m. this morning was counting down the minutes for his arrival home.  This shoulder ride was MUCH anticipated.  (Just wish I had snapped a picture!)


I'm not sure about your kids, but our kids are not involved in many activities. We have been meticulous about where their time AND our time, as a family, goes. We agree whole-heartedly with Voddie Baucham that every child is to be discipled by their parents. How can we disciple them if we are too busy for them OR they are too busy with what we have signed them up for.

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.
Deuteronomy 6:6-7

We know that when we leave our home we are entering the mission field. We are making it a point to pray for those we meet in the store when we get to the car. SO, tonight Meg and I were blessed to pray for baby Jillil who will be born in August; mom checked us out at Target AND at Office Max Duncan first declined he had anything for prayer BUT as we were gathering to leave he whispered quickly, "Will you pray my knee pain is healed in the next five minutes?"  Friends, this is "impressing them on your children..." we are intentionally living life radically for Christ that our lives reflect our values and our lives are our testimony.  Our girls need to be by our side to see, hear and be discipled by us; their parents.




sermonaudio.com
"The Centrality of the Home in the Evangelism and Discipleship of our Children "
(specifically starting at 10:45)

This is tough stuff... V. Baucham came to faith in college, he had an amazing professional football career ahead of him and he turned it down to follow the Lord's calling.  He is passionate about family, children and using every ounce of his life for God's glory. 

To Be Used

"Sometimes I would like to ask God,
why He allows poverty, famine and injustice
in the world when He could do something about it... but I'm afraid
He might ask me the same question."
Anonymous


I follow just a couple blogs and this one is near and dear to my heart.  Her passion for Jesus, her desire to be used, her heart for the fatherless, her radical abandonment to live life for Him is what I desire for my life. 
Use me! 


Monday, May 21, 2012

Learning About Her

Punya...

* loves to laugh; contagious laughter that gets us all rolling.

* is nervous about visitors (the grandparents have stopped by), although she will wave to you through the window!  Those of you that are generously bringing us a meal, watch for five waving girls!

* clams-up around men; even looks at Jon questioningly.

* hides behind my leg at the sight of any animal; even our pet bunnies.  Although she has already tried to hold "Jack" (the resident fish). 

* disposition is extremely happy.

* screams at unexpected movement; swings, stroller, Jon doing a push-up with her on his back.

* has HUGE, wide, darting eyes with the elevator, escalator and slides.

* is the best hand-washer & toothbrusher in town!

* will hold a hand at all times while walking on our unleveled lawn.

* finds the car terrifying; she screams every time we get near it. 

* thinks it is the BEST thing that she can drink from her water bottle whenever she wants.

* wants to please and impress us.

* participates joyfully in chores and beams to be included; emptying dishwasher, clearing table and plates, trash, folding clothes, etc. 

Punya is a brave little girl
that is facing life with a positive outlook
and enjoying every ounce that she takes in. 

Father God, I pray for Punya and for all the doubts and questions that must rise up in her mind.  I pray for supernatural ways to communicate to her.  That she would be able to communicate and share her feelings with us; not hiding them away in her heart to deal with alone.  May she feel an overwhelming sense of love and acceptance.  May she know, without a doubt, that she is home forever.






Are You Willing?


We are His hands... we are His feet... we are His heart!
Let's not waste our lives on ourselves.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

5 Girls!

We heard it a lot!  FIVE GIRLS!  We received a variety of reactions from almost everyone we encountered both in India and in America.  Laughs, jeers, wide eyes, compliments, jokes; you name it!  We never set out to have JUST girls; God led that for us.  First He gave us three biological girls, all surprises in the delivery room.  While pregnant with Ava (our 3rd), we asked the Lord to lead our adoption plan.  If our baby was a girl, we would adopt a girl, if a boy - a boy.  So upon proceeding with Chinese Children Adoption International (CCAI) we marked the "girl" box.  While we were already in the process of adopting Livi we found Punya; by description only.  I don't even know now what drew us to her description but our hearts became entangled with her precious life at the age of 8 months.  We watched her grow through pictures and promised to pray for her; for a family.  Two years ago, through many "coincidences" leadings, all lining up in one week, we officially came forward to adopt our fifth daughter. 

We look forward to seeing how and in what ways our family grows in the future.  We are open to your leading Lord.

Perhaps the funniest reaction to the girls was during security check leaving India.  After passing through the detectors, some are asked to step into a curtained room.  All five girls and I were asked to step inside and next thing we know they were lining them up on the elevated platform.  She would move the girls around and then... she pulled a cell phone from her pocket and started snapping pictures!  She would laugh and show them the images and then add me to the mix and start all over again.  I don't recall if we were even patted down any further...

Filling Her Up

As soon as we arrived in the driveway and saw what awaited us I took Punya to the front door and pointed to each person in the picture, saying their name.  She repeated me and glowed.  As we sat for a picture on the front step she was jumpy; excited/nervous jumpy.  Her little body twitched.  I do think she was figuring it all out; this was HER home. 

As we went through the house we would show her item after item that was meant for her; prepared, in advance, FOR HER.  Her shoe basket, her coat/bag hook, her sock drawer, her pajama hook, her hooded bath towel, her toiletry bag, her bed...

her smile was different, her smile knew she belonged.

Precious Punya, YOU will always belong in our family and we will, step by step, teach show you through our love and actions about the most important, eternal family of being united with Christ and His people for His mission.  He has a plan and a purpose marked out for you dear one! 
You are precious; a masterpiece created in His image!


Punya's first prayer to Jesus. 

Homecoming!

Our dear friends blessed our socks off!
The Bible says in James 1:27; Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
Our friends have lived this verse out by coming along side us and supporting us in looking after one of these orphans. 

Welcome home balloons and a family picture on the front door and inside the house! 
Plus pictures of the sisters together too!

A beautiful sign with encouragement and love to uplift!

Surprise gifts filled the house!

When we left for India the fridge was all but cleared out.

Upon our return, loved ones have made sure we would have a meal when we woke at 3:00 a.m.!  Plus meals already in the freezer!  WOW!

Flowers and treats throughout the house!
AND... what more could bless this Momma? 
A friend came and cleaned our house!
"Our house smells like a new house!"
"Our floors look different!" 
(Can you tell this mom doesn't polish the floors; ever!)
No places were left to write their names through the dust...
(I also don't dust... I'm a work in progress!)



ghhbgg yjm
(Punya sat on my lap for a time, a word from her.)


Travel Day

The day of travel was long as we didn't even board the plane until 11:45 p.m. 
WAITING for the day to end to begin travel seems to make the hours drag. 

At the airport with our luggage! 
Going to India we had six suitcases to check-in and seven stuffed, carry-on backpacks.  Coming home we checked one suitcase and one backpack and had five small carry-ons.  The clerk told us our family of seven set the new, international travel record of one checked bag (he didn't seem to think our small backpack counted).

Papa with all five girls. 
As the adults were nodding off waiting to board, Livi was playing an "Ask Me A Question" game, Papa's question; "I'm wondering when you are going to run out of energy?" 

Punya was delighted if we allowed her to keep a water bottle in her hand.

Having fun before we board the plane.
Many giggles!

 
Boarding the plane!

Girls ready and eager to fly home!

A bit more than halfway to Newark!



THE DOCUMENTS!

Prayers answered, documents in hand by 9:15 a.m. the day we leave India! 




Home!

After Gotcha Day and taking Punya home, we have been busy and exhausted.  Busy hands wanting to see, touch, explore, poke, grab, feel, insert, open, turn, do and copy.  SO, I haven't had much time to sit at the computer.  MUCH to catch you all up on and THANKSGIVING for Jesus leading our hearts and lives.

Arrived home a half hour early (9:30 a.m. on Friday) and came home to a BEAUTIFUL homecoming!  My mom was our escort and after exploring our home, eating lunch, taking baths, painting fingernails, saying good-byes to Mimi, having a prayer and family devotion we went to bed.  SO at 2:00 p.m. we ALL went to sleep, everyone sleeping until between 1:00-2:00 a.m.  At 3:00 a.m. we had a family breakfast and then went back to bed just to rest.  Just finishing the second breakfast for Saturday, will post pictures and details later today.

We appreciated your prayers for our time in India and our travel.  We experienced an amazing, truly unbelievable time and I KNOW that it was due to prayer covering and Jesus answering those prayers. 

Off to watch and direct those busy hands that bang the piano every time that path is crossed, that open drawers and cabinets, to be kept from the flames of the stove, opening fridge, turning up the music player, throwing the soccer ball across the room... that bang the keys on the computer... I'm off!

:)


Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Gotcha Day! (officially)

We saw Punya for a short time each of the past two days, but today was her official Gotcha Day.  We went to the orphanage one last time and did a photo shoot with the caregivers and said our good-byes.  It was emotional, which was great since it meant there was an attachment between her and the caregivers.  She is certainly loved there.

We then did a little shopping and came back to the hotel to relax a little bit.  The rest of the day was pretty low key and now we are going to see how the first night with us goes. 

We still have some things to take care of at the US Embassy, so we will make a trip there for an appointment in the morning.  That should provide us with everything we need to make the trip home, which we will do tomorrow evening.  Hopefully Jenn will have an opportunity to write some more before we leave tomorrow, but for now, I need to get to bed.  See everybody soon...

Here is the whole crew at the orphanage.

Here is Punya with a couple women who love her.

Jenn doing some shopping, can you find her??

Enjoying some KFC.

Night Night.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

The Lord's Provision

Really it never stopped.  Our Lord Jesus Christ covered us with more than we could ask or imagine again and again on this trip.  I want to begin to write it down here so we never forget AND to testify to His greatness; that it might encourage your faith as well.

I shared with friends many times, before we even left, that people would just show up at our house with the exact need on my checklist.  We even got countless calls asking what was still needed.  Do you know, I left the house once to do an errand and SILLY ME for not trusting because when we got home someone showed up with just the things I had purchased. 

SO... hear these miracles:

1) When I was pregnant I wanted a special baby outfit for going home; something that could be treasured and saved.  I wanted the same for Punya but honestly didn't know where to start.  I wanted new pajamas because I thought that would be her first thing we would change her into.  I also wanted some new clothes that would be her going home outfits.  I had quickly looked here and there but also needed to consider that she may be FREEZING in air conditioning so perhaps a sweater was needed. 

On Monday before our Thursday departure, a friend from Iowa swung by our house with THREE brand new Gymboree dresses, with a matching long-sleeved, warm green sweater!  GORGEOUS!  Do you know what else?  She also had a brand new pair of pj's!  SHE HAD NO IDEA OF ANY OF MY SPECIFIC THOUGHTS FOR CLOTHES!  Thank you Holts!

2) Bags!  Every single bag that we took was a donation.  We even packed several bags to be used to transport smaller portions when we arrived.  So thank you to SO, SO many of you for helping us get there!  A couple specific blessings come to mind. 
a) The carry-ons were the first thing we put in order.  The girls were quite excited to prepare.  Upon stuffing them with food, sweatshirt, sanitizer, wipes, activities, journal, etc.; they were plum full.  Actually, it was too full for Livi.  There was no way she was going to maneuver her bag so I knew I'd be helping her.  BUT, praise the Lord, on Wednesday afternoon the Rothfuss family came by with ONE rolling backpack.  PERFECT, I hadn't even made that request known! 
b) The second HUGE blessing was in God's timing for large suitcases.  The Wedergrens & Moss families had donated one each and I remember walking out of church thinking the remaining duffle bags wouldn't allow us to fill to capacity.  Right then the Lord put Julie in my path and she asked what was still needed.  Long skirts for me and large suitcases were lacking; "I love to shop!  I will go to Goodwill and see what I can find today!"  I received an email later that day with delighted news that two more large suitcases would be waiting for pick-up on Tuesday evening; including three long skirts for me! 

3) The calls!  I had lists... just ask!  I am still amazed today that I would cross off items on my list simply by answering the phone.  Some dear soul would be on the other end asking how they could help; markers, pencil sharpeners, clothes and more.

4) VBS materials!  I received a call from our church saying they were cleaning out a closet and wondered if I wanted to take the excess items.  I figured since I was making a trip to church I would gather them and see if there was room.  Not only was there room for everything but the exact number of items were present to run a day of VBS in Agra.  We didn't know that was going to be asked of us so even HAVING those items in the bag was a miracle.  I had wanted to have some fun activities for kids in case we could bless on them or there might be time to fit something in of our own planning.  NEVER did I know that they were thinking we were running the camp.  Perfect example of God providing when I didn't even know there would be a need! 

there is more... tired and off to bed tonight...

The Embassy

Jon and I picked Punya up today and took her to the US Embassy.  We needed to get her Visa for her to enter the United States. 

We are AMAZINGLY calm about the situation that CARA (the Indian adoption agency) has not sent our Article 23 letter to the Embassy.  They kept all our papers (that we were told NOT to leave behind) and said they would call when the document was received.  They know our flight leaves Thursday night and were confident the papers would be in order before that time. 

Would you please pray that all of this does indeed happen?

Besides that bump, here is our day in pictures:
Our second day heading off to the orphanage.  Gifts for the caregivers, some clothes to donate and activities to occupy Punya at the Embassy.

Beautiful desserts!  A treat for the nannies at rest hour!

At 10:30 arrival the kids were at their coloring or board game stations.
Beautiful dress for Embassy day; thank you Holt family!
Mimi had sent some pretty white shoes; size 8 but unfortunately I think Punya's foot size is a 5!

Lacing fun during the car ride to the Embassy! 
Great activity Aunt Amy!

This was the last picture before cameras were asked to be turned off.


After the Embassy, we went back to the hotel for some "lunch" (more like whatever we could find) and an hour of seeing the family.
Sisters!
New bracelet to wear, thanks Sathers!

Punya spent our time at the Embassy lacing these bead necklaces!

Ella and Meg wanted to accompany us to take Punya home.
Tomorrow will be our official GOTCHA DAY!

Names

Punya learning the names of her sisters!

Humorous... Now

There have been some things along the journey that we will look back upon and laugh. 
Here are a few that we will remember...

A GREAT invention to curb the consistent; "Are we there yet?" question. 
These should be installed in automobiles!



Natives asked us constantly to take their pictures.
The tourist guide says to plan on a three-hour, grueling ride to Agra. 
NOT! 
Let's say 6-7 hours!

We did have some respite to enjoy the pool! 
Meg thoroughly enjoyed her time!

Jon enjoyed his time a bit differently than Meg!

Sleeping was always an interesting game for me to play. 
I was able to secure the top right corner this night!

Poor Pastor Krupa gave me a heart-attack the first morning when, as we are driving to VBS,
 we asked how the day would go. 
He looked wide-eyed at us and said, he didn't know because we were running the day!

Had his day over the microphone while in church!

This guy couldn't find a shoe that would fit!

Barking orders to the cars driving by!

Jon in fancy Indian attire.

Restroom needed for Ava, doors open, here ya go. 
Where?
Oh, of course, behind the wall! 
Maybe somewhat OK if not dealing with stomach issues... UGH!

The girls want you to know that just because we left town
doesn't mean that chores have quit! 
Still laundry to be done!

Returning to Delhi brought many familiar sights back into view,
including the golden arches.

Delhi also had an indoor play area. 
New friends were made! 
Smiles are the same in every language!

AAAH!
A typical lunch...
bananas
yogurt
peanut butter & jelly sandwich
(Never thought I'd savor a pb&j!)