Deniss and I had been planning to go visit in Latvia. Deniss kept talking about one of his best friends, Ruslans. So - we offered him a deal - for about the same cost as two of us going to Latvia for a week, we could have Ruslans come here for a month. Deniss took us up on the deal. So, now we are working on hosting Ruslans through the same hosting program as the one we used for Deniss. It might be slightly cheaper if we didn't use a program but the paperwork is a huge undertaking and - this way Ruslans wouldn't be traveling alone.
Ruslans is also 15 years old. We met him last summer when he was here being hosted by another family. For whatever reason, they couldn't adopt him. Ruslans has told the orphanage director that he doesn't want to leave Latvia anyway because he has an older brother there.
Bottom line - we think this is just a chance for Deniss and Ruslans to spend five weeks together. But.....you never know.
Robin
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Soccer rules!
Deniss got to play in the second JV game of the year. He played about half of the second half of the game. I didn't get to be there - it is tax season and the game was in Columbus.
Reports are that he did very well and impressed the coach and the other parents. By this time in the lives of our kids, you think that you have seen all of the players somewhere through the years. Parents were asking where Deniss came from because most had never seen him play before.
All of this makes us very proud of him. He has worked very hard to get in good shape for playing soccer. He knows that he has not had as many years to train and learn, so he tried to make up for it by getting in better shape physically. All he needed was a chance - and he is finally getting his chance to shine.
He has had so many issues to overcome at school, at home and in life in general. He has a great attitude and is showing what he can do when given the chance!
Robin
Reports are that he did very well and impressed the coach and the other parents. By this time in the lives of our kids, you think that you have seen all of the players somewhere through the years. Parents were asking where Deniss came from because most had never seen him play before.
All of this makes us very proud of him. He has worked very hard to get in good shape for playing soccer. He knows that he has not had as many years to train and learn, so he tried to make up for it by getting in better shape physically. All he needed was a chance - and he is finally getting his chance to shine.
He has had so many issues to overcome at school, at home and in life in general. He has a great attitude and is showing what he can do when given the chance!
Robin
Friday, February 15, 2008
Still alive and well
I have been neglecting the blog. January was eventful. Deniss and Aaron tried out for the high school soccer team. Deniss made the JV team. That is quite the accomplishment considering that he had never played organized soccer before coming to America.
Aaron was quite disappointed that he didn't make the team. We feel like his skills are good - he just need to work on fitness and attitude. We are very proud of him regardless.
The whole soccer situation set back the boys relationship a little bit. They are getting back on track now.
Deniss and I had planned to go to Latvia this summer to visit. Then we thought about hosting one of Deniss' best friends instead. Deniss liked that idea because he would get to spend five weeks with Ruslans instead of just a few days. We are working on making that happen. Deniss needs the chance to interact with other Latvia kids every now and then.
More later.
Robin
Aaron was quite disappointed that he didn't make the team. We feel like his skills are good - he just need to work on fitness and attitude. We are very proud of him regardless.
The whole soccer situation set back the boys relationship a little bit. They are getting back on track now.
Deniss and I had planned to go to Latvia this summer to visit. Then we thought about hosting one of Deniss' best friends instead. Deniss liked that idea because he would get to spend five weeks with Ruslans instead of just a few days. We are working on making that happen. Deniss needs the chance to interact with other Latvia kids every now and then.
More later.
Robin
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Wrap up - 2007
Christmas was wonderful this year. Having Deniss with us was a great blessing in many ways. Seeing Christmas through his eyes made us stop and think about the small stuff, the traditions, the memories, the family times. It was fun telling him about all of our family traditions. He would often say that he didn't have ornaments or memories like ours. I would simply tell him that he started now. He had a new start at life and he will get to build great memories from now on.
Our family is so blessed now. We have three wonderful sons, one biological, one adopted at birth, one adopted at 14 years. All different but the love is still the same! Sometimes we feel like Deniss has been with us forever, but then sometimes we hear his accent and get reminded of the wonderful journey we have had over the last year and half. It is hard to imagine that at Christmas time two years ago, we had no idea what was in store for us. God has an amazing way of guiding you down different paths.
Some people have been telling us that we are doing something wonderful. We can't take the credit. For once in our lives, we stepped back and really let God take control. It is amazing what can happen when you let go of control and let God take over!
Robin
Our family is so blessed now. We have three wonderful sons, one biological, one adopted at birth, one adopted at 14 years. All different but the love is still the same! Sometimes we feel like Deniss has been with us forever, but then sometimes we hear his accent and get reminded of the wonderful journey we have had over the last year and half. It is hard to imagine that at Christmas time two years ago, we had no idea what was in store for us. God has an amazing way of guiding you down different paths.
Some people have been telling us that we are doing something wonderful. We can't take the credit. For once in our lives, we stepped back and really let God take control. It is amazing what can happen when you let go of control and let God take over!
Robin
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Christmas so far....
Well - our household is full of new experiences. Last Saturday, Deniss and I made some cookies. He had never done that before. So - I taught him about licking the beater and other such things that kids do when "helping" to make cookies. He really did help though - he ran the mixer for me and help drop cookie dough onto the cookie sheets.
Saturday night we went to Callaway to the "Fantasy in Lights" display. It was cold and raining but we didn't complain because we needed the rain so much. The lights are still fun to see - even in the rain.
The boys are taking exams this week. They will be out of school on Friday. I will be taking them ice skating that day.
Deniss has an appointment to take his test for his learners licenses at DMV tomorrow. We were able to make arrangements to have someone from DMV read the questions to him. So - if all goes well, I will be teaching Deniss to drive soon! And Aaron will start in about six months! Say some prayers for us all!
Merry Christmas to anyone reading this!
Robin
Saturday night we went to Callaway to the "Fantasy in Lights" display. It was cold and raining but we didn't complain because we needed the rain so much. The lights are still fun to see - even in the rain.
The boys are taking exams this week. They will be out of school on Friday. I will be taking them ice skating that day.
Deniss has an appointment to take his test for his learners licenses at DMV tomorrow. We were able to make arrangements to have someone from DMV read the questions to him. So - if all goes well, I will be teaching Deniss to drive soon! And Aaron will start in about six months! Say some prayers for us all!
Merry Christmas to anyone reading this!
Robin
Monday, November 26, 2007
Thanksgiving
Wow - what a great Thanksgiving we had this year. So much to be thankful for with Deniss in our family. It was fun trying to explain our tradition to him - part history lesson - partly I just kept saying "It's all about the food".
We had Thanksgiving dinner with friends from church. Having a big group around always makes Thanksgiving fun. We couldn't get Deniss to try the cornbread dressing. Maybe at Christmas.
On Saturday, Ken's birthday, I had arranged for all the Likumi kids to get together for ice skating. All of the families came. That was eight kids that have been or are in the final stages of adoption that live in North Georgia. They all came from the Likumi Children's Home in Latvia. There are two brother/sister siblings groups that are in family's with two other siblings. There is a set of twin girls who were adopted by a couple with no other children. There is one girl who now has three siblings and then there is Deniss with two brothers. All of the siblings were there ice skating as well with the exception of our Bobby and one other older brother from another family. So we had a great crowd. The Likumi kids loved getting to see each other - after all - they are like family as well. The parents all enjoyed talking to each other and sharing the joys and pains of adopting older kids from another country. It seems like we all were able to laugh about our shared "issues". Kids that eat us out of house and home, kids not understanding why they need to tell us before they leave the house, kids that struggle learning enough English to get by in school. The list goes on - but it was nice to talk about these things and know that we all had the same issues. But most important - it was nice to see the joy and happiness from all of the families and the kids! We are already planning another get together for February!
Deniss got to experience his Dad's birthday as well. He was with us for Aaron's and my birthday back in June but our birthdays were overshadowed a bit this year because we were still in Europe. We were busy getting paperwork completed in Riga on Aaron's birthday. We were traveling to Poland for our US Embassy appointment on my birthday. Now that I think about it, we were busy with Deniss on Ken's birthday as well. Maybe next year we will all have birthday's that are not overshadowed by the adoption thing. By then we will just be busy with everyday life.
Robin
We had Thanksgiving dinner with friends from church. Having a big group around always makes Thanksgiving fun. We couldn't get Deniss to try the cornbread dressing. Maybe at Christmas.
On Saturday, Ken's birthday, I had arranged for all the Likumi kids to get together for ice skating. All of the families came. That was eight kids that have been or are in the final stages of adoption that live in North Georgia. They all came from the Likumi Children's Home in Latvia. There are two brother/sister siblings groups that are in family's with two other siblings. There is a set of twin girls who were adopted by a couple with no other children. There is one girl who now has three siblings and then there is Deniss with two brothers. All of the siblings were there ice skating as well with the exception of our Bobby and one other older brother from another family. So we had a great crowd. The Likumi kids loved getting to see each other - after all - they are like family as well. The parents all enjoyed talking to each other and sharing the joys and pains of adopting older kids from another country. It seems like we all were able to laugh about our shared "issues". Kids that eat us out of house and home, kids not understanding why they need to tell us before they leave the house, kids that struggle learning enough English to get by in school. The list goes on - but it was nice to talk about these things and know that we all had the same issues. But most important - it was nice to see the joy and happiness from all of the families and the kids! We are already planning another get together for February!
Deniss got to experience his Dad's birthday as well. He was with us for Aaron's and my birthday back in June but our birthdays were overshadowed a bit this year because we were still in Europe. We were busy getting paperwork completed in Riga on Aaron's birthday. We were traveling to Poland for our US Embassy appointment on my birthday. Now that I think about it, we were busy with Deniss on Ken's birthday as well. Maybe next year we will all have birthday's that are not overshadowed by the adoption thing. By then we will just be busy with everyday life.
Robin
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Halloween
Well - Deniss had his first experience with the whole trick or treat thing last night. He had never done that before. He went with Aaron and a friend. He was a "redneck" in camoflage clothing. Only we know how out of character that really was! He had a good time but I really think he is going to get sick from all the candy!
We also participated in a fall festival at church on Sunday night. I really thought he was going to be sick from the candy that night as well.
We have had a wild week so far and it is only Thursday. Besides the Halloween stuff, on Monday night we got a letter from the boys high school stating that two girls had been arrested for discussing a shooting threat in a My Space chat room. It has been in the local newspapers. Yesterday, rumors were flying at the school about another threat. About 25% of the students went home early. We did not get the boys because we felt like the rumors yesterday were not credible. People tend to get a little crazy at times like these.
Robin
We also participated in a fall festival at church on Sunday night. I really thought he was going to be sick from the candy that night as well.
We have had a wild week so far and it is only Thursday. Besides the Halloween stuff, on Monday night we got a letter from the boys high school stating that two girls had been arrested for discussing a shooting threat in a My Space chat room. It has been in the local newspapers. Yesterday, rumors were flying at the school about another threat. About 25% of the students went home early. We did not get the boys because we felt like the rumors yesterday were not credible. People tend to get a little crazy at times like these.
Robin
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