No time these days...

Well, it's Annie, so there are no pictures again!  I can not access them from work.  I am going to try and post quickly before my lunch break is over.  I have heard from several friends that I have not posted in a week, so here goes!

The days are very busy with working full time, coming home to do homework with Mia and work on English with Kennedy, squeeze in gymnastics, cook and serve dinner, get everyone showered and to bed early so they can be up early enough to be at school with a mommy who is also a teacher...you get the picture!  Factor in cleaning, laundry, work for school to be done at home...and blogging is no longer a priority.  As much as I enjoy it, something has to give.  That's what I picked.

The main update happened on Friday night.  Kennedy brought me the transator and it said, "I want to tell you."  I thought she left a word off or maybe did not know the word she needed to complete the thought.  No.  She meant she wanted to tell me her story.  The story of her life in China.

Charles and Mia were in the her room playing a game.  I kept yelling, "Keep playing!!"  Because... Kennedy spent the next hour confiding in me all that she could express about her life before the orphanage...life until the age of 7.  She told me many details about her "grandfather and grandmother"...which is what she called the people who found her at birth and raised her until the grandmother died when Kennedy was 7 and the grandfather could not care for her on his own.  She told me a good deal of it in English and acted out many parts.  We only used the translator a few times.  I will not share details here, but I was amazed at her strength and her desire to "tell me".  One thing she mentioned was that her birth mother and father "did not want her" but the "grandfather and grandmother" (not bio) did want her and loved her very much.  To that, I was sure to use the translator to tell her that we want her, we will never send her away and we love her very much.  She said, "Thank you very much."  She looked like she might cry.  NOT typical for her.

Anyway, an hour later, we hugged and I told her thank you for telling me.  I told her I loved her, like I always tell her.  That time, she hugged me tighter and said, "I love you too."  I cried.  She has written it, indicated it and told others, but it was the first time she said it to me.  I melted.

On that awesome note, I must go.  Lunch is over.  Work to do.  Sorry for the lack of posts.  Just know that Kennedy's transition and adjustment have been going better that I could have ever imagined!  God is awesome!  Our family is complete!