Bath Buddies

We just had our first movie night with the girls here ("Because of Winn Dixie") ... complete with microwave popcorn (I was so excited to find it in one of the stores here) as well as a few marshmallows as a side treat (thanks, Halmoni, for sending those!) Since so many of you have asked how the girls have been adjusting, we wanted to give you a quick update!

We are so thankful to see that the girls seem to be adapting well. They really like our apartment here and have enjoyed all their new playmates. Yes, they do ask after people in the States and Verity will often ask, "When can I visit so-and-so again?" But overall, we could not have asked for an easier transition. Thanks for praying! One day, Verity walked into the kitchen and asked me, "We finally made it to [city name], didn't we?" I answered, "Yes, we did!" She smiled and said, "I'm really glad we're here!"

Verity (4 yrs) has jumped right into life here. She absolutely loves her new preschool. One Saturday morning, she came into the kitchen with her backpack on and said, "Can I go to preschool today, pleeeease?" And since there are so many kids on our team (12 total), there is never a shortage of playmates. She's learned how to say "hello", "thank you" and "goodbye" so far in this language and I try to encourage her to use them whenever possible.

Annalise (2 yrs 3 mos) is still a spunky, free-spirited, independent toddler. She just transitioned to her big girl bed (by herself, without any coaxing on our part) and is starting to communicate more with new words everyday ("I'll do it myself" being one of her new favorites). She still has a thing for shoes and in this culture, we take our shoes off at the front door. Whenever we have guests, she gets so excited about trying on all the different type of shoes left at the door. When our landlord visited us the day after we landed, she couldn't find her high heels when she was ready to leave. I remember seeing Annalise wearing them around during our meeting and after a frantic search, we finally found them in the washing machine. She keeps us laughing!

Moriah (almost 9 mos) continues to be an easy baby for us. She absolutely lights up when her sisters are around. She just cut her first 2 bottom teeth and is on her way to crawling (can get up on all fours and rocks back & forth). David and I and her 2 big sisters love kissing and hugging on her!!

Here are the 3 girls during a recent bathtime. The girls love it when David squirts them with shaving cream or foam soap ... a little trick we learned from his sister, Lynda.