Pictures: Mom and Dad at school with Sarah for Grandparents' Day. Meme and Almira at lunch this same day. Molly and Simon, playing in the kitchen. Molly was about 6 weeks old in this picture.
I cannot believe it has been so long since I posted. It is not from lack of activity. We have been running around like crazy people. Almira and Sarah are doing well. The girls had a great Thanksgiving. It was so much fun to have Almira and Katherine here for Thanksgiving. Katherine made a wonderful fruit salad for all of us, her Russian/Romanian/Ukrainian offering. On Thursday we all went to my mom and dad's and had such fun. Then we went to my company, CenturyTel, which was built on a pecan orchard. The kids picked pecans for about 30 minutes, but it was really cold. Then we headed to our house. I took all three of the girls to the movies on Thanksgiving night, a tradition of mine and Jon's. We went to see Enchanted and it was so good. The girls loved it.
Then we headed home and the girls had a fun sleep over. On Friday morning we were packing up to go to Natchez, Mississippi for the day and night. Katherine was speaking to her mother on Skype and using the webcam, so I got to see her mother and talk to her. What a precious woman - she must be to have raised such a wonderful daughter. We shopped and walked around the city of Natchez, which is a great old city on the Mississippi River. The next morning it was cold and raining and we decided to drive north along the river to Vicksburg, MS to hit an outlet shopping mall. We did some shopping and then drove home that night, on Saturday. It was cold and storming really bad on Sunday morning and slept in and played hookey from church. We woke up Sunday morning to a bad storm, booming thunder and then a hail storm. It was so loud, I had forgotten what those sound like.
The girls are both doing well in school and Almira is about to wrap up soccer for the season, just 2 more weeks. Sarah is starting off with basketball season and they have already started practicing. Everyone is so excited about Christmas this year. Sarah and Almira are painting Christmas cards for our front yard and I'll post pictures when they are finished.
Almira has only asked for Russian books so far, but we have so much more planned for her. I can't wait for Christmas morning and to see the surprise on her face. She told me in the past she might get some sweets for Christmas, that was the standard birthday and Christmas presents. I think they tried to give them a little something at the orphanage. I know they did the best they could.
Molly the kitten is doing well, just growing so fast. I'll check on Almira at night when she is sleeping and Molly is right next to her, sometimes sleeping right on her neck. It never seems to wake up Almira and she just loves her.
We did have a hamster tragedy the weekend before last. We went to Walmart and picked up an extension for Almira's hamster cage, because I was worried her hamster (Tisha a/k/a Mousie) was going crazy from the small cage, she just ran back and forth along the front most of the time. Putting her in her ball for some time didn't seem to help much. We got home from Walmart and I went to help her do the cage and she was dead. It was horrible for Almira and she just cried and said it was her first pet. It was awful and we had a hamster funeral that afternoon. Sarah cried as hard as Almira. The next day Sarah had cleaned out her hamster cage and was putting it together when she broke it. We went back to Walmart and got her a new cage. She was in the process of putting her new cage together when the section of tubing that Simon (her hamster) was in, fell off the chair and hit the wood floor. I was standing there washing dishes and I heard them say, I think he is unconscious. I knew something was bad right away. I grabbed a paper towel and went and picked him up. He died shortly thereafter and I kept him covered up so the girls wouldn't see him. Two hamsters in two days. It was a very sad weekend. Two hamster funerals in one weekend was just too much. Almira immediately wanted another hamster, but Jon vetoed any pets for a while. Sarah cried so hard that night and then Almira got started again and Jon just couldn't take it. So we are back down to 2 cats, one kitten and a big black lab. Almira has mentioned several time she wants another hamster, but we've convinced her Molly is enough right now.
I have some pictures to post, but don't have them loaded right now. I'll try and post them before Christmas, but the way things are going who knows. I will finish my current class on December 17th and then I'm off until January 8th. Then I have 3 classes left to graduate!! I can't wait.
Kathy
Then we headed home and the girls had a fun sleep over. On Friday morning we were packing up to go to Natchez, Mississippi for the day and night. Katherine was speaking to her mother on Skype and using the webcam, so I got to see her mother and talk to her. What a precious woman - she must be to have raised such a wonderful daughter. We shopped and walked around the city of Natchez, which is a great old city on the Mississippi River. The next morning it was cold and raining and we decided to drive north along the river to Vicksburg, MS to hit an outlet shopping mall. We did some shopping and then drove home that night, on Saturday. It was cold and storming really bad on Sunday morning and slept in and played hookey from church. We woke up Sunday morning to a bad storm, booming thunder and then a hail storm. It was so loud, I had forgotten what those sound like.
The girls are both doing well in school and Almira is about to wrap up soccer for the season, just 2 more weeks. Sarah is starting off with basketball season and they have already started practicing. Everyone is so excited about Christmas this year. Sarah and Almira are painting Christmas cards for our front yard and I'll post pictures when they are finished.
Almira has only asked for Russian books so far, but we have so much more planned for her. I can't wait for Christmas morning and to see the surprise on her face. She told me in the past she might get some sweets for Christmas, that was the standard birthday and Christmas presents. I think they tried to give them a little something at the orphanage. I know they did the best they could.
Molly the kitten is doing well, just growing so fast. I'll check on Almira at night when she is sleeping and Molly is right next to her, sometimes sleeping right on her neck. It never seems to wake up Almira and she just loves her.
We did have a hamster tragedy the weekend before last. We went to Walmart and picked up an extension for Almira's hamster cage, because I was worried her hamster (Tisha a/k/a Mousie) was going crazy from the small cage, she just ran back and forth along the front most of the time. Putting her in her ball for some time didn't seem to help much. We got home from Walmart and I went to help her do the cage and she was dead. It was horrible for Almira and she just cried and said it was her first pet. It was awful and we had a hamster funeral that afternoon. Sarah cried as hard as Almira. The next day Sarah had cleaned out her hamster cage and was putting it together when she broke it. We went back to Walmart and got her a new cage. She was in the process of putting her new cage together when the section of tubing that Simon (her hamster) was in, fell off the chair and hit the wood floor. I was standing there washing dishes and I heard them say, I think he is unconscious. I knew something was bad right away. I grabbed a paper towel and went and picked him up. He died shortly thereafter and I kept him covered up so the girls wouldn't see him. Two hamsters in two days. It was a very sad weekend. Two hamster funerals in one weekend was just too much. Almira immediately wanted another hamster, but Jon vetoed any pets for a while. Sarah cried so hard that night and then Almira got started again and Jon just couldn't take it. So we are back down to 2 cats, one kitten and a big black lab. Almira has mentioned several time she wants another hamster, but we've convinced her Molly is enough right now.
I have some pictures to post, but don't have them loaded right now. I'll try and post them before Christmas, but the way things are going who knows. I will finish my current class on December 17th and then I'm off until January 8th. Then I have 3 classes left to graduate!! I can't wait.
Kathy
