April has been a busy month, and it has just flown by! Vika's birthday was on the 2nd and she had a bowling birthday party with a lot of family and friends. We do not think she has ever had a birthday party before and we wanted to make this one special.
In the middle of the month, Michelle and Paul Polotza took Vika, Anslee, Vika Love, Leana, and Marybeth Raabe to Revolve in Reading Pa. This is a christian retreat for teenage girls. They loved it! They stayed in a hotel and went to two concerts, one by Britt Nicole and the other was Dream On. Vika brought back a CD of both and plays them often.
On Palm Sunday we got together with some of the other children and they each did a Pysanky egg for Easter. Mick knows a lady named Francine who was nice enough to come to Tyrone and bring the eggs and equipment and show the children how to decorate the eggs. We also dyed eggs at home saturday before Easter but ours were not a fancy. Easter brought a new basket filled with candy, Uno cards and a cross necklace and earrings. After church we went to my parents home to visit and have ham. Vika was not to sure she wanted to go into my parents house. There were many relatives there and she did not know many of them. I told her it would be ok and would stay with her, and when she went into the house and met everyone she was good. Mick and I both have large families and she has not met all of them. It must be overwhelming to her, and I don't know what she must think everytime we tell her this is another cousin, aunt or uncle. We ended the day at Micks parents home with dinner and a game of Uno.
These are some of the highlights from our month. Vika is still taking English lessons from Lilly, and I can see improvement in her speech and she is understanding more. There are many day to day issues and we handle each one as they come. We pray everyday for guidence and wisdom and thank everyone who is praying for us. Most days I feel inadequate, that I need to be doing, saying, and giving more. We want to make sure Vika knows she is loved and nothing she can do will stop us from loving her, but she has boundries and certain things are expected of her. Some days you feel like saying - stop the ride I want to get off!! Then you see that smile, hear her singing and realize it is about her, not me. My heart has been broken more times than I can count, but I can not imagine my life without Vika. I am posting a few photos from the months events- enjoy!
