Camping Trip

We spent the past week camping in Prineville with our good friends. This is only the second time we have participated in this yearly event and it was great. Deanna got to experience camping with a lot of swimming, boating, and socializing. There were several teenagers there who she immediately took a liking to. The young people were all very good with her, allowing her to "hang out" with them and it really made the trip special for her. Thanks to all the adults too, we appreciate your kindness to Deanna.

She did meet a couple of girls her age to play with. They had fun on a trampoline on the water. This is very good, as she prefers older kids.

We had to watch her like a hawk though because she thought everyone in the campground was her friend, and no place was off limits. This was a good time for practicing appropriate vs inappropriate behavior!

Parties

Deanna has been fortunate enough to be invited to several parties and events this summer. She has plenty of clothes and loves wearing new outfits! This day we thought we were going to a BBQ, but it turned out to be a surprise wedding reception. Congratulations Wanda and Neil! We all had a great time and Deanna had fun dancing and "singing" with the band.

New Kitty

Yesterday the "boys" came home with a new kitten. I have been saying that our cat is old and having trouble catching mice and we should get a new one, specifically an orange one.
Jordan called and said they found a nice black and white kitty and I said if we get a cat I want an orange one or a tabby. He said it might be too late, Jeremy might have already bought it, as I hear the car heading for home.
Anyway, she is a very nice kitten, very friendly and not intimidated by the dogs at all. Deanna of course was immediately in love and has been carrying her everywhere. Jon wasn't too happy but seen later that evening petting and kissing her......

HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY JEREMY

Hard to believe but our oldest son Jeremy is 21! It keeps getting harder and harder to deny my age when the boys are men. It has been great having him home this summer.
Deanna picked out some gifts for him and kept making some sort of hat gesture, so I'm thinking they did celebrate birthdays in the orphanage with a party hat.
After all the gifts she has received at her showers she is very good about giving to others and not expecting anything for herself.

4th of July

This was Deanna's first 4th of July as an American! If she only understood the significance. Spending 6 weeks in Ukraine makes you really appreciate all we take for granted here.
She of course didn't have a clue what it was all about.
The boys did some fireworks at home, which she loved. Then Deanna and I went to downtown Portland and met Mimi and Grampa for the big fireworks display. Aunt Susan has a condo right down on the waterfront so we went to dinner and hung out there to watch the show. Deanna loved the fireworks for the first 5 minutes but then was just as interested in watching all the people. We had a really good time and I've finally had to hide the t-shirt so she won't wear it every day.

4 Months Home

Summer is going by quickly and although Deanna has been here for 4 months it seems like she's always been with us for much longer. Her hair is really growing and has lightened up considerably as you can tell. She continues to enjoy just about everything she does and is always cheerful and energetic (perhaps too much sometimes!)

Her main issues for improvement are her speech (needs lots of work) and she is still too friendly with strangers, however this is improving. She definately knows who her family is and she is very affectionate and loving.

Dance classes are going well, but when they got out the tumbling mats one day she really came to life. I thought she would be a good gymnast because she is flexible, coordinated, and very tough!