Getting Ready for School and the Cross Country Season.

Again, I keep trying to get a post out, but I get distracted and forget!  Since last post, Dima's Uncle John, who was in Afghanistan for the last year, came home.  We had a big party to celebrate.  You can tell that Dima loves having a big family now as he is so happy anytime he sees his extended family.  It is hard to imagine him going through his whole life with having no one to call his family.  It is still hard for me to think that someone could give this child up, but we are so blessed to have him now and hope that we can show him what a family is all about.

Here are a few pictures from the celebration:

Dima and his cousin Ben playing games on Dima's phone.

Dima and Allison swinging together. 

After the celebration, we've been trying to find things for Dima to do until school starts.  We are finally comfortable leaving him home alone.  He has turned into the typical American teenager and sleeps in until about 10am or so.  He enjoys riding his bike around Penn State Altoona and having the freedom to relax.  He started cross country practice last week and seems to really enjoy it.  Coach Baranik and everyone has been absolutely wonderful with Dima. 

It is amazing to see how far he's come in 8 months!  He now is comfortable speaking to new people and engages in conversations.  For some reason he will not speak much to anyone who tries to speak in his language.  We don't know why as we thought he'd love to speak to someone else in his main language. 

Dima's English has been coming along really well.  He has been reading to us each night.  At first he was a little quiet and unsure of himself, but now is reading with confidence.  I just hope he will continue that confidence into this school year! His English has come a long so well that our friends that meet him are amazed that how well he can understand English and they can understand him. 

It is so hard to believe that this time last year, Dima was staying at our house for the hosting program! It's amazing how much has changed in one year.  This time last year we were looking forward to making Dima our son and now he finally is!