So, then we left at 2:15pm and arrived in Charlotte by about 5:00. The drive seemed to fly by. We ate at Sonny's BBQ - my first time there! It was YUMMY! If you've never been, I say you need to go! We finally got to the airport by about 6:30. We figured we were about 2 hours early but that proved to be otherwise!
Lidiya's flight landed at 8:56 (32 minutes late) but then they sat on the tarmac for about an hour and a half! It stormed earlier in the night and the flights were grounded due to lightning. Therefore, Lidiya's flight didn't have a gate to pull up to. Before we had a chance to gather our stuff, the kids were downstairs already! We didn't even realize it at first. So, we first got to see her at almost 11:00...thus, our two hour early arrival turned out to be about 4 1/2 hours early! The Lord had blessed us with the opportunity for patience last night!
When we first saw her, she was just standing there all by herself. She looks much different than the picture we had of us, so I didn't even recognize her. Danny walked up to her and said, "Lidiya?" She said, "Yes". So, then I gave her a big hug! You could tell the poor girl was soooo tired! She said all she wanted to do was sleep. She didn't seem too nervous or scared, just really shy! She welcomed hugs and when I reached out to hold her hand, she responded well. Google Translate has been our best friend! She does know some words in English but not many. Some of the words she knows in English are: yes, no, wow, flag, toilet, sleep. An interesting combination of words that she happens to know, if you ask me! I mean, what do they teach them in Ukraine? "Yes, go sleep on the toilet with your flag!"?
I asked her a few questions, with the help of my electronic device of course! Do you like dogs? She did the "so-so" sign with her hand. Are you happy to be in America? "Yes! (with excitement)" Are you tired? "Yes...very much...just sleep!"
On our way out to the car, Coby grabbed her hand....soooo sweet!
She slept the entire ride home but you could tell she was trying to fight it at first, as she kept her head up. However, slowly but surely her head started to lean on the window and within about 20 minutes she was out. She woke up when we got to the house and much to my delight, she loved Ozzie! I was a little nervous about it since she didn't seem too thrilled about dogs but she did pet him and just adore him. Of course, he's just a little ball of fur...what's not to love?
She finally got back to sleep in her bed around 2:30 and the girl slept. And slept. And slept! I finally woke her up around 9:30. I would have let her sleep more but I didn't want to take a chance that she would sleep too much and then not sleep tonight. After she woke up, she picked out an outfit to wear and I showed her how to take a shower. She wanted to know if she should wash her clothes, too. Of course, I told her no...I would do that for her. I guess in the orphanages, they wear the same clothes every day. They just wash them in the shower by hand and put them back on.
After breakfast, her and Coby jumped on the batut (trampoline). Coby would jump, then sit, then jump again. Then, I would say, "Lidiya - you do it" and she would just laugh and say, "Noooo". LOL She is not a daredevil by any means!
Some of the the things I learned about her:
- Her favorite show is One Tree Hill
- Her favorite movie is Blade
- She really likes her boarding school
- She has 2 brothers and a sister
- She likes hot tea
- She likes fruit but does not like onions
- She likes Tom and Jerry (her and Coby are watching it right now)
- She likes to read
Here is a picture of her with Coby this morning after taking a shower and letting me do her hair.
She has a hard time smiling but I'm willing to bet it won't be long before she does. She is very sweet, just really shy.
Love the pics and the storytelling! "Yes, go sleep on the toilet with your flag!"? LOL she is adorable and so are you guys :)
ReplyDeleteSo exciting for you guys! Have a great time!
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