Our Summer With Sonia - Part 1

This post has been a loooong time coming.  I suppose it's taking me so long to post it because I just didn't know how to begin.  I guess the best place to start is at the very beginning, so that's what I'll do.  ;)

Let me start, though, by catching up my 3 blog readers (Haha!) on our family happenings since Bart's family came to visit back in May. ;)

We started out June by celebrating Bart on Father's Day.  He really is the BEST Daddy and hubby ever! We are SO BLESSED to call him ours!  Thank you for all you do for us Bart!  💗

The next big happening in June was seeing Judd off to beach camp with our church.  He looks forward to camp every year!  He had a great time!

Next up....Our really, really BIG news of the summer.......

Sonia.

We have a dear friend that works with International Hope Connection.  We have watched this friend and her family host many kids from Ukraine.  We have always been intrigued by this, but never, ever , EVER considered hosting a child ourselves.  It wasn't even on our radar....

Until she posted Sonia's picture. 😉

I don't know what it was, but she grabbed both mine and Bart's heart strings in that picture and pulled them tight!  It really was a feeling I can't put into words.  

It all started with this picture...

Introducing Sofiia (or Sonia), as we call her (by her request)!  

Sonia is 10 years old, but she turns 11 on August 18th.  She is from Ukraine.  Sonia is VERY outgoing, she LOVES, LOVES, LOVES all animals, she enjoys being with friends, loves to shop, take pictures, and make videos.  She would live outside chasing bunnies and snakes if I would let her!  She loves adventure!  She is such a joy!

Tasha had NEVER, EVER tried to talk us into hosting, as she knew this was not "our calling".  We had no desire to host a child.  None.  So, you can imagine her surprise when we showed interest in hosting Sonia.  To say she was shocked, surprised, excited, etc.... is an understatement!

When Bart and I discussed hosting, weighing the pros and cons, the only cons we listed were completely selfish reasons.  We just knew it was the right thing for us to do, and the right time to do it.  So after discussing it with the boys, it was unanimous.  We were all in!  We were hosting Sonia for the summer!

EEEEEEK!  What now?!?!?!  😱😲😬

The gravity of the commitment to host A GIRL, from another country, that didn't speak our language, for 12 whole weeks, didn't quite sink all the way in until a couple of days before Sonia arrived in America.  We were all a little apprehensive and nervous, as I am sure she was too!  But we were also very excited!

Unfortunately, Judd was still at beach camp when she arrived, so he didn't get to join us at the airport when we picked her up.  Here we are meeting her for the very first time!

Oh dear!  What now?!?!?!   😆

I was super nervous about her first night in our home.  Would she be nervous, scared, etc...?  Would she be able to sleep in a strange house?  Other than getting car sick on the way home from the airport, thankfully, she seemed ok.  I think being tired from her long travels helped her to fall asleep pretty easily that night.  Whew!

This was her first day here in America with us.  I had no idea what she liked to eat, so I fixed a little bit of everything.  Ha!  She gobbled it all up!  It's safe to say that the girl loves her some American food!

What a cutie!  (One of the first selfies she took with my phone.  This would be the first of MANY selfies to come!  Haha!)

She LOVED her room we had set up for her.  She wanted to show me her handstand.  This is not something I am used to seeing in our house!  Ha!

This was the first of many trips to the pool to swim!  (Thank you Jesus she already knew how to swim!!)  

One of the main things she wanted to do when she got to America, was go to a "pizzeria", so of course we made that happen the first week! Yum!

Sonia was very shy about shopping when she first arrived, but we needed to get her some clothes and shoes for the summer.  She arrived in America with a backpack containing 3 changes of clothes for 12 weeks.  That's it.  

Sonia walks and takes the bus and train in Ukraine, so riding in the car was such a big adventure for her in the beginning.  She insisted on having the windows down with the wind blowing in her hair/face for the first few weeks. This was all fine and good until our temps starting creeping up into the 100's!  ;)

She and Cooper (and Max) hit it off immediately!

Morgan was sweet to come over and hang out with her that first week while I worked.  

Slime, anyone?? 😁

This is when Sonia got to meet Tasha's family, as well as Deidra, Ella and Charlie.  We met at the "pizzaria", of course!  ;)

Silly boys!

Ella has been sweet to come and hang with Sonia some.  She is such a sweet girl!

We went to Dave and Busters and it was a HUGE hit with Sonia!  She loved trying to win tickets!

Go boys, go!

That pretty much sums up our first week with Sonia (in pictures).  All in all, it was a good, fairly low key week.  It was also a hard week in many ways, though.  Having someone in your home that doesn't speak your language well comes with challenges, for sure.  The first week was mostly about getting to know each other.  There are a lot of things about Sonia that are just culturally different from America, so that has been a learning process for all of us.  Also, she and Jack didn't mesh very well in the beginning.  With Judd being out of town, that made things pretty stressful for me. I felt like I was constantly trying to make Sonia feel wanted, welcome and loved, all while also trying to keep Jack's love tank filled.  It wasn't an easy task.  Thankfully, things have improved greatly over time! Oddly enough, she took to Bart, Judd and I right away.  It was Jack she had the hardest time with.  I am just so thankful she now accepts him the same as the rest of us!  We don't know what made her have an aversion to Jack in the beginning.  Maybe he reminded her of someone that didn't treat her well in Ukraine?  Maybe it was a jealousy thing since they are close in age?  We just aren't sure.  But we are so thankful that she tore those walls down and let him in like the rest of us after some time.  I can honestly say she treats him like a brother now!  😊

I think that about wraps up part 1.  Part 2 coming soon!