Ten Years of Being an American

Last Monday was the ten year anniversary of Mark, Jaynie, and I being adopted. If anyone wants to know about my life in Russia, you can go to www.untohimwelive.blogspot.com, and find the first post in September 2010. I wrote this post in honor of our nine year anniversary.

I've always been the kind of person who needed someone in my life. Coming home with my new family really filled that empty space. When my mom and dad came to take us home, I don't remember being scared at all. I just have a memory of being really happy and excited because I was getting a family. A family that would actually take care of me, love me, and care about me. I'm so blessed to be in the family that I'm in now. It was a very hard adjustment, but God helped us cooperate and learn those first few years. The biggest changes were getting used to being PART of a family, having parents, having three more siblings, having a dog (which didn't take very long), learning a new language, learning the rules, and all those things that go along with becoming a new family.

When we first got home, Lisse brought me up to the room I was going to be sharing with her and showed it to me. I was very amazed that I was going to have a room of "my own". It really felt like mine because in Russia I had to share a room with four other girls. Lisse also showed me her hair clips, and I thought they were some of the coolest things in the world! I decorated Lisse's and Anna's hair with all the clips. That was a really good icebreaker.

In those early days, I shared a room with Lisse, and Jaynie and Anna's room was right beside ours. One of the most fun and secretive things about our room was that our closets shared a very thin wall. While we were supposed to be resting, we would go into the closets and talk to each other through the wall. Sometimes, Mark, Jaynie, and I would go into one of the closets, and play with some of our favorite toys, Buzz Lightyear and Woody.

I have loved being part of my BIG family and living in America!!! All I can say is that I am VERY happy and blessed! I am extremely proud to be an American :)


Whenever I hear this song by Lee Greenwood, it ALWAYS gives me the goosebumps.

Thank you to all of you for being a part of my life!