Sorry so Slow!

I can't believe that it's been a whole week since I've posted. But, I feel like the new parent of an infant. It's like I never have a minute of time to myself, anymore. I'm just thankful that my teenage daughter WANTS to spend so much time with me. But, it has been quite different to get used to. So, although I never wanted to be one of those new parents that seems to drop off the face of the earth, I believe some of you are getting the impression that I am. But, let me tell you what we've been up to in the past week. There's been a lot of shopping, stocking up on as much Thai/Asian food as I can to satisfy our daughter's finicky taste in food. But, now she's actually starting to trust me when I tell her that these foods I'm buying her even are remotely similar to the things she has at home. She was really tickled when we found her favorite young coconut juice with pulp drink from Thailand available at Walmart. She's even been so bold as to begin to like Doritos. Otherwise, it's pretty much been rice, eggs and anything Thai that I can concoct.

The really good news that I have to report is that after quite a search and talking with various educators we've finally made a decision about her schooling. She started for the very first time on Thursday and I'm so happy to report that she loved her first two days of school. It wasn't without a struggle, stomach ache and some tears that morning. But, she went and by the time she got home she was all smiles and so eager to do her homework! We decided to put her in 6th grade. She has an excellent ELA (English Language Acquistion) teacher and her classroom teacher is also ESL certified. All of the teachers are GREAT! And there are so many kind, friendly and helpful kids in her class. Her first day she really enjoyed playing volleyball and everyone was telling her how good she was at it. A girl who was helping her with reading said she was doing great and they all were praising her on her artistic talent, too. So, she's gotten a real boost of confidence. And, all on her own, she has decided that she wants to learn the piano. She totally caught on to the first things I taught her and was playing them over and over already by the next day. She's also made friends with the neighbor boy across the street. We had some nice, warm weather this past week. So, we got in several games of croquet in the backyard. We'll see if I can get her talked into going with me to the Japanese church tomorrow. I know so many people are dying to meet her. But, we still need to take things slowly. It's easy for her to feel overwhelmed by so many new people giving her so much attention. But, it's been so neat to see her slowly coming out of her shell. And she's been showering us with more and more affection, too. That especially makes her daddy beam when she tells him that she loves him and wants to wait for him to get home before eating supper.

The highlight of the week for me was her first day of school. She wanted to pray that morning at the breakfast table. She thanked God for her mom and dad and sleep. At school when the writing teacher was asking her to describe what took place when Penny came to America, Penny wrote down the word, "God". I think even she recognized the amazing way in which God suddenly opened up the doors for us to come home. I'm so happy to see how He is revealing Himself to our girl. And we are feeling very blessed, indeed, that she is responding so well to our love. Not to say there aren't tough moments. She can suddenly become very moody and grumpy. It especially happens when Jay is away for a while. She really got ticked off at me the other day when I didn't allow her to eat Doritos in her bedroom.

Oh, the funny moment of the week. Penny didn't think it was so funny at the time, but now we can joke and laugh about it. We found her favorite brand of Thai ramen noodles at an Asian market here in Fort Collins. The brand name is "Mama". Well, I didn't remember what the brand name was and she said one day that she wanted to eat "Mama" for lunch. I grinned and said, "You can't eat Mama for lunch." Then she got very angry at me and stormed off to her room. Finally, it hit me as to what she was trying to say. So, I explained in Thai to her what I thought she meant. Ah, yes, there are still some communication gaps. But, it is amazing how much we can communicate. We've already created several silly little insider family jokes, especially from our time spent in Bangkok.

A very comforting moment was when she expressed to me this week that she felt relaxed in America and crazy while in Bangkok. That was the first positive thing I had heard her say at all about America. I think she really enjoyed when we drove her up to Horsetooth Lake on the western edge of Fort Collins, on the edge of the foothills of the mountains. It also helped that that day we ate at a Vietnamese noodle shop that was a real hit. The way to a teen's heart is through their stomach!