As I was writing this post from my point of view, Luke plopped down beside me and asked me what I was doing. He liked the looks of it, so he helped me write it! He said some cute things so I made sure to include those. I tried to convey his cute accent and broken English! The writing in "" are Luke's words!
LIFE AS A PART OF THE VONDRA FAMILY!: "WOW! I pray to God, I wanted a family, I want for two brothers and two sisters, a Mom and Dad, and God give me dis". Luke told us shortly after he got home that he had prayed for two brothers and two sisters for years before we met him. He remembers last summer his joy at finding out his new family was just that! Well, God answered his prayers, but be careful what you pray for Luke, cause "this family a crazy family". What he didn't know is that Dad has 8 siblings. He has met most of them but only briefly. He also doesn't realize is that he is the 38th grand child of Gramma Vondra. There are nearly as many great grand children now. SO, Luke you have know idea the crazy loving that's coming your way!
Luke likes playing with the girls hair, but he's not so gentle!
This is one of the Ethiopian meals Jo made! Its called Tibs and it is delicious! Luke was thrilled to have this meal! He was dancing in his chair while eating!
School: One of the biggest things going on in Luke's life is of course his introduction to the teachers and classmates at Trininty Lutheran School. Mr. Loomans, Mrs. Kanning(before he could remember her name it was "lady who crys"), Mrs Jackson, Mrs. Michaels, Mr. Thomas: "I love them verrrrry very much!" The kids in the classroom have been fantastic to Luke and very welcoming to him. We know school is going to be a challenge. We have all experienced bit of frustration already, but Luke is such a driven kid that we are positive he will catch up.
Class trip to Great Falls: This past week Luke's class took their annual trip to Great Falls MT. Conveniently, that is where Jolee's parents live. So, Luke and Jo went up and spent a little time with the class, but a lot of time with Jolee's wonderful parents. Jake and I had to stay back because Jake had a football game, but Molly and Rebecca drove up to spend the weekend. Luke loves his sisters, but they don't play quite as rough as his brothers. The girls tried to play soccer with him, tried to wrestle him, and tried to make up for his first weekend away from his brothers. But when Luke got home he was THRILLED to be among his older brothers who made sure to rough him up a bit right away.. Those sisters are good for some things I suppose!
Staying connected: Luke has made many lasting and meaningful friendships in his years the orphanage in the past years. The bond created between these kids is absolutely amazing! Before going to be their forever families, the children are each other's family. Luke was one of the last kiddos to make it home, so when he did get here, he was so excited to be able to catch up with a few pals. Me, Jolee, and Rebecca have tried to find as many families adopting from Ethiopia as possible in order to track down his friends (via Facebook). Wow is it fun to get to see the look on his face as he Skypes with his sweet pals. WE LOVE HEARING AMHARIC IN OUR HOUSE! We have such an amazing new community of friends with amazing kids! SOCCER SOCCER SOCCER: Luke is playing YSA( developmental league), with girls and boys. Luke didn't want to have girls on his team but he does and now he likes the girls. "They're good." Luke tried out for Magic City which is a very competitive league. He will play on this league in the spring and is anxious for the added competitiveness.
Tidbits from our Time so far:
Dentist Appointment: We thought Luke might have lots of cavities, but only one! Yeah!
Bicycle: Wild man! Luke hasn't ridden a bicycle very much and is always about 2 seconds from a "firey crash"! You might see a scuffed chin in some of the pics, Luke fell riding too close to a wall, wall kind of reached out and grabbed him.
Luke is a picky eater unless he has berbere on it. Berbere is a very common spice in Ethiopia. They put it on everything! We can usually coax Luke into trying something if we put a dash of berbere on it! As a family, we really dont mind Ethiopian food! It's really quite good. So Jolee tries to prepare at least one Ethiopian meal every couple weeks.Swim parties: "One for the class and one for Mom and Dad's friends"
Basketball, football: "Michael and Jacob have been teaching me" He knows he'll have to play basketball for Mr. Thomas at Trinity Lutheran so he's trying very hard to learn it. He doesn't love football though!
Sisters - "They kill me ha ha. They love me. My sisters are Stinky! (but very beautiful...)" Hmm. Seems like he's a little conflicted on this one?
Brothers - "My brothers are handsome and stinky"
"Walter (the dog) likes playing with me but he doesn't want to listen to me. My Dad told me to MAKE him listen to me, and he will."
Mom - "Mom is good, she love me very much. I love her! She take good care of me!"
Dad - "Dad is good, always saying to me to do good, and helping me."
I think this is a kind of confusing post! Sorry about that. I tried to make it easy to follow! We LOVE Luke and Luke LOVES us. It has been fun to see how we are all being challenged- in almost every way! FYI: This is challenging at times folks! Its not all smiles and giggles all the time. But we know this is the Lord's will and that since he led us to it, he will also lead us through it! God is good all the time!
