We've deleted Google Translate!

Let's call this what it is..... a WAY overdue blog post. 

Sorry, friends. We'll try to do better :)

Here's quick recap of....about 3 months. 

We've deleted the Google Translate app from our phones! This is a milestone to celebrate! Early on we would sit around the kitchen table, type in what we needed to tell them, and then wait for their reactions, wondering if it made any sense. Thankfully now we can communicate quite well on a daily basis. We have pretty "normal" conversations at dinner time and understand most of the things they tell us they've done in school that day. Every day it seems we hear them use a new word or phrase correctly. It's amazing, fun, and crazy how quickly they're learning! 

Fall has been exciting! The kids have adjusted well to school and are learning so much! One day we picked up Matthew early from school for an appointment and he said, "Thank you, mom and dad, for school. I like school." It was so precious! We are thankful that he values his time there and enjoys his classmates so much. We couldn't have picked better teachers for our kids. We know they are loved and cared for while in a good learning environment. Behavior-wise, the older two have adjusted well and do a pretty good job at following directions and taking cues from classmates. AK, on the other hand, wants to know just how far she can go and what she can get away with. Slowly-but-surely, she's learning that life is a lot more fun when she listens at school and after school care. Lately we've had more smiley faces on her behavior calendar than sad faces. We celebrate each day, the small victories.  

October:

The kids got to dress up for the first time to go trick-or-treating! They had a blast, of course.

After they got candy at the first door, there was no stopping Minnie Mouse, the fairy, and the ninja from running full blast through the yards and banging on doors. It was a work-out for all of us to say the least. 

We also had a fun family day with cousins at the local pumpkin patch, and ZooBoo!

November: 

On Thanksgiving Day, we went to play on Poppa's farm. The kids got to ride/drive the tractor with Dad, and watch Poppa feed the cows. They chased the dog all over, and ate lots of turkey. I think they're a fan of Thanksgiving :) 

Here are the girls watching their brother ride on the tractor. 

One pictures shows their true personalities...

December:

*drumroll please* We celebrated Vivian's birthday!! 

Her birthday was actually a school day, so we celebrated a few days early (!) on the previous Saturday. Her big day began with a present at home, then an IHOP breakfast date with Dad. My sister Terri was with us, and we all went to The Home Depot for a Kids Workshop activity. Later that day, the cousins and grandparents came for dinner, cake, and presents!

She got all she wanted, and more, including...

the famous Hello Kitty taska (bag),

a “unicorn pony,”

Barbies,

sixty dollars (hello, grandparents)

and a baby stroller and doll.

Not to mention a bear that sings a Christmas song. The same song. Over and over.

We picked out of first real tree for Christmas! Since Gareth and I have been married, we've used an artificial tree. This year we decided to go all in and pick out a real tree together. 

Since this picture was taken, we've learned not to put a real tree on carpet where the water bowl *may* leak and spill, soaking the carpet and padding. If this happens, you *may* have to slide the decorated tree onto the kitchen tile, move furniture, and pull the carpet up to let it all dry out. (Next year, we'll know better.)

Remember these ornaments we sold as a fundraiser last year?? 

A year ago, we didn't know who (or how many) would be helping us pick out our Christmas tree and hanging up this ornament. So thankful for God's plan for our family! 

Our very talented friend, Jeff Chao of Chao Photography, offered to take some family photos for us this year! We made a fun Friday night out of it by taking pictures, going to Chick-Fil-A, and bowling.  The kids were pretty cooperative, and we're thankful to Jeff for his hard work!  

Here are a few shots:

Of course, Christmas is fast approaching! (9 more sleeps!)

The girls check and ask about the stockings (or as Vivian calls them, the socks) every day.

Vivian: "What INSIDE? I don't knowwww!"

We are so excited about spending our first Christmas together as the Bonner Five, and we are thankful for your support!

Merry Christmas:)

Birthdays, Back-to-school, and Bonding

Answering the call of adoption has been an adventure of joy, stretching, and growth.

Our last post was in mid-July. We have been home from Hungary since June 27, so at this point, Matthew, Vivian, and Annie Kate Bonner have been living here for two months (and a few days). 

First up, birthdays!

Matthew turned ten years old on July 23rd, and Annie Kate turned seven on August 6th.  

For Matthew's birthday, he went on a breakfast date with Mom, then fishing with Dad, before having a family party at our house. He loves his remote-controlled truck and new fishing pole (and he bought Legos with his birthday money). 

On Annie Kate's birthday, she had a breakfast date with Dad, and then Mom took her to a children's musical; she also got a family party. She loves her baby doll and stroller (and her birthday money is going toward her cafeteria account at school because she keeps charging milk for some reason). 

Vivian is so the middle child. Her birthday is not until December, and she is not happy about it!  ;) But believe me, we know what she wants for her birthday, and if we forget, she reminds us again...and again...and again. (Hello Kitty táska and a unicorn pony, to name a few) Counting down the days until December 2!

We have had a few trips to the doctor's office for vaccinations (there's always some drama involved). But they usually get some kind of a treat (pizza or ice cream) afterwards! 

As of August 7th, we have three Panthers! 

If you ask them, they say they don't like school, but their teachers all say they have a great time participating in class and playing with friends on the playground. The teachers and other staff members at their schools have been incredibly helpful and accommodating.

Some days can be hard on the kids (and us) because they have been thinking about their home country, their foster parents, their old schools, friends, pets, and old habits and routines. Mornings before school can be especially hard (because they are tired and a little grumpy); the girls particularly will vocally share about how things used to go in the foster home, how the foster parents did certain things better, and how they miss their dogs and schools. As their parents, the best thing we can do is have thick skin, simply listen, and say that we are sorry they are sad. We know they miss it and we are grieving for them as they are adjusting to their new life here. Now that they are learning more English and have made some friends at school, some of that sadness has decreased. We are praying for good relationships at school and joy to replace the sadness!

This weekend (Labor Day) was our first school-year holiday with the kids. After trying to get them to understand that they didn't have to go to school on Monday, we all had a great weekend having leisurely breakfasts and going to the park for three days!

People are still so interested even after we have been home for two months (and we are very thankful). One of the most common questions we field is this: "How's the English coming?"
In short, it is going very well! Since our kids are part of a public school district, they are allowed to bring home resources such as books and learning games. We have been using three Geo Smart Talks, and they are great for helping the kids learn nouns, verbs, and short sentences. Plus, it is just amazing watching their English language increase day by day. They are able to discuss emotions better (sad, happy, sleepy...etc.), and getting better at English has also helped a lot with behavior.  

And they can understand a LOT more than they say. So we actually have to be careful what topics we discuss in front of them now, since they will chime in when they hear words and phrases they recognize. 

We felt that the kids have settled into the school routine pretty well and decided it was time to start the after school program at the local YMCA. For the first few weeks, Kim's parents were picking up our kids and bringing them home until we were able to get home from our school. Their school day begins and ends an hour before our school's, so we needed help. Today was their first day at the Y, and from the smiles on their faces and good reports from counselors, it seems they had a great time! 

So, for now, we'll keep on truckin' (or minivanin') with our learning English and getting used to school. Now that we're a bit settled and consistent with our routine, we should be able to post updates more frequently.

Blessings to all, and thanks for reading!

Catching up!

For Matthew, Vivian, and Annie Kate Bonner, July has been a month full of meeting family and making fun memories!
It was neat that it worked out for our first American holiday to be the 4th of July since our kids had just arrived as American citizens.
We took the kids to Gareth's hometown (Waynesboro) to meet the great-grandparents, aunts and uncles, and spend a day at the farm. 

Our initial stop was to Ninny's house to have their first Bomb-Pop. It's a grandchild, and great grandchild tradition. (Wish we would have taken a picture with Ninny but we got busy and forgot!)

Ninny invited us to her sister's (Aunt Mickey) house to pick some blueberries. They have lots of animals there, and the kids especially loved visiting the horses.

Next stop was to Mammaw's house for lunch! She lives on a farm with cows, a dog, a cat, and new kittens. We heard lots of begging for the kittens to come home with us. Sorry, kiddos....Mom's allergic. 

Matthew's middle name is Mallie (so is Gareth's), and Mammaw lives on Mallie Bonner Road, named after Gareth's great-grandfather. We paused our cow-spotting adventure to snap this shot.

It was a great first 4th of July!

A week later, they made their first trip to my home state: 

 We were on our way to Ormond Beach for my sister's wedding, but stopped at Navarre first to visit family who were already there on vacation. We did our best to describe to the kids where we were going and what we would do when we got there. Just knowing we were going swimming made the ride even longer for them!

Matthew could barely stand the wait. 

 This was their first beach experience. "Big Water" as they call it :) Matthew jumped right in, but the girls were timid at first. It's an overwhelming place if you've never been before, but after watching us get in, they quickly learned how fun it can be! It was especially fun to play with their cousin Bren and aunts and uncles. 

The next day we continued our quest through Florida to be a part of Aunt Terri's wedding festivities. 

This time we were on the Atlantic coast! 

These are my younger siblings. Since we live in three different states, it is very rare that the four of us are together! We were thankful we were able to make it!

Here we all are with our families.

While I was helping Terri with the last minute wedding details, Gareth took the kids to the beach. It's not easy keeping up with three kids who don't speak English in a fun, new place, but he did it like a pro, and I love him even more for it. 

Check out these awesome photos he took of them :)

I'd say they were doing just fine with Dad.

Terri and John's big day turned out beautiful! 

I'm so glad my family could be a part of it! 

Our next big adventure was going to the International Adoption Clinic in Birmingham. We took our kids for initial physical and developmental assessments. We will go again in 6 months to see their progress. The kids had to have blood drawn, and that was quite dramatic. They recovered quickly, and we went to Chick-Fil-A for lunch, and they got to play some. The best and worst part of our medical visit was that the doctors want to make sure the kids do not have any parasites. 

They asked us to do stool samples at home. For each kid. Three separate times. Every other day. 

The kids think we are officially crazy.

I say it's the best for this reason: it has caused A LOT of hilarious conversations in our car and house. Currently, if they have to go Number 2, and they tell us in time to put the bucket in, they get ice cream. Yep. We are bribing our children, but you know what, it's working. You can imagine why it's the worst part, but I'll spare you the details. 

We couldn't visit North Alabama without going to Huntsville to see Gab (Gareth's sister) and her family: her husband Joseph, 2-year-old Banks, and 2-month-old Jude. Matthew, Vivian, and Annie Kate had never met any of them, and we knew they'd especially love their kids. So Gab prepared a delicious lasagna, and when the kids finished theirs, they got cookies (again with the bribing)! Then we all played outside with Banks and the dog, Cash, until it was time to go (sadly). We would have loved to stay longer, but it was a wonderful 3 hours!

Baby Jude love :)

We are all happy to be back home again! Our minds are now focused on getting ready for school. Not only do Gareth and I have classrooms to get ready, but we have three kiddos to enroll, and we need to shop for school clothes and supplies. Just this week, we were blessed by a family donating money to help us buy those school supplies. God knows our every need!  I can't wait to load up a basket with school goodies and put their sweet names on everything. 

We would appreciate your prayers as we prepare them for going to school. Annie Kate will start in Kindergarten, Vivian will be in 1st grade, and Matthew in 3rd. Please pray for a smooth, positive transition for them as we enter into this new phase together. 

Thank you :)