Day 2 with Temenujka

This morning we went grocery shopping for some food to make for lunch with Temenujka. We also decided to have a small Birthday celebration for all of the birthdays that we have missed with our girl. We picked up a cake and some balloons. 

 

I love all of the snow here. Those are mountains in the distance! We are tempted to move to Bulgaria and live in one of these villages.

 

Day 2 was wonderful with Temenujka. We were able to spend most of the day with her, 10am - 6pm. And as the day progressed, she seemed more relaxed and more herself. I heard her laugh for the first time and it was adorable!

We started off our time by talking about the childhood of Tyler and myself. She was invited to share some thoughts about her life and we learned a bit more about her. She had a grandmother in the same village and she loved her. There was even talk of her going to live with her, until the grandmother died suddenly due to cancer. This poor girl has had so much pain in her life!

 

Temenujka was the honorary mayor for one day due to her excellent character. 

 

The director of this center for family type accommodations, Naina, and me. She owns this house and it is over 100 years old. She runs this non-government organization and has been working with orphans for forty years. She inspires me! I told her that I would love to do what she is doing one day. She said to look her up when all of my kids are grown, and see if we can arrange something. :-)

Next we blew up some balloons and got out some party hats to celebrate all of Temenujka's past birthdays. We brought out a cake and sang to her. We gave her birthday drawings from her siblings back home. We gave her a watch that she set on our time, so she will know what time it is for us after we leave. She seemed to enjoy it, despite all of the focus being on her. She is such a shy girl. 

 

 

Next I helped Temenujka make a shopshka salad, which has tomatoes, onions, peppers, cucumbers, and cheese. It is a very Bulgarian salad! Temenujka is quite the cook. They said she can make many dishes all by herself. In fact, she made traditional Bulgarian rolls for our lunch today. And they were amazing! This girl is so talented. 

 

This girl peels cucumbers with a knife! She has some awesome skills in the kitchen. 

 

Some yummy chicken and rice. 

 

The rolls that Temenujka made. They were delicious!

 

 

Look at that smile! I love this girl. 

 

So after lunch, we had a dance performance by Temenujka (and three other kids) that Temenujka choreographed. Then she plugged her MP3 player into the computer and played her current favorite song on it: I Love You Like A Love Song, Baby, by SELENA GOMEZ. 

 

Apparently she really likes that song, because she played it three times in a row. Ha ha. We had so much fun dancing with her! At one point, Tyler knelt down on the floor and he was exactly her height!

 

During lunch, Naina was telling us about how the kids have chores that they do everyday. With a full table of food and many people eating, I commented that I felt badly for whoever had dishes today. The reply was that Temenujka did! Ha ha. So Tyler and I helped her to clean all of the dishes. She was so positive about working hard and she did a great job. It was fun to help her. 

 

Next we played pick-up sticks, Spot It, and Uno with all of the other kids. Then later on, Temenujka asked to play pick-up sticks again. She is really good at it!

Some photos of the laundry room and bathrooms on the main floor. 

 

And they still use a trash can to put the toilet paper in. It is hard to not throw it in the toilet!

 

First visit with Temenujka

Last night I slept until about 3am, and then it was a struggle to sleep anymore. Part of it was the anticipation for today in meeting Temenujka and the other part was jet lag. 

We met Maggie for breakfast in the lobby. We had some sliced sausage, toast with butter and Bulgarian cheese, milk, and some oatmeal that I had brought along on the trip. It was delicious! Side note: the bread doesn't make me sick. I guess I am only allergic to American gluten? 

 

 

The orphanage director joined us and we talked about Temenujka's history. It was very informative and also easy to see how much Naina loves Temenujka. I could tell that she is living in a good place, and she was emotional in her excitement for us to be coming to adopt Temenujka. She said that she was also awake at 3am in anticipation for today!

Life is made up of moments, and the moment that I met Temenujka will forever be one of those cherished moments. 

 

The front of her orphanage, which is actually called a family house, where there are only five children living there with caretakers. 

 

Some fun Christmas decorations! I have seen that Christmas decorations are up many places here in Bulgaria. 

Okay, back to meeting Temenujka. When I saw her, I introduced myself (in Bulgarian!) and Tyler did the same. She smiled and then started to cry. We went off to a room on the side to give her some space and take off our coats and gloves. The next thing I know, she is running up to me and giving me the biggest and tightest hug. I held her tight and lifted her off the ground. It was a beautiful moment that I have replayed in my mind many times since this morning. 

After we hugged, she hugged Tyler. The facilitator translated her words that she had been waiting for so long for us to finally come and she couldn't contain her emotions once we were here at last. Tyler and I  have been nervous, also. We want for her to like us and to want to be a part of our family. It was very emotional for us all. 

After our initial meeting and hugging, we were taken to the kitchen where Temenujka brought out a special bundt cake - which was delicious! - that she made especially for us. And here is a photo of our sweet girl.

 

Isn't she beautiful?? We think she is such a gem of a girl. She fixed up her hair all pretty and even wore the red turtleneck shirt underneath her pink jacket. The caretakers said that she keeps all the gifts that we sent in the package (that we mailed to her in December) in a special box in her room. She was able to show us her room, also. 

 

She has framed some pictures of our family on her wall. She also said that the day that our package arrived was the best day of her life to date, until today. 

 

Look at her adorable hair! She said she wants to be a hairdresser when she grows up. She can fix my hair anytime. She is so short! I expected her to be taller. But she will fit right in with my short kids at home. Ha ha. 

The social worker came over and we had a long conversation about an array of topics with Temenujka. I felt bad for her. At one point she had three separate people talking with her. I could sense how overwhelmed she was with it all. I tried very hard to look at various things when she looked over at me. I know that she is trying to learn my face. She was so pleased that we were there. I love each smile she gave me. 

Tyler juggled for everyone and I also sang in Russian (the closest song to Bulgarian that I have). Temenujka wanted to know more about her siblings in America and wanted to know our daily schedule. We gave her some drawings from her siblings that are for her birthday - which we will miss being with her - and then she wanted to know more about our birthday traditions and other holidays. She had drawn some pictures for us, also. She is so thoughtful. Her favorite subject is art. 

She is especially excited about sharing a room with Anna and getting to know her. I asked her what colors she wanted in a quilt and she said red, yellow, and blue, in light colors. I told her that I would make her quilt before she gets home. 

She said that when she saw the first name that we had chosen for her - Sarah - that she loved it right away. She is excited to have this American name. 

We walked down to a cafeteria for lunch. Temenujka held my hand as we went. My heart melted each time she looked up at me. More precious moments with MY precious girl.

She ordered some chicken soup and meatballs with French fries and some apple juice. She ate maybe half of it all. All of the ladies from the orphanage that came with us ordered soup and bread, and none of them finished their food, either. Do people just not eat much here? I don't know. 

By this time, Temenujka was checking out due to all of the stimulation of the day. We went back to the family house and gave her the MP3 player with English music, some candy, and a notebook to journal her feelings from today - and the rest of our time with her -  until we pick her up. We are hopeful that the good feelings from today will sustain her during our separation until she is home with us at last. 

 

We couldn't be more excited about getting to know Temenujka over the new few days. And we are already wishing that she could just come home with us. 

Verbal Referral

We were happy to receive our verbal referral last week. Now we wait for 2 weeks to get our written referral. Once we have that, we can make travel arrangements. We hope to leave in early December. We have also received letters from Temenujka and Georgi! Hooray!

Here is one:

Hello, dear family! I was very happy when I received the letter from you and the photos of your family. Dear Jill and Tyler, I can’t wait to meet you all. I am looking forward to meeting you. I am fine. I attended a camp in the mountains close to the town of ***. The holiday house there is located in a quiet and beautiful spot. We visited many places of interest – the *** monastery, the Natural History museum in the village of ***, the towns of ***, *** and ***. It is very beautiful there, just like the park around your house. Jill and Tyler, I am impatient to meet you. I got acquainted with the members of your family. I liked you a lot. I am looking forward to joining your family. I am so excited. I’ve wanted for many years to have a family of my own, parents to love me and respect me as well as brothers and sisters to play with. Dear Jill and Tyler, I love cooking, going for a walk, riding a bike and going to the beach. My favorite color is red and my favorite flower is rose. I think it will be pleasant for us to spend our time together. I will help you with the household chores and with preparing meals. I am currently working on compiling the recipes for my favorite Bulgarian meals. I am becoming familiar with opera singing and classical music. I am interested in learning English because it is important for me that we will be able to understand one another. My biggest dream has always been to have a large family. Jill and Tyler, thank you for your wish to accept me as a member of your family. I am looking forward to our first meeting. We don’t know one another yet, but I love you! Respectfully, Temenujka

And here is the other one:

Hello , Tyler and Jill! I will be very happy to be a member of your family. I am very happy for Anna, Keith, Iryna, Calvin. As well as for the dog. My favorite color is blue. I love drawing, riding a bike, listening to music, watching TV, playing soccer and basketball. I like playing games on a touchscreen phone. I live in Bulgaria, in ***. I am from *** but I have been in *** for 5 years now. I attend a summer camp at the seaside every year. It is very beautiful there and I also love swimming!!! There is a swimming pool at the camp, we swim there, play games and I like that very much. This year we went on another camp! It was nice and our camp was in the forest. We went hiking in the mountains and we saw a waterfall that was 80 meters high. Bye! I will be happy to see you!!! In the heart: Tyler, Jill, Silas, Iryna, Anna, Maggie, Keith, Calvin, Georgi!!!!

We received this note and photo: 

Last week one of our psychologists - ***, was accompanying an adoptive family who are adopting from the same orphanage in which Georgi resides at present. She recognized him and had the chance to talk with him a little bit.  She shared her impressions that Georgi is very shy and quiet but also extremely excited about the Pierce family's upcoming visit. He wrote a letter for them and he had prepared a teddy bear to send over to them.

Isn't he so handsome? And he got this teddy bear for US. #meltmyheart

We are so excited to meet our kids!