Where Did May Go?

You might want to get settled in a comfy chair before you attempt to read this update --- it's a long one.

It seems that my intentions are good, but just not finding the energy to update more often. Hoping that once the girls are out of school (5 days and counting!!!) we will finally be able to breathe a bit.

Before I get started I'd like to answer a question that was posted in the comments --

Catherine - The last time that Gabi talked with Ganka was in January. She knows that she can call her if she wants to -- unfortunately she doesn't feel that she can anymore. Her Bulgarian is leaving her quickly. She understands much of what she hears in her DVD's & CD's but said that even when she thinks the word in Bulgarian it comes out in English. We've talked about typing a letter and then translating it with the computer but so far she hasn't wanted to do that. We've tried to find someone to talk with her -- or even a class, but even after checking with several colleges, FRUA and other organizations we have been unsuccessful. If anyone has other ideas, please share.

Here's the highlights of our May .... Mother's Day was amazing. Check out the cards created by the girls ..... first is Hailee's -- she's not much for writing anything but her name on a card, so I was very happy to get a personal note from her:

And Gabi's -- I just love handwritten messages. They mean so much. I'm so blessed ... not only with Hailee & Gabi but Lisa, Jonathan, Amanda & Hayden too!!!


Mother's Day weekend we were actually at the Wilderness in the Dells .... we hadn't been there in a very long time. We were excited to have Hayden and Garrett along -- Kim and Dave even came to spend a night. Gabi was very, very nervous about the slides -- we decided to go to the small pool first so she could see what they were all about. Jack, Hayden and Gabi headed up the stairs to try out the smallest slide there.

Gabi agreed to push off and go down the slide on the count of "3" -- Jack and Hayden got to the bottom but Gabi stayed at the top. It took many more tries before she finally came down.

Meanwhile Hailee was trying everything else ....
After about 45 minutes Gabi finally worked up the courage to try a slide ..... she was tentative at first but after coming down the slide 4 or 5 times she told us it was kinda fun. What??? Kinda fun???? Oh my, wait until tomorrow Gabi girl.

The next day we headed over to the BIG slides, her eyes were huge when saw the slides there. We thought it might be best to try the family tube ride first -- she was scared to death climbing the stairs, she got to the top and told Jack that she couldn't do it. He convinced her to try it just once and if she didn't like it she didn't have to do the slides. Guess who wanted to go again as soon as they reached the bottom?

Hayden's favorite part of the park was the wave pool. The waves were bigger than him and there was no fear -- he couldn't wait for them to push him over. Hayden convinced Garrett to take him in .....

The girls spotted a tattoo booth and decided they "needed" one. Garrett declined - guess when you're 15 it's just not cool. Gabi patiently waited for them to tattoo a princess on her arm.

While Hailee opted for a small tattoo on her ankle. (it was a cute little design)

May is also a month of many birthdays for us ... Lisa's was on the 10th. We were lucky enough to have Hayden with us for the little celebration. He sang Happy Birthday to his Auntie Eeeesa -- adorable!

Hayden brougt a train set with him and he loved playing with everyone .... many hours were spent building and rebuilding the track or crashing trains into one another. Both of the girls are incredibly patient with him and spent a lot of time on the floor with him. It's Gabi's turn here

-- by the way, check out the pig tails on Gabi! Her hair is getting longer and she's up for any style we can coax her hair into.

Next on the birthday schedule was Hailee. She turned 14 on the 19th. We had a little celebration, with another birthday celebration with friends last week. And this week she'll celebrate again with a BIG family gathering. Lucky girl ....

Since the weather has finally warmed up we know where we can find Hailee -- anywhere there's a basketball hoop she's not far away ....

At another family get-together Gabi was having a great time with the cousins ..... she told us that in Bulgaria she had a little family but here in America she has so much family she doesn't even know all their names yet .... too funny!

In a few days Gabi's going to experience her first birthday celebration in America. Her birthday isn't until the 30th of June but we're doing a double celebration with Hailee since it's hard to get everyone together -- hard to believe that summer is just beginning but the weekends are already booking up.

Also during the month of May we've attended quite a few track meets ... Hailee has done really, really well. The team participated in a conference meet where only the top 2 or 3 competitors from each school were invited. She placed 4th in the shot put and 2nd in the discus. Tonight was the final track meeting -- she was honored to receive a ribbon, a medal and a t-shirt for doing so well at the conference meet. Check out the change in her discus throw -- she added a spin and that gave her a lot more power! We were impressed!!!