My Letter to Zhanna

(This is my letter to Zhanna, slightly edited to make it ok for public eyes, but I thought it was newsy enough about the kids that you all might enjoy it too.)

August 7, 2007

Dear Zhanna,

What a nice surprise to hear from you! I have been wanting to write you for many weeks, and I’m so sorry for leaving you waiting and wondering about your sweet babies. I hope you can please forgive me for that.

Yesterday was Valya’s birthday! She is so proud to be a big 9-year-old girl! She has become such a sweet young lady… I know you would be proud of her. Her newest interests have been sewing and learning to bake bread. She made a quilt square into a pillow a few weeks ago, and sleeps with it every night.

She is right this moment making bread in the kitchen all by herself! (Bread machine bread, for you blog friends reading this). She’s a smart girl, Zhanna! She has been growing up right before our eyes, and many days it makes me teary to see her getting so tall and mature. She loves most of all to be with her friends and family. She loves people and makes friends immediately. I wish I myself had such a gift with people! Her hair is getting long… She has been growing out her shorter front bangs, and they are finally long enough to tuck behind her ears. It drove her crazy to get them that long though! She is becoming such a beautiful young girl.

This week we are having special children’s meetings at our church, and as I was in the hallway talking to another mom, Valya could be heard singing loudly from inside the bathroom! She actually could be heard all over the church! She then came out of the bathroom dancing down the hallway. That’s our girl! She was extra-happy because it was her birthday, and told everyone all about the new watch she got as a gift. She is very proud that she can tell time all by herself.

Friday is Zinochka’s birthday. She is very excited to be a 7-year-old. We are planning a big party for both girls on Saturday. John’s parents and brother and sister and her children are coming. Zina is getting so tall! One of the reasons we had asked you what height you and Misha were is because, the children are getting so tall so fast! We expect that they’ll all be very, very tall when they are fully grown… I myself am quite short, so it won’t be long before all of them are taller than me! (Misha already is!)

Zina loves horses and ponies, and is thrilled that she gets to have a horse ride on Thursday this week. She loves to pretend she is a horse, and crawls all over the place making horse sounds. Her little knees get quite black, and she has stained many, many play clothes that way! She also loves playing dress-up, and pretending to have tea-parties. She loves “pretending” things more than the other two do. She has quite an imagination! She also loves to read. The other two do also, but Zina is very far ahead in school because of her love of reading. It makes us so proud and happy that she is doing so well.

Her hair is getting long too… We had wondered if it would darken, but she remains our little blondie. She still has her sweet little chubby cheeks, and those dimples melt our hearts. She has a way of charming everyone she meets with her friendliness and smiles. As you know, she’s just adorable! She now has three of her permanent teeth on the top, and the fourth one is on the way. She looks like a big girl now!

The biggest thing she is excited about right now is also the biggest thing that is happening in our family this year. Surprisingly, after ten years of marriage, John and I are expecting a baby this November! Zina can’t wait to finally be a big sister, and of course Misha and Valya are anxious for the new baby to come also. They will all be great helpers for me this winter, I know. They are so eager to help with this little one.

I hope I don’t need to tell you, but you don’t know us well, so I’ll reassure you anyway. I want you to know that just because we are going to have a biological child now, that it won’t at all affect how we feel about our Ukrainian sweethearts. We love them with all our hearts, Zhanna, and I hope you always take comfort in knowing that.

That leaves me to tell you about Misha… He wants me to tell you how strong he is, and smart, and what a good bike-rider he is. (He is standing here making sure I write that!) He bought himself a brand new bike this summer with money he earned doing jobs for neighbors. He did yard work, did painting, wood projects, and other things in order to buy his new bike. Misha had ruined his old bike, and so, John and I wanted him to learn a lesson from that, so he had to earn a new one himself. The lesson worked, because he has been taking excellent care of his new bike.

He also wants me to tell you that his pet fish “Bubbles” died a few days ago. He had a hamster for a long time too, but it died this winter. He is very tender-hearted boy, and made both of them little boxes and buried them in the woods by our house.

You asked what we’ve been doing on vacation. We have had a fun summer! There is a big park near our house, that we have visited many times this summer for picnics, swims at the beach, and also hiking along the trails. We have seen many wild animals like deer, snakes, and many different kinds of birds. The kids love our trips to that park! We’ve also made a few trips to see family members. My sister lives several hours away, and we went to visit her. Her husband is a fireman, and my sister works in an ambulance, so we brought the children to look at the fire trucks (they even got to go for a ride!), and got to look inside an ambulance. They loved that! My sister has a little puppy that the kids loved to play with, though Valya broke out in a rash afterwards, so we’re wondering if she is allergic to dogs. We hope not, as we were hoping to get the kids a dog next summer.

I think of you often, Zhanna, as do the children. They talk about you all the time, and I encourage them to do so. It is so hard that your deep loss was our richest gain. All three children would love to see you again, and while I don’t have any idea how we could afford a trip to Ukraine any time soon, we can pray that one day they will see you again, and that John and I can finally meet the woman who gave our children life. We love you, pray for you, and only wish you well.

Shelly, John,

Misha, Valya and Zinochka