Rachel is 14!!!

Rachel's birthday was Sunday. So she & I met her friend Hope (and her mom, Elissa) for an overnight birthday bash. Here are a few pictures...

My little model...we went into a little shop...she had to try on several masks. I see a trip to New Orleans in our future!

We surprised the girls with some "Qu-ah" dresses (as Rachel calls them). Both girls love to dress up, they were really excited and surprised with the dresses.

This one looks like they are waiting for their rides to pick them up.

What a princess.

Such precious BFFs

This was a favorite of both girls!

Rachel also got her ears pierced, something she's wanted to get done since shortly after she got home. In fact, the girls got them done together (although I think Hope wished she didn't because it hurt so badly!).

My little missy...

...has gotten glasses! The day she's been looking forward to for a very LONG time! She technically only needs to wear them when she is reading and only for about an hour a day at this point in the game, but she has them! They are purple (of course!)...and she LOVES THEM!

She's VERY INTO making funny faces for the camera..
like this...

And this...

and then this adorable one...
what a beauty!

Shaving Cream fun!

This morning Megan asked if she could play with shaving cream, so we got it out and Rachel decided she wanted to try it out, too. Needless to say, they BOTH made a huge mess...but had tons of fun that lasted about 30 minutes. I don't know why they felt it needed to paint it all over their faces, but thankfully they did NOT get it in their eyes.

Saying Goodbye

We had to say Goodbye to our precious Dakota this weekend. She had a couple of seizures at the beginning of August that led us to believe she probably had a brain tumor. While (thankfully) she never had another one, she continued to decline in other areas and we felt like we wanted to put her down while she still had dignity and before the girls saw her at her worst. And believe me, we wanted to spare the girls the experience of seeing her in the confused state she was in after the seizure. It was very traumatic for her and for us. It was a very difficult decision for us and has been difficult for us and especially for Irish as he is missing Dakota. We've had Dakota since she was just 8 weeks old. She was over 13 years old and lived a long life.

This is Megan's attempt to take a picture of us with Dakota.

Dakota & Megan

Best buds...Dakota & Irish
taken just before we left with Dakota

God in his amazingness assured me that Dakota is in heaven when I was reading the Walking with God by John Eldredge. If you have not read his book, I HIGHLY encourage you do to so. It will literally CHANGE your life! His Golden was also very sick. I read that particular part of the book just days after her seizures. It was confirmation that we were very close to the end for Dakota and that it was going to be okay. It has been a hard few days and I find myself at various times thinking "where's Kota?" to only catch myself. And Irish is a bit depressed, but he has had moments where is more lively. She has a great dog and she was my baby (even though she was supposed to be DH's dog!).

Rachel's First Day of School

Here is Rachel on her first day of American school. I had her dress in a little warmer clothes because she tends to always be cold and I was afraid she'd have enough distraction that I didn't want her to be cold, too. She came home telling me that her arms were hot, but her legs were cold. I'm not exactly sure how that works, but that's what she said. She's been wearing jeans but with short sleeved shirts. Overall, school is going well. The teachers have been fantastic. I've met with most of her teachers and all have worked with her (and me) to help us with her assignments and know what's going on. She doesn't know enough English to write down what the teachers say, but she will copy the assignments that the teachers write on the board. We spend anywhere from 2-3 hours a night on homework (UGH!), but we're managing. I'm hoping to meet with the ESL teacher this week to get some idea on what kind of modifications are supposed to be completed for her since she does not understand what she reads. Overall, though school is going well. We do have major hurdles let to overcome, however. And she's figuring out how to use the handheld translator in class with her assignments/tests. We're all navigating new territory and the learning curve is HUGE!