An update on Faith

Ok, this series of posts is inspired by requests from the grandparents on how the kids are doing... So I won't be at all offended if some of you choose to skip them!  Just in case some of my newer readers do choose to read on, I thought I would back up and tell you a little bit about the girl who first made me a mommy.

Faith is almost 9 (next week!) and is such a blessing in our lives.  She is smart, funny, articulate and caring.  She is also very sensitive, both emotionally and to changes in routine.  She likes things "just so" and can sometimes have the intense reactions one would typically expect from a younger child.  In other words, she is not a kid I would consider a great candidate for the challenges of living in a developing country, all while adjusting to a new family member!  We were prepared for lots of outbursts, emotional regression, and just needing to manage her very carefully.

However, we couldn't have been more surprised!  She has done AMAZINGLY well... Handled all the changes and new places and faces like a trouper!  Even with the food, which is very different from home, she has just rolled with the punches and ordered things that "sound good" and handled it so well when they don't taste at all as expected.  She has been friendly and outgoing with all the new people we have encountered, including things like letting the tour guide hold her hand in busy places, or crowding into vehicles with people she doesn't know well.

We joke she has matured two years since we got here... and it's true!  We are so proud of her... Don't get me wrong; we have always been proud of her, but seeing how she has handled the challenges we have faced, especially knowing it is not necessarily in her nature to be flexible, ;) has been especially impressive.

When we got to GT, she was so thrilled to have her own bedroom.  She went in to read and didn't come out for 2 hours! lol

This is a very common sight around here... She has read 9 books since we got to Ethiopia and is half-way through the 10th.  I've had to start borrowing e-books from the library to keep up with her!  Love technology (even though it takes just about as long for me to download the book as it does for her to read them!)


 Goofing around with her new brother!


One of the main ways Faith has passed the days here is by writing in her notebook.  She has written a few stories and poems, but the thing I have gotten such a kick out of are her "schedules".  I have a homeschool book at home that teaches how to write a daily schedule for homeschooling moms and their kids.  Faith LOVES that book and has spent a lot of time at home looking at the sample schedules.  For whatever reason, since we've been here, she has had a ton of fun writing up schedules for imaginary families.  Here is an example:

 She has done dozens of these!  She also has made a few meal plans:

When I was looking in her notebook to take these pictures (with her permission) I also found the following pages that made me giggle:

(Sorry I don't know why those ones are sideways)

I think its so funny that she spends her free time making healthy eating charts! haha.

As always, Faith has a huge imagination and has no trouble coming up with stuff to do...  Today she "lassoed" this "horse" and went for a ride.

A few minutes later, I noticed she had upgraded horses...

Anyway, she does miss home, as evidenced by her list I posted the other day... But all in all, she is doing so well, and we are so glad to have her along with us!