Still here

Hey all, we are still here. Sorry for the silence for a little while. I haven't been feeling well and it is not very fun to do this without my camera. My camera is in the States getting fixed before the warranty ran out. I hope it comes back working and soon.

Tonight we went to our first adoption class in Sweden. Yes, you heard me right. We are required by the Kommun (county) to take this intro to International adoption so that we can see what it is like to raise an internationally adopted child in Sweden. The class really doesn't have much to do with exactly that. It is a class for prospective parents to decide if they want to do adoption and what are some of the pitfalls and hard areas of adoption (I taught similar classes in the States). We told the Kommun that it was my field of vocation and that we have an internationally adopted child, but these are the wheels of Social democracy at work!!! According to the Swedish rules we shouldn't have to take this class, but the people in charge of the home study said they won't do one if we don't take the class. Needless to say the teacher of the class and everyone else is very surprised that we are required to be there. But I am praying that we can be of some help to others that are there also. This class is every Tuesday for six weeks and it was not cheap! However, once we jump this hurdle it's on to the home study. Keep praying for my patience, it sense it wearing thin at times.

As I have stated in the past my culture shock has not been nearly as bad this time as it was last time (Praise God). Yet, I still realize that I am dealing with some of culture shock little by little. It is not that I miss the States so much as I miss a lot of people. So to all of my dear friends and family, you are missed!

Samuel is doing really well. When we talk to him about the adoption he chatters on and on about having a sister that is a boy, or maybe a brother that is a girl. We are working on the sorting of the words and their meanings. He doesn't really know what I am asking, but he answers me with the little understanding that he has and it is very sweet. He has taken to telling us thank you for lot of things. We went to Far Far and Far Mor's ocean house a couple of weeks ago and he continues to thank us for taking him there. Or he will thank me for buying him food at the grocery store. It is so cute and sometimes seems so grown up. He is still into telling us long drawn out stories that are hard to understand, but still very fun to listen to. He amazes me constantly. The other day we were reading a Swedish kids book with lots of pictures that we could point to things in. So I would point to something and ask what it was. He would tell me in English, I would then ask him what it was in Swedish and he would answer me correctly! Andreas was there as my witness. We were amazed. He has been paying more attention than we thought. I was surprised he understood the difference in the English and Swedish.

Samuel is sleeping much better and he doesn't seem scarred of mice anymore. Let's hope we don't have to deal with that one again.

I hope that all of you are well. We will be praying for each of our friends by name. Keep in touch!
Laurie