Busy busy busy....

Wow, the time is that we have Tetiana here is just flying by!!   We have been very busy squeezing as much in as possible...and that hasn't given me much time to sit down at the computer.  Last week, Justin was able to take some much needed vacation days and we headed down to Colorado Springs.  We have lived there twice, and love to take advantage of our time there.  Tanya (Tetiana informed us she prefers to be called Tanya) was pretty unsure of what we were doing.  I assumed I had been communicating really effectively.  I had told her numerous times where we were going, how long of a drive, and what we were doing.  When I brought her the suitcase to pack she just gave me a confused look and said "Where are we going?" Then to add to that miscommunication, I went through the list of what to bring...at least 3 or 4 times...along with charading all of the items on the list.  "Yeah" and "good" were her responses.  As we were ready to head out the door I went to grab her suitcase. You guessed it!  It was empty!!  That was a good indication that my communication really wasn't quite as effective as I thought.   Either way we headed first to Denver.  New Horizons put together a "Welcome" party for all of the Latvian and Ukrainian kids in the area.  I was quite sure that Tanya would LOVE this!  I was wrong.  She didn't hate it, but there appears to be a hierarchy among teens from these areas as well...and she either didn't feel like she fit it, or felt too good to try, I am not sure.  She spoke minimally...and really didn't seem interested to meet or talk to any of the other teen girls that were there.  She did however find her new love....fishing!!  Some ladies were there and were very willing to share their fishing poles.  She and Nikita fished most of the evening...

Seth found a friend. I am not sure what his name was, but he was either from the Ukraine or from Latvia. Seth thoroughly enjoyed being schooled in soccer!!
The next day was a full day at the zoo. The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is amazing. I haven't been to a ton of zoos, but this one is by far my favorite!! Built right into the side of the mountain, so many of the animals are in their natural habitat. There is also many opportunities to interact with the animals! Tanya really seemed to love our time at the zoo!! The boys absolutely loved this Rhino statue. It was very anatomically correct, and pottied water on unsuspecting onlookers every minute. After realizing how often it "went," Eli and Seth decided to watch for it...