Monday in Vidin and here is Gracie Jane

We left later in the afternoon on Sunday and drove about 3 hrs thru the mountains... if you have been to Charlottesville, Va it reminded me of those mountains... very pretty . The weather has cooled considerably and it was a very comfortable and pleasant ride here. We met Toni's other brother , Alex and her mom... they are traveling with us on this trip and it has been a delight getting to know Toni's family. We have been blessed and taken care by all of them... we are grateful for this team and feel the Lord's provision everyday. It has been a real gift to have other christian's with us praying along side of us and sharing the joy of giving birth to these 2 children. I know some of you are traveling without your husbands and I can say you will be taken care of well and will feel very safe with them.

Now on to the best news... our Gracie Jane :)

When she came in to the director's office this am she went straight to my colorful bag and began to take toys out.. then she went around the room... very inquisitive... actually you could tell she had not ever been in here... we were told she is nonverbal and that is most of her issues... with some delays... She was not told no when she grabbed things but we got the feeling they just did not want to reprimand in front of us... finally we went to a playroom... at first she did not want to play. She held onto 2 tiny balls and a squishy one... did not really play. She loved the Elmo phone and it stayed with her the whole visit....She reacted very strange about getting her picture taken... not sure why but we were able to get some pics... she loved to look out the window at people passing by and loved to eat the treats of mms and crackers we bought. She allowed me to give them to her one at a time instead the grabbing of the whole thing like we saw in the directors office. She had to go to the bathroom and told us sort of... then we said our goodbyes ( which in Bulgarian is chow like the Italians do). Thank you is merci like the French say it... funny to us. They also do the opposite head shaking back and forth means yes and up and down means no... this has been quite humerous for us at times and everyone is very good natured about it....

We returned at 4 to play again. We asked to observer her with her group and so they all came outside ... we wanted to see how she was with her group. Actually she does not interact alot with them... she is doing her own thing... with the toys or she loves to place sticks and rocks into a hole in a cement wall. There are no toys for the kids... some old broken swings, and rocking sets... we played with all the kids and we were in heaven... this is our favorite thing to do and we feel so blessed to be able to do this.. the director has has been very nice. All the caregivers seem nice as well and at least this group seem to be more gentle at least around us . Gracie loved when Paul would chase her and pick her up... she had a slow time of allowing us to hold her but after she discovered she liked it she even asked for us to hold her... She would listen to us pretty well and we spent the last 40 min. with her on Pauls lap or in my arms which was a gift... also we were talking with her and pointing to pa pa and me- ma ma.. Tonia and then we said Alex... she said and we were all shocked ma ma , pa pa and Alex with the biggest smile... she was not suppose to be verbal and she just repeated what I said with understanding... she even pointed to Alex... amazing and we have only been with her 3 and a half hrs.....

I will post quickly a pic and will add more later... we have a dinner engagement or should I say date :)