A Great Weekend

The weather here is FINALLY starting to take a turn for the better :) I love our little city once the weather is nice.  We had a fun filled weekend and soaked up every minute of the sun!  On Saturday we went to the Zoo parade and then stopped by the zoo to ride the carousel at Zoya's nagging   persistent request :) Zoya really enjoyed the parade. It was her first ever parade! She didn't even flinch with the loud Shriner guys on motorcycles doing circles forever. I remember hating that part of parades when I was little because it was so loud! She really liked motorcycles so she enjoyed it. She also liked the therapy dogs who stopped to visit with her!

(This girl has some serious attitude! It looks like she's saying "You wanna take this outside?" LOL)

(clapping for the firetruck)

(kissing the therapy dog)

(she woulda joined the parade if we let her)

After the parade we went to the zoo. Ever since we went a couple weeks ago Zoya has been signing "horse" and "ra ra" for round and round. So we took her and she got to ride twice. She was signing sad when I told her all done. She kept saying "more!" She would ride that thing all day if we let her! It's funny when I think of how she used to be scared of it!  After a stop at home for a nap we took her to the lake for a little bike ride. Uncle Bub got us a bike trailer for Christmas and it was finally nice enough to use it!

It was pretty humorous to see people as they walked or rode by doing double takes with that freaky life-sized baby doll next to her. They must have been thinking what the heck...that baby is not even strapped in!!

I think Zoya enjoyed her weekend. She and I were driving to the grocery store tonight and she said "Mama." I looked in the mirror to see her in her carseat and I said "what baby?" she signed "horse." I told her that we weren't going to the zoo today and she singed "sad." Then her eyes got real big and she signed "bike." And I told her that we weren't riding bikes today, that we were going to the grocery store. She signed "sad" again. I love our little conversations and I love how she is learning to tell us what she wants and tell us how she feels (although she's definitely milking the sad sign because if she gets in trouble now she sings sad and if she doesn't get what she wants now she signs sad and it makes me laugh). I love my little girl!

This weekend I had many perfect moments. As I rode my bike behind Shawn and Zoya I praised God for the gift that these two are in my life. I wondered how I am worthy enough to be so blessed. Zoya has been home over a year now and there are many days I barely think about her orphanage life anymore. I thought it would always be floating in the surface of my thoughts but that is proving not to be the case. These days it's mostly the opposite. No I will never forget where she came from as that is part of her story and part of who she is....BUT lately I've been surprised when the thought that she was an orphan enters my mind....I'm surprised because I truly do forget she hasn't always been mine.  Sometimes I'm like "oh yah...she was an orphan" and then I think to myself "that is so strange."  

I guess that's how you know the healing is underway...when the good memories start to overtake the sad ones.