Winter in Minnesota

Carly is doing so well! She enjoys helping with the cooking, cleaning, and being involved in just everyday things. She likes to plays card games and go shopping.

She is adjusting to the climate change though the cold is not her favorite part. She does like the snow. Carly is very much part of the family as she is more comfortable with all of us!
She loves to go to church and has met some nice friends there. Everyone has been so nice to her and has made her feel very welcome!
She asks when her friend, Anamika, is coming to Minnesota and looks forward to her coming. We are ready for Christmas and are so excited to experience our first Christmas together!

Here we are with Rajeev on our last day in India. It was a very relaxing day as Rajeev took us to a nice park where we could eat, rest and the kids could play on the playground. This was also the final day of our visa work. Rajeev knew exactly what to do and everything went very smoothly!

We are home safely and are feeling a bit tired but very happy to have Carly home with us! She really has added to our family some spice! We love her so much and are learning something new about her everyday. She seems to understand more each day and is trying new words. We even got her to say UUFFDA. Imagine a Norwegian/Indian! She says it like I've never heard it said! Thank-you for all your support these past days when we were in India. We have enjoyed hearing from you all!

Love to all,
Dawn

Hi Everyone!
This will be our last blog until we get home. We will leave tonight. The visa work went well and everything has gone sooo smoothly. Thank-you for all your prayers and blog comments. We are very happy to see you all soon.

To IFS Families: Rajeev is the MAN! When you travel, just trust what he tells you and do it. He knows what he is doing. We are all very fortunate to have him to work with IFS!

Hi Everyone,
We thought that Carly was rather quiet, but we found out today that she is not. Somebody put 12 1/2 rupees (a quarter) in her and she's been going ever since! She is now is watching cartoons with the boys. She will certainly hold her own with the boys. Today we went shopping and we bought her a punjabi. She has learned all our names and has added some too. Austin is also known as "Austin Monkey"!!! Or just " Monkey". She is very lively, and full of giggles. LOTS of giggles. We leave tomorrow night for USA. YAY! We look forward to seeing you all very soon. We are going to CDT this weekend and are very excited to see the performance! We are praying for you all as you are working very hard!
Love to All!
Dawn

This monkey tried to grab Carly's leg! And she screamed and ran away laughing. Naughty monkey.

Rajeev and Renu with us at Pizza Hut. Yum!

Hello everyone! This country and people (and people and people and people) are incredible! Rajeev and Renu are the most gracious hosts ever! The weather is about 70 to 80 degrees and overcast or sunny. The kids are having a blast--playing, swimming, shopping, eating and just soaking everything in. -- Wayne

Hello all!

Carly is doing very well. We went shopping and bought Carly some new jeans! She looks very snappy in them!! She just grinned very big when she put them on. She is adjusting every day to us and us to her. She seems to trust us more now and we realize that this will be a process! We just love her sooooo much!!!

She really enjoys playing cards. That has really helped her come out of her shell! "Thank-you, Zachary!"

To IFS families: To those who contacted us, we got pictures of your children and delivered your gifts. We will e-mail you when we get home and give you pics and all the info. that observed for you. Your children are so beautiful!!! They are all very excited to go home with you! So many stories to tell you! :) Also, Rajeev and Renu, his wife, are so gracious! You will love India!!

A big thank-you to those who have blogged, read our blogs, prayed for us and kept others posted for us! We appreciate all that you have done for us. We look forward to seeing you all soon.

Love to All!

Dawn

Hey everybody! I'm having an absolutely awesome time over here! All the time there are people everywhere. Picking up Chinmayee (Carly) was the best part, but besides that, spending time with the Bethesda children was lots of fun. And seeing the Taj Mahal was so cool. So much white marble. Beautiful. Last night Renu, Mom, Chinmayee and I did a little shopping. Wahoo! It was a lot of fun. And one thing I noticed is that there were no Indian saleswoman. A little akward at times, but it was OK. lol

Chinmayee is learning all our names and growing less and less shy as the days go on. I'll have lots more to tell once we get back. LoVe you All! See you soon and God bless! :)