One Year Anniversary Approaching

As our one year anniversary of bringing Michell home approaches i am filled with many different emotions.  First, I cant believe that it's been almost a year.  There have been so many added blessings to our life because of the addition to our family.  We love her so much!
She is doing so great.  She speaks only English except when we make her speak Spanish.  She has forgotten most of what she knew so we have to work on it daily.  Martin speaks mostly Spanish to both the kids but she will still answer in English.  It's hard because it makes talking to her mom very difficult.  She is unsure if she is saying things correctly so she doesnt want to talk at all.  She still talks to her mom at least one to two times a week.  She is always excited to talk to her but the language barrier is very difficult.  She understands what her mom is saying but just doesnt know how to respons in Spanish.  It usually ends with Martin talking to her and telling her how Michell is doing.  Her mom though disappointed that Michell cant really communicate with her like she could before is still happy to talk to her and happy for the updates from Martin.   It's not that she has completely forgotten to speak in Spanish.  She was barely 3 when she came to live with us so it's not like she had a full vocabulary of Spanish.  She was just learning that language too.  She could understand but even the words she spoke werent exactly "correct" Spanish.  She was a toddler just learning to speak.  We do work on it.  It is important to me that both of the kids know and speak Spanish.  Not only for Michell and her mom but for our extended family.  Martin's family only speaks Spanish so it's important to me for them to be able to communicate with them.  I record Spanish cartoons and the kids watch them all of the time.  I know that Michell understands because she watches and responds in Spanish when she is watching it.  Micah also surprises me daily with what he understands.  We were sitting in the living room the other day and Martin told him to go turn the light off in our bedroom (in Spanish).  He got off the couch and said ok daddy.  He went in and turned the light off and came and sat back down.  Me and Martin both started laughing.  He understands even more than we realize.
Michell turned 4 in December.  She still wears the same size clothes and shoes that she was wearing a year ago when she came home.  I know she is taller but she is just going to be little (like her daddy).  Micah is catching up with her daily.  They already wear the same size shoes.  I bet he will pass her up this year.  He is so big!
She loves to help around the house.  She picks up constantly after Micah.  She has learned to close her door so he cant go in and dump out all of her toys.  She loves to go to church and wants to go to school so she can take her "backpack" (like Dora)  She loves being outside just like Micah.  They are so cute together.  She is a good big sister and adores him.  She really loves the big kids too.  She is always excited when they are here and is sad when they have to leave.  She loves everyone she meets!
We talk about her family in Honduras to her.  We have pictures printed of her mom, and some of her extended family like cousins and grandparents etc.  We want her to always remember them and to know how much they love her.  We remind her mom of this too.  We promised her mom when this all started that we would always respect that she was her mother and we would always keep that communication open.  We have and will always do our best to make sure that happens. 
Michell will talk about Honudras to us and tell us something she used to do or some where she used to go so I know she still thinks about it.  She is a daily reminder of the things we so often take for granted here.  The other day I was folding clothes and she said I help my mommy wash clothes in Honduras.  As she was telling me this she was demonstrating with her hands rubbing the clothes on a washboard.  This is how they wash clothes there because they have no washing machines.  I know her life was a lot different there but I can only imagine without ever living that type of life.  Martin knows because that is how he grew up.  His family in Mexico still lives that way.  Any luxury items or conveniences they have(like a bathroom) have mostly been provided by us.  We do what we can for them but they still live a much different life than what we have here.  Martin knows the type of life he has saved Michell from and he doesnt even like to think about what her life would have been like had her mother not given us all this gift.
This next year holds many exciting changes for our family which we are all looking forward to.  I will be graduating from Tech (finally)  Kenzie will be a senior in high school.  Micah and Michell will both be starting "school" once I start looking for a job.  We are also planning a trip to Mexico in the next few months so that Martin's family can finally meet everyone.  He was there for a week in December but we didnt go with him.  He is really excited for his mom and the rest of his family to meet me and the kids.  I am excited to see where he is from and to meet the family that made him the great man, husband and father that he is.
I attached the video we made right after we returned from Honduras a year ago.  I still can't believe how easily everything happened for us.  I can only be thankful and believe that when God has a plan there is nothing that will stop that from unfolding as long as you put your trust in him to guide you.