Christmas with Lena

I have written before about Sasha's sister Lena. She is 11 and is at an orphanage about 2 and half hours from Sumy. Sasha just recently reconnected with her. She is just the cutest thing. And every time she comes and stays with us it seems she has many firsts. The first time she stayed we went up an escalator and it was the scary for her because it was her first time. When we got in our elevator to go up to our apartment on the 10th floor, she told us it was her first time in one. We also went bowling and she sat back and watched for most of it because she also had never ever been to a bowling alley. She experienced cereal for the first time and LOVED it. This time Sasha took her to a movie. When they got back he informed us it was her first movie ever. We also took her to church and she told me she was scared because she had never been to church before. I told her she didn't need to be afraid because we go to church with many wonderful people. Things like this blow my mind because growing up I experienced all these things she was seeing for the first time. So needless to say, stockings and christmas gifts with a decorated tree were a first for her. You can see in the video how she takes it all in. It was so fun to experience this with her.