New Life in Eden Prairie

I'm not really sure who named our city, but it fits. Eden Prairie truly is a beautiful place. Rolling hills, verdant dells and valleys, ponds, streams, lakes. Lovely. Especially now. This is my favorite time of year in Minnesota. There's an old joke that says Minnesota has two seasons: 10 months of Winter and 2 months of Misquito. However, a well-kept secret is that Minnesota is a mild, comfortable place to live from mid April until about late October. The spring is in the 60s and 70s with low humidity, the summer days rarely exceed 90, and the fall....Well, the fall... it's gorgeous. Even the first snow, leading up to and through the major holidays, is a wonderful time.

That's why it's been such a joy to bring Cory home to Minnesota when we have. Arriving in mid August allowed him a couple weeks at our local pool enjoying summer days, and now, with school a week off, you can catch a slight hint of fall in the morning air. Not cold, just a little cooler than what July and August mornings bring.

And he is loving it all.

With all that's been going on in our home, it's been a huge relief and joy to see Cory acclimating so well to his new environment and home. As many of you may not know, recently Suzanne was diagnosed with breast cancer. Thankfully, it has not metastisized beyond the breast and the two nodes directly next to it, and the prognosis is good (i.e. only a 15% chance of recurrence within three years). However, she started chemo and will follow that with surgery right after the New Year. Yes, a lot is going on in the Duncan home.

It would be impossible for me to relay even the major news in the confines of this blog, but I'll try to hit the key points.

Cory is such an energetic, naturally passionate and joyful boy--he has been a real light of wonder and happiness to us in just the short 2.5 weeks we have had him home in the states. Other than an occasional crying episode (once a day at the most), he is getting along smashingly with his siblings and with the neighborhood kids. And most of the time, when he does get upset, it's because of a language breakdown or misunderstanding. Even there, he is learning English at a very rapid pace. When I took him to the medical clinic in Kiev, the doctor could only get him to count to four in Russian. Two days ago, he walked up to me and counted to 10 in English, unprompted! Wow, flash cards really do work, folks. Our family is a walking testimony to the usefulness of picture books, flash cards, and a lot of repetition and explanataion of things in the house, at the store, in the yard. Etc.

Yesterday I took him to Hannah's junior high school open house and he had his first glimpse of a drinking fountain. What an amazing invention! He just could not stop oohing and ahhing over this beautiful little machine that dispenses crisp, clean water--whenever you like! Thankfully, the junior high halls only had four drinking fountains, otherwise we would have been shutting the place down along with the night janitor.

Kylie and Hannah have had a lot of fun "showing Cory off" to the neighborhood kids--and I mean a lot of kids. On our street and the street next to us, we have around 20 kids ages 10 and under. You walk outside and it looks like a summer camp, with kids running everywhere, kicking balls, riding bikes, etc. For the first few days upon arriving in the states, Cory was just completely overwhelmed by it all, and ran from one bike to the next, from one ball to the next. i just think his circuits were blown. He particularly took a liking to anything to do with trucks or motorcycles, and got a hold of a neighbors toy "monster truck" that makes a loud revving noise and plays Queen's "We Will Rock You" at one volume level--loud. Fun for him, but after about two hours of him pushing the button, I'm ready to tell Freddy Mercury (God rest his soul) and the Boys to take a break. (I actually had to wait til he fell asleep to return the truck, otherwise he would have wrestled me for it.)

Overall, I think all three girls are adjusting well. Naturally, Zoe and Cory, being the same size and closest in age, do tend to bicker on occasion. So far, though, we've only had to referee a couple of arguments over toys and food, and we've had no major hitting or kicking conflagrations. I've been spending a lot of time just hanging out with Zoe, and I think she is making the adjustment. Last night she told me she loved having a big brother and that he is "a lot of fun to play with--most of the time."

With Suz going through chemo, a new adopted boy in the house, and the girls (and Cory) getting ready for school, you could say that we've all been a bit overwhelmed. Thankfully, our families have really stepped up to the plate, and for the past three weeks, we've had a relative with us helping out with the kids, meals, etc. My sisters even made a public calendar where folks in our families can go to sign up to come stay with us. Right now, we will have a "family helper" staying with us almost continuously through early November. A HUGE relief and help. Also, one of my best friends has set up a meals calendar for local folks to cook and deliver meals, which is both humbling and wonderful. And for those who live long-distance, he had the excellent idea of having people send certificates for us to pick up food at a place called Let's Dish (you can pick up a week's worth of meals in just 15 minutes).

Even though it's a difficult time for us as a family, the "adoption part" of our lives is going better than what expected. It will be very interesting to see how Cory takes to kindergarten, which he will begin a week from today. The great news is that there is a Russian community in our town, and consequently his elementary school employs a Russian-language ESL teacher. So, even though he's going "full immersion" with English, he will be working with the ESL teacher as well.

Okay - sorry if this post is sort of "all over the map" - I am just grabbing time when I can get my hands on it. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers. We appreciate them very much!

The Duncans