Leeza and Zhenya Update

We had some serious issues with our web hosting company soon after we arrived home from Ukraine with Leeza and Zhenya. They were bought out and decided to change the way web sites are updated. We were informed that we could leave our website how it was and not be able to update it, or we could recreate it in the new format. Unfortunately, soon after arriving home I didn't have 100 spare hours to recreate, so we opted to leave it as is until I could find some time to recreate it. This version is now recreated and we can post new updates.
Most of the email questions we get concern how Leeza and Zhenya are doing and if and when we are going to be able to get Katya home. Being as old as Leeza and Zhenya are (18 and 16), there is a lot of curiosity as to how well they are adapting and learning the language.
We brought Zhenya's transcripts with him from Ukraine. The high school had them translated and plugged in the credits. He only needed several English classes and a couple of other credits to graduate. We enrolled him as a Jr as soon as we came home so that he would have 5-6 months to practice English so that he could do well in his final classes his senior year. During the summer Zhenya was able to start swimming competitely. He also began playing basketball on a team with his friends. He also was able to attend a soccer camp for a week. He really soaked up every opportunity and was very grateful for the opportunities to do the things he loved doing. Zhenya was a little disappointed because he really loves soccer and unfortunately the high school has several thousand students and an extremely competitive soccer program. Zhenya is very good at soccer, but he doesn't have the team experience that was required to make the team. The coach also felt that the team had been playing together for several years and it would be hard to integrate a new player. So, he wasn't able to play soccer for the High School. Zhenya has made lot's of friends. Most of his friends are from church. They get together at their youth leaders house for computer game parties every other week or so. Zhenya worked very hard in school his first semester. He wasn't given any breaks by the teachers because of the language barriers and had to complete everything just like everyone else. Zhenya earned a 3.5 grade point with mostly A's and a few B's. That got him an honor roll letter from the principal. Zhenya studied and passed his driving permit test and now has his drivers permit. The test is not easy and he passed it without any translation help. He got to learn a whole set of new vocabulary words related to driving. Zhenya's english is excellent. He understands about 95% of what people say. He is able to express himself as needed. He still has a thick accent which is hard for some people to understand, but he gets better every day. Zhenya will graduate this spring from High School. He is most likely going to attend a nearby community college for a year before deciding what to do. He needs at least one more year at a lower level school prior to jumping into a university setting because of language issues.
Leeza is doing well. She misses her friends terribly. All she ever knew was the orphanage and the girls there were her family of psuedo sisters. Leeza is very emotional and at times became upset with family members when she became frustrated. In the year since she has been home she has done very well and each week she is getting better and better at feeling comfortable in America and in her new family. She has made lot's of new friends at school and has worked hard to make good choices. She has really started bonding with her sisters in the last 4 months. She now sees them as friends and assets rather than rivals for attention. Leeza earned a 3.2 grade point average her first semester as a high school freshman. She comes right home every day and works hard to get all her homework done. Unfortunately, she didn't work very hard at math in Ukraine so her homework takes a few hours with her Dad tutoring her, but she works very hard to do well. Leeza has really jumped into swimming. She is always anxious to go to practice every day and has improved greatly in the 10 months she has been swimming. She plans on swimming for her High School for the next three years.Sonya and Nikitta are doing great. They are quickly catching up to grade level in school. They are fully Americanized, which is a little sad as we loved some of the quirky things they did when they were first home. Where in Ukraine they would bite the head off of a little dried sardine and love it, now they cringe at any food that is slightly strange. Sonya is a very happy and fun child. She is very funny and independent. Sonya is swimming with the rest of the family. She is looking into branching out into cheerleading and tumbling. Nikitta is about as athletic as they come. He is good at everything he tries. He has tried just about every sport. He hated baseball,(too slow, little action)but he loves football and wrestling. He has also started swimming and has become very good in a short amount of time.As a family our lives have felt a little on hold as we worry and wait to bring Katya home. In the mean time, we have settled into work, school, swimming routines that have helped us enjoy each other and pass the time until Katya comes home and we can finally call our family complete.