Learning their names....!!!!

We told the boys that we had a special family date night planned with a very special surprise!  It started out as every good date night should- with suckers :)

Then we climbed to the top of crescent hill....

where the boys would open their presents...

what happened next was so precious...

they saw their sisters for the first time!!!!   their instantaneous and absolute excitement blessed their parents hearts more than they will ever know!  For a split second these girls were strangers, and then the next second they were sisters- so beautiful!  

The questions and comments started flowing out...one after the other, with energy and anticipation...they were so excited to teach the girls english, and to learn words in their native language (Creole).  They talked about all the things they wanted to do with them, where they might sleep, what toys they might like to play with, all the things the boys wanted to show them and experience with them.  When can we bring them home to live with us?  I wonder what their personalities are like?  We shared with them what we had been told- that Kinna is outgoing and very active and Kloe is quieter and shy.  The dialogue continued, and then Koen reminded me about his prayer, when he was 3 years old: "We were driving in the van to visit Nana and I asked you if I could have a sister.  You said I would have to ask God.  So I did."  I heard him in the back of the van, having a conversation with God.  There was a long silence, but it wasn't just silence.  I knew that something was happening.  Then out of the blue, and very matter-of-factly, Koen said, "Mom, He said I could (have a sister that is)- but I didnt know I would get two!!"  

We tried to capture these moments with a family picture- this is what we got (although Kelly is very skilled with his one-handed backwards aim and shoot, his participants were anything but cooperative or focused on the task at hand):

So we got a passerby to snap one for us:

We trekked back down the hill and headed to Eau Claire market.  The boys didn't put their pictures down, vibrating with the fulfillment of a long awaited dream.  We decided that what better way to celebrate than, you said it, ICECREAM!

Then we shared with the boys, the meaning and significance of the girls names:

The names that the girls were given when they were born were Sheldine and Shelda.  We looked up the meaning, and the root of their names means "sheltered".  How cool- God is their Shelter!  It felt like reassurance from the Lord that we have been praying for these girls since before they were born and He has known who they are all along.  It is very significant and important for us to honor and maintain as much of their heritage as we can.  But it is also important for us that they know and feel like they belong in our family and in their new culture as well.  So we wanted to also give them names, to signify the new chapter in their lives and their identities as Archuleta's.  The names that we chose for the girls have very special meanings as well.  Kinna means "knowing".  She is intimately known by her Father and we trust she also will know Him deeply in her journey ahead.  Kloe means "blossoming".  We are believing that she will blossom into everything she was created to be in the shelter of her King, and she will radiate with the beauty of Christ.  So, while they are at the orphanage, they will be called Sheldine Kinna and Shelda Kloe.  When we bring them to Canada and they are familiar with their new names, we will move their current first names to become their middle names and just call them Kinna and Kloe.

Such precious girls!  We couldn't imagine greater gifts!  And now the wait really begins...waiting to hold them in our arms and cuddle them and smooch them to pieces.