visiting friends from afar

My dear friend Erin and family drove from "the north" for a visit with us and her extended family and friends. We got to meet her new daughter also from the Marshall Islands. She is almost 9 months. She is so cute and loves to smile. Favorite toy>>>empty 2 liter soda bottle so those of you spending so much money on toys.....go simple!

We spent the first day at Hawaiian Falls water park and came out tired and burnt. The girls came home and fell asleep!!!!

Erin's older daughter, also from China, had her first sleep over with the girls, sharing a bed with Sara. They did crafts in the evening first. In the morning, I found that Little one is not a morning person.

Of course we went to the Chinese market and had to get some goodies. That also goes for our favorite restaurant China King.....yummy!

July 4th....hurricane

I decided to go to houston to visit my parents for a week over the July 4th timeframe......of course it is the only free time we have this summer and of course a hurricane was coming onshore just south......can you say cabin fever! Of course whenever we are at my parent's we eat well. On the 4th we had a get together with the family that was local and stayed up for the usual Nertz card game. I think Sara's team won.....AGAIN.

Jessie's anniversary

Today is the one year anniversary of adding Jessie to our family. He came to us from the local pound and is a great dog.

He has not grown much, but is now comfortable ~~ stealing Cooper's toy all the time and taking over Sara's pink blanket.

Summertime fun

This spring/summer we tried growing onions. The girls were so faithful to make sure they were watered. Today they pulled them, pealed and chopped some and created a wonderful recipe. At first they had eye protection for the splattering grease, but then the onion smell was making Ruth cry a lot, so she stuffed tissue into her mask to help with this. We had so much fun, and the dish was really good. Next year we will grow onions again.

Sara attended soccer camp again. Ruth attended volleyball camp. The crepe myrtle bushes are in full bloom in the yard.

We are really chowing down on watermelon. Sara created this watermelon bowl.

This is our huge pool....complete with our own alligator. It is small, but it is cool!

This is Daisy and she did not make it into the pool. She has become Sara's personal lounge chair.

Father's Day

Today was a great day for us. I made Jeff breakfast. We had a lot of family game playing time. Due to the heat, we blew up the pool and swam (sat) in it~~anything to cool off. The girls took Jeff out to Starbucks for drinks. We also took Jeff out to Chili's for dinner. How lucky that he found a gift card for there while cleaning out his wallet.....

I called my dad and he had a good time with my sisters living near him. This included a bbq dinner and my BIL makes some great grilled meat....really wish I was there.

Jeff's father also had a great day.

Getting home

This morning we wanted to get an early start, but the girls were not cooperating, but they were very funny!

NOAH...we need your ARK!

We are off for the long trip home. We decided to divide the trip in half. The first day was going well until we were almost to the hotel, then the sky opened up and the deluge began, literally. We were suddenly driving 10 mph, wipers on full, flasher on, not being able to see the car in front of us.....literally! Luckily our exit was 1 1/2 miles and we got off, only to pull into the nearest parking lot and watched it flood. Then it slowed and we thought we would drive the remaining 3 miles to the hotel, but that took a full hour........the road was flooded and blocked with stalled out cars. I drove over the medium into a closeby shopping center that did not have a flooding problem, we ate, and WAITED.

We finally made it to the hotel and it was very nice. Sara insisted on the top floor because she wanted to be far away from the flood. We were very careful where we parked, on the highest spot and no where near a drain. Luckily there was no further rain.

The days after

Sunday we went to sister Lydia's house for a visit with the remaining family. Bless Lydia, the girls spent the night. This was two sided goodness: the girls have not seen these cousings aunt/uncle for 2 years and they needed to reconnect. Also, after so many days in VERY close quarters, we DESPERETLY needed a break from THEM! So, Jeff and I went out to dinner, where else, but Chinese hehehe.

The next morning we went to Top Sail beach and had a great time. The beach was beautiful, mostly empty, and the water was great. We toasted for a little while, ate lunch, then headed back to the hotel for a dip in the pool to wash the salt off. We stopped at a cool souvinere shop and had to walk through a shark to enter......

Then off to the family favorite past time,,,,,out to dinner. We went to Tx Roadhouse and were shocked to find that no one had thrown their peanut shells on the floor there, but do not worry because we definately took care of that problem!!!!

WEDDING DAY

Wedding day finally arrived. The families made the church and reception area so beautiful. Tessa was stunning and her new husband Brandon is very nice. They had a full service w/ sermon followed by many wonderful finger foods. The cake was made by the groom's mother and was beautiful. There was dancing which I chose to only observe. The fruit that we helped with came out beautiful and so yummy. Love the family group

preparations for the big day

After 20 VERY long hours of driving, we finally landed at Jacksonville, NC. We did find that doing 12 hours the first day only leads to wanting to sell the children, and maybe a spouse. We arrived in the rain and dark. The second day was much better! After settling in, we went to the church to assist in the preparations. S & R did a ton of carrots, followed by all 4 of us wishing we were little mice as we attempted to dice perfectly a cart load of cheese. The girls and Jeff also assisted in making many types of mellon balls. It was a long day, but fun. Jeff's parents arrived from FL and we went out to eat in the pm.

going..going..gone

Heading to wedding #1......will be a very long drive. Love our neighbor who dog/cat/house sits for us.

Memorial Day

Happy Memorial day to all. I was watching some specials, in tears. How easy to think of today as just a day to play, no school... We must remember what it is about!

A/C out . . . again

Our guy came out on Thursday to recharge the freon, and Sat pm it was hot again. He came out today, Memorial Day morning, took a look, and pronounced our coil in the attic out..... He recharged again hoping it will get us a little through, but it was just leaking into the house. He had a sniffer thing and when he came into the house, it went off. I wonder what I am breathing. So~~~~~possible Thursday at 6:30 AM (did I tell you it is VERY hot in a second story attic in TX in the summer) he installer will be here to do the job. .......can you say CHA-CHING!

CELEBRATE

After only 3 years, and much hard work, Sara has graduated from the ESL program today. In the state testing, she had to make a 670 or above and she made........670! She will no longer need ESL classes! She will be monitored for 3 years to make sure her grades stay up and does not need to be readmitted to the program but with an average of 95 overall, I see no problems in that. Since Sara is no longer officially in the ESL program, I can no longer be the parent representative for the ESL assessments on all the children in the two schools that the teacher covers.....I guess I am out of a job that I really enjoyed. Maybe it is off to PTA.

Those left in the reading assistance program~~~~are you ready~~~the "american" kids that just don't,according to the teacher,apply themselves......no longer the "chinese" kid that is learning the language and left them in the dust! Please do not take this the wrong way, I am just amazed with Sara.

OH YEA....the ESL teacher also told me that Sara should be in advanced Language Arts next year! Way to go babe!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SON

Today is my son Bryan Christian's 26th birthday. How fast the time has past. We sent up prayers to him.....our angel boy.

ROCKET DAY

Today was launch day for the homemade rockets in Ruth's science class. They are constructed from plastic soda bottles. The first one contains water to make the launch pressure, the second holds an egg and a parachute that did not often deploy upon their return to earth. Unfortunately, Ruth and her partner punctured the launch bottle and they could not get the pressure to launch, but it was a beautiful rocket.

Stormy day...really

First~the cat is now in the hosp for unknown illness, hoping she makes it.



Second~need to take out a second mortgage for car maintenance. Our Honda Odyssey has PAX tires and so it is 250/ea for new ones, and add on top the maint time....OUCH



Third~this is what Ruth and I saw in front of us when I took her to the Dr. .... and we were driving towards it.

AWARDS

Today was 7th grade awards ceremony. Unlike in lower grades, there is only one award per the 5 teachers. Sara got an award from her reading teacher for best student.

Band trip

PACKED AND READY TO GO...

Sara's band had an out of town competition and in order to get there in time, they had to leave at 3 AM!!!! I was so lucky that one of the band m0ms, and also the mom to one of Sara's good friends, is a chaperon and so Sara, along with another best friend, spent the night. This also meant that the mom would bring Sara home at 1:50 AM that night....totally exhausted. I could not stay up that long, so Jeff did and she was "like a zombie" going up to bed. They got first place. After the competition, they went to a huge water park-Schliterbahn and spent 8 hours playing. I got the lowdown on the boys and girls checking each other out in their swimsuits.....I AM SO NOT READY FOR THIS! I did get the girls new swimsuits, from the Jr. dept, to make sure everything was covered, though I thing she should have worn a very long shirt over everything......wow....I sound like my mom!

moving day

Most of you know, Jeff's new job is a 3+ hour drive from home, and a night shift. We both decided it is best for him to get an efficiency closer, so now his commute is about 2 minutes. We rented a U-Haul and the move was on. We had almost enough to furnish it completely, but did buy a new mattress and another arm chair. Things are coming along well and the girls like the pools there, as long as the workout room. The girls took time in the Uhaul and at the end of the day, they (we) were exhausted

NASA

Ruth and her 6th grade team headed down to Houston for their overnight fieldtrip to the Johnson Space Center. This is Ruth and Morgan, who I have carpooled since kindergarten, ready to leave.