Meet Xiaoyun!

We announced in the spring that we would be hosting an exchange student this coming school year.  The summer flew by and suddenly, it was time for her arrival!  She is 16 and from Shanghai.  She's an only child so our house should be a great adventure for her! 😄 We spent Saturday finishing up her room and then picked her up at the airport.  We introduced ourselves, grabbed her bags, and let her sleep on the drive home.  We can relate to how tired she must be since we've flown home from China a few times. 😉

Her mom sent this to us as she was leaving Shanghai the day before.

We turned our "ballet room" into Xiaoyun's bedroom (Hence the big mirrors on the wall.).

When we arrived home from the airport, the little girls ran home across the yard from Gramma's house. Beilyn has a rash on her lower back. Her first words to Xiaoyun are "my butt is itchy!" 😆

We learned very quickly that Xiaoyun is a quiet & polite girl.
She asked me if it was an appropriate time to give us gifts. She brought this chopstick/tea cup set for the girls, lipstick and a special embroidered case for me, and a large decorative fan for Alex.

At one point this evening, Brielle gave me a thumbs up and said, "So far, so good!" and Brynna whispered in my ear, "I like her so much already!" 🥰

On Sunday, we left Braylee at home from church to stay with Xiaoyun.  They were both sitting on the back porch reading when we arrived home. We know from experience that sunshine and staying active will help beat jet lag so we kept her busy all day. 😊

After lunch, we took a walk in our subdivision.

Then we took a golf cart ride into town for treats & a quick tour of the school.

We figured Scrabble would be a great way to increase her English vocabulary.  Brielle & Xiaoyun also played "volleyball" with some balloons in the living room. It was good to see her relaxing a little.  We think she is so brave!

Today, we registered Xiaoyun for classes. That was a little harder than I expected!  We want her to feel challenged but also not feel too overwhelmed.  She will have 3 classes with Braylee which will be helpful. This afternoon, I took the 3 older girls to Evansville. We did a little Back to School shopping and most importantly, visited the Asian markets.  As soon as we walked in, the girls and I said, "Smells like China!" 😄 Xiaoyun is so polite that she was hesitant to put too much in the cart, but she did choose a few treats.

Family Wii night. Xiaoyun has handled the jet lag like a champ! And I love that she's willing to try anything!

It rained enough that Braylee's golf practice was cancelled, but then it cleared off and made for a perfect evening for a family walk/ride/push a stroller. 😁 (Beilyn's pout! ha!)

We had tacos for dinner. Xiaoyun loved them! She doesn't seem to be a very picky eater, but it's good to know we have options that she really likes too!

It's only been 2.5 days with our new "daughter" but I don't believe things could have gone any smoother.  She is easy-going, quiet, and fits right in! She speaks English clearly, but I can tell at times that she feels unsure of her ability to use it.  Translating apps on our phones have been helpful too. (It's difficult to get the correct pronunciation of her name but it's similar to "show yoon" - show as in shower and yoon rhyming with June.)

Bible Memory Camp 2019

We had a great week at Bible Memory Camp! The weather was perfect! It was Brielle's 1st year. She was nervous going in but then had a blast!  It was also Brynna's last year of elementary camp, which I just can't believe! Beilyn went along as my "nurse helper" and ate it up! 😄 I loved my one-on-one time with her.  

I had planned to take all of the girls along like years past, but Braylee needed to stay home for golf. Without her there to help with the little girls if I was called away for an emergency, we realized the two youngest girls needed to stay home. 

Since our RV was still on its way home from Oregon, we stayed in Gramma & Pappy's camper.

Brielle's 2nd grade cabin

Brynna's 6th grade cabin

Cousins and Best Buds 

Brielle & Miley were inseparable all week!

We FaceTimed with these cuties each night. 😍

Talent Show

I can't believe summer break is almost over! It's been a good one!

Jumping back into the day to day...

We returned home from our trip and jumped right back into work and activities. Our cousin Willow was here visiting, which made Bria extra happy!  It was also 4-H week!

Bria's "Little cousin" Willow has definitely outgrown her!

Brynna's 1st Grand Champion- Child Development

Beilyn had more testing for her scoliosis. We've noticed her pelvic tilt has gotten worse since her tethered cord surgery in 2017. She was so brave and did the best she's ever done with x-rays!

Londyn & Bria were matching at church today! 

Northwest Trip video

Alex created a video of our recent trip! There are some pretty cute videos of the little girls mixed in there. 😄

PNW Trip Days 17 & 18 {Crater Lake to Home}

Yesterday morning, Alex woke up at 4:15 and drove us over to an overlook to watch the sunrise beside Crater Lake. It was cloudy and there was a fog rolling in over the lake.

At 4:44, the sky began to turn pink, but we didn't have high hopes since it was so overcast. 

Then this happened! 😍

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Psalm 19:1

No filter needed for this little glimpse of heaven!

When the sun would peek out, the water was a shocking deep blue!
Unfortunately, it was pretty cloudy all morning, but I'm thankful we got a few moments to see this beauty!

The size of the boats below gives perspective to how large the lake is.

Standing in front of Wizard Island

Brynna found a little chipmunk friend.

There was still quite a bit of snow in the park.

We originally had planned to do a 2 hour boat tour across Crater Lake but then Alex started explaining the steep hike down and back up (described as climbing 70 stories of stairs). I told him I had no desire to climb 70 flights of stairs with a baby on my back. 😆 We weren't quite sure how the babies would handle the 2 hours on the water and the weather forecast wasn't the greatest.  So instead, we headed north to Bend.  We stopped at a laundry mat to wash sheets & blankets for our friends to use in the RV and then found a spot for lunch.

We ate lunch downtown at McKay's Cottage. After we had ordered, another waitress came over and said, "You want to hear a "Small World" story?  Were you on a train in Seattle a few days ago?!"  She recognized our girls and told us she had been on the same metro train as us! 😊 We realize more and more what a small world it is!  We hadn't even planned to visit Bend and just randomly chose this little cafe for lunch. Yet we crossed paths again with a stranger we hadn't even noticed in another state a few days earlier.

Look at those cute glasses! Remember them...

While we were waiting on our food, Alex was quizzing us on details from our trip over the last 2 weeks. We always laugh about how Brynna remembers random facts but can never tell you what city or state we were in. 😄

Sneaking ranch from her sister 😄

Someday, I'm gonna try to replicate this- a Chicken enchilada crepe! Brynna ordered it, but I kept sneaking bites!  It was delicious!

We continued north, around Mt Hood, and followed the Columbia River that runs between Oregon & Washington.  

Our last stop was Multnomah Falls in the Columbia River Gorge.  It's the tallest waterfall in Oregon.

Alex & the girls went on up to the bridge above the lower falls.

Alex & the girls on the bridge (on the left side).

Then I joined them at the top.

We met up with our friends in Portland. We took all of our stuff out of the RV and crammed it into the suitcases they brought.  They dropped us off at the airport, and we wished them well on their trip back to Indiana.

Bria was super excited about her 1st flight!

She started out by Brynna.

But it wasn't long until Bria needed momma. 💗

Taking the red-eye home seemed like a good idea when we booked it. Kids would sleep the whole time and we'd get home sooner, we thought... But it was too much after such a long trip.

First time seeing a full circle rainbow! 

As we were driving home from the airport this morning, everyone was sleeping. Then I heard a soft whimper behind me. I kept asking Brielle what was wrong. She was crying but wouldn't answer me. Then I noticed she wasn't wearing her glasses. I instantly knew she had left them on the plane! ugh! It was a crummy way to end the trip but not a big deal in the scheme of things.

Thanks to Alex's planning skills, we had another amazing trip!! I'm sad it's over and yet happy to be home too. Leila greeted us, Alex went to a meeting an hour after we got home, and Braylee went to golf practice. Back to reality already.