The last couple days!

Meli is such a sweet, adorable, polite young woman.  We are thoroughly delighted with her.  It has been fun having her in our home.  We picked her up at the airport on Saturday afternoon. It was fun to wait for her as there were many foreign exchange students coming.   We ordered pizza  and Meli told us afterwards that it was one of her favorite dishes.  She was sweet and brought us a fun German cookbook,  lots of yummy chocolate, and a book about Hamburg.  She is from a gorgeous area.

 It has been fun to hear Meli's perspective on things. It is all fresh and new.  She has a great attitude about following the rules that Aspect Foundation has layed out.  We have taken her to church with us, shown her around the area.  Kara even took her to a boring party and she came home with an American cup. So cute!  

 Tonight we went to a mandatory training meeting for Aspect.  They again went over the rules and shared the do and don't.  They suggest that she only spend three hours on the Internet in one week.  Luckily, that is excluding blogging and skyping with her family.  As soon as she got home she took Facebook off of her phone.  Boy, was I impressed. 

 Tonight Kara and Meli were running some errands and then tomorrow Matt, Kara and Meli and Adell (another foreign exchange student) are attending her school orientation.  Then later tomorrow night we will  be attending her Back to School night.  Meli speaks such good English and is such a positive person to have around.  I can tell her parents did a great job raising her into a beautiful young woman.  It has been so good for Kara to have a "sister."  They both get along so well.  

Above is a picture of her room with all the fun pictures she put on her wall of family and friends.  You can tell she is adored.  Wednesday is her first day of school.  She is so excited to start school so she can learn.  Her attitude is contagious and I am grateful!

The lull in the summer

I have loved this week so much because it hasn't been super busy, just full of fun and just a little work.   During the month of  June after we cancelled our trip to the Northwest I felt very restless. I wanted to go on our trip and it was hard not to go.   It was the first time I had felt that restless that I can remember.  Usually, I am too busy and I wish for free time, so it was good for me to have the break even if I struggled with  it at the time. 

But the summer is quickly going by and now I wish I could go back to the lazy days of June, well kind of.  Anyways,  I have been putting together all of  my trek clothes, and other things we need for trek.  It has been a kick back week.  I have been able to go to lunch twice this week with girlfriends and it has been fun to catch up. I have done some de-clutttering.  I struggle so much when my house is unorganized and not clean.  It is one of my biggest pet peeves and I am constantly working on not letting a mess make me crazy. 

Also  I went to a movie with a couple of friends from my old neighborhood, which always makes me miss my neighborhood.   It always makes me wonder when you finally feel like your new home really feels like home.   A friend of mine, Cori, was talking about it on Facebook and it really made me think.  I am still considered "new" in the ward and our neighborhood is referred to as the "new" neighborhood.  When I go back to Sandy I miss it so much, but I am really starting to feel like I am home when I come home. 

The rest of the summer will be spent going to St. George, Seattle, Portland,  Boise, camping at Bear Lake,  Education Week and trek and then school will begin. 

I think one of the reason this summer has been a little different is because Matt has been working from our home with his three employees since February.  I can't express enough that I love that he has a job, but sometimes it is weird having his employees and others drop off contracts or come in and out of my home all day.   I feel like I always have to be quiet or that I can never let my  hair down.  There is no end in sight yet, but I am hoping it is sooner.  I love having Matt home, but it is hard on him to work from home. 

We are also excited for the Olympics.  Kara loves watching the Olympics and it certainly makes it more fun!!!

End of the school year.....

 Thursday, May  17th was my last day of working with the children at the school I teach for the 2011-2012 school year.  It was an emotional day.  I have grown to love all of my students and it is so sad to know that next year I won't be working with all of them.  Most of my kids wrote me some cute little notes thanking me.   Here are just a few of them for me to treasure. 

Above are some of the teachers and staff I have the pleasure to associate with. Our Principal is leaving this year.  I am truly going to miss his calm demeanor, kind spirit, and smile he gives all.  I truly admire him and how he goes about his life.  Two year ago he got in a horrific car accident that left him in a coma for months.  There was a HUGE concern that he might not ever wake up from his coma or that he would have brain damage.  He rose above all odds and 6 months after the accident he came back to school a better man.    It was truly a miracle. 

I thought it was so cute that this student gave me a game to work on.

A very bad picture of some of the kids I work with, but the best I have to remember them since I can't take personal pictures of the students.

I am going to miss each student and I hope I get to work with some of them again next year.  We are a Title One school so there is a chance we might lose our funding.  Working with the students is such a rewarding job that has blessed my life.  I also work with some amazing ladies.  It is amazing how close we have come and how many of them feel like a sweet sister to me!!!!!!