SCHOOL, STEAK AND BASKETBALL

Yesterday, Tanner took Kazuya to his junior high. There were quite a few Japanese students at Tanner's school too. All of the Japanese students surprised the American students with T-shirts from their Japanese junior high. Kuzuya seemed to enjoy the American junior high. He ate in the cafeteria with Tanner and his friends at lunch.
The kids made this sign when we picked Kazuya up on Tuesday night. My Japanese neighbor wrote the Japanese for us. Hopefully it says, "Welcome To America" or something like that and not "We are crazy people." Since we don't speak Japanese, I have NO idea what it says under Kazuya's name.

We took Kazuya to Texas Roadhouse for a steak dinner. He really likes steak. He eats Kobe steak in Japan. We were all jealous!

After dinner, Tanner and Kazuya went to the Utah Jazz basketball game. They had a good time and Kazuya thought the arena was VERY BIG!

As I was loading the pictures off my camera, I realized this cute little girl had taken quite a few pictures yesterday with the camera.

How can I get mad at this cute little face!

Photo by Abby

Tonight we are going to get BIG AMERICAN HAMBURGERS for dinner! Yes, this is why Americans look the way we do and the Japanese look how they do because Americans eat BIG HAMBURGERS and GREASY FRENCH FRIES for dinner. I ran extra long today in anticipation of tonight.

After dinner, we are carving pumpkins, having donuts and hot apple cider with 2 other host families.

TODAY, TONIGHT AND TOMORROW

Today Kuzuya went to the junior high school with Tanner. All of the Japanese students went to different junior high schools. Tanner enjoyed showing Kuzuya around his school. Kuzuya said Tanner's school was VERY BIG!

Tonight we went out to eat at a steak restaurant. Again, Kuzuya said the food was VERY BIG! I found out that he likes Sprite so I went and bought him a lot of it at the grocery store after dinner.

The best part about tonight was that Tanner and Kuzuya went to the Utah Jazz basketball game. Kuzuya told me tonight that he forgot his camera in Japan. I gave him mine to use for the rest of the time he is here. So, since he is at the basketball game right now, I don't have any pictures to put in the blog.

Tomorrow we are starting to get ready for Halloween. Kuzuya wants to be a pirate and Tanner is excited to be a prisoner.

Kuzuya says he thinks America is a lot of fun. I think he has jet lag with the time change. He seems to have a lot of friends at his school that are staying close by our house. He enjoys seeing his friends here.

More pictures later.

WINTER IN THE FALL

We woke up this morning to this:
And this:

It was an early season snow storm. I really hate when it snows when there are still leaves on the trees because it means that we have to shake the snow off of the trees so the branches don't break.

Kazuya went to a farm today. He saw a cow up close. He loves animals and science. I was really worried he would be cold so I gave him some of Tanner's old boots and gloves to wear to keep warm. Luckily by noon, the snow had melted.

By the time both boys were home from school, it was a beautiful fall afternoon.

Kazuya loves to play sports. The boys had fun playing basketball before dinner.

Then we ate Kuzuya's request of hamburgers, french fries, and fruit.

After dinner we went to Jump On It. To see pictures of it, go to www.jumponitparty.com and click on SEE INSIDE. It is a trampoline warehouse with a lot of trampolines. We went with 2 other families in our neighborhood who are also host families. The boy on Kazuya's left is staying at our friends house. He is on Kazuya's soccer team. I think the boys liked being together and seeing each other.

At the end of jumping, everyone was tired but they had A LOT of fun!!!Tomorrow Kazuya is going to Tanner's junior high school. Tanner is very excited to show him around his school.

WELCOME TO UTAH

Tonight we picked up our Japanese exchange student. He is here for 1 week. His name is Kazuya and he is so much fun! His English is very good and we can easily understand him.
After we picked him up at BYU, we took him to Brick Oven Pizza because you can't come to Utah and not go to Brick Oven! He tried rootbeer for the first time. He had the same reaction as Sotaro did 2 years ago! YUCK! He thought it tasted like medicine. The kids think it is so funny to have the Japanese students drink rootbeer because they love to drink it and they can't imagine anyone not liking it.

On the way home from dinner, Tanner and Kazuya had a lot of fun playing video games on Tanner's I-Touch. I guess that is something every teenage boy in the world likes....video games!

Kazuya is a smart young man and we are really excited he is here. He really wants to go fishing and so we are hoping it will stop snowing so we can take him. He loves sports, soccer, baseball and basketball.

We hope his family in Japan reads this and knows that he arrived here safely. He is VERY tired from the long plane ride and was excited to go to bed!

Tomorrow he is going to a farm and he wants to eat hamburgers and french fries.

KONNICHIWA

Next Tuesday, we are getting a Japanese student to stay with us for a week! We are all very excited to meet him. I have sent his family our blog address. So starting next week, I will blog each day. That is really hard for me to do because I'm so busy.

Last time when we had Sotaro come and stay with us, I kept thinking about his mother. I think it would be so difficult to send my teenage son to a foreign country and stay with strangers. I want Kazuya's family to know that he is safe and having an enjoyable time while he is here.

Kazuya really wants to go fishing. We are hoping the weather stays good so we can take him. The kids are all really excited too!

BUNNY

There is a VERY important member of our family named Bunny.
None of us can quite remember how and when bunny came to the family. But we all remember the YEARS Camille has LOVED Bunny.

When she was little, she said her 3 favorite things in the world were:

1. Sucking her thumb (Luckily that stage has passed)

2. Her daddy (Luckily for her daddy that stage is still alive and well)

3. Bunny

Bunny has been EVERYWHERE with us. Bunny has cruised the Caribbean, gone to Disneyland more than most children and has been on every family vacation, except one. That time we forgot Bunny and Camille cried and cried and cried.

One time at Disneyland, the girls got into a tug-of-war with Bunny's ear. I was upstairs in my brother's hotel room and heard a scream like I had NEVER heard. I thought one of the girls was seriously injured. Nope they were just fine. But Bunny suffered a broken ear. Camille had Bunny in one hand and Abby had Bunny's ear in the other.

Bunny has been lost, only to be found in the pantry behind the cereal. I think that had "big brother" written all over it.

Bunny has been to the dentist, doctor and hospital.

Bunny has been a loyal and true friend through the years.

Bunny has been loved SO much that Bunny, who used to be white is now permanently gray.

Bunny has been in HUNDREDS of family photos.

Bunny has travelled everywhere Camille has gone in 8 years.

So imagine the horror last night when she came downstairs with "AN EMERGENCY!" Bunny's ear broke off AGAIN. This time it was not due to a tug-of-war. I think it was due to old age.

Luckily, Camille realized that Bunny needed surgery and would be healed soon. Few tears were shed and fears were calmed.

FALL UPDATE

Busy last couple of weeks!

Strep throat has hit our house hard. I think I had it, gave it to Camille and it has been passed around like The Old Maid in a card game. Hopefully it is gone!

We are getting a new Japanese student later this month. We are all really excited about our student coming for a week at the end of October.

BYU stinks this year. It is fun to watch Daren during the games--arms folded, face is red, sudden yelling outbursts. I can't help but laugh!

I am loving watching all of our fall shows--SURVIVOR, AMAZING RACE, THE BIGGEST LOSER, THE OFFICE and Camille's new favorite-DANCING WITH THE STARS. Thank goodness for TIVO!

My high school reunion is coming up in a couple of weeks. Can't believe it has been 20 years!

Last but not least...

LOVED watching General Conference last weekend! We were able to attend the Saturday morning session when they announced the Lisbon Portugal temple. It was a sweet experience watching Daren be SO excited that a temple was going to be built in Lisbon where he served as a missionary MANY, MANY years ago. I think deep down he has always wanted to go visit Portugal but it hasn't been on my list of top places to visit. Ever since he told me the entire country smells like a mixture of coffee and urine, it hasn't quite made the cut for me. Then when they announced this new temple in Lisbon, I thought it would be so fun to go there with him someday. But, first we are dying to go to Japan to see our wonderful Japanese friends.

Oh, all these trips!