THE PLAYSET

A few months ago in Bishopric meeting, our Bishop said his family was done with their playset (his youngest just turned 11.) Daren jumped at the chance to have it for our family. We were planning on buying one during the summer but since Bishop was getting rid of his, he said we could have it for free, we just needed to move it and it was ours! He lives about 5 houses down so Daren and the Bishop loaded up the playset in pieces and Daren assembled it.

The girls have been SO excited to paint it! I told them to find the ugliest, oldest clothes they have and they could help. They were out there for over 2 hours with Daren painting it. They were so cute!

Now all we need is woodchips! We will get those in the spring after the snow!

TEARS, TEARS AND MORE TEARS

Words cannot begin to describe the week our family has had with Sotaro. To say that we have had fun, laughed, learned, played, etc. are not enough. I NEVER imagined that Sotaro would capture our hearts the way he did. He is one of the most special people I have ever had the opportunity to know. He is smart and funny. He is kind and caring. He has a sweetness about him that has made our family closer. He has brought joy to our family.

My heart breaks tonight as we had our final evening together. I don't know if we will ever see Sotaro again and the thought of never seeing him makes me so sad. I have invited his family to come to America and stay with us. I know they love to ski as a family and it would be a dream come true to meet them. They must be amazing people to have such a wonderful son. I feel like I already know them because of Sotaro. I really hope they will be able to come to our home someday to visit.

We told Sotaro tonight how much we love him and we know he will be successful in whatever he pursues in life. We hope he will always remember us because we will NEVER EVER forget him. We hope that he always remembers that there is a family in America, The Bloxham Family, who loves him and is cheering him on to be successful in his life. May God bless you, Sotaro and be with you until we meet again!

My favorite Japanese friend...Sotaro Iinuma - - Out of all the Japanese people in the whole world, Sotaro is our favorite!

Tanner with one of Sotaro's teachers at the closing social

Daren, Sotaro, Abby and Tanner playing air hockey

Tonight we said our goodbye's to Sotaro. We take him to BYU very early in the morning. We gave him a lot of gifts to take home to his family. At the end of the evening Daren gave Sotaro one of his favorite things in the whole world...his BYU flag! For those of you who know us well, Daren's BYU flag hangs in front of our house EVERY Saturday in the fall when BYU has a football game. We love our flag. With tears and heavy hearts Daren wanted to give Sotaro his flag as a token of our love and friendship. We will miss you friend! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

UNEXPECTED BLESSINGS

Today we went to Salt Lake City to hear Music and The Spoken Word. Every Sunday since 1929 the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs Music and The Spoken Word. While we were there, we saw other host families of Japanese students and Sotaro's teachers. The choir was beautiful and Sotaro seemed to enjoy it. He took a lot of pictures to show his family. As a special surprise, at the end of the Spoken Word, we realized that President Monson was there. It was such a blessing to see our Prophet.

The message today was called "Unexpected Blessings." That phrase captured up how I have felt all week having Sotaro in our home. He has been such a blessing to our family. I was not expecting such a wonderful blessing to come into our home. I am so grateful he was able to visit America and come into not only our home but into our hearts.

Temple Square - Salt Lake City

After the broadcast, we took a tour of Temple Square with some of the other Japanese students and their host families. We saw 2 of our neighbors there. It was a great morning!

After we came home, we built a fire in our backyard and roasted hotdogs. Sotaro LOVES hotdogs!! Then we made s'mores but he didn't really like them. He said they are too sweet. I love how the Japanese don't like a lot of sweets. I wish I could be more like that!

RISE & SHOUT

Today we went to the BYU football game. It was a lot of fun. I think Sotaro could understand how American football is played. He cheered for our BYU Cougars. After the game (we won, by the way) he was very tired. We are having a rest and then we will play games tonight.

STEAK & THE YANKEES

Just like our family, Sotaro LOVES steak. Tonight we took him to Texas Roadhouse. We ate steaks and Sotaro tried peanuts for the first time. He liked them. We also went to the mall and he bought some souvenirs for his family. He also bought a New York Yankees baseball hat, like Tanner has. Both Sotaro and Tanner like the Yankees.

Earlier in the day Sotaro visited a farm and did some work there. He brought us home a pumpkin from the farm. Tomorrow we are going to the BYU Football game. Our family LOVES BYU Football. We are really excited to take him there. Sotaro is such a joy to have around. He has brought our family a lot of happiness this week.

THURSDAY

Sotaro went to an American junior high today. Then he went to school with Tanner for the last hour of Tanner's school. The 6th graders thought Sotaro was really cool. After school, the girls gave Sotaro a snack that he has never tried before. POPSICLES! I found out that Sotaro loves grapes so he really liked the grape popsicle. He also likes peaches (momo) in Japanese. He ate momo yogurt during breakfast.


After a snack, Tanner showed Sotaro how to play Guitar Hero. Sotaro had never played it before. He was really good at it!



Then Sotaro's teachers came over for a visit. Our house was selected to have his teachers visit. It was really fun to meet them.

Tanner, Sotaro's teacher and Sotaro with Tanner's snake.


The Teachers, Tanner and Sotaro

After the teachers left, Sotaro and Tanner jumped on the trampoline.

We then went to Cornbelly's. We went to the cornmaze and played games.

Sotaro ate a corndog and LOVED it!

Riding bikes

When we came home Sotaro gave us more gifts. His family made us beautiful placemats. I started to cry when he gave them to us because they were so beautiful and his family made them for our family. When we signed up to have a Japanese student stay at our house, I NEVER imaged that this experience would be so wonderful. Sotaro is such an amazing person and I am already sad about him leaving on Tuesday. I really hope he can come visit again someday. We would LOVE for his family to come too. It is so wonderful having him here!

IF YOU WANT SOMETHING DONE RIGHT...

Daren was supposed to pick up the girls from dance at 5:00.

Frantic phone call at 5:00 from Daren.
Daren: The girls aren't here.
Julie: What do you mean they aren't there? (Anna picked them up from our house to take them to dance.)
Daren: DANCE! I'm at GYMNASTICS!

This is why I pray I don't die while my girls are little. They would be still standing outside of dance waiting for their dad with messy hair and clothes that don't match!