Good-bye to Sota

The program Sota was doing his exchange through puts on a fun Syonara party for all the host families the last night. We ate some fun potluck food and enjoyed watching different people do performances.  I should have brought the violin to the party so Sota could perform but I think he was happy to watch.

The kids enjoyed watching

Getting their certificates of completion

The whole group of boys

Sota with our kiddos.

This video shows a snippet of one of the performances. The student in the middle was Kuni and we carpooled with him most every day.

It was definitely hard to say good-bye to Sota when he had to leave. We really enjoyed having him and hope to maybe see him again sometime!

Aquafest

Lucy's gymnastics had a little booth and show at the Aquafest event and so we went to check it out. The kids had a great time doing lots of little activities. Sota enjoyed seeing what a street festival was like in our area.

fishing for prizes

getting ready to perform

Eating some self decorated cupcakes

a bouncy house

We went on the spinning dinosaur ride (man remind me never to do the teacups again).

Then we did the ferris wheel with a terrific view of the lake.

Sota visits from Japan

We were really lucky to be able to host Sota from Japan for 2 weeks. He was so much fun to have around. During the week days he would attend school at a nearby location and then evenings and weekends he spent with us.  The kids loved playing with him and were super sad to see him go.

Sota brought origami paper with him and he made fun things for us (the kids also made stuff (like the snowflakes)

He brought most of this with him from Japan and made us a wonderful sushi dinner one night. We loved it (well the girls weren't so sure but the rest of us ate it all up!)

Jeremy and Sota went down to visit the museum of flight. They had a great time and I think Sota really enjoyed his trip.

They did the simulator thing (that even allows them to go fully upside down)  Jeremy was the pilot and Sota was the gunner, I think they brought down like 11 enemy planes.  Quite impressive.

Sota is a great violinist. We were lucky to have my great-grandpa's violin during the weeks he visited so he could play for us.

Street Scramble

We had a fun time as a big family doing the Everett Street Scramble. If you have never done a street scramble I recommend it. It is like a giant scavenger hunt around a city.

One of the tasks was to climb this wall to figure out what the word was. Jaydon did a great job getting himself up high enough to read the word.

We are hosting an exchange student from Japan. Sota joined in with us and I think had a good time.

The whole gang

We hosted a student from Japan

Through our church we had the opportunity to host Hazuki from Japan for almost a week. It was a very short trip but it was a great experience for us to get a feel of hosting. I imagine it is something we will do again, we had a great time. Thank goodness for Jeremy being off work though - the day Hazuki arrived I got quite sick and was in bed for two and a half days - Jeremy was great taking care of me, Jaydon, Hazuki and everything around the house!
Jaydon was given this outfit from Hazuki. He is saying "Thank You"

Hazuki (holding the fan) and Yuina (her friend who was staying with another host family but hung out with us a few times throughout the week, making the peace sign). The fan and outfit for Jaydon were gifts from Hazuki upon her arrival.

The four of us at church on Sunday.

Hazuki and Jaydon

With Yuina and Hazuki

Jeremy took them to the aquarium on Sat. It was a fun trip for them.

Standing at the waterfront.

Sorry, I cannot figure out how to change the orientation of the photo - this is a frame that Hazuki and Yuina decorated for us as a going away gift. It was very sweet!