Sisters comes to visit

Here is Emily My Younger sister. Her and her family came to visit this last week.  She has 3 boys about the same age as my boys.    Her and her husband flew in from Colorado last Saturday and stayed the whole week.  We also got a surprise visit from Johns' Brother Kaylon and his friend Marie. I was a little worried where everyone would sleep but it all worked out just great and Kaylon and Marie were really good about playing with all the kids. Since Kaylon was in town Ammon and his family drove up from Clear Lake and Joined us for Family dinner.  So we had 9 kids from ages 10-0  Kaylon was in town for work, so early Monday morning we took him to get his rental car. We then we didn't see him until later in the week.  

Emily and I drove up to a place that I have wanted to go to called Washington on the Brazos. we got there and had lunch, but it was pouring rain so we weren't able to go and see anything. So we went to the bluebell Iceream factory that was 20 min down the road and had a good time eating ice cream there.  up until 2 months ago I had never been there and now I have been 3 times.   Emily and her family drove up to Ft hood to stay with Valerie. I went back down to Houston.  

Then on Wednesday I met up with Valerie and EMily (and their kids) at Washington on the Brazos. this time the sun was shinning and it was a beautiful hot summer day.  we had lunch at the picnic area and then headed over to the living historic farm.  This place was really simple and it was perfect for all the kids. 

the old farm house is adorable and felt so nice after walking in the sun. 

the kids loved sitting up on the old porch. 

here is em in front of the kitchen 

and me. 

the kids got to help wash laundry. 

I need to set this up in my back yard. the kids washed all the little rags that they had and could have kept going. 

then they had wooden blocks on the porch as well as other games,  With all of my sisters kids and mine we had 9 kids ages 5-0  three girls and 6 boys. 

Here are me and my sisters. Just missing Hillary who is on her mission in Kentucky and my brother billy who was just here last week. 

We came home and all the kids crashed. 

The next day we went blackberry picking.   

the blackberrys were super ripe and juicy. 

after being in the hot sun we were happy to come home and then we had a cousin party. 

 

We all live spread out and so the cousins miss going to each others birthday parties so we came up with a cousin party Idea. Emily was in charge of all the games. the played balancing an egg on a spoon. and duck duck goose. 

then David surprised them all with balloons. 

Next was cake.

We let each child blow out a candle. 

then we all ate cake and Pizza. 

As if we hadn't done enough we all went to the splash pad. the kids loved this and so did the moms. I think Valerie and Emily took a bunch of pictures.  I take my kids there all the time so I only took this one of Knoxx who kept losing his shorts.  When we got home I took the bigger boys swimming at our pool.    

then that night my sisters and I and our husbands (minus Brandon who is in Korea) all went to dinner without the kids!   I felt really bad for the baby sitters.  We have a hard time juggling all the kids and we are there moms. We weren't gone very long though. 

On Friday  after a bad nights sleep by almost everyone.  We took the kids to Monkey Bizness.  the kids hated it at first. Luckily I had made a few sandwiches and we all sat them down and had lunch. then they all went back out and played for the next hour and a half with very little issues.   When we got home it was time for Valerie to pack up and head back to her house.  It was funny to feel how much calmer the house was once we were back to having just the 5 boys.  We went swimming for a while and then came home and just played until bedtime.   This morning Emily and Her family all left to Finnish their vacation in Florida.  They will stop by here before they fly home to Colorado. 

Billy Comes to visit

 Billy Came to visit.    

My only Brother came to visit this last week this was his first time here in Houston. 

He has been on Tour with the BYU Chamber orchestra for the last 3 weeks in Europe.  He had a little bit of Jet lag but we still had a great time.  We made Pizza the Italian style.  

Billy went on a ride allong with John. while he was gone it RAINED!  so hard at our house.  Rocky played in the Lake on the side of the house. and Knoxx complained about being dirty. 

 We went to the museum of Science.  which was really fun.  I think the best part was the dinosaur exhibit. I liked the Egyptian Exhibit but Rocky got supper scared and we didn't get to finish it.  and the

I really like this shell Exibit because it really helped me on a Certain Project that I have been working on for the last 3 years. 

We went to Galveston and ate at our favorite restaurant down there.  I think the theme of my brothers visit was PIZZA  we had it like 4 times.   Also Blue bell  we ate that almost every night and Went to the Bluebell factory.

Billy found a trumpet.  (he plays the french horn in the chamber orchestra)

the kids really wanted a picture with this bear. 

Then we drove up to Valerie's house where we Celebrated Billy's 23rd Birthday. 

the kids all loved having cake. 

We put candles in all of their cake and let them each have a turn blowing it out.  

as always Knoxx was right were Veronica was. 

Knoxx is talking so much. he will repeat what he wants to say over and over again. until you can convince him that you heard him correctly. 

the last day we were there we went to a neat park.  I stayed up at the park with Rocky Veronica, and Knoxx. while  Val and her kids and billy all went down to the water. If i had known how cool it was down there we would have joined them sooner.   there were tadpoles in the water that the kids kept catching. 

Then we headed home to Houston.  

 We took billy out to eat one last time before he left. we had a great visit with him and hope he comes again soon.

 and some cute pics of my family and I.

Awards

this has nothing to do with the rest of the post but. We went Horse back ridding and despite the staff at the place being really rude to 5-year-old rocky. He had a great time. Every few minutes I would see him lean down and pet his horse on the neck and tell it "good job"  so cute.  

Anyway John was in the News paper here in Houston! this came out in Sunday's paper.  

Then on Tuesday Viktoriia had an awards Ceremony for her High School.  She got Distinguished Honor Roll, (A's all year) outstanding Professional Communications student, and Outstanding U. S. History Student.    Super proud.  that is hard to do In your native language and she did it in her 3rd language. 

Rocky and Knoxx loved going to the event they were yelling Yaa VIKTORIIA  long after she had sat down.  ha ha.  then Rocky would say "rocky, Honor ROll..... KNoxx....Honor roll.....mommy...honor roll."  he said after that when he     goes to that school he is going to get an award too. 

the Next day was a very sad one. we woke up at 4:00 am and took Viktoriia to the Airport. 

As hard as it was to say goodbye. It is nice to have this VERY long week of saying goodbye over with.  Although we still miss her very much. 

then that same day Viktoriia went home John had his awards Ceremony. I had fun getting dressed up and dropping the kids off at a friends house. 

JOhn's brother, Ammon, was able to come and hang out with us.  

 We all were seated at the center table with the Houston Police Chief  and also  the President of the 100 club.

John was one of 3 HPD officers to get the award.  It was a really great night and it was Super cool to rub solders with such amazing men and women. 

In case you haven't had a chance to read the story of the event that led John to receive this award here it is.  JOhn received two separate awards. one was a life saving award that he got back in March that was presented by HPD itself and the other award was the 100 clubs police officer of the year.  that was awarded this week. 

Officer C. Glenn, assigned to Northeast Patrol, and Officer J. Pickett, assigned to Northwest Patrol, were working an extra job at an apartment complex when they saw a building on fire and smoke billowing from an apartment.

A woman inside the apartment screamed that she couldn’t find her baby. The officers entered the smoke-filled apartment and found a child in a crib. When the child was safely brought out of the apartment, the mother told the officers there was a second child inside the apartment. The officers found the second child in the living room where flames were engulfing the apartment.

The child was secured, and the officers maneuvered through the flames and smoke finding their way outside to safety. The mother was reunited with her second child and they were transported to the hospital for evaluation. The Cy Fair Volunteer Fired Department made the scene and extinguished the fire.

HPD was proud to award Officers Glenn and Pickett with the Life Saving Award.

Thoughts on Sending Ukrainian Exchange Student Home

Tomorrow I am taking my Exchange Student to the airport to send her back to her home country of Ukraine.   This would be a hard enough because I have grown to love her as if she was my own daughter, but the situation is much more complicated than that.

When I looked at her profile I only vaguely knew where Ukraine was.  I was humbled to learn that Ukraine is about the size of Texas.  Upon her arrival I was enchanted by the pictures of Churches that were built in the 11^th century. Pictures of people wearing crowns of brightly colored flowers, their holidays sounded like they were from a fairy tale.

Learning about the beauty meant that I also had to learn about the hardships. The people in Ukraine live on a salary of a couple hundred dollars a month. They take care of what they have because if they don’t have what they need they must learn to live without, and many live without.

This Ukraine changed in a few weeks to a country of unrest and uncertainty.  I know that my student will make it home safe to her friends and family. But then what? It is so hard for me to let her go when I know that War or Annexation are in the near future. 

I wish I could keep my student here and not send her back. The visa rules are strict. She would be penalized if she stays after her visa expires.  I have watched the despair in her eyes as the United States Visa office closed in Ukraine making her dream of coming to college here seem impossible. The value of the Ukrainian hryvnia  has dropped in value by almost half. Making it harder for her parents to afford college in any country.  

Part of me feels that she must go back. She isn’t mine.  She belongs to Ukraine. Ukraine needs her they need her strength, her courage, her honesty.  Somehow I feel like sending her back will fix the country.  They have fallen apart while she is gone and maybe she can bring balance and leadership back.  

But my heart breaks and I think no! She is mine! Why her? She is too precious and sweet to be in such a harsh environment.  Can’t I keep her here where she will be safe, and have everything that she needs.  Why must I send this beautiful gem back into the uncertainty and darkness of the unknown?  I feel powerless and naive for not finding some way to fix this. Would someone else in my shoes be able to fix this problem?  

So, tomorrow I will hug her and say goodbye and try and smile as the tears come.  As she walks away I will pray that someday I will get to hug her again and listen as she tells me stories of her once again peaceful Ukraine.