January, 2012

  We had two trips during January, despite that we don't like to get out in the cold, and that the road conditions are more icy and snowy once you leave the area of Kennewick.  Once we visited Spokane again, and the second trip was to White Pass, a skiing area near Mount Rainier.  We also spent a lot of time at home.  

The photo is a bit blurry, but the boys were excited to be walking around a big city (compared to  Kennewick, anyways)

Checking out Spokane Falls

It takes a lot of photos to get good action like this one.  Medo is happy that in THIS one, HE gets to hit Prashant.  One day, probably AFTER they return to their countries, they will finish growing up and become good men.  I won't see most of that though (*sad*) -- but I do enjoy who they are while they are here -- maybe not good men just yet, but certainly awesome teenagers!  

The boys have a thousand ideas of mischievous photos to take.  No matter where we go.   

Looking at these photos of Prashant and Medo sledding down our driveway looks kinda scary!  They are flying through the air and landing on the snow in all sorts of positions.  But they are having a wonderful time.  And I survived many more bumps and spills while I was sledding as a child living in wintery Canada without breaking any bones.  So far, they haven't either.  (and now the snow is all melted!)  

Still, we worry about Medo.  He already broke his arm once....

I am pleased that both the boys, even Medo the fussy, seem to like "most" of my cooking.  It is so much more pleasant to do anything when your efforts are appreciated.  Of course, it helps to have some hot sauce available.  

Our cross-country (Nordic) skiing trip.  So beautiful, and so much safer than downhill skiing (also less expensive!).  Not as exciting though.  But we had a lovely time getting comfortable with skis and enjoying the snow.  Our daughter Julie was with us too, but since her level of skill is so much greater than ours, AND she preferred snow-shoeing, we didn't see that much of her--she laughed at us though, and how often all of us fell into the snow--mostly the boys, of course.  

Both boys became experts in getting up out of the snow after a fall.  It's not easy when you have those long skies attached to your feet.  

A beautiful photo.  After 2-3 hours skiing, the boys manage to stay upright most of the time and we make good progress through the woods.  Starting to get tired though.  

On the 2.5 hour drive home, both boys crash.  It was a busy and active day.  

It is most fun to post about trips and special activities, but in fact, we do spend most of our time at home.  Especially in the cold of winter.  Here Medo is working on an engineering project for one of his classes (He's building a mouse-trap car), and Prashant is laughing at him.  That's about normal, except that sometimes Medo is laughing at Prashant.  Or they are insulting each other.  Or they get mad at each other.  Or watching something on the internet and laughing like crazy hyenas.  They are usually up to something.  Glad they also help when we need it.  

Another home activity.  Sometimes they goof around together, but Medo and Prashant are both seriously learning to play the piano.  I've been trying to teach them.  But it's an interesting process.  Prashant, who is generally the more active of the two, will settle down and learn basics so that he can understand what he is doing, and additionally spends a little time learning advanced (too advanced) songs by memory.  Medo, on the other hand, who is generally the more steady of the two of them, cannot settle down to learn beginning piano.  He must play one of the hardest pieces, and without knowing how to read music or knowing music theory, it takes intense memorization and much repetition, and a lot of my time.  But he's learning.  They both are.  (Especially when I kick them off the internet).  I am impressed.  

International relations...

Because of students, I have learned a lot about international relations.  I have seen through a small but personal window into the Arab Spring because of Hussein and Aley, the coup in Kyrgyzstan was scary because Azamat was receiving military training as is required for all males while it was taking place.  I have seen  Medo worried about sounds that reminded him of bomb blasts, and seen Anara's tears as she remembered her little cousin killed by terrorists.  Tsunamis in Indonesia that we don't really hear of over here still come to my attention through posts of students on facebook--we live in a small world, and there are many sad things in it.

But that is not what I was thinking of at this time.  I was thinking of things everybody has in common.  I mean, true, everyone has to eat, and sleep, and grow up.  But that's not what I was thinking of either.  What I really wonder about today, is why do most teenagers refuse to wear warm clothes in the winter?  Even if they come from tropical climates?  And isn't it amazing that all of them want to sleep in on school days, and weekends as well? (this current pair can sleep through 3 alarms, gongs, cowbells, opera music, but ice water generally works...)  Girls everywhere like to look nice in photos, and guys love it best when they look strange.  And, perhaps not so surprisingly, guys have a lot more in common with guys from other countries than guys and girls do from the same country.  (Same goes for girls).  I have learned that male exchange students are more likely to cook than females (perhaps it's because of my cooking...)  And who would have thought that guys sing more than girls?  Even if they sound horrible, they still sing.  It's a weird and funny world.

Merry Christmas!

 We had a lovely Christmas this year.  We went to concerts, and parties with friends or church, and lots of other activities.  Christmas Eve was the traditional (in our family) Christmas Eve party at the home of Dad's brother--yummy food and great company--some 30-40 family members were there!  But Christmas morning, when we can finally open presents is still the highlight of the season.  And perhaps most fun is to see how much the other people enjoy the gifts you gave them.

We had 13 stockings hung!  That's a lot!  It's easy to tell which ones are for our little grandsons!  (We are so pleased they were able to come visit for Christmas!)

The Christmas tree had so many presents under it that it looks like Santa came more than once! 











Our grandsons were not the only ones who enjoyed the foam swords!  Benny is initiating our newest family member (our new daughter-in-law) into the family!  Zixu was able to come too!  Yay!  He brought a delicious, not too sweet Chinese cake as his contribution to the festivities.  Very good, and not too sweet like American cakes tend to be. 



Grandma came to visit too!  Yes, presents are fun.  But family is the best gift of all!  And every year our family gets bigger!  Both domestically and internationally!  We are so blessed!








We don't do a lot of expensive Christmas presents, but we have fun with them.  Medo's eyes got so big when he saw this large box with his name on it!  But, after unwrapping it, and unwrapping the smaller box, and the smaller box, and the bag, and the next small box, and another box, he finally found the little box of tabasco sauce!  He has the nicest smile when he gets a joke played on him!  (He also likes tabasco sauce -- it allows him to spice up our otherwise too bland food!)  Prashant had the same experience, and found one sock and an orange in his giant box (the other sock was in another box with other gifts).  We are happy they were able to share this day with us! 



Our home was in a pleasant state of chaos!  After a nice breakfast, opening the gifts, and enjoying visits, we had a calmer day, tidied the morning chaos up a bit, and watched movies and ate good food.  Christmas, Thanksgiving, and New Year's are not good for diets!

With all the fun, we do not forget the reason for this holiday, and we heard the Christmas story many times, and remember always the goodness of God towards our family.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  God bless us, every one!  

We've had a busy month.  Medo has fit into our home quite comfortably and we enjoy his more calm influence.  

Well..... sometimes more calm influence. 

Medo is excited to learn to play the piano, and Prashant is excited to help him learn!  Don't worry, eventually Medo did get to play by himself.  Now he just needs to practice!  Medo keeps saying what he really wants, is to learn the violin.  Unfortunately, that is something I can't teach!  Plus we don't have any violins in the house. 

These two are always up to something.  Perhaps, in this blog, I point out how mischievous they both are, and how often, but we truly do enjoy hosting them.  There are occasional serious talks.  We have fun with the finer points of having a Muslim and a Hindu living in a Christian home (no pork OR beef is served here!  Also Prashant doesn't like fish.  But we can't eat chicken ALL the time!  So when we've had enough chicken, we eat fish or vegetarian food.)  They help when asked, although Prashant complains loudly about it.  And they are generally enthusiastic participants in whatever we are doing, although Medo takes some convincing when we want him to see a good American movie that is not as exciting within the first five minutes as Medo wants it to be.  But, we want him to know some of the movies that define American life--Star Wars, It's a Wonderful Life, Fiddle on the Roof, Apollo 13, and, my personal favorite, Lord of the Rings (not strictly American...)   

Prashant decided to learn the guitar and has gotten good enough that we enjoy listening to him (well, as long as he doesn't sing!   Actually, singing, even Prashant's  :) , is such a cheerful sound, it's nice to hear.

There was still some tinsel to put on the tree, so Medo helped decorate it after all.  Nice job!!

Sometimes, this is necessary to calm Prashant down!  Also, food just naturally tastes better when you are sitting on someone! 

We've done several fun Christmas activities.  My personal favorite was when we went to Walla Walla and heard the University Choir and Orchestra perform Handel's Messiah, mixed with more modern Christmas music.  I appreciate that both boys enjoy classical music at times! 

Leon is good friends with both Medo and Prashant, and drops by occasionally.  Although I don't think computer and internet time is good if it's too much, it can be a social activity, and it's cheerful to watch them laughing together over whatever amusing video clips they dig up. 

 Gingerbread House making Party!  We ended up with a lot of kids in the house, a little over half of them exchange students Prashant and Medo knew, and a few Americans.  After pizza and a movie, the exchange students enjoyed making the gingerbread houses.  The Americans arrived late and didn't join in this part.

It takes careful concentration! 

When Prashant's house collapsed (didn't wait long enough for the icing that held it together to harden), Medo just added the pieces to the top of his own house, for a truly unique creation. 

Finished houses!  A special treat was a visit from Asana, our student from two years ago.  We didn't do much for Christmas when she was here because our house was in chaos from remodeling, so we are glad she could participate in some fun this year!  It's wonderful to see her! 

Prashant making sure we don't waste the graham crackers and candy from his collapsed house.

Merry Christmas everyone! 

Leavenworth December 2011

Since snow isn't coming to our community, we decided to go where the snow was.  Some of the PAX students went on a trip to Leavenworth, a German-themed tourist town a few hours away for a chance to do some sledding, and take too many fun photos.  Prashant and Medo, of course, went along, and I was glad I got to go too. 

Had to make friends with the hardworking horses that took us on a sleigh ride! 

Prashant knows the truth!  However, it doesn't apply to exchange students!  (Store in Leavenworth)

The group of students that risked their lives sledding down the icy hills!  (Actually, Medo has not forgotten how easy it is to break an arm, so he we VERY careful, but the others slid screaming down the hill and were laughing very hard when they got to the bottom.)

Look at that expression of endurance!

I'm standing on water!  I'm standing on water!  I was concerned the ice would break, he was concerned he would slip.  Fortunately, both our concerns were unnecessary. 

The whole group that went to Leavenworth

Medo and Prashant are at it again! 

This one is all Prashant's doing.  The others were just trying to get a nice group photo.... 

The lighting of the trees at Leavenworth.  5 pm.  It gets dark so early in the winter, but it means we get to enjoy the lights longer. 

Prashant and Medo

Hiking at Palouse Falls

We've done more activities than usual this year, due to some unusual opportunities that came my way, plus I have more work so we have a little more money for gas.  We took a few hours to visit Palouse Falls with Prashant and Medo.   It has seemed sad that these two brothers could not live in the same home, so we invited Medo to join us on a regular basis. 

Sitting on the railroad tracks at Palouse Falls

Please stay on the path. Do NOT break your other arm.

Chillin' in the sun 

Palouse Falls are in the middle of the sage and grasslands that surround our community.  You can see how much lava once overflowed this region when you see how tall the cliffs are.  Pretty amazing.  

Not everyone gets a house tour from Santa! 

This past weekend we went to Yakima and saw the Gilbert House, a Victorian era home built some 110 years ago (yes, it's not old compared to the landmarks in some countries, but it's a respectable age for a house here) , decorated for Christmas, with fresh baked cookies, fresh home-made butter, actual candles on the Christmas tree, and a jolly and helpful Santa who enjoyed showing the boys around a little bit.

This may be the only photo either of them ever has with Santa Claus! 

Sitting in the library at Gilbert House in Yakima 

Santa, a good friend to have. 

Welcome Medo! 

We have enjoyed having Medo join us.  When things in his host family changed that made it difficult for them to host him, we were most happy to offer Medo our home for the rest of the school year.  We are looking forward to learning about Yemen and having another young man in our family!

Long live exchange students.  May they always bless our lives!