Zakary earns his Orange Belt

August 2010

Zakary tested for and earned his orange belt in his Tae kwon DO class. He is doing so well and is soooooooooooooo proud of himself,not to mention how proud we are of him.
The whole experience has done him so much good,each time we write a check for something towards it,we cringe and then say "boy,but has it ever done him good" and he loves it.

Discovery Kingdom 2010

August 2010

Stan took the kids to Discovery Kingdom the other day and then Stan and our frined Bob to Sherry to SF to China town,they had a nice time walking,climbing the hills and eating lunch,ohhh and shopping. Here are some pictures to enjoy.

August 18 2010 First day of school

Today was the big day.
So off to school everyone went,Zak awake at 5:15am ready to go learn to read and write,Sherry up at about 6:30,and laurel up somewhere in between. Laurel is NOT a morning person and she made sure we all knew it. She said she didnt want to go to school today,she said she would go tomorrow. LOL i explained that yes she would go tomorrow and the next day....oh and today as well. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR...........But once she got there she was glad to see her friends and anxious to get into her 1st grade class and meet her teacher. Our good friend Bob,the retired elem teacher came for breakfast and his morning worth of "kids fix". He came with camera in hand and ready to ride with to get all the kids deposited to the right schools.
Stan took Sherry to the High School and helped her to her class,but forgot his camera. He then came home to go with me to take the little guys to school, i ALWAYS have my camera.
Sherrys firs class didnt have her name on his class list,so she called us to let us know,we sent her back to the office to talk again to the counselor. long story short,it all worked out,and she had a good day. She says the teachers all talk too fast.
Laurel loved first grade and Zak was just ecstatic with kindergarten.
We will keep you posted on all the news ans if comes up,the kids are exhausted,laurel fell asleep before dinner so Stan just carried her up to bed. Zak is on his way now,he had Tae Kwon Do class this eve.

Our Big Sister feom China arrived Aug 7 2010

Our exchange student from Ningbo,China arrived yesterday morning. We watched the flight site on our friday night to be sure her plane left Shanghai on time and watched it travel to us. By early Saturday morning,it had made some time and was to arrive about 20 min ahead of schedule. We got up early and drove to SFO to meet her plane. It arrived and it was about an hour thru customs until she walked up the ramp and we saw her,well she saw us,we stand out in a crowd,and of course we had exchanged pics before her arrival. The kids had made a sign to hold as well so she would see us right away.
Sherry is 15 yrs old,16 in Novemeber,an only child and very bright. We are only hoping that we can keep her stimulated in school here. She is used to going to school from 7am to 10pm and 9 am to 9 pm in the summer. We are talking no kidding around school there is China. She is just a doll,she likes the kids,the kids love her.They want to be with her every minute,lol that may get old but we are trying to keep reminding our little ones that she needs her own time too. I think once we get into a routine,school and so on things will be just fine.
We came home and the kids took her right upstairs to show her her bedroom,she wanted to get unpacked right away and she did. laurel and Zak watched with eager eyes and buddy the dog just cant get a handle on whats going on,fortunatly she isnt afraid of him but still no one like always being watched and bothered by the dog either.
Sunday,Stan got the over seas phone on our at home land line and she was able to call home and talk to her parents. That was nice and late on he took her down to get a cell phone so that she has a way to reach us here. She is very happy with her blackberry. lol
So we are tired,she is tired but has so much energy,to be 15 again,huh??
I go back to work tomorrow and dad and the three are on their own. Wednesday is high school orientation for her,Stan will go with her to that. We will keep you posted as the time goes along but wanted to let you all know that she did make it and that we are all doing well.