The Calm Before the Storm?

It feels like we are leading a "normal" life for the moment. The usual things that fill up our days: school, dentist appointments, homework, etc. But knowing we could get our TA in a short time makes me treasure the everyday stuff. When it comes, life will be crazy for awhile and it won't slow down until after the holidays!

Next week my dad comes to visit, so we will have a big week ahead. Hopefully Grandpa can handle a somewhat boring schedule. I can't think of lots of exciting things to do right now but we will at least make it to Thanksgiving Point and Cabella's. Most of all, just being together and of course, good food! I know what my dad likes! (And he is just going to love Arctic Circle. They have awesome ice cream shakes, which is conveniently close to our house!) "SISTERS"

We came to Olivia's school to hear her play piano for her music class. I snapped this picture of the girl's heading to the bathroom. Eliza had to go NOW and Olivia insisted on showing her the way. It was one of those "big sister is proud of little sister" moments. Kind of warms the heart doesn't it?

The "cheesy" grin

This may be hard to spot but look for the TWO rooster pheasants in our backyard. It was such a chance thing. I happened to glance out the window in the morning as I was doing laundry and there they were!

Zach in a rare moment of actually doing his homework ;)

"Will work for food!"

Kirk made his famous chicken stir fry for dinner. It was delicious!

Waiting for China

I just got an email from Fedex saying that our LOA paperwork was signed for at the CCAA. That means that we are waiting for them to send the Travel Approval (TA) so we can make our final arrangements. Normally, this takes 2-4 weeks to receive. We are hoping for the 2 and not the 4; and definitely not 6!

We are getting our visas from the Chinese embassy ready. We have to fill out paperwork for everyone and they cost $130/each plus a $35/each courier fee. Hopefully, if we get an answer back today about some questions on it, we will send them all off tomorrow to get processed.

We are trying to figure out how to get everyone except for Eliza to China using our frequent flyer miles. I've been saving them up for over 20 years, and I hope to be able to use them now. Eliza gets to stay with her grandmas while we're gone. Anyway, I'm trying to find flights into China using those miles. There are more restrictions on them, so we might fly in/out through Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, or Hong Kong. It makes planning a bit more hectic since we're not sure what days we can go and whether there will be flights available then. I'm hoping we can travel during the Christmas break so the kids don't miss too much school, but we'll see.

LOA off to China...Takuya is home safely in Japan!

Yes, we finally received our LOA 10/31/08 but our sweet translator was so excited to send each of the 13 families from our agency their packages that she forgot we were planning to pick ours up in person! We only live about 35 minutes from her but it took 3 days for it to get here (counting the weekend of course). Oh well, we did get it and signed it today. Now it should be on its way to China and hopefully our TA will come in just a few weeks!
Also, we got an e-mail from Takuya's family. He made it home safely to Japan after seeing Las Vegas and Los Angeles, including Disneyland. Sounds like fun! Hopefully, we will get to see a few of his pictures from the rest of his trip.

Eliza had a great time trick-or-treating!

I need one of these!

I just love this neighbors decorations!

Eliza, me and Olivia riding the Halloween train. Eliza was terrified but Olivia wanted to go again. The family has made this amazing train that goes all around their property including spook alley type tunnels, a movie in the barn while you wait your turn and free popcorn. It's so fun at night but it was scary enough in the daylight for Eliza.

We got LOA

After 128 days of waiting, we were the first ones our agency called. Just a little bit before 5 pm after we had given up hope of receiving our LOA in October, we got the call to say that thirteen had come in; everyone that had been LID up to 8/31/08. That is just amazing and we are pretty excited.

We now need to get the paperwork to China so we can have our final travel approval. This normally takes 2-4 weeks. We are probably going to be traveling over Christmas and into the new year.

Our daughter will be with us soon!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Picture with Takuya from last Sunday...they just can't wait for Halloween!
Takuya's jack-o-lantern. He did it himself and did a fantastic job!

These are some of our favorites from the corn maze last week.

Costume parade at Olivia's school.

Abby, Eliza's friend, and Eliza at their school.

Hope everyone is safe and has fun today. I'll post more pictures tomorrow!

Note to Takuya: Hope you had a safe trip home. Please e-mail us and let us know how you are doing!!!

Primary Halloween Party

Kirk wearing the kimono that Takuya brought. He helped with the coloring station for the little kids.
Eliza as Snow White and Kate, her friend, as a bride. Waiting for the face painting.

Zach in his Egyptian costume. He and I worked on his costume for his class project. They had to make one with a headress and "mennet", the thing around his neck.

Olivia, Sleeping Beauty. Gotta love the face paint!

I'm supposed to be...Sarah Palin! With the button on, I didn't have too many people wondering who I'm supposed to be. Most of them really liked it. This was Kirk's idea and pretty easy with clothes I already have. Mostly, I just needed my darker rimmed glasses and the up-do hairstyle. (By the time we took this picture, it's not "up" much. Oh well, I tried.)

Kirk's braces came off today...and more pictures from Takuya's visit

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Just because we are missing Takuya...here are some more pictures of his visit!

Terrifying T-Rex's!

(How could I have missed this picture! He loved the dinosaur museum!)

Takuya and Olivia watch Kirk and Andrew play DDR.

Takuya and Voodoo before he left Tuesday a.m.
Kirk, Zachary and Takuya with his new photo album.

At the dinosaur museum

I may add a few more as I find good ones that I have missed. Now I need to get back to Halloween costume preparation!

Sad farewell to Takuya!

After spending such an enjoyable week, we said goodbye to Takuya this morning. It is hard to say goodbye when we were all having so much fun together and felt like he was part of the family! It's especially hard when you don't know if you will get the chance to meet again.

Takuya's family must be very proud of him. He is a fine young man and we all noticed how well mannered, kind, considerate and pleasant he is. We hope that he will come back and visit us and know that he is always welcome in our home!

Last night was the big closing social. We took a few pictures with Takuya's camera but I don't have any since my batteries went dead on my camera.
Most of the day, Takuya spent at BYU. We met him at the banquet about 6:00 p.m. We sat and visited and watched all the families file in with their students. They played a slideshow and Takuya was surprised to see a few pictures of himself! I was able to send a few to be included but wasn't sure if we would see them. They had a pizza dinner and some martial arts demonstrations by the students. It was very entertaining. Then there was dancing and more dancing...by 8:00 I think we were all getting a little antsy. But still, it was fun and good to see all the students and families together.

Monday night after the social. Takuya opens our gifts to him. He was "very happy" and appreciative of all the gifts and especially the big bag of chocolate and picture book for him. There are also some gifts for his father, mother and sister but I don't want to tell what they are so he can surprise them when he gets back home in a few days.

The three boys played Uno again before bed and then he looked at the gifts. Kirk showing him some of the Utah gifts.

Above: Kirk with Copper and Takuya with Voodoo...one last chance to sit with his favorite kitty. He really loves the kitty. I hope he can have his own cat someday but I don't know if he can in his apartment.

One last picture with Zachary (half asleep with his robe on) and Kirk.

Getting ready to head onto the bus and a little bit sad and unsure. He has an exciting few days ahead though and will be happy again as he heads on his way with his friends in his class. Although it is sad to leave new friends at least we had the chance to make them! We hope Takuya always remembers his family in Utah, USA!!!!

Relaxing Sunday at Home!

Friday and Saturday were such busy days, it was nice to be at home more today.

All dressed up for church...

Me and the girls...I'm wearing the necklace Takuya's mother made for me but it is hard to tell in this picture.

After roast beef and potatoes for lunch, we went next door to our neighbor's garden to pick pumpkins. Isn't it great to have people close by with extra produce? Another neighbor brought over more pumpkins later, so we had plenty.

Takuya has a new friend.

Out in front of the house with the kitty and Eliza.

Playing basketball or tennis...I'm not sure which.

Working on the jack-o-lanterns and the finished products below. They were all very proud of their creations!

Playing cards in the evening

Dinnertime!

More cards before bedtime. Takuya is pretty good at Uno!

That was kind of a typical Sunday for us except for carving pumpkins. It's nice not to be running and doing so much at least one day of the week! Tomorrow, our final day and most of the day Takuya will be at BYU...sad for us but I'm sure he'll have fun.

Saturday...Salt Lake City and Home with Cousins

Our day continues in Salt Lake City! I just couldn't fit all our pictures from Saturday on one post easily. After the dinosaur museum, we ate lunch at Chuck-a-Rama (our local western buffet) and Mike and Olivia headed home. She had a long night at the corn maze so she decided to head home with dad to relax.

Kirk, Eliza, Zach and Takuya in front of the Salt Lake City Temple. Temple Square is the number one tourist attraction in Utah, so we had to see it!

Zachary at the top of the conference center and a great view of temple square.
Takuya, with view of Utah State Capitol in background, gardens on the roof of the conference center. The building with the fountain is the Conference Center. It is so big it takes up an entire city block. Out in front of the conference center fountains.

Touring the gardens and pools of the square.
Zachary like this reflection in the pool.

Saturday night at home with the Earl cousins. First they ate, then they all played Wii. Copper found a nice warm place to relax too!

Takuya learning to play Dance, Dance Revolution with Lucas.

Jesse, Seth, Takuya, Kirk and Isaac
Back row: Lucas, Takuya, Kirk, Andrew and Isaac

Front: Jesse, Seth and Zachary

Playing Kick the Can outside in the backyard. They like the old games and the new games evidently! They played pretty late and were having so much fun but it was time for cousins to go home and us to go to bed. What a big day!

That's all for now...I'll try to post more tonight or in the morning. Time to get ready for church today!