Saying goodbye

The Japanese students put on a show at the annual Farewell party. Yuka participated in a traditional dance number with her friends. All of the students sang three songs.

 The students left early Friday morning. There was a beautiful sunrise and a few sprinkles as we waited for the bus.

Capitol Reef Trip

The Japenese students don't have to attend school on the 24th and so we decided to take a trip to Capitol Reef. We invited the three visiting Japanese teachers to come with us. We left Sunday afternoon, right after church. We got to Torrey, checked into our hotel and went right off to explore the park. After a brief stop in the Visitor's Center, we had a picnic lunch in a beautiful spot. A few deer wandered by as we were eating.  

After dinner, we took a hike to Hickman Bridge.

 

Warren caught this large lizard for Melanie.  

Oh! How we love the critters in the park.

After our hike, we took a scenic drive waiting for it to get dark. We attended a ranger program on star gazing. The clouds cleared and we were able to see the Big Dipper and we had a beautiful view of the Milky Way. This is one of the best spots on earth to stargaze.

Monday morning we got a fairly early start and hiked the Grand Wash trail and Capitol Gorge trails before lunch.

 Capitol Gorge Hike. We went all the way to the Water Tanks. There was a bit of cloud cover that made the day feel cooler.

Lunch after the hike. Capitol Reef has some very nice picnic areas - just bring a table cloth.

This little squirrel was so funny. We imagined he thought he was being very sneaky to steal a treat.

As we were leaving, the rain clouds rolled in. 

The girls were worn out... We stopped in Nephi for dinner at Mickelsons. Melanie says this is her favorite restaurant. 

It was a great weekend.

Sundance Outdoor Theatre and our Annual Exchange Student BBQ

Andrea got Yuka and I tickets to attend Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat at the outdoor theatre at Sundance. There was lots of high energy song and dance numbers. I asked Yuka if she was understanding the story. She said, "No" but she loved the music and the dancing.

One of our favorite things to do with our Japanese student is have their friends and their host families over for a BBQ. This year our student invited four of her friends. None of our children were home. It was a little weird.

After dinner, we played "Do you Love your Neighbor". The students were not so sure about it at first but quickly warmed up to the game. We finally had to cut off the game so we wouldn't be too late going to bed.

Family Fun Day with Yuka

We got a tip that Tibble Fork was redone and very nice for Kayaking. Jessica and Clayton let us borrow their blow up Kayak and we were hooked.

The day was gorgeous and the water very calm. The scent of the pine trees was heavenly.

After all of that excitement, we all needed a nap. 

Saturday evening, we had tickets to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir concert with guest artist,  Alex Boye.

Welcome to Yuka

Our little family is excited to host Yuka from Takamatsu. Melanie was at STAR camp at Dell all week and so Warren was left to make the sign.

We took her right to Porter's place for dinner. She choose a bacon cheese hamburger with french fries. She ate it all but looked like she might throw up from being so full. We tried to explain she didn't need to finish.

Friday evening, Melanie was working and so Warren and I took Yuki to Battle Creek falls. She did a great job keeping hold of Milo who pulled her up the hill to the falls.

The hot days must really be melting the snow in the mountains. The water was running higher than I have ever seen before.

Girl's hike

 I talked Melanie into taking an evening hike with me to Battle Creek Falls. We took the dogs and had a nice time.

Fourth of July - Freedom Festival

 We decided to get up early and attend the balloon festival in Provo. It was a beautiful day and so they were able to launch the balloons and have the competitions. (Melanie has been giving me tips for taking better selfies.)

 

We did not stay for the parade but went home for some breakfast. For lunch, we went to Jessica and Clayton's apartment to make sushi rolls with Jennifer and Josh and some of Jessica's other friends. There was no raw fish involved and the rolls were very good.

That evening, we had a bbq with the Brown family, Graig and Andrea. Melanie went off to watch the fireworks with her friend Cam. There was quite the fireworks show around our neighborhood and so I just watched outside. Graig and Andrea climbed up on the roof to watch.