Zihan

Zihan came in on Tuesday night at 11:10 or so.  I had made her a big sign with my Cricut that said, "Welcome Zihan."  She was really tired from her long flight (about 26 hours), but she was really friendly and sweet.  She was surprised that we lived one hour away from the airport.  When we got home we showed her around the house and she was really surprised by the towels (she said, "You say this is house, but it is hotel!"  It was so funny.   She was also surprised to hear that Dan built the addition, the size of our house, our food storage, and the towels.  She gave each of us gifts:  me a scarf, Dan a book, and Nathan and Megan a red Chinese knot each.  After we showed her around and she gave us gifts we went to bed.  It was around quarter of 2! 

The next morning I made pancakes, which she loved.  She's eaten everything I've given her so far.  We've had two fruit Coolatas from Dunkin Donuts, spaghetti pie, Oriental Beef Steak, bagels, and a turkey sandwich.

Yesterday we went to school and she helped me do my bulletin board.  Then we went to Walmart so she could get some clothes (she didn't have many short-sleeved shirts).  Then we came home and took a nap.  She's still trying to overcome jet lag.  In the evening, Mike, Hilda, and Elin came over.  She also met mom, dad, and Felicia that day. 

Today we went to the high school and registered her for classes and then we went to Auburn to get her a new phone. It took quite a while, so we finally got home at about 2.  She is exhausted so she's sleeping again.  Hopefully she will get on the right schedule soon. 

We are really enjoying her so far.  She is always smiling and in a good mood.  She is cheerful and kind.  Today in the car she cracked me up.  She tends to be dramatic in the way she explains things.  She asked how much longer the car ride was and I said, "About 20 minutes."  She said, "20 minutes?!  You must pulling my leg!"  I laughed so hard.  Then she was saying how tired she was.  She said, waving her arms around, "I miss home.  Our home.  I miss the bread...the milk...the air conditioning.  I'm coming!  Wait for me!"  like she was talking to the house.  I was laughing so hard.  She said, "Why you laughing so much?"

I can't wait for Megan to meet her.  I think they'll get along great.    

End of Summer

I can't believe it's the end of summer!  I go back to school in less than two weeks!  Yikes!  Well, as is my tradition, I'll list everything we were able to do this summer.  It was a busy one!

• Nathan and I went to York's Wild Kingdom and went camping with the Atwaters
• Ashley came for two weeks
• The whole fam went to Ashland, New Hampshire for a week-long vacation
• While on vacation we went to Clark's Trading Post, Whale's Tale Water Park, the Budweiser Factory to see the Clydesdale horses, and Canobie Lake Park
• Got caught up on Project Life
• Organized the mudroom, my scrapbook room, the Tupperware cupboard, and the CD's
• Chaperoned Girls' Camp for 5 days
• Dan, Nathan, Megan, and I went to Palmyra, New York to see the Hill Cumora Pageant and church history sites
• Did math and spelling with Nathan almost every day
• Read to Nathan
• Read a lot
• Put Nathan's 3rd grade school stuff in his binder
• Went to Olivia and Chris's wedding!  8-11-13
• Saw Elin a few times
• Went to the temple once (Megan and Dan went twice)
• Made an authentic Chinese meal with Tanya
• Saw a marionette show at Deertrees (Peter and the Wolf)
• Accompanied Jessica Fleck on the piano when she played her flute in church
• Celebrated Olivia and Felicia's 21st birthday
• Had a couple Cooper get-togethers
• Had our piano tuned
• Went swimming in Waterford with the Atwaters
• Went swimming at Mom and Dad's a lot
• Helped Shelli and Allyson with a project while the kids swam
• Saw several movies:  Gatsby, Epic, Turbo, Descipable Me, Smurfs 2, and Planes
• Lost 10 pounds
• Did some scrapbooking with Kathy
• Nathan and I experimented with shrinking plastic paper
• Was introduced to Candy Crush Saga by my nieces and became addicted! 

It was a fun summer and very busy! 

Books!

Earlier in the summer I was in the mood to read a lot.  I found lots of books that were free or only 99 cents for my kindle app.  Here are the titles of the books I read:

Liberty Hill by Sonja Heisenger
Silent Tears by Kay Bratt
Finding Mia by Rachel K. Burke
Little Prisoners by Casey Watson
Just a Boy by Casey Watson
The Boy No One Loved by Casey Watson
The Rules of Dreaming by Bruce Hartman
Riversong by Tess Thompson
Pretty Woman Spitting by Leanna Adams