Arigatou gozaimasu...KK!!!!

Well, first off, let me say that Japanese girls are A LOT different that Japanese boys. And not just in the obvious ways. ;) The boys are very reserved and solitary (even from one another) and the girls are excitable and sociable. For example: I had made up 3 beds for them, but no.....they all wanted to sleep in the SAME bed. (the boys all wanted separate rooms) When we drove up to our house the girls started talking excitedly in Japanese and when they got into the house and saw inside they started jumping up and down and chattering. "yay" "Beautiful" "I am so exciting (meaning excited) to be this house" I guess they were expecting a hole in the ground? But it was really cute to see how happy they were with our house.

But the thing that they were most excited about was KK. They LOVED him. They obsessed over him. He loved and hated it at the same time. He would sigh, and say "The girls love me." They would want to hold him and touch his face and tickle him, too much for KK's liking. I heard him a number of times say "Stop it!!" "Go away!" Which they didn't understand, but would giggle at. That, BTW, reminds me. They spoke almost NO English. It was a herculean task to communicate anything with them. I think that the English "word" of the weekend ended up being KK's name. They would squeal it every minute or so as they followed him around. I can no longer call him "KK" without hearing it with Japanese inflections. Almost ruined his nickname for me. They also loved Ansel and would shower him with gifts and requests for him to sit on their laps. Which he ...tolerated. It was like living with starstruck teenagers...(well I guess that is what they were, so no wonder). I just kept waiting for them to squeal "Justin Beiber" or some other teen heartthrobs name, the voices mimicked the American "teen scream" so perfectly. They really were cute girls though. One 16 year old, two 17 year olds.

Left to Right:

Rina, Yu, and Mika

You will notice that almost all the pictures where they posed, they are doing the "peace" sign. The Japanese boys did that too. Can't figure out why they would want every picture with a hand sign in it. But it is definitely a universal Japanese teen thing. No matter what we were doing when I went to take a picture they would put down whatever they were holding to do a peace sign. Joe and I got a good chuckle from it. Rina was the smart/shy-ish one, Yu was the feisty/aggressive one, and Mika was the sweet one. Every time I spoke to them, Yu and Mika would turn to Rina for a translation. It was cute.

I picked them up on a Friday night and somehow was able to get a consensus on a fun activity for that night. They all wanted to go bowling, exuberantly so. I have never heard anyone be so excited about bowling before. There's a first for everything I guess.

It was girls (and KK) versus boys. Joe, the boys, and their friend Nathaniel whooped it up big time. Apparently enthusiasm for the sport does not equate to skill.

KK, being new to the sport was suitably impressed. He would grab that ball with both hands, run full tilt, stop and throw/drop the ball with a crash. Then it would slowly/painfully make its way to the pins at the end and miraculously even knock some down. I thought for sure we were going to attract the attention of the people in charge. There has to be a rule somewhere about dropping the ball. I just know it.

Kaelan Celebrating.

"I win, I win" Is what he would say every time it made contact with the pins.

He also loved the ball return. I was pretty nervous that he was going to end up with smashed fingers by the end of the night, but fortunately that wasn't the case.

Peace signs again...and matching puma track suits.

Bowling was a big hit...and more expensive than I would have imagined.

We were lucky (weather wise) while they were here and got alot of sunshine and warm weather.

Saturday we had soccer games in the morning, and then I took the girls shopping at the mall.....for 5 hours. Just imagine following teenage girls around the mall for hours, helping them make purchases, trying to translate for them, and finally finding out what exactly is sold at Spencers... (I had NO idea that place was x-rated!!) Try explaining that in Japanese will ya?!

That night Joe and I had to Chaperone a multi-stake dance (Joe is YM pres. and couldn't find anyone to help....so guess what....that's right, we were it), so the girls had to come along. I can't imagine what they thought of it. Joe and I were laughing out loud just thinking about their impressions of a church dance. At least the kids there tried to engage them in conversation. Several came up and spoke Japanese with them.

The people in charge of the exchange student program instructed us to never leave them home alone. So we followed that closely. Even dragging them to church for 3 hours. Poor girls. Can you imagine sitting through church for 3 hours and not understanding a single word said? Fortunately for them it was our Primary Program practice and so they got to watch the kids for the last two hours. Marginally more entertaining than Sunday School.

After church we took them to see mountains (after a rigorous pictionary drawing session trying to decipher which nature "feature" they most wanted to see). There is a small mountain right near Mt. Hood that is perfectly situated for getting a spectacular view of all the volcanic peaks in the NW Cascade range. (Mt....starts with an F, I think) We took them up there to get a good view of all the mountains. It was pretty amazing. I had never been there before.

MT. Hood:

You could also see, Mt. St. Helens:

Mt. Rainier:

and Mt. Scott and Adams.(not pictured)

(our little mountain's top)

We also stopped by the Vista house to get a good view of the Gorge. What a pretty day.

All in all I would give this Student exchange experience two thumbs up....Which probably means I will be crazy enough to do it again.

In honor of this upcoming weekend of craziness....

This weekend we are hosting 3 Japanese high school seniors (girls) in our home, from Kashima, Japan. It is only for three days, but trust me when I say it could end up feeling a LOT longer.

During the summer we hosted 3 Japanese students for 10 days in July. It was probably the most stressful/busiest time of my life. They were really nice and the boys loved having them around.

They were (in order left to right):

Kiyama (19), Takahiro(2o), and Yohei(15).

While it was a great experience, I was way too overbooked for that week and so it became a real albatross around my neck. Especially with the director of the program filling their heads with ideas of what they would like to do, which always involved me going way out of my way to complete their requests. I learned, that week, that I really need to learn how to say no. Which this coming weekend proves that I haven't yet learned this valuable skill.

I do not know how many times I went to the mall during those 10 days or to some other shopping center, but it was like having 7 boys (well, I guess it wasn't like.... it really was parenting 7 boys. UGh). One of them frequently wore one of those surgical masks we used to see asian people wearing all over during the SARS outbreak. I never had the nerve to ask him why. It was only at certain times of the day, but I couldn't figure out the reason.

But, anyway, the experience was neat. The boys loved Yohei. He was one of 3 boys in his family so he fit right in around our house, playing the Wii, playing basketball, poker whatever we put his way. He was a lot of fun. Takahiro was very shy and whenever we were at home he was in his room. We got him to come and play basketball with us one time, and he really loved poker night. I guess they play it over in Japan too. :)

Kiyama was the most independent of the lot, which normally I would have applauded, except for that he always wanted to go his own way, which meant he kept skipping out on the tour groups activities and making me drive him all over kingdom come for different things. I REALLY didn't like that, because I was supposed to have that time to myself and ended up having to babysit one of them while the other two were off doing their group things. The worst thing was that I would ask him way in advance if he was planning on attending these activities and he would say "yes" and then last minute when I was getting everyone in the car he would tell me he wasn't going. UGH. Making me change my plans for the day. It was kind of a big pain. (I was trying to get packed for our 2 week California vacation while they were here because we left for California as soon as I dropped them off at school for the last day. it was a little much).

But on the flip side I totally understand. He was here to experience American things. He had goals and plans of things he wanted to see/do and was really driven to complete them. I think that I would be that way too if I were him. So even though it was a pain, I liked his sense of adventure and confidence.

Oh, and did I mention that Joe was gone for 5 days during this hosting time??? I think that was what really rocked my world. Entertaining all by myself. Yuck. (Not to mention that the boys had swimming lessons everyday, calder had cub camp everyday that I had to drive him to, I had to pack lunches and take these guys to school in LO everday, and it was our week to clean the chapel.)

Kiyama helping Kaelan get a drink:

Levi and his buddy Yohei:

We played alot of basketball. I got to win horse a few times and beat them consistently at the consecutive 3 pt competetion! Go me!

Ansel and Takahiro (doing his "thumbs up" that he did in almost every picture):

Playing around the house was the best, they were at ease and I didn't have to entertain, the boys did it for me. MUCH better.

Yohei and the boys playing Wii:

Kiyama loved Kaelan and would play with him for long periods of time:

Our poker night:

Calder played with us and did really well, but I won! Yay me, again! :)

The host family that took them after us said they talked alot about playing poker with us, so I guess that was their favorite part.

See my stacks of chips??? :)

So, wish me luck this weekend as I embark on another attempt at hosting. Hopefully my house will be clean by Friday....

Things I've done without my gallbladder...

I really haven't posted since the day I fired my gallbladder, made it clean out it's office, and escorted it out the door. That being the case, I figured it might be good to use it as a reference point for all things since. Poor thing, I wish I could say that I miss it.... but I don't. I REALLY don't.

To show you how much better I feel without it, just take a look at what I did right when I got home after the morning's "sedated" activity (while in bed on Vicodin no less....wait, maybe that's not a feat after all)

Calder came up to me as soon as I got home freaking out about a soap carving we had to do for his book report the next day. (don't you love how kids only remember to tell you important things right before they are due) So there I sat in bed, on Vicodin, Calder next to me, carving the head of a sea serpent, from the Beast Quest book he was reporting on, with a butter knife.

I had never carved anything before, so maybe my choice of carving utensil is laughable, but it worked and that is all that matters. Ivory soap is SO easy to carve from, I had no idea. Calder helped me carve large chunks out of the soap at the beginning and then at the end I taught him how to do the scales and he finished it up. He did those very well, I thought.

A before and after shot, of sorts:

Calder was so excited and proud of his carving, I was proud that the soap survived the process and we didn't have to re-do (especially the lower jaw and beard as delicate as they were)

Calder took it to school the next day and it survived that as well, amazing. Now this little guy resides in a place of honor on Calder's bookshelf in his room.

All in a days work when you are a mom, I guess. I should add that that was all I had to do that day because my sister Lani was here taking care of EVERYTHING else. Thanks Lani!

Since that day it has just been one big whirlwind, one activity after the next, with no breaths in between.

After Levi's graduation (see previous post) we had all of the class parties (10 days after surgery), and being room parent in two classrooms, I had the lovely job of helping organizing etc. them (luckily I have great friends that stepped in and did more than their share to help me out)

Two of the parties took place in the park so here are a couple of highlight pics:

Levi won the award of being the only one in his class that could successfully jump through a hoop, rolling at breakneck speed down the hill, without disturbing its progress/path:

Don't ask me how he did it, I have no idea, it looked pretty impossible to me. (I should mention that he did it over and over and over again, it just wasn't one lucky shot....very amazing.) He must have some secret superpower that I don't know about.

Calder got to play the part of a banana in his class skit:

Afterwards he insisted on keeping the banana. What, I ask you, can you do with a giant paper banana? The answer is: nothing. So you have to secretly throw it away, very discreetly, because you know he will never ask about it again and because you DON'T want that thing hanging around your house as part of some, ahem, unnamed mini-packrat's hoard.

Doesn't he get that I don't like unnessesary things hanging around? I can't believe that my removing of all of my unimportant organs over the years hasn't clued him into that fact. Let's see.... appendix -check, tonsils -check, gallbladder -check. Yep, that's a rap. All cleaned out.

For Levi, my offer of a "photo" keepsake of his panoramic silhouette project, instead of taking it home, was well received, so here it is. Of course, he would choose a battle for his subject matter.... Shocker, that.

We also got to go to his Marimba performance, very groovy. KK totally dug it and wanted to stay and play the marimba for the rest of the day. (we seriously had to pry the sticks out of his hands while he was kicking and screaming in protest.)

Finally, school ended joyously for all (yes even I admit to feeling so glad school was out).

We had about a week of pure summer lazy bliss before things picked back up in their usual way.

We even went to the Oregon Coast for the Cannon Beach Sand Castle contest, (the boys, Remi and I), and then stayed to play on the beach ourselves (and pretended that our sand castles were as awesome as their's)

This one was called "iCastle" it is a sandcastle built on top of a giant iPhone: I liked that one the best, of course. Very cool subject matter. Usually electronics and sand don't mix, but hey...

Here is the whole title: :)

The boys in the midst of building their sand creations:

Kaelan was particularly into it, so much so he didn't even realize that he was sunrising us:

Some pants just require a little more flesh on the backside to stay up..... what's a boy to do?

This is what Remi did the whole time on the beach:

Okay, maybe not the whole time:

Oh wait, yes.... the whole time:

Love you Remi! :)

But wait, I am forgetting something.....

What summer would be complete without celebrating F-day?

What is F-Day you ask?

Here is a clue to help you out:

It is what happens when you don't have enough red and blue poker chips to spell "Father's". Now, because of Levi's ingenious father's day "card", Father's Day will always be known, around our house, as F-day. Hope you all had a great one.

Speaking of Fathers..... Ours was conspiculously missing from his own Severson reunion:

Our Family photo on photo day:

It looks like I am a single parent...

I was, but only for two days. Yes, he had to skip out on half of his own side of the family's reunion, for work. I hope they appreciate how good he is to them.

It's okay, I would claim his parents as my parents any day

KK, discovering the wonders of dominoes with Grandpa:

They had a jungle "safari" for the little kids, 6 and under:

The whole time we were on it Kaelan kept saying I want to find a lion, I want to find a lion.... And then finally, he spotted one.

There was just a small bit of jubilation when he got to hold it for the rest of the safari:

And quite a bit of tears when he realized he didn't get to keep it forever.

Other highlights of the reunion were eating lots and lots of food:

The Zip Line:

Here is Calder climbing the "zip" tree:

at the top:

That was awesome!

Even I got to do it:

A hike to Mirror Lake:

I believe this is a Trillium flower:

(please correct me if I'm wrong)

It really was like a mirror.

KK loved making "wipples" in the water.

The Pre - 4th of July without a gallbladder:

Well, for one, I finally got to eat "fat"!

Yay for me. One month of no fat was not as bad as I thought.

We got to go to the Ward Breakfast and I got to eat.....

Sausage!! (oh, and pancakes)

It was the boys favorite type of meal:

Pancakes and Park together.

See how happy they are?

He's happy too, you just can't tell.

This is where KK discovered his love and passion for Basketball. Life hasn't been the same since.

A little MJ, isn't he?!

Well, I know that this is kind of a lot to digest. And believe me, I know how that feels, gallbladder-less that I am....

So, I will let you chew on this for a while before I introduce you to the rest of my gallbladder free life.

Bon Appetit! Be back in a few days.