Bye Echo (aka Yang Xu)

The time has come and early this morning Echo left on a jet plane bound for China. She has been with our family everyday since Aug 20th 2012.  When the time came to say goodbye at the airport it was hard.  I felt like I was putting one of my own children on a plane and not sure I would ever see them again.  It has been a great year and we have seen her blossom before our eyes.  We have learned so much about Zoe's birth country from her and she was like an older sister to Zoe this year.  We will Miss You Yang Xu!

Last day of School

Today was the last day of school for all the other kids.  Chase is now officially a 3rd grader, Parker a 7th grader and Conor a Freshman.  Also today was Echo's last day of school in America she leaves to return home early on saturday morning.

Chase was 48 inches and 46lbs at the beginning of the school year and now he is 49inches and 49lbs

Conor has grown the most out of all the kids in September he was 67 inches and 104lbs and now he is 69 1/2 inches and 124lbs

Parker was 56 1/2 in and 61 lbs and now is 59in and 81 lbs

Chase and his teacher

Echo's award ceremony

Tonight Echo (Yang Xu) was awarded a plaque for her year on Exchange.  Her time here is coming to an end it has been a learning experience for all of us and we will miss her when she goes.  However we will not be saying Goodbye forever, she plans on touring with us when we return to China and attending OSU the college in our town in the future.

Here is a scrapbook I made to send home with her.

Silver Falls

Sunday we met up with the Exchange program and had Echo's exit interview.  We had a picnic lunch and then hiked down to the falls.

Chines New Year's

We spent the day in Eugene at the Asian Festival with the Blake family. 

Echo's (AKA Yang) Symphony Band Concerty\

Echo had her first band concert at the High School tonight.  Here's a few pictures, it was really hard with the lighting.

Yang's 16th Birthday

We celebrated Yang's 16th birthday on the 23rd of September.  It was pretty low key since I was heading back from Seattle and didn't get time to plan anything big.  We took her out to eat at a local Chinese restaurant and let her pick out the food.  We then went home and sang her Happy Birthday as she blew out candles on her Cheesecake she wanted.  

First day of school

Today two of the five kids had their first day of school.  Echo started today for the first time in an American school as a 11th grader.  Parker started the day as a 6th grader, first day in a middle school!

I'm trying something new this year, something I stole from another mom's blog.  I will be included the kids height and weight with their first day of school photos.  That way I can look back at the end of the year and see how much they have grown.   Parker is 56 1/2 inches and weighs 67.2 lbs

Capitol Building tour with Exchange Students.

We met up with the other exchange students today at the Capitol building.  We had a tour of the building which included climbing to the top and getting pictures.  It was quite the climb, 121 stairs straight up.  It was a great view from the top.  We took a group shot which included students from Germany, China, Japan, France, Brazil, Poland, Spain and kyrgyzstan.