Weekend Away in Alborada

Thanks to generous relatives we had access to a very comfortable home as a weekend retreat. We held a family "Squirt Quadathon" Including, running, swimming, biking, and shooting baskets. Bobbi and Grandpa hadn't seen the kids for a really long time due to Bobbi's Chemo schedule, work, and the kids school. It was so much fun to see Mom feeling great and growing some hair back after finishing chemo and being declared a SURVIVOR.
Charlie lost a tooth (he loves to lose teeth!). The Tooth Fairy found him at Alborada.
Charlie, with an extra hole in his mouth...peeking through a hole in the rock.

Weekend Away in Alborada

We had a great time away for the weekend with Bobbi and Grandpa John. We all stayed in Ivins, UT, only 45 minutes from home but it was a much needed get-a-way with Mom and Dad and the kids. We swam, rode bikes, hunted for endangered turtles and had fun playing Uno and just being together.
Cairo, Jack and Charlie went out early one morning with Bobbi and Me and they decided to rock climb. All 3 of them conquered fears and got really high up the rock wall. The fears came when they didn't know quite how they would get down. It was a great exercise physically as well as problem solving. It required them to take deep breaths, relax and pick their foot holds and hand holds carefully. They all got down safely and felt the joy of overcoming fear and achieving a goal.

Opening Ceremonies for Utah Summer Games

The Opening Ceremonies were breathtaking. After a very windy day the air became calm and the ceremonies were perfect. Fireworks, a live band (that had Cairo swooning at the band-stand), and the march of all the athletes.
Prior to the ceremonies we were privileged to have dinner with a few Olympic Athletes that are from Utah. They were honored as inductees to the Hall of Fame for the Utah Summer Games.

Cairo Competes at The Utah Summer Games

Cairo is finally back in the pool. We love watching Cairo swim. After moving from Abu Dhabi she couldn't get excited about swim team. She missed her friends from swim team at ACS and the beautiful pool and palm trees that graced the surroundings at practice.
After she registered for 2 events in the Summer Games we started swimming together twice a week and she had 2 weeks of practice before her events.
Given she hadn't been swimming for over a year, she competed very well. She finished in the middle of the pack on both 50M Butterfly and 50M Freestyle events.

Mom and Charlie with his Silver Medal

Charlie Wins Silver - Arm Wrestling

The Summer Games continue and Charlie competed so well. He took the silver medal in Arm Wrestling. He has never been in an official Arm Wrestling competition before but he knew the rules and understood how to use the special table to his advantage.
Way to go Charlie!

Sargon, Habib and Sidal Come to Cedar City

We had the absolute pleasure of the company of Sargon and Habib when they came to visit us 2 weeks ago. They came for 2 reasons. 1-To bring Habib's younger brother, Sidal to start school as a student at SUU. He is the first Afghan student to attend. He has since started classes and is staying with us until he gets settled in student housing. He is a delight to have around and it is great for the kids to have interaction with yet another great person from another country and culture. Second reason and no less impressive or important was to donate $$ to open the Sargon Heinrich Global Engagement Center on the campus of SUU. It will serve international students in many ways and also help domestic students in finding opportunities for exchange and interaction with international peers. Sargon ROCKS! It wouldn't hurt at this time to direct your attention to Skateistan (http://skateistanthemovie.com/), a skateboard park that ACC International, Sargon and Habib's company in Afghanistan, helped to build in Kabul to offer an alternative to young Afghan kids who may otherwise take to the unsafe streets or worse, fall into the hands of terrorist groups looking for recruits.

Pictured here are Sargon, Habib, Sidal and the kids in front of our home on the day Sargon and Habib said goodbye to Sidal and left him here for his first college experience and first time away from his family.

Brad Gives Keynote Address

Last night was an event at SUU honoring the Utah High School coaches who had teams that won state championships this year. Brad was asked to give the keynote address. Of course he did a fabulous job.
The kids and I went to enjoy a great meal and to support Brad. I think the highlight of the night for the kids was the room it was held in. It looks a lot like a room out of Harry Potter, Hogwarts Academy. There were knights lining the walls and the boys were in 7th heaven.

Sam Competes in Chess in the Utah Summer Games

Yesterday Sam competed in his first Chess Tournament. He did great. The event lasted all day. He played 6 rounds, each consisting of 2 matches. He won about half of his matches. Most of the people he played against had been in chess matches before so this being his first made it a little more pressure but he handled in great.

Cairo Competes at The Utah Summer Games

Cairo swam the 50M Butterfly event today in the Utah Summer Games. She did great. Especially considering she hasn't competed for over a year. We don't have the final times yet but she finished 4th in her heat. We are proud of her no matter what. She's a star(fish).