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).