Andrey again!

We visited the high school again and Andrey met the Principal, Dr. Miles, and Assistant Principal Helene Dutcher. They were very impressed with his English and told him that they are really looking forward to having him as a student at Tift County High School. Andrey will be a Junior.



We went swimming at the YMCA with Andrey!!!! He and I went down the slide many times and swam in the big pool. Andrey is a very good swimmer. He is very athletic and is very versatile. Guess what - we met a lady and her daughter from Ukraine who were at the pool. Mama has been wanting to meet them for a long time, and believe it or not, they were at the pool yesterday! Mama was sitting right next to them and overheard them talking. She thought it sounded like the Russian language, and it was! They greeted Andrey in Russian and had a good conversation. Her son, Igor, will be a senior at Tift County High School this year! They have lived in the United States for 4 years.

Andrey in America

Andrey is having a great time in America and we have done quite a lot of things since he got here on Sunday! We really like having Andrey here with us and now that he is over his jet lag, I think he is having a a lot of fun.

Here is a picture of Andrey and me jumping on my trampoline - Andrey is very strong and athletic!



We went to a special church service Monday night and they had door prizes for the youth. Guess who won the very best prize of all? ANDREY! He won an Ipod!!!! Can you believe it???!!! Here is Andrey with his new friend Drew Richardson. Andrey is famous now for winning the Ipod :)



We took Andrey to LaCabana here in Tifon for his first taste of Mexican food. He liked it a lot :) He is trying new foods and actually tried peanut butter for the first time today - he likes it best with jelly :)



Here is a picture of Andrey in his new Karate studio and one of Andrey and me in our Tift County t-shirts - we match! YOU SHOULD SEE Andrey do Karate! He is awesome. He can even do pushups on his fingertips. I hope I can take Karate one day!





Here we are in the Tift County High School gymnasium - it is really big and very nice. Andrey liked it a lot.



Here is Andrey signing up for his classes with Mrs. Tucker at the high school.



I had so much fun watching Andrey at Karate practice last night. I said it was "the best movie ever!!!" I brought my Kung Fu Panda toys with me so they could watch Andrey too. We watched him from a special room upstairs.

ANDREY IS HERE!!!

Sunday, July 27 was a big day for our family as we welcomed Andrey Tokarev from Pskov, Russia to our home! Andrey will be living with us for a year as an exchange student. We picked him up at the Tallahassee airport. Our good friend Laura Reed joined us. Daddy couldn't come as he is on a business trip, but he'll be back Tuesday night. Andrey was very tired after his long travels, but he is so nice and friendly and we are very lucky to have him here with us to introduce him to the United States! We have a lot of fun things we will be doing while he stays with us this year - I can't wait!


First of all, you know I have to throw this picture in....there was a gameroom at the airport and I wanted to try to grap a toy in the "toy grabber" box (Mama says it is a money grabber.) Well guess what. Not only did I grab a toy, but I grabbed the toy I wanted!!!



YEA! Andrey is here! He took a train from his home in Pskov to Moscow, from Moscow flew to Frankfurt then to Washington DC....then to Charlotte, NC....then to Tallahassee, FL where we picked him up!



Welcome Andrey!



I could stand for hours just watching the luggage "pop out" - it was fun watching for Andrey's bag!



At the Governor's Square Mall in Tallahassee.



We ate at the food court in the mall so Andrey could select what he wanted to eat, and he chose Chinese food because he was anxious to try it. He loved it and even tried out the chopsticks.



Here I am DEVOURING a Cinnabon! :)




Andrey carried me on his shoulders on our way out of the mall - I love Andrey!



We had a special welcome basket for Andrey when he arrived.



Putting things in his closet



Andrey is fun to play with!

Back to the Lake!

We had a wonderful weekend back at Lake Blackshear July 18-20. We camped at Georgia Veterans State Park and Daddy ran in a 5K race called "Loop the Lake." Mama and I drove up to Warner Robins, GA for an orientation for host parents. Our coordinator's son, Aaron, watched me while they had the meeting at the Air Museum. It was SOOO COOOL!! I loved it. That afternoon we went out on the boat with Mr. Chip and Ivey and Railey, then ate dinner at the Cypress Grill restaurant (the kids played on the "beach." I can't wait to go back!

Okay, time-out just a minute. I love to dress up in costumes and Mama just had to take a picture of this particular "get-up" I came up with!!!! Be sure and notice the baseball cap over the Darth Vader mask -



Here I am with Mr. Aaron and Mrs. Mary at the COOL Air Museum -









Yep, that's me on the left with Daddy and Ivey on the tube - I LOVED IT!!!



Railey, Ivey, and me



Captain Daddy









Going on a "treasure hunt" hike at our campground!

Back to Lake Blackshear!

We had a great 4th of July at Lake Blackshear with our friends Mrs. Charlene and Mr. Lee. We had lots of fun swimming in the lake and eating the delicious food that Cha-Cha had for all of us - it was nice and pretty! And watching the fireworks from the boat was AWESOME!!!! :) I'm proud to be an American!!!!