Zheng, the Chinese teacher, would like to expand the Chinese program in our school district so she asked some of her students to help her present her ideas to the school board. Zheng made her proposal and the kids shared what they had learned in Chinese. Sofi and Abe were two of the students who helped out. Zheng is an extraordinarily dedicated teacher and we are very lucky our kids can learn from her.
Sofi packed up her room this week as she prepared to leave for college. She may be the only freshman in the dorms who packed a candy thermometer.
Carson left for the MTC Wednesday morning. Sofi's friends are spreading out across the country. We're going to miss having this great group of kids at our house. Our family woke up at 4:50 am to see Carson off at the airport. Joey and her mom also came. After three weeks in the MTC, he'll head to Ohio.
Our family drove to Utah on Thursday to take Sofi to the University of Utah. Our family enjoys our fire pit at home, so we loved the giant fire pit at the entrance to her dorms. The U is located on a hill and the views from the dorm are amazing-- Salt Lake City in one direction and the mountains in the other.
This will be Sofi's home for the next year. She shares an apartment with 7 other girls. They have a common living room and kitchen. Sofi has her own bedroom and shares a bathroom with one other girl.
We spent Friday getting Sofi settled in on campus. It was a long day for Helen, Abe and Gibson. They entertained themselves in a variety of ways such as flipping up all the electrical outlets in this classroom.
Since the U joined the PAC 12 conference, sports have become much more prominent on campus. They've adopted a big red U as a logo and liberally use the logo everywhere. The effect is not subtle. Our kids climbed up on this especially large U.
Here are Helen, Abe and Gibson. We think climbing up on the U for a photo is encouraged, so they're ok.
Brandan and Abe split off from the college adventure Friday night and flew to Australia with Brandan's dad, Dan. We've been able to text, email and even talk on the phone despite the 16 hour time difference. Brandan sent a few photos from their adventures so far. He didn't send descriptions, so these are mostly guesses. Because of the time difference and the length of the flight, they skipped Saturday and landed in Brisbane on Sunday. This is possibly a photo of lunch in Brisbane.
They attended church in Brisbane and then drove around the city. Brandan is once again driving on the left side of the road. This is a photo of the Brisbane temple. It looks a lot like our temple except with tropical landscaping. Abe packed church clothes, he just changed after church.
Sunday evening they flew north from Brisbane to Cairns (Australians call this city Cans- no "r" sound.) This is probably a photo from Cairns, judging from the ocean view and from Abe wearing a swimsuit. It's wintertime in Australia, but the weather in Cairns is sunny and warm.
Cairns is a great spot to set out from to see the Great Barrier Reef. When we last spoke to Brandan (Sunday afternoon for us, Monday morning for him,) they were on a cruise ship headed out to the reef. They plan to spend the next 2 days snorkeling and exploring the reef. We're excited to see more photos and hear more about their trip!
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