A 4th unlike all others.

I hope your fourth of July celebrations have been fun so far. Isn't it strange to have 3 days of parties, with this 3 day weekend? Plus, with Alan having Fridays off it feels like 4 days!

 Our foreign exchange student, Gregoire, arrived from France Friday evening. The kids got a little antsy waiting for 2 hours at the airport while customs took their sweet time. Poor kids that flew in from France. It was 4:00 when they left the airport but it was feeling like midnight to them! It took Greg a solid day to start feeling more himself. We could tell he was tired though he tried to hide it. We recognize today that he is finally more himself. He's more rested and his personality is emerging. He's reserved but he is warming up to us more and more each day. He is also kind hearted. He showered us with gifts this morning! Fine French chocolates and caramels. Cute shirts from Paris for the kids. And a cook book for moi! He's staying just through the month of July and I can already tell we will shed a little tear when he leaves. The kids love him! We think he is an amazing teenager. He is very poised and already well traveled. He's been to Florida, New York, Nevada, Southern Utah, Maldives, Tunisia, Croatia, Egypt, England, Switzerland, Italy, and Viet Nam! When he leaves us he is headed to Kenya with his family! He is only 15! I think that is so impressive. Can you imagine sending your son or daughter around the world to stay with strangers in Utah at 15? But he reminds me of a scientist, studying us, because he is immensely curious about the world around him and the people in it. I do sorta feel like a gorilla in Diane Fosse's notebook. I'm more aware of how an outsider might see us, now. For example, on Saturday, we went to West Bountiful for 4th celebrations.
 There they had a candy cannon that shot out taffy every 20 minutes. Free popsicles. Two pie eating contests and a hot dog eating contest. It is already evident that the French don't eat very much, we are witnessing it first hand with Greg. American's have a worldwide reputation for eating large amounts of food.  I was acutely aware that the "food handling" on Saturday may have cemented this idea in Greg's mind! Hello? Candy cannon?

We've talked with his lovely parents on the phone and are so happy they feel comfortable with us as their son's American caretakers for the next month. I feel a bit guilty that the number one thing that has bonded us with Greg, so far, is The Simpsons and The Family Guy-Star Wars. It was fun to see him laugh so hard, though! We can't wait to see what the rest of our summer adventure brings. We like this experience so far.