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(posted 06 June 08 by Lynn)
It's with a lot of
sadness that we watch Sandra prepare for her departure next Tuesday. Her
school year in the USA has ended and she has just a few days with us
before she returns to her family and friends in Germany. We chatted
recently to find out if she had accomplished everything she hoped for
during the year. Her response was very positive so I hope that means we
did a good job.
At spring break
Lynn took Amanda, Sandra, and their friend Alyssa to Orlando. They spent
a couple of days at Universal, a day at Cocoa Beach, and the rest of the
time hanging out at the Liki Tiki Village timeshare. We can confidently
say that a good time was had by all.
Sandra joined the
track team (totally new to her!) and competed in various events --
200-meter relay, long jump, 100-meter dash. Several of the gymnasts were
her teammates so she wasn't going into totally unfamiliar territory.
Then there was
prom. Lovely ladies, handsome gents.
Sandra is the proud
bearer of a Minnesota State High School diploma, so who knows if she
might return at a later time for college studies. And she has a
Minnesota driver's license (we have now taught 3 teenagers to drive).
(This is
what she looked like the next morning after the all-night grad party!)
Ashton returned
home at the end of the semester. It looks like dorm life just wasn't his
cup of tea. He has also changed his major to astrophysics.
Amanda celebrated
her 18th birthday on June 4. The special treat was a trip to WCCO TV in
Minneapolis where she spent time observing
Chris
Schaffer, meteorologist, at work.
And the day before,
we went to the Barack Obama
rally in St. Paul with some friends from Minneapolis. It was pretty
exciting to be there on the night that he clinched the Democratic
nomination. It didn't matter that we were in the nosebleed section of
the arena -- the excitement was contagious! And it was definitely worth
the 2.5-hour wait in line to hear Senator Obama. (See those teeny tiny
people in the middle of the picture below? That's the Obamas!
Ken took his
students to the Formula SAE race in Detroit again this year. Less than
stellar results this time, but hopefully they learned a lot and had fun.
Ken will be
teaching a class this summer and then hopes to visit his brother in
Houston during July. Ashton will be stoking the WalMart machine this
summer and Amanda has diving and gymnastics to keep her occupied. Amanda
and Lynn will again descend on Storm Lake, Iowa at the end of July for
Synod School (sort of like family church camp). After that, we are
expecting friends from France to visit for a few days.
So that's the news
from Central Minnesota.
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