Meeting Sara

The day before Sara was scheduled to come my husband was sent to the ER by our family doctor because he had pneumonia/severe dehydration and I had bronchitis. That was when we contacted our local coordinator that we needed someone to pick Sara up from the airport and host her for the first few days. We were very sad that we could not be the one welcoming her to Utah. After a few days of being in Utah she was finally able to come our house! 

My first impression of Sara was that she was warm, polite, easy-going, and happy. We had a wonderful evening getting to know her by playing games, chatting, and then we finished the evening watching the movie, 'A series of Unfortunate Events' in our theatre projector room. 

The first week she was here we just lived our basic average life. Here are some photos from the week: 



Sara and our son, Monte

 

Sara and I at Sodalicious, a local soda/dessert shack.



Baking Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

Ben's Cousin's Wedding Reception

 

Temple Square



Temple Square

 

Temple Square

 

 She has only been living with us for about a week but she already feels like part of the family. We all seem to be comfortable with each other. I have to say that the most stressful part so far was getting her ready for school. We had to get some vaccinations and do a TON of paperwork. We are so glad that part is over since different people were telling us something different. Her first day as a Sophomore was today and it sounds like it was a typical first day of High School. I am looking forward to see how the semester turns out!

Sara's first day of School!

The Beginning

WARNING: for your own safety, do not read this blog if you will faint if a grammatical error occurs because I am not a professional writer.

I decided to start this blog to be able to have a place to record my experiences hosting a foreign exchange student. 

You may wonder or ask how my husband, Ben and I decided to become a host family. Well, our first experience being a host family was the summer of 2014 when the Selnate program was looking for last minute host families to host Japanese students for about 10 days.

My Grandparents, Opa and Ome, hosted exchange students when their children were in High School and it was a positive experience for their family. My Uncle Bobby actually ended up marrying one of the girls they hosted who is from Belgium, now my Aunt Michele. They got involved with hosting because my Opa is a member of the International Rotary Club. I always thought this would be a neat experience SOMEDAY, but that is where my thoughts ended. I have also always had an interest in Japan since my Dad served a religious mission in Japan for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. 

Our son wasn't even a year old but it sounded like a neat experience to host so Ben and I decided to go for it once we felt peace about the decision. We had an incredibly positive experience with our Japanese student, Nori. He was kind, polite, and easy-going. Even though he was here for a short time, we grew to love him like a Son and when it was time for him to leave I was completely heartbroken and cried my eyes out.



Our Japanese exchange student, Nori and us at the goodbye party!

A year later the CIEE program was looking for host families to host for the entire school year! At this time our family consisted of my husband, Ben (27 years) and I (Heather, 25 years), and our two sons, Monte (23 months) and Samuel (2 months). I had my worries about the student having a positive experience since our children are so young, our age, and the length of the commitment.  After much thought, consideration, and a long process we had peace about the decision of hosting a 14 year old girl from Spain named Sara.