Back home to Wenatchee

Wenatchee! Home sweet home. 

We had one more car ride; from UCA to Wenatchee. We did some car shuffling, and Carolyn and Caleb ended up riding with my dad and I. This road trip was somewhat fun since it wasn't 10+ hours as a couple of our previous rides were. In the backseat, Caleb and I (and Carolyn joined later when she saw us having so much fun) played more than a few games of Uno and Old Maid. Three hours isn't that long, and we soon reached our destination.

The first couple days were spent at the Jones' house. We had all sorts of fun together. That night, all us kids slept in the living room; two on the couch, two on the floor. To make them go to bed (so I could... Just kidding :p lol) I told them a story, stopped at a cliffhanger and made them go to bed since hey had swim-team the next day.

Not being able to ever decline an opportunity to swim, I decided to join Anthony for swim team. We woke up early, had just enough time to put on our swimsuits, and we were out the door. To be honest, it was a little difficult. I had been in a swim team for a long time. But, I kept up just fine and had a lot of fun.

Later that day we went to pick blueberries at Blueberry Hills. The blueberries were absolutely ginormous and definitely the most delicious ones I've ever eaten. After picking (and eating) blueberries in the heat for a couple hours, we decided it would be a great idea to go jump in Lake Chelan. Oooh! It was so nice and cool. We had a lot of fun swimming in the super clear lake with Katya. Sadly, Anthony got a bee-sting ad his foot was all swollen so he didn't swim.
That evening my mom brought Anthony and I along for a run (not sure how, haha but she did.) We made the mistake of eating a bunch of food including ice-cream, so we didn't run for very long.
The whole week we were there, it was pretty hot, so what did we do the next day? Swim in the public pool! My favorite part was the high dive. The rest of the day we just stuck around the house and played games. 

 

Anthony and I decided we wanted to play checkers. I found the board but there were no checker pieces. So, I got creative, and used blueberries and raspberries! Every time we jumped an opponent, we would eat the berry. It was berry fun ;)

On Wednesday, Katya, Anthony, Emily, Caleb, and I went ice-skating! We had the whole rink to ourselves, gliding and skating like crazy. Of course, we played tag. I went ice-skating for like 5 years in a row for my birthday and tag was always part of it. Of course, I fell a few times, one was a harder crash than the rest and I ended up with a huge bruise on my knee for about two weeks. It was definitely worth it, though.

Afterwards, we went to the church swim party at the Mehrer's house. Earlier during our vacation, we found out we would still be able to go to the church's annual swim party. It's always so much fun and ends in a (friendly) water-gun fight, because they have a lot of them there. They always keep the pool really warm (almost like a warm jacuzzi). They also have a small high dive and slide.
We spent that night at the Skeel's house. It was nice visiting with them and later playing Ticket to Ride the next day. Later that afternoon we packed up most of our stuff then went with the Jones' to the bookstore where they insisted on buying a gift for us before we left. I got a Willow Tree figure of a girl playing the flute. 
That night we went to Carolyn's Senior Recital. She went back and forth between piano and violin. She did a great job! It was really funny because she used some of my songs and played it for the recital. (A year or two previously, I had left my book at their house and needed a song right away to play for a funeral, so she copied it and sent to me ... and copied a song for herself! haha) She also learned and played Clair de Lune which I used to play. I was honored. :P

Afterwards, we went to their house for the reception. We also spent the night there.
The next day was kind of a lazier day. We slept in late and when Caleb woke up we played some more card games. Later, the Jones' called so Caleb, Emily, and I went over for a little bit. The rest of the day we finished packing and helped Carolyn pack as well since she was coming back to Taiwan with us!
 

We had haystacks that night. Poor Caleb got really sick that night though and didn't eat anything. We also found out the most of the Jones' as well as my dad and sister got sick! We decided we must have caught a bug or virus or something.

The next day was Sabbath! It was an exciting day. I got to finally go to Abundant Life! :D At the pool party two days prier, Alison had asked me to do the children story.
“Um…uh, sure!” I answered.
So, that Sabbath I told the children’s story. I told them a teeny bit about Taiwan and then told them how I got lost, haha! My mom, sister, and I also did special music. My mom and I sang “Glorious Ruins” while Emily played the guitar. Besides being really nervous, all went well. The week we were there just happened to be the thirteenth Sabbath, so we were able to see and hear about how all the classes were doing. We heard about sponsored children in other countries, and heard adorable kids sing. Then, my dad did a slideshow and sermon about Taiwan and the ministries we have here.

 Afterwards was potluck! It was delicious (I still like Taiwanese food better I think though)! Our friends, the Fowlers, came especially from Seattle to visit us. So they joined us for potluck as well as our afternoon “hike.” It turned out to be way to hot so we decided to play in the river instead. It was a blast! Julia and I fought the very mild rapids upstream and then let the current carries us back to where the adults were. Soon, others joined in the fun.

Then, the sad part… saying goodbye.
That night, we had a nice supper together with the Hardens, then we packed up. After our final prayers, tears, and goodbyes, we went to bed to get some sleep before 3 am. (I slept next to nothing though) Then, at 3 am we took Carolyn with us and got up and left! After a couple VERY long plane rides(which I got absolutely no sleep as usual), we made it to Taipei where Shin was waiting for us.
It was hard leaving, but it was great to be back. :)