Skateboarding!

The girls got skateboards for Christmas so Sam and Clara decided to take them out for a spin today.   As you can see in the pics, they had an audience... Maude, Rosie and Blaze!

Cake and Coffee

Yesterday evening we went for cake and coffee at Bill and Lisa Branson's house.  Bill was stationed in Germany for most of his 30 years in the military.  He met his wife Lisa in a little town outside of Neurnberg, Germany.  3 years ago they came back to Monroe City to live.  They read in the paper about Clara's stay with us and wanted to meet her.  It was very nice to go and hear the interesting stories they have to tell about Germany and Lisa made wonderful German desserts for us.  Bill and Lisa also gave Clara some cheese and bread that they have shipped in from Germany to bring home.

Big News... Clara has been asked to the prom!  This is the biggest  and most formal school event of the year!  It is April 24th.  Kids usually go with groups of friends.  They go out to dinner, then to church, then to Promenade.  Promenade is a formal introduction of each couple and the family gets to go watch and take pictures.  From there, they go to the dance at the school.  After the dance there is an organized "after prom party" at the YMCA in Quincy.  Here the kids get to use the gym to play basketball, swim in the indoor pool and play video games in the arcade.  There are snacks and some type of entertainment that the school hires to entertain the kids.  The party is an overnight "lock in."  Several adults supervise the party and the YMCA is reserved all night.  The kids have to be there by a certain time and are not allowed to leave until 5 a.m. the next morning.  Time to go dress shopping!!!

Watching the Bald Eagles

This morning Clara and BJ took the mules out to the lake on a trail ride.  After they got home, we had lunch and headed out to look for bald eagles.  We went to Cannon Dam on Mark Twain Lake but only saw a couple eagles so we decided to go to Saverton Dam which is on the Mississippi.  At Saverton Dam we saw many eagles.  There were quite a few eagles perched in the trees as well as some flying around fishing from the Mississippi.  It is very cool to see the eagles considering this bird was nearly extinct!

Here are 8 bald eagles perched in the nearby trees.

The eagles fly around the dam and catch fish as they pass through the dam.

Friday Evening

Friday evening we all went to Quincy, IL with some friends.  We went to the mall and and went out to dinner.  Sam and Alex got their ears pierced.  They were both very brave, neither one shed a tear!  Now they both want lots of new earrings so I guess I have something to shop for now!  On Saturday, Clara went to the mall in Columbia, MO with some friends then to one of her girlfriend's house to watch a movie.  Tomorrow we are off to hopefully see some bald eagles, let's hope our plans don't get rained out!

It's almost the weekend... YIPEE!

We have had a pretty good week.  Clara had a great time on her ski trip, unfortunately I don't have any pics to post.  She came home and got a couple hours of sleep before going bowling with her new friends and to a sleepover at Heidi's house!  The girls wanted her to go shopping with them the next day but she was too exhausted!  Clara started track practice this weekend so we will have many upcoming track meets to attend and cheer her on!

Paige, Haylee, Clara, Heidi, Riley, Ashlynn

Weekend Plans...  We are going to Clarksville, MO to see the bald eagles.  They migrate to the area this time of year because the lakes up north freeze over so they come here to fish the Mississippi.

The bad news... We took Zoey to the veterinarian yesterday for her annual shots and the Dr. found a heart murmur.  She said that it was pretty severe and to expect that Zoey will probably be around about another 2 or 3 years.  This is so sad, she is only 4 years old and it is really going to break Sam's heart, she is very close to the dog.

Quiz Bowl

Today Sam had her Quiz Bowl in Scotland County, MO.  She had to be at the bus at 6:30 a.m. in order to be there for the Quiz Bowl at 9 a.m.  BJ, Alex, and I drove up and watched her team compete.  They did pretty well, they a actually made to to the finals!  After it was over we headed to Pizza Hut since it was 1:30 and we still hadn't had lunch!  Then we made the drive home.  On the way home we saw a Bald Eagle in a field and I thought it was so beautiful that I had to post a picture of it!

This week...

I don't have any pictures to post but I wanted to post a little update.  Clara seems to be making a lot of friends.  She was invited to go to a friends house Sunday evening and watch movies with some of the girls from her school.  Tuesday evening she went to a school basketball game and she was very excited about that!  She really enjoyed cheering for the team and one of her new friends is a cheerleader.  She will have a busy weekend.  She is leaving tomorrow evening to go with her exchange program coordinator on a ski trip in St. Louis.  Sunday she is going bowling, then to a sleepover with a group of girls from school since there is no school on Monday due to Martin Luther King Day.

Sam has a Quiz Bowl Tournament in Memphis, MO on Saturday so we will be traveling there and cheering her on... I will post pics later!

Riding

Call us crazy, but Clara and I rode the mules today... IN 7 Degree Fahrenheit WEATHER!

Clara rode Maude.  The pony, Blaze, is her best friend so he followed them all over the entire pasture!

This is the first time Clara has ridden Western.

This is me riding Rosie, this is BJ's mule.

Sledding... Again!

We took the girls out to the lake for some sledding.  They had a good time despite a few falls... mostly Alex!

All bundled up and ready to go sledding!!!

Clara gets a face full of snow!

BJ getting some air over the ramp!

Alex wipes out... 1 of many times!

Sam gets a face full of snow!

Clara going over the ramp!

Alex actually recovered from this jump!

Sam going over the ramp!

 Alex getting some air!

Alex's face when I told her it was time to go.

BJ, Clara, Sam, and Alex at the top of the hill.

Clara Starts School

Well, I don't have any pictures to post because I didn't want to embarrass Clara on her first day of school by taking her picture in front of everyone! I went into the school with her on Tuesday morning and we filled out all of her paperwork and got her schedule. The counselor gave us a tour of the school and showed Clara where some of her classes are, where the library, cafeteria, gym, and her locker are and then I left. When I picked her up from school she said that she had a good day. She said all of the kids wanted her to sit with them and she has already been invited to some friends house this weekend to watch movies! She seems to be fitting in very well! From the way she described her second day it went equally as well. Unfortunately, today they did not have school because it was cancelled due to the 4 inches of snow that we got last night! Gotta love winter in the midwest!

Christmas Party

Today we had a Christmas Party with BJ's side of the family. His mother, his two sisters, their husbands, and their kids were there. We had lunch and opened presents. Clara was excited that she got a "Monroe City Panthers" T-shirt! Clara took gifts from Nurnberg, Germany to BJ's mom and sisters, they thought that was really cool to have gotten something from her home! After the party we drove Clara to downtown Hannibal and showed her the Mississippi riverfront, which is frozen right now! We also took her up to the lighthouse that overlooks the river and downtown Hannibal. Maybe in the spring we can get some prettier pictures!

Clara opening her shirt.

Clara at the Mississippi. Behind her is the bridge between Missouri and Illinois.

The girls at the top of the lighthouse.

The girls at the top of the lighthouse, overlooking the Mississippi and downtown Hannibal.

Shopping!

Today we took the girls to the mall. We also brought along Heidi, she is a girl that is also in the 10th grade and she and Clara have been getting acquainted. Sam, Clara, and Heidi went off in their own direction and did some shopping while BJ, Alex, and I went to Bath & Body so Alex could spend the gift card that she got for Christmas then we went to the Dairy Queen for ice cream and waited on the other 3 girls to finish their shopping. I think Clara and Heidi had a nice time shopping and Sam liked being able to hang with the teenagers!

Clarence Cannon Dam at Mark Twain Lake

Today we drove out to Mark Twain Lake to show Clara. Salt River was dammed in 1984 to create Mark Twain Lake. The lake is over 18,000 acres of water and 285 miles of shoreline. It is surrounded by 36,000 acres of public use land where people can go hiking, or ride horses. Unfortunately the pictures aren't very pretty because it is winter but maybe we can get some better pictures in the spring!

This is Clara on the top side of Clarence Cannon Dam.

This is Clara at the bottom side of the Dam.

Tour of the Krankenwagen

Each Wednesday I clean our Ambulance District so Clara went along and the Administrator gave her a tour of our Ambulance. (Krankenwagen) We also went shopping and Clara tried on a cowboy hat... maybe we can find a rodeo to take her to before she has to go back to Germany! We are all having a great time and I have been brushing up on what little German I learned as a child. I am looking forward to learning more of the language!

This is Clara inside the ambulance.

YEE-HAW!