Family

Ksenia had her first interaction with the Smith clan this past weekend.  Chloe liked drawing with Ksenia (Ksenia is quite the artist!) and of course Ksenia thought Jason was funny!  This is the first family photo we have since she has been here, Hollie is behind the camera.  Hysterically bad shot of Tyler!!

DOGS

It has been wonderful to have Ksenia help out with Kiko and Cazador. She gets home from school long before we get home from work, so she has been taking daily walks with the dogs, and we so appreciate it!  The dogs are really getting to love her too.  I am going to get super jealous if they start sleeping in her room!
This is Kiko getting up close and personal to check her out one of her first nights here.  He approves. :)

First week=FOOD :)

Ksenia has been here for a week today!  She mentioned to me that she has been able to try Italian, Chinese, Mexican, American (grilled brats and corn on the cob!) and tonight we are taking her to eat Thai food.  Last week she also got to try my friend Brandy's "raw" Pad Thai and kale salad--she is definitely an adventurous eater, so she fits right in.

I'm not sure that HyVee Chinese is the best version we have at our disposal, but she did get to eat with chopsticks, so that's fun anyway. :)

 I love this photo!!  This was some seriously awesome sweetcorn, fresh from the back of the farmer's truck on the side of the road.

I made the guacamole (we got the tacos as takeout), but I make a mad guac!!

Ksenia Arrived!

Ksenia is here!  We will spend the next 10 months together, getting to know each other's culture and lifestyle.  Today we are registering her for classes and then will be off to the grocery store!  I think the grocery store will be a fun adventure... :)
Kiko and Cazador definitely seem to like her, they have grown accustomed to her already-which is very fast and makes us so happy!

That is it for now, just wanted to post something to get the ball rolling here...hope to be able to fill this blog with great pictures and stories over the next 10 months.
(I do feel it is worth noting, and interesting to note that the spelling of her name on the blog appears to be the "correct" spelling and the spelling on the sign I DID NOT screw up. All of her program application documents were spelled with the "Y" in it-which she later told me was not her doing. I am just glad we finally figured out the right way to spell it)