Hello from Florida!

We arrived safely in Destin, Florida a little over 24 hours ago and have been relaxing and enjoying this beautiful part of the US!

We were pretty tired after making the long, long overnight drive (we made it here in 14 hours instead of the normal 15 hours it can take since we didn't have any delays due to road construction or heavy traffic in the larger cities). We walked into our condo about 5:30 am and everyone laid down for a few hours of more restful sleep than the car can offer. And Mitch had been up all night driving, so he really needed the rest!

Then it was up and off to the pool. We came back to the condo for a quick lunch and headed to the beach. It was a beautiful day, and Beverly really enjoyed the white sand and the pretty turquoise colored water. She said it was much prettier than what she had imagined it would be.

We came back to get everyone in the shower and dressed for dinner. We had dinner with another family from Tremont who is here with their 2 children. Their son is TJ's best friend and we will spend our days with them as well, so you will see their kids in some of our pictures this week too.

We had dinner at a neat seafood restaurant that is on the beach and offers a great sunset view. The picture is of all the kids right before the sun was about to set. We'll take some good beach pictures today and share them so you can see the beauty of this place and why we love it so much!

It's Sunday morning now and Mitch and Beverly are out on a walk/run. She is trying to keep up with some physical activity this week so that she won't be too out of shape for track practice when she returns.

Heading to Florida!

As soon as the kids get out of school this afternoon, it is time to hit the road for our spring break trip to Destin, Florida!

Here is a map of our 1,000 mile driving route! If you click on "View Larger Map" under the map picture, you can see the route in better relation to the entire U.S. map:


View Larger Map

It takes about 15 hours of driving to make the trip. After we leave Illinois, we travel through the states of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama and into Florida. Destin is located on the Gulf of Mexico, and a beautiful combination of turquoise waters and white sand!

We will stay in a 3 bedroom condo, so the kids all have plenty of space to relax. We will have lots of great pictures on this blog and our family blog this coming week, so keep watching! We will arrive in Destin the morning of Saturday, March 21 and head for home in the afternoon of Saturday, March 28!

Congratulations, Beverly!!

After weeks of writing essays and filling out application forms and waiting, waiting, waiting for news ... Beverly received her first acceptance letter for one of the boarding schools she has applied to for next year!

We are still waiting to hear on a couple other school decisions, but she has been accepted at a school near Chicago and would be close enough to Tremont for an occasional visit! Hopefully we can get her to campus soon for a tour and look at what life on campus would be like there!

Another Busy Week!

And another post with no new pictures! But it seems we are running around so busy between work, school, basketball and other kid activities that there isn't much time to take pictures!

Beverly had another busy week with practices for the school play, and this afternoon spent several hours at the school with student council for a fundraiser event. As busy as she has been ... this week will be even busier for her, with going to school, then straight to track practice, and then on to play practice. That pace will continue for 2 weeks until the play is over, and then she'll "only" have track practices and meets to run to and from after school. Her activities outside of school really keep her going.

This is a very busy week for me at work too, so there might not be any other news here this week! But as soon as we have some track meets and the winter weather starts to turn to spring, we'll have more reasons to take pictures. And of course we will have lots of pretty pictures from the beach when we head to Florida for spring break on March 20. By the time we return from that trip, winter will be over and spring will be underway!

Happy Valentine's Day

Well this week Beverly got to see a little bit of what Valentine's Day is in the U.S. At school there were flowers sent back and forth as a fundraiser for student council ... and the younger kids exchange small cards with candy in them. Beverly got into the action with TJ and Abby and took some of their style valentine cards to her friends. And she enjoyed a little heart shaped box of candy here at home too.

Yesterday we went to TJ's basketball game ... then to dinner and to a college basketball game nearby. Beverly is sleeping late this morning, and will have a day off school tomorrow due to a holiday, President's Day, where we celebrate the birthdays of our former U.S. Presidents. Mitch is off with the kids, but I have to work ... so no holiday for me!

High school girls basketball is over now, and Beverly would like to join the girls track team when they start their practices in about a week. So it looks like she will soon be busy again with practices 5 days a week and some sporting events!

Happy New Year!

We celebrated with a Chinese New Year dinner one evening late ... Beverly had a basketball game last night and was not home. But tonight we decided to take the kids out to eat at a Chinese restaurant.

Chinese food here is definitely "Westernized" even though the owners and cooks in the restaurants are from China. Many of the dishes were things that Beverly did not recognize or seem familiar with. She did enjoy eating some sliced cucumbers, along with some traditional Chinese/American dishes.

It's a busy week for her with 3 basketball games this week. Tomorrow night is the last game in our home gym, and basketball is over for the season late next week. It has been hard work, a good team experience, and fun for her, I think.

Next up on her evening activity list are rehearsals for the school musical!

Last week Mitch and I were out of town, so Beverly got to spend the week here at our house with Grandma and Grandpa Scott. They had a good time getting to know each other!

It's Cold Here!!

Yes, you are reading that thermometer right. It is at least
-27C here!

Beverly is warm and sleeping comfortably in her bed right now, because school is cancelled today due to the extreme cold. It is just too dangerous to get kids outside on days like this. Tonight will be just as cold, maybe a little colder, so chances are there will be no school tomorrow as well. We are supposed to get back to our more normal winter temperatures over the weekend. This is very unusual for us and we have not seen termperatures this cold for about 5 years.

School and basketball are going well, but Beverly did miss some practices and a game this week due to not feeling well. These days off due to the weather will give her a chance to get rested up and ready to go again!

Basketball Time!

Beverly has been very busy this week with 4 basketball games, and there are two more next week. If she doesn't have a game, she practices 2 hours a day, so it keeps her very busy!

She also finished all the essay work and filling out forms for the 5 boarding schools she is applying to attend next year. It was a lot of paperwork and gathering references and information, but she got it all done well ahead of the January 15 deadlines the schools have.

Here are a few pictures from the game this morning ... warm up time, talking strategy with the coach, and cheering on the team!

Back to School!

Today is the last day of holiday break, and tomorrow it is back to school for the kids!

Beverly has been working hard on completing her applications for several US boarding schools that she would like to attend next year. And basketball practice has been keeping her busy over break.

Back to reality now of getting up early, catching the bus, and studying for classes!!

Meet the Scotts!

Beverly had a great time getting to know our extended family ... two aunts, two uncles and 5 cousins! Counting our kids, there are 8 grandchildren ages 5, 8, 10, 11, 11, 15, 18 & 19!

The kids were happy to have their names written in Chinese and framed as a gift from Beverly, as well as some items she brought along with her from China.

She got to experience our family tradition ... including the frenzy of opening presents, spending the night at grandma and grandpa's house, and eating lots of wonderful food and yummy holiday treats!




There are some other pictures on our family blog,
Tremont Scotts

Merry Christmas!

Beverly enjoyed her first Christmas in America ... even though we woke her up to open gifts! The girl really likes to sleep in, and didn't quite understand the logic of opening presents at 8 in the morning instead of 2 in the afternoon! ha! This picture was taken just before the kids shredded all the gifts! There are some other pics on our family blog, The Tremont-Scotts

So since we woke her up and she was still in her pajamas, she was not excited about having any pictures taken of her!

She enjoyed opening some gifts that contained new clothes, a favorite movie and a Star Wars Monopoly game. When I saw it I knew it was perfect for her ... and she said she looked all over Europe on her trip there last summer and could not find one ... we laughed about the irony of coming all the way to Tremont to finally get her game!

Today we are relaxing and getting ready for the big Scott family Christmas this weekend at grandma and grandpa's house. Beverly will have her first chance to meet all of the aunts, uncles and cousins who make up the Scott family! 15 of us descend upon their home for a weekend of family fun and Christmas celebration. There are 8 grandkids in the family, all between the ages of 5 and 19. Abby is the youngest, Drew is the oldest, and everyone else is inbetween!

I'm sure we will have lots of pictures to share from that event since she will be opening presents in the afternoon ... and not in her pajamas!

Merry Christmas!

Ice Storm!

We woke up this morning to lots of ice covering the ground, trees, roads ... everything! So Beverly got an extra day off of school, as school is cancelled today due to the weather conditions. She only had one test today which was not required to be taken, she was only going to take the Biology final to add some extra points to her grades.

Here are some pictures of the ice around the house.





More pictures on our family blog,
http://www.tremont-scotts.blogspot.com/

THS Christmas Concert

Beverly had her first chance to sing with the Freshman Prep Chorus during the high school Christmas Concert! It's a small group, but they sounded very good!

Yesterday and today were her final exams for the semester, and after tomorrow she is finished with school and on Christmas Break until January 5! We'll spend most of next week relaxing at home and getting ready for Christmas ... and we'll travel about an hour's drive to celebrate Christmas with our extended family on December 27-28.

The Family Christmas Tree!

Today we went to a Christmas tree farm to find, cut down and bring home our family Christmas tree!

It is always a fun family day. We drive out to a farm that grows beautiful trees that families love to bring into their home for the holidays! We walk through the rows of trees searching for just the right one ... and then it is cut down and we wait for the farm's tractor to come by and give us a ride back to the main building. They put the tree through two machines ... one to shake out loose pine needles and another to bind it up tight for the trip home. Then we have a little warm apple cider and head home for the decorating!

Beverly had a good time experiencing this holiday tradition with us, even though it was a bit cold outside! There are more pictures on our family blog,

http://tremont-scotts.blogspot.com/

We have been so busy keeping up with the activities of 4 kids, work and home ... but we should be posting a little more now that the holidays are approaching. I will also have some pictures coming early next week from Beverly's basketball game that is here in Tremont on Monday night!

First Snow!

We woke up this morning to a blanket of snow on the ground ... and now we have about 5 inches of the frosty stuff!

There is a snowball fight in progress in our yard. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves! Click on the pictures to see a full size view!

Thanksgiving Feast!

Beverly enjoyed her first Thanksgiving in the U.S. with a complete Thanksgiving Feast! She wanted me to get a picture of the table to share with her friends and family.

A traditional Thanksgiving meal at our house includes a roasted turkey (ours was about 16 pounds, or about 7.25 kg weight). We boil and mash potatoes and serve them with gravy made from turkey broth, and we also cook sweet potatoes (yams) in a sweet glaze sauce, with melted marshmallows on top. Sage dressing is also a favorite, which is made from mainly dried bread, chicken broth and the herb sage. We also enjoyed steamed broccoli, and some corn and carrots. Beverly enjoyed most everything but the sweet potatoes have a little too much cinnamon for her taste!

Beverly also got to meet Grandma Gilpin and enjoy the day with her. Here is a picture of all of us (minus Lisa, who was taking the photo) as we sat down to enjoy our feast!

THS Lady Turks Basketball

Tonight was "Meet the Team" night for Beverly's basketball team! This gave families the chance to take some pictures and hear from the coach what the expectations are for the girls for the basketball season. Beverly is pictured here with the JV team, which is made up of freshmen and sophomores.

They are working hard, but also having a little fun with one another. The girls are getting an excellent workout, including weight training. Each girl has an individualized training plan to boost their strength for the season. It will be a great team experience, and a way to get to know some other students at THS.

We signed up for the parent responsibilities ... Mitch working a concession stand shift on a home game night and me helping get a dinner together for the team to take on the bus since they leave right after school for most away games. The first game is December 1, with the first home game falling in mid-December. Should be fun!

SSAT Test Day

Beverly took the SSAT test yesterday, which is a secondary school admissions test. She is looking at 3 boarding schools in Massachusetts to complete her U.S. high school education over the next 3 years, and this test is an admission requirement.

She felt that she did very well on the test. She is working on her applications for the 3 schools ... Groton School, Milton Academy and Deerfield Academy. She'll be a long way away from Illinois if she lives in Massachusetts for the next 3 years, but we have told her she is always welcome for a holiday visit!

Beverly joins the basketball team!

Beverly has decided to become part of the THS girls basketball team ... it will be a lot of hard work (6 days a week practice) but also a lot of fun! Practice begins this week, and their first game is December 1.

Experiencing Halloween!

Halloween is one of those weird US traditions is that really hard to explain to someone from another country ... I think you just have to experience it to understand it. And that is just what Beverly did!

On Friday night she put on a costume and went to a friend's house in our neighborhood who was having a Halloween party. The kids decided to go trick-or-treating, which teenagers normally do not do around here ... but they had to show Beverly how it works! So they put their costumes on and walked door to door, collecting candy from the neighbors who were participating that night. At each door they told the person, "We know we are too old to do this, but this is Beverly, our exchange student from China, and she has never been trick-or-treating before!" Then the person at the door laughed and gave them handfuls of candy. It was a great way for teenagers to get in on the act of something usually reserved for younger kids!

Last night we went to dinner at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants and "somehow" the server was told it was Beverly's birthday .. even though it was not! She was delighted to find out that after dinner, when it's your birthday, they come clapping and singing, bringing you a sombrero to wear home and a big chocolate sundae! Now she wants to go back on her real birthday in May! ha ha That is the picture at the top, of Beverly at her "birthday celebration"