This last week has been crazy! But way worth it. Our Family had the opportunity to host 2 athletes from Kazakhstan. This country is by Russia, so they both spoke Russian. However, out of all the Russian delegation, there was one athlete that could speak a little (and I mean a little) English and we were the lucky family that got to host him!
Our athletes are Rusian (we called him Rus) and Nasrulo (we called him Nas). Rus is 18 yrs. old and was a Unified Player, which means that he had no disabilities. Nas was 16 yrs. old and we are unaware as to what his handicap was. Both athletes are competing in Floor Hockey. Rus had gone to the Nagano Special Olympics 4 years ago and they received the gold medal there.
So what does it mean to host a Special Olympian? This is where the athletes and coaches come in about 5 days prior to the actual games and stay with a family to get a little taste of the culture. So this is what we did....
We took them to the church to play a little b-ball. (This is Justin showing off from the foul line.)
We took them to Lexi and Davis' Elementary to let them visit the school and let the kids ask Rus and Nas questions.
Showing the kids where Kazakhstan is.
We met up with some other families that were hosting Kazakhstan athletes and took them all bowling. They had a great time.
This is Rus wearing a Statue of Liberty hat.
We got Lexi and Davis out of school early so that they could come bowling with us.
This is Brooklyn with her friend Natalie Hope. The Hopes also hosted athletes from Kazakhstan and came bowling.
Nas wanted to try out the piano. Then Lexi performed for him.
On Friday morning we went to BSU with some other host families and were able to watch a 2008 highlight movie and then go out onto the Blue Turf!! The athletes loved this. To them football is our soccer. So this was new and exciting for them.
This is Justin demonstrating how to kick a field goal. Nice Kick!
Nas, Justin, Brooke and Rus on the 50 yard line.
Our friend, Nathan Hope, brought a football and the guys threw some passes to them. (The one holding the ball was actually really good!)
This little sweetie would follow me around and ask to get her picture taken with me. (We took 3 pictures.) I think she was fascinated with my blonde hair. Little does she know that for about $85 she could get the same color!
After their floor hockey practice, we took them to Cabelas.
For our last night with them we gave them a good old fashioned Western BBQ! We showed them how we Americans eat. We had Hamburgers, hot dogs, chips, french fries, tater tots, jello-salads, baked beans, and some delicious ice-cream (that was formed into the shape of an Idaho Potato).
This is Rus trying out the bull-riding.
Channel 2 news came and interviewed Rus (because he was the only one with a little English).
After dinner, we all did some line dancing. It was a lot of fun because everyone got up and danced.
Here we are doing the Macarena.
Nas showing off his dance moves.
Davis even tried out the bull-riding.
We had such a great time hosting these two athletes. If the games ever come to your city, we highly recommend hosting.
This post seriously took me all day!!!!! Is there a faster way to upload pics?
8 comments:
That was a great post! :) Love it! I love the picture of Natalie and Brooklyn! You'll have to send me a copy! I love that we got to host together and get to know some pretty awesome people!
That sounds like a great time! Your pictures are really good. Everyone looks so happy. Fun, fun. I wish I could have been around to be a part of it all.
I am so excited you and your family had this great experience! But you forgot to mention how I saved the day with my power converter! (:
I loved your comment about your $85 hair color...the cost is worth it cause it is beautiful!
Do you have dial up or high speed. It used to take me all day with dial up and then we switched to high speed. Other than that I don't know how to help you!
Wow that looks like you had so much fun! They are the cutest kids. I need to call you but I want to know when the Olympics are and I want to see pictures and stuff!
You look great by the way
i loved the post! (did justin fix your whacked out computer??) i especially loved your picture of channel 2 coming to interview your guy. kiersten throndsen was one of my favorite people at CBS when john worked there. hopefully you had a good experience with her as well.
so, will you host my family next time? i think that we should have another hoe-down!
Way to go Brooke I am so proud of you for starting a blog. I think it should be a requirement to have one if you live out of state. I stalk your sisters, Kami, every now and again I love watching to twins grow. Your family is growing so fast, I loved your Christmas card by the way. Janelle, Amy, and Alissa all have blogs too. We all need to link up. So did you get your 15 minutes of fame and jump into the camera shot while Nas was being interviewed? My blog address is threefreckles.blogspot.com I'm a newby since January.
WOW!! That looks like such a great experience!! I'm a little jealous.
Wow! What a cool experience for your family. You guys are always doing something fun.
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