Simon's Arrival

Simon arrived to Flint tired but excited and with another exchange student from Norway, Eivind, who is staying with the Telford's. Simon was injured playing soccer back in Norway last December and he had some disturbing news just before he arrived that he wouldn't be able to play here until December, when the season is over. Ken examined him yesterday and he thinks with some therapy that here is a good possibility that his injury will heal in a few weeks. Simon was actually happy to hear someone be optimistic for a change. Simon has been very polite and offering to help all the time. When he first saw the laundry room he said that he would be spending a lot of time down there, can you imagine that one of the boys would do laundry here? :-) And when I have cooked, he has been out in the kitchen every time offering to help. If he keeps this up, I could get real spoiled. We are looking forward to a great year with Simon and hopefully some of you will get the chance to meet him.

Sully's return to Durand

Sullivan had a flight into Detroit and Floyd offered that we would stay at the same hotel as him or he could come home and he wanted to come home. It was his first time back to Durand and we were all very excited. Carol and other Floyd joined us for dinner of a typical American summer meal of grilled steak and corn on the cob. Sully was able to stay awake for some visitors and to watch one of The Floyd's favorite tv shows, So You Think You Can Dance. I'm sure we all remember when the Floyd tricked Hannah so Sullivan could steal the soccer ball. They were so sneaky and Hannah didn't know what was happening. When Sullivan first came to live with us in 2000, Floyd and Sully would go for breakfast in the morning at Nick's in town and that's what he wanted to do again. He was able to have the same breakfast that he had 7 years ago and he said it tasted the same. Then we took a tour of the school and the soccer field. When Sully was here we were in the process of building the concession stand so he never saw it finished, so we went and checked it out. The problem was, when we went inside, the pop cooler is missing and I don't have a clue where it is. Oh well, the the first game is soon, so I hope something will turn up.
Floyd had forgotten something at the restaurant so when he went back to get it, he saw the Parks, (minus Jesse as he was working) so Sully was able to see them. Hopefully, he can see Jesse on a return visit.
It was hard again saying good bye but I was happy that he chose the Lincoln's over the Ritz Carlton. And I did warn him that I could show up in Toronto at the end of the month as he will be there again. I hope he is able to visit us again.

Niagara Falls, Toronto and Sullivan

Floyd, Jakob, Flo (Jakob's friend from Germany) and I just returned from a trip to Canada. We were going to Toronto to see Sully as he was going to be there for 24 hours and since Floyd hadn't seen him in 6 years we made the trip there. Flo had never been to Niagara Falls so we thought we would take him there first. I don't know how much he enjoyed the trip, but I love it every time I go. We stayed at the Hampton Inn since I was impressed after being in one of the rooms Dad had. Floyd loved their bed, comforter and pillows. I'm sure that is where he will want to stay when ever we travel. The next day we left for Toronto to meet Sully, who is working as a flight attendant for Air France this summer. We had to meet him at the hotel since he has to stay with the flight crew until then. It was so good to see him and I am so glad that he and Floyd got to see each other. That was a long time coming. The 3 of us had dinner on top of the CN tower and it was delicious. After dinner, we walked along the harbour on the way back to the hotel. It was a great evening and one I will always remember. The next day we went for a walk through part of old town and to a market and ended up at Eaton Center. It was hard to say good bye to Sullivan even though he will be in his "American home" Saturday night as he will be flying to Detroit and Floyd and I couldn't be happier that he will be here.